Professional Wrestling Thread

As a kid it was tops. Koko B Ware, British Bulldog, the Harts. Papa Shango, Razor Ramon. Captain Lou Albano and the Headshrinkers; to this day their "HUSS" is how I and my best friend hail or greet each other. Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby the Brain, Jimmy Hart. F#$%s sake, man, I could go on forever. Hawk and Animal: the Legion of Doom, The Rockers, Earthquake and Typhoon. Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr Perfect. Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Golddust. Bam Bam Bigelow. Luna Vashaun. Bah GAWD!

I just can't anymore. When there started being the mixing of WCW and WWF, I lost the thread. Came back for The Rock and Hunter Hearst Helmsley but it wasn't the same. I think it's the same thing that killed UFC for me; there was just something about it being between "regular dudes" that the pumped up version can't match. Anderson Silva is a good watch in a "People are Amazing" sort of way, but if hankering for a spot of violence, I wanna watch Tank Abbott. Butterbean. Just fireplugs sending it, ya know?

SLICING THE FOREHEAD TO PRODUCE BLOOD....? HECK, use some Hollywood stuff.

I was a casual fan in the ‘80s, and I watched it in the ‘60s as a kid. I had an autographed photo of Bruno Sammartino, might still be around somewhere. I thought it was fun during the Piper/Orndorff etc years.

Good book: The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling, a nice history told with a lot of compassion for the athletes and entertainers.

Just as a certain segment of auto racing morphed into Demolition Derby a certain segment of wrestling morphed into Theatrical Wrestling. Roller Derby had very little to do with roller skating.

Quote: Fleastiff

Isn't this an indicator of insanity?

Look don't get me wrong, I know there are risks in life and i know there are wussies who think that being under an oxygen tent means they can't smoke. Riding the rodeo circuit means you can wind up like Slim Pickins with a two thousand pound bull stomping on your balls but a billionaire taking risks?????????????/

It sounds to me like you should read about Richard Branson.

What about managers? They are/were key players in the biz. In no particular order Captain Lou Albano, The Grand Wizard, Bobby The Brain Heenan, Jim Cornette, And the Man Among Men, Classy Fredie Blassie. You pencil neck geeks.

Quote: pew

What about managers?

Same theatrical role as when Casey Stengal cane charging out onto the field to argue with the umpire. It part of the "show".

Quote: pew

What about managers? They are/were key players in the biz. In no particular order Captain Lou Albano, The Grand Wizard, Bobby The Brain Heenan, Jim Cornette, And the Man Among Men, Classy Fredie Blassie. You pencil neck geeks.

Managers played an important role. Over half of making it in pro wrestling is selling your gimmick. For that you need to be "good on the mic." Look back at Ric Flair, the man knew how to cut a promo. Knew how to fire the crowd up. Even today people remember his shoes cost more than their house. Flair was good in the ring and good on the mic, which is why he is rated #1 with Hulk Hogan being #2 because he was nothing special in the ring and on the mic was good but good for kids. As has been said, "you liked Hogan as a kid but Flair when you grew up."

Not all wrestlers have a personality good on the mic. But they are good in the ring or have the muscles and build to put out there. So they give those guys a manager. The manager handles the mic and leads the wrestler.

Of course sometimes both are good on the mic so it is even better. But for the most part that is why the managers were there.

Coronavirus pushes WWE to furlough employees, release wrestlers

Nothing new, WWF/E has retrenched many times over the years. Still things must be starting to hurt.

Quote: AZDuffman

Coronavirus pushes WWE to furlough employees, release wrestlers

Nothing new, WWF/E has retrenched many times over the years. Still things must be starting to hurt.

As a casual watcher now, I've felt that recently WWE has had too many 'superstars'. To follow a soap opera, which essentially is what WWE is, should not be complex. Focus on fewer wrestlers, and it will be a better product.

By the way, there have been a ton more 'squash' matches against no names recently.
Angel Garza versus "John Doe".
Sheamus versus "Ralph Smith".
Rowan versus "Mike Jones"