My husband and son like it a lot more than me, but I enjoy some of it. I like WWF, though, not WCW. The story lines are funny, and some of those guys are built! They get pretty crazy, too, what with jumping off ladders onto tables and stuff. Anybody like it?
I love it, I must confess. I never, ever thought I would like wrestling, until my sons began watching. I’m with you I like WWF, I don’t like WCW. The storyline is hysterical, the guys are hot, the babes are, well, babes. The signs people hold up are a riot.
I took my kids to a Raw last November, it was alot of fun. I took them to the WWF themed restaurant in Times Square(I actually got Demo to go along!), it was great. It clearly is not to be taken seriously, they poke fun at anything and everything. I admit sometimes they are a bit outrageous, and, after all, I am letting my 9 & 13 yr olds watch most of it(Raw, on Mondays, is divided into 2 parts, the racier stuff airing at 10-11, my boys only watch until 10 most nights). All in all though, it is funny, silly, and some of the moves are interesting to watch.
May I refer you to this thread.
As for me - I kind of like it, however I rarely watch it. I did rent WWF Smack Down for the Playstation and had a great time with it, though.
It’s a shame that when people hear WWF, they think of wrestling before the World Wildlife Foundation…
I hate wrestling. I was forced to watch it growing up.
Hate it. WAY too violent. I don’t care if it’s make-believe or not, it’s freaking violent[i/]. My stepsister’s kids eat that sht up and then get all torqued up and start jumping on each other and throwing chairs at each other.
Hate it.
Wrestling fan all the way. It’s great. And I’m sure that I’m with psy on this one, the whole storyline with Kurt Angle and Stephanie is hilarious. Come on, you can’t help but enjoy it. Sure there are some things that bother me, like getting 6 year olds to chant “Save the Hos”. But really it’s quite fun. AndWCW sucks. ECW is pretty entertaining most of the time.
I used to love it… when I was twelve! Then I outgrew it and now I think it is pretty stupid.
However, when I used to watch it, they had not yet admitted to the world that the whole thing was merely “entertainment” (read: “fake”). There wasn’t much in the way of storylines, just that little bald guy (Gene something?) interviewing people in the back corridors of the Glens Falls Civic Center (or similar locations) and they would stand there and say, “I’m gonna kick yer ass!”
But there were a few dramas I recall, like when Andre the Giant turned into a bad guy and fought Hulk Hogan, or the feud between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka.
From what I understand, the storylines now are pretty amusing, but I don’t think I want to get suckered back into watching something so… well, no offense… childish.
Hey ReservoirDog, that’s around the time I watched too.
Remember ‘Mad Dog’ Vashawn? Jerry Blackwell? The Sheik? And who was that little guy who used to run around and get pummeled all the time? Rooster something?
The bald guy you refer to was/is Mean Gene Oakerland. His son was a big hockey guy during that time at the U of M. I’m sure he endured no end of shit because of his father, “Ahh, Cmone Blackwell! That just aint fair!”.
On a side note, we were discussing our youth a while back and I mentioned Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Buck’ Zumhoff. It so happens a guy listening in to our conversation grew up with him in his hometown. He’s apparently in jail serving a sentence for child molestation. FWIW.
Those were the days of true wrastlin’. I was a tot then. I’m older now. I look at the wrestling now and basically see a soap opera for idiots. I mean, look at the audience once. Truly a sad statement on the fate of our society.
Since I’m rambling here, what seems different today compared to my youth, is all the sexual inuendo and all around crap they do now. Guys with ‘69’ emblazoned on their clothes, doing some kind of ‘crotch vibe’ to their opponents, some of the Satanic shit, I hardly think alot of the crowd (kids, and some of the older ones, from the looks of the crowd) get it.
It was harmless and fun when I was young, it was meant for kids. Who they’re after now is anyone’s guess.
Strange, I really hated it until I heard a Jessie ‘the Mind’ quote. He said, “If wrassling is fake so is acting” I saw the whole thing in a new light. I still don’t like it much, but I don’t shudder in disgust when I turn to it.
Take it from someone who lives in Minnesota. Jesse is a sham. He’s turned ‘serving the people’ into ‘serving Jesse’s wallet’. This guy is doing everything to pad his wallet and massage his already overblown ego. The general populace of Mn. is getting tired of him.
The concept was sound, vote for a guy who tells it like it is. Vote for someone who isn’t afraid of change. I liked what he said. I would have voted for him had I not been working and all around lazy when I got off. But what we got, however, is a guy on a mission to protect his own assets and reduce the amount of taxes HE pays. The greater good of the state? Nope. The greater good for Jesse. More wrestling Bullshit. ::Why were we so damn taken?::
Oh, and if I hear one more reference to his days as a Navy Seal, and how tough and mean he is, I’m going to vomit. The guy never saw action. He went to Vietnam as the war, or police action, was winding down. He sat on his ass in a base miles from any conflict. Hero my butt!!
Hey, I’m a big wrestling fan. I remember Bob Backlund, The Iron Shiek, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Antonio Inoki (now a senator in Japan!!) and others. Also, I am a women’s wrestling fan too, the Japanese style. When done right, they make the men look like falling trees. Lita from WWF brought the Japanese style stateside. Woo-hoo!!
As for it being ‘soap opera for idiots’: since when regular soap opera was ever sophisticated in the first place?
From Capacitor:
My point exactly. Soaps have never been intelligent to begin with. Wrestling is even worse. I never thought it was possible until I watched a couple of WWF and WCW ‘matches’.
Ditto. Wrestling sucks ass anyway. Big time. More on that via Jack Batty’s link to my thread.
