Ok, I'm going to get this off my chest straight away. I'm a wrestling fan. And I'm in my 30's. Thankfully I don't live at home with my parents though I do think my housemates just about tolerate my love for the "sport" of wrestling. I think the use of the word love there was possibly too much, seeing as I only tend to purchase two wrestling PPV's a year (these being the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania), whilst watching the odd highlights of an episode of Raw or Smackdown on YouTube when I get the moment. I do, on occasion, also obtain a copy of one of the other 10 PPV's dependant on how good the match card is. So, I stick to what I am, which is simply a wrestling fan.
I don't love the product - in fact it angers me at times - but I was there in the Golden Generation (the mid-late 80's), the New Generation (mid 90's), the Attitude Era (1998-2001), and the current product in all its "glory", so I think I can consider myself more than just a casual acquaintance of the wrestling scene. If you're a WCW or TNA fan, then I'm afraid this post may not be your cup of tea, as it's mainly all about the World-Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) / World Wrestling Federation (WWF) /World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) company that has dominated the wrestling world for over thirty years.
As a kid I took immediately to the cartoon-style characters that the (back then) WWF provided us with. I first started watching their product (which was usually just WWF Superstars) towards the end of 1988. I didn't have SKY so I didn't have access to watch the shows or PPV's that were provided on their Sports channel. Thankfully, in those days tape trading was in full force (and quite a lucrative business opportunity - one person would record the wrestling and hire it out for a night for a set fee, usually with around 25-30 people waiting for their turn - I did a similar thing in the mid-late 90's with some more adult tapes...it got me through college though!) so I was able to catch up with the exploits at Titan Towers on a weekly basis, though to a detrimental effect on my pocket money.
When I started watching the WWF, the Macho Man Randy Savage was WWF Champion, and the first PPV I watched was the 1988 Survivor Series. Forget how diluted this pay per view has become now, back in the 80's this was all about team warfare. In fact, there were only 4 matches on the card, but there was a grand total of 50 wrestlers involved. The shortest match (the opener) lasted 17 minutes and 50 seconds, whilst the second match (a 20 man elimination match) lasted 42 minutes and 12 seconds. These were days before hardcore brawls & bloodletting - there were minimal moves & lots of restholds and submission moments. Now, most matches last around 5 minutes, with maybe only one or two matches getting around 20-25 minutes
This was a groundbreaking moment for me and now, looking back nearly 14 years later, I can't believe how much the business has changed. Back in these days no-on knew that Vince McMahon owned the company, and it was simply good guy versus bad guy. Feuds could start over the smallest thing though these would last months, as back in those days there were only 4 pay per views a year (The Royal Rumble - which had just started on free TV but would become a PPV, Wrestlemania, Summerslam & Survivor Series). This meant that the majority of TV shows the WWF put out focused on wrestler vs jobber matches, along with promos & video packages highlighting feuds that were ongoing. My how times have changed!
I can't believe some of the gimmicks back in those days. You had a policeman (Big Boss Man), an ex-convict (Nailz), a voodoo priest (Papa Shango), a matador (Tito Santana), a Rooster (The Red Rooster), a turkey (The Gobbledy Gooker), a superhero (The Blue Blazer), an Elvis impersonator (The Honky Tonk Man), a barber (Brutus Beefcake), a mountie (The Mountie), the list goes on. It got even worse in the mid 90's with the introduction of such gimmicks as a hockey player (The Goon), adult baby (Bastion Booger) & a bin man (Duke "The Dumpster" Droese) among others. The Attitude Era still had their fair share (the Godfather springs instantly to mind) but it looks like gimmicks have slowly & surely been phased out. Is that a good thing? Maybe it is to some, but a good gimmick is never a bad thing. Unless you're Droz & being forced to vomit on cue in order to get a job with the then-WWF.
When you compare the past to the present, there definitely has been a change in the way that wrestling has been perceived. The product today is now called sports entertainment, as apparently the word wrestling has been banned by Vince McMahon, & its more focused on the entertainment side of things. An average 2 hour episode of Raw contains maybe 40-45 minutes of wrestling. Looking back at this past Wrestlemania, it was a 4 hour show (usually such shows only last around 3 and a half hours, though this actually finished with about 5 minutes to spare) yet there was only a total of around 118 minutes (1 hour 58 minutes) of wrestling. It seems more focused on promos & video packages, but all us decent fans want is a good card & each match to have the appropriate time for us to get into it.
The reason for this post is just to convey my feelings towards the wrestling world that I grew up with, as compared to todays current product. In the parts that follow I'll be looking back at the golden generation with my highs & lows, as well as do a more in-depth gimmick breakdown. Unfortunately, time is a factor, so I will aim to have that up within the next week. Until then, thanks for reading.
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