I loves me some wrasslin'. 1997. Wrestlemania 13. Canadian legend Bret "the Hitman" Hart has "The Texas Rattlesnake" Stone Cold Steve Austin in his unbreakable Sharpshooter. With blood pouring down Austin's face, he wouldn't give up yet he passed from the pain. He lost the match but won over the admiration of the fans. Now that's what wrestling was my friends.
I fell in love with pro wrestling in late 1998. Stone Cold Steve Austin (still my all time fave), The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, D-X, Mick Foley were many of the badasses in my day. People will say the 80's were the peak but to me it will always 1998-2001 The Attitude era. The characters had a lot of thought put into the gimmicks from the undead to an Olympic gold medalist (even though he actually was). I still loved wrestling all the way 'till about early '05. I started to lose interest from there.
John Cena started to become the forefront of the company, which I didn't mind. I thought he had enough charisma and a decent amount wrestling ability. However I noticed there was more kids in the audience starting around this time, so as time went on Cena had to become tamer and tamer. As did Randy Orton. Rey Mysterio and Batista couldn't cut a promo to save their lives. By this point these guys were the face of the damn company.
I think my loss of interest peaked in 2007 when one my favorite wrestlers, Chris Benoit, did some really heinous things. It wasn't the fact what he did was awful but the fact the WWE (They got the F out hahaha get it....Yeah I know it's gay just go with it) handled it very poorly. In end the entire history of Benoit was erased. I think the only new wrestler I liked was CM Punk at this point.
One day I was 16 and I was thinking to myself "why did I stop watching wrestling? I must of just outgrown it. I mean only pre teens like that fake stuff anyway right?" And then I saw a video of Stone Cold flipping off the world, Kurt Angle flashing off the gold medals, Undertaker walking to a fiery background, Mankind flying off a 15 foot steel structure, The Rock's head and arm held high in pure cockiness, Jeff Hardy launching himself at the Dudleyz through a table, and Rob Van Dam with the old ECW crew. I suddenly remembered: "Holy shit, that's why I loved wrestling. They actually had imagination and creativity".
I hate when anything takes a step back. In the 1980's Hulk Hogan would get destroyed for 85% of the match then out of no where he would become the love child of Chuck Norris, Jesus, and a Super Saiyan. He would land a big boot and leg drop and be victorious. Which was cool I loved watching Hogan "Hulk Up" as a kid. However as wrestling evolved we didn't want the goody-two-shoes we wanted a badass. In the late 1990's the ratings grew because people who didn't like wrestling started to watch, including people over 25.
Think of this way: You had the owner of a billion dollar company getting flipped of by a redneck who proceeded to hit with a inanimate object and ram his bosses throat into his shoulder. After that he would celebrate with a few Buds. That's great scripting. You don't have to be a wrestling fan to like that! That's the dream of every working man. Hell, if you've ever had a job you've probably fantasized about these situations.
Here we are in 2011 were John Cena basically "Hulks up" and does his FU, I mean his Attitude Adjustment (Gotta keep it PG) and wins. Also, because WWE is PG and there's no more blood and if someone happens to be cut you gotta sew them up. I remember when Triple H was opened up every second match. It's official, professional wrestling has gone backwards after one and a half decades of growing.
Well that's how Vince McMahon shit on my childhood. ten years ago today Kurt Angle was champ. As of now the champ is ....The Miz!! Gross! Congrats on getting a new fan base but the finger goes up to alienating your old one. Do I still like the still like the WWE? Absolutely not but the WWF is whole other story.
Well thanks for reading. Leave your comments and opinions below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQDQ_qga53E
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