:mad:
Personally, I don’t like it. I’ve had children around me most of my grown life, with some of them watching the WWF and the WCW shows, and some not. The ones that didn’t watch the shows were much less violent when playing with other kids. To me, that proved they didn’t need to watch it. When I got control of the TV, they didn’t.
The people that are in front of the crowds do their job well. I don’t deny them that. But I feel that it’s something that I don’t want to invite into my home.
There’s my two cents worth.
Count me as another one who’s used that term, except I used “rednecks” instead of “idiots” (No offense to soap fans–or rednecks).
Really, I’ve no problem with wrestling so long as no one tries to convince me it’s not staged, and that it’s a legitimate sport.
Greco-Roman (?) Wrestling (what they do in high school) is a legitimate sport. The WWF and WCW stuff isn’t.
But if you enjoy the drama, storylines, etc, and you realize it’s staged, hey, no problem.
On a semi-related matter, though, I think it was REALLY tacky to go on with the show (as opposed to cancelling it and refunding the money) when that wrestler died in the ring recently.
My brother is a professional wrestler in a small-time outfit called the American Wrestling Organization. Their website, if I recall correctly, is http://www.awowrestling.com
I don’t personally enjoy watching professional wrestling much, but I don’t mind if other people do. What I don’t like is when people bring 5 or 6 year olds to an event that has to much violence and swearing, not to mention the sexual overtones.
I do have a lot of respect for the wrestlers. I’ve gotten in the ring a couple of times during my bro’s practice matches and tried out some of the moves, and it’s not that easy. At least not for me.
So I guess all I have to say is that pro wrestling can be fun, but I understand if it’s not for everyone. And please please please think twice (thrice, even) before bringing young children to a pro wrestling event.
Oh, and my bro is the HardCore Champion! 
If it were just the wrassling, I wouldn’t mind it so much. But I hate all the mike-grabbing and trash-talking and the oh so obvious set-ups for dramatic effect.
HATE IT!
Theories:
Professional wrestling is a cross between soap operas and the circus. It’s a lot of fun. There are clowns, giants, freaks, acrobats and even Vince McMahon as the bizarre ringleader. There are beautiful women, the strong man, animals (George Steele), and lion tamers (managers). Even the wrestling mats are called “rings.”
Professional wrestling is a modern morality play, where current concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, just and unjust, are played out to the crowd. An interesting twist occurs when the fans end up rooting for the villains (the Dudleys being a great example) and the overall ideas of good and evil in the performance are then twisted to reflect the new, though temporary, ideals of right and wrong. By allowing the spectator to participate in the debate of morality and truth Pro Wrestling has developed a unique type of performance art. Truth becomes a dialog between the players and the audience and both are changed. This new responsive drama is direct --much more so than any other dramatic artistic medium.
Professional wrestling is night time drama without reruns (except for the repetitive Saturday shows). The wrestlers are rarely seen out of character and in many ways are more identifiable to the viewer as opposed to the rich, beautiful, never-go-to-the-bathroom-or-watch-TV characters on regular television. The personal in-depth relationship that the viewer develops with the wrestling character by such individual saturation perhaps forms an internal bond with the individuals subconscious id, creating a viable yet non-responsible extension of the self.
Professional wrestling in its current form seemingly is the embodiment of the cultural decline. I would argue, however, that wrestling is only the parody of cultural decline and in that way acts as a catharsis to the spiritual emptiness of modern existence. Take, for instance, the sad history of the Undertaker and his brother Kane. We’ve seen such realities played out on afternoon talk show TV ad nauseum. Yet here the WWF explores this theme by tying it directly to the original bibical disfuntional brotherhood thereby not only giving the story cultural and historical significance and context, but also satirically commentates on the current absurdist extremes of tabloid mentality. The viewer is able to transcend the exploitation of the now and touch, if only for a moment, the timeless universal human truth. But, just as the universal human truths cannot completely overcome the reality of the here and now, so cannot the wrestling completely depart from the cultural times that currently embody human truth. Wrestling is our visible skin.
Professional wrestling acts as a cultural elucidator. It creates a framework around which both the cultured and uncultured, the educated and the uneducated, the moralist and the libertine can debate issues by giving to each a readily accessable context. Because good and evil are so starkly presented (indeed who is good and who is evil may be THE great debate)wrestling is an ideal framework for a dialog in which no one need be excluded. It would be interesting to note just how many of the “Great Debates” from our fine message board have already been “discussed” in the squared circle.
Professional wrestling announcer JR is the best commentator on TV. Teamed with “The King” Jerry Lawler you have a weekly routine as fine as any two comedic partners of the past. Eat your heart out, Monday Night Football.
Not a wrestling fan. I’ve seen it a few times and could feel my brain atrophy as I watched. Maybe it’s the ridiculousness, maybe the poor writing, or maybe it’s just that I don’t enjoy watching large, sweaty men in their underwear grabbing each other in the crotch. A little homoerotic for my tastes.
Wow! Well said. I do agree that it is a forum which reflects “a parody” of society. Some of the characters in the past have given the public someone to focus their rage on, such as… er… was it the Iron Sheik that was a caricature of Saddam Hussein? (I’m a relatively new fan.) Also many hero types to cheer for. It’s just a lot of fun. I do agree with several posters here that it is not suitable for really small kids. PG-13 is about right. And parents should definitely discuss the wrestlers’ moves with them, and explain how they do get hurt, and that they are trained for this. The “don’t try this at home!” approach. Hitting your little brother with a folding chair is not acceptable! But all in all, it is just a fun way to spend a couple of hours.