Would you still be a wrestling fan?

[Deleted]

If you had been born in the 2000's, do you think you would still be a wrestling fan?

What attracted me to wrestling in the first place was the LJN action figures... Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik,  Nikolai Volkoff, Rowdy Roddy Piper.  I wanted all those figures before I ever watched wrestling.  Then one day when I was about 6, my mom says "Hulk Hogan is on TV!" so I came in and watched Hulk Hogan wrestle Brutus Beefcake.  To me it might as well have been a real life He-Man wrestling real life Skeletor.  I was hooked.  Couldn't care less about whether they were muscled up brawlers or technical wrestlers.  It was all about them being real life action figures.

I don't see any of this in modern sports entertainment.  Today they are still marketing to kids, but it's hard for me to see the appeal even when trying to see it through the eye of a child.  The things I loved about wrestling in 1985 are still things that I love in 2014, granted my appreciation for the "art form" has evolved greatly since then.  Still, had I been born in 2005, I don't think "sports entertainment" would have ever captivated me like it did in 1985.

[Deleted]

Depends. If I was born in 2000, then yeah probably just for the stuff that WWE did from 2008-2010. Something in there would have probably hooked me.

But moreover, with the internets the way it is and being the kind of kid I was, stuff like the invisible/blowupdoll matches in DDT or Chuck Taylor making kids cry, the Ants in Chikara/slow-mo matches, it probably would have captured my imagination.

[Deleted]

Probably not. It's so generic and boring anymore and there are so many other entertainment options that I just don't see it happening. Wrestling was so colorful in the 80s that it was hard not to be entertained, now there are a bunch of guys with average names and Calvin Klein underwear model physiques that randomly wrestle for no reason whatsoever and there are no real stakes or consequences and that makes it all kind of pointless.

[Nickybojelais]

When I was a kid I was captivated by larger than life monsters with their bright colours during the Hulkamania era. All I see these days are largely bland guys with normal names dressed in black.

I seriously doubt that 6 year old me would have been hooked to todays wrestling as I was in the past. Despite it being mostly awful, I think the New Generation era would have hooked me more than todays product.

I think people like Cena, Stardust & Goldust would appeal to 6 year old me, purely because their look stands out compared to the bland attire of everyone else.

[________ has left the building]

Of course I would be. If anything I would have more options of pro wrestling to watch and various platforms to consume it.

[wildojinx]

Depends on how fun the video games would be (since it was the NES Wrestlemania game that got me interested in wrestling, yeah, i know,,).

[Deleted]

Nov 19, 2014 18:24:59 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Depends on how fun the video games would be (since it was the NES Wrestlemania game that got me interested in wrestling, yeah, i know,,).

So what you're basically saying is, so long as wrestling video games existed in some crude and barely playable form, you would probably have been a wrestling fan.

[Blindkarevik]

Hard to say.

Honestly, my dad was a wrestling fan so I got into it cuz he would watch the AWA and NWA whenever it was on and I got into it that way.

Left to my own devices, I probably still would've found it and liked it.... but there was still a hint of kayfabe in the 80s and early 90s, so I was still in the legitimate sport aspect of it. As I got older, I started seeing cracks in it and came to my own conclusions of it being scripted.... certain gimmicks, it's hard not to realize how put upon it is (eg: Undertaker) .... then, by the time I had accepted it as completely scripted and getting into the "smark" territory, the NWO had just started and wrestling was hitting a boom period... so I naturally stuck with it as, finally, people were getting into the fandom I had looked at as a dirty little secret for years prior.

Then, as that waned... I started getting out of wrestling again, but.. with the rise of the indies like ROH, Chikara, CZW, PWG, etc,.... I found a lot to like in an era where there wasn't much going on WWE-wise.

So realistically, I've stumbled into some great times to be a wrestling fan growing up. However, if I was just now discovering it.... I don't know that I'd be as into it as I am now, but I might at least look at it as a dumb distraction if nothing else.

[Mayonnaise]

I honestly don't know. My fandom comes from my mom and going to the matches at the Sportatorium and other places around Dallas. Now outside of WWE stopping by three or 4 times a year, there is nothing here. If I had to say yes or no, I'd probably say no, I'd be more into football and MMA, probably wouldn't pay attention to wrestling enough to care.

