Pro Wrestling: Old Vs. New
 

If you're a fan (or should I say, have been) of pro wrestling, tell me: which time period of it are you the biggest fan of?

Are you fond of the good old days of Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage?
Or are you more in tune with the new age of John Cena and Randy Orton?

For me, I'm definitely with the Legends. I grew up watching those guys duke it out, plus it was the time when everything was fun and original, hence why it's called the "Golden Age" of wrestling.

So is wrestling considered art?

As far as I know, I've been the only wrestling fan around here (with the exception of he-who-must-not-be-named, and that annoying kid punch999), or at least only one who showed his love to wrestling. Not so much as I used to, but I still occasionally check to see how things are going in the world of squared circles.

I started watching back at 2005, after learning to love Smackdown 2 video game on Playstation. It was the WWE programming of course and damn was it awesome for the first times. Then I learned it was pretty much scripted, learned about other wrestling promotions, got into insider stuff....still enjoyed it somewhat, but the love was tainted. I was a fan for 2 or 3 years, then I stopped. Still though, If someone would say "Wanna watch Pro Wrestling", I say "Sure!".

As for If old stuff is better than new, I cant really decide. Its not like there ever was a time when wrestling was perfect, flawless entertainment. Your favorite era is usually the time you start watching it.

What Im saying is, there was stuff like this and this back in the day. There might be some stupid stuff today, but there has always been stupid stuff in wrestling

I am tempted to move this to Blahx3 but I think this forum is better, Wrestling is a TV Show and I would argue that this forum should be about Music, Art, Movies and TV.

Anyway your two time groups are a bit odd, the Attitude Era which many think of as the best time in wrestling was 95 to 01 fitting into both of your poll options there. Personally there is no Golden Age of wrestling it is just as good now as the early nineties and a lot of the time just as bad. The problem with Wrestling today is the old wrestlers not moving on, Hogan, Flair and Bischoff are smashing TNA into the ground and Russo is still finding work somehow. The PG era of WWE might not be as gory and blood filled as the Attitude Era but most of the wrestling is just as good if not better. People like Miz, Bourne, Punk and a few others are some of the best wrestlers I have ever seen.

And you don't ever want to get me started on WCW and the wrestlers who helped sink that ship.

I used to like the Late Nineties Early 20th century. HHH, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind and the rest of that era. Those older than that, I didn't watch, and the current crop is pityfull, the only 2 that stands out of the current bunch is Cena and Randy Orten, the rest is very below par

Those two, and JBL were the three I hated the most..baaah!

Nature Boy Ric Flair<3<3<3<3

How can you hate JBL? Sure, he was a total prick backstage, he was a perfect smug bastard in character.

....... Big Daddy, someone? Legend of British professional Wrestling aired on the BBC...?? Someone ??

Ah well, long forgotten.
Those days of lesser show and moar action in the ring. Long gone.


.... nevermind about me.

just one (or two) words:

HULK HOGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :smile2:

besides that wrestling dont interest me. :suspicious:

I think for me it was more entertaining when I was 10 years old, yeah...

The only time I ever cared for wrestling was when Hulk Hoggan was fighting the Géan Fèrré. Man, those were real wrestling matches.

I was two young back then to realize it was scripted but then again when a match last well over half an hour you cannot complain about the entertainment value!

Scripted isn't really the right word for wrestling matches, well not all of them. Some are heavily scripted and nearly every spot is picked out before. But a lot of the stars only have the ending scripted and a few spots here and there. They talk in the ring and use the crowds reactions to tell if they can go longer or need to wrap up. The referee will also tell them to "Go Home" if they need to finish up fast from a bad reaction or time constraints. Nearly every time you see two together they are talking, given very short commands on what happens next. The Ref will also do the same thing, carrying commands from one to the other or giving his own.

Even then a stuff up during the match can lead to the "wrong" man winning, someone hurting themselves might lead to them having to lose when they should have won. So while it is all fake it is still amazing to me to watch as the stars work the crowd and themselves, pulling off moves that take skill and strength all from a few split seconds of command from one to the other.

Then again I am a Smark, (a smart mark) someone who knows some of what happens back stage but still loves the show that is presented. I am there for the skill and the drama to me it is like a action packed soap opera.

After delving into classic wrestling so much, I'm gonna take this opportunity to change my favorite timeline of wrestling (it still fits into the Golden Era so my vote still counts) to WCW's prime time of 1998-1999, particularly because of my new favorite wrestler (or should I say, former favorite renewed), Goldberg. I was 10-11 years old at the time, and it was the time when I was REALLY into the action. I was a major WCW fan back then and didn't really care about the WWF. I just loved seeing Goldberg pummel opponent after opponent and build up his incredible winning streak...

One Friday night in June 1999, my Dad took me to a WCW exhibition at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Goldberg wasn't there that night, but nevertheless I got to see many legends, and it remains to this day one of my fondest memories. Among the wrestlers I saw that night were Prince Iaukea, Ric Flair and Buff Bagwell (who were facing off in a "microphone war" that night), and Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig (who at that time was the leader of the country-lovin' rap-haters and participated in a hardcore tag-team match that night). The main event was a triangle match between Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Sting (my brother's favorite wrestler back then), but it turned into a handicap match as DDP and Bam Bam were partners at the time. Sting beat them both and won the match. I also met Lex Luger signing autographs and bought some WCW merchandise (a fake world championship belt for me and a sting mask for my brother). It was a great night.

Its actually nice to see some WCW fans. They made some horrible booking decision and had awful storylines, but they had great talent and great matches too, like the one's you mentioned.

Sadly it was also some of that talent that helped drag the WCW into the pits. Oh well nothing lasts forever.

Chosen, you need to read the following article, because you're obviously seeing WCW the wrong way. You too Darth:
Why WCW Deserves Better

It's all about old wrestling when there was WWF and WCW and ECW and you watched all of them and discussed them with friends at the bus stop the next day. Heck, I still remember when my friend told me Owen Hart died, dang. Still watch some old wrestling matches just to relive my childhood, sort of. That and the Ultimate Warrior is awesome.

1995-2001! Best times. WCW!!!