[2 Cold Scorkum]

the only thing kids like today is minecraft so probably not

[StuntGranny®]

I can't say for sure, but I doubt it. Hogan and Macho Man got me into wrestling and NWA/WCW made me appreciate and love it. Guys like Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Owen, Ric Flair, Arn Anderston, Sting, etc. were just on another planet than the current crop of generic guys.

Plus, there were options back then. That made a world of difference due to how exciting that made everything. That's all gone now.

[Professor Chaos]

I doubt it. Kid me got hooked on the Hulk Hogan's Rock & Wrestling cartoon. I didn't even know wrestling was a thing. I remember one day my brother being like why don't you watch these guys in real life, they're wrestlers. He turned it on TV and I been hooked since.

[Mozenrath]

I think I could be, but it's really hard to say. I think I would have probably latched onto Daniel Bryan in much the same way I did Foley, though. Maybe it's a beard thing.

[Macho Pichu]

Well, no matter what, I think WWE would be my first real exposure to wrestling, so it really depends on when I discover it. I was just barely discovering wrestling when Owen Hart died, but the coverage of that actually convinced me to tune into a full wrestling show (even if it was Nitro, I didn't know the difference yet) I think the media coverage of the Benoit tragedy would have done the same. As someone in this (as in the one I'm sending this post from) version of the universe who didn't watch the 2007 product at all in any promotion, I'm not sure if there were any characters who would have caught my imagination.

I liked badasses as a kid. Austin's I-don't-give-a-shit attitude, Goldberg's ability to squash the ever living bajeezus out of jobbers, even a few years later when I started getting a little more knowledgeable, Brock Lesnar quickly became a favorite. I loved the Dudley's smashing fools through tables. The way those types have been booked in recent years, I'm not sure if it'd have done it for me. CM Punk showed a few Austin-like qualities, so maybe I'd be into him. Ryback would be a favorite instantly. I hated all heels with a firey passion if they weren't someone I didn't already come to love as a face. Jericho would do it for me just like he did back then.

[ayumidah]

Honestly, I kind of doubt it. I got into wrestling by watching it with my father when I was 13. If I was born in the 2000s, he died in 2008 so I might not have been old enough for it to really have clicked with me before that happened.

[Bo Rida]

Hmm it's tough to say, I liked OTT gimmicks/panto villains, the Royal Rumble, tag-teams, technical wrestling (punch heavy offence was cheating to me) and Hart family drama.
Perhaps more importantly I liked supporting fellow countryman the British Bulldog.

Then the permission to cheer the heels in the Bret vs America feud, stable wars and the attitude era kept me from wandering off as I got older.

WWE in the mid to late 2000s wasn't really a great time for any of that so I don't think wrestling would have appealed.
A few years later would have been better and I expect I would have loved The Nexus angle but by then it would have been too late. It would have to be WWE too as I can't see TNA winning me over.

I also wouldn't have had the free PPVs like I did as a kid and without the rumble I'd never have been hooked. I don't think the patriotic element would be the same now either.

[celtics543]

I would have been one of those annoying kids who loves John Cena and owns his shirt in every color.

[MC Blowfish]

I doubt it. Wrestling has changed so much since I was a kid. It's not the same anymore. Back in the eighties, you had these guys with interesting names and gimmicks. Now like others have said, everyone has a name and is very generic.

[wutchagonadobrotha]

0% chance if I grew up in this era I'd watch.
The PG Cena era has been terrible.

Every once in a while there will be something great like Punk or Ambrose or Rock coming back.
But it's terrible and compared to AE it's almost unwatchable

[AtomSmasher]

My first reaction was probably not, but given how accessible it is (over t'internet for example) not having World Of Sport to watch on a Saturday lunch time isn't that much of a loss as a lead in.
My son has shown a bit of interest after watching WWE Superstars/Experience and he's only 5......but Skylanders is definitely more interesting for him!
But i guess he's a lot younger than i was when i started watching (i was about 10 i think....)
I certainly don't think the WWE TV content these days is any worse than the squash-fests of the mid 80's....