me and Pro Wresting

The Old School Wrestling Podcast from Flair Chop has become one of my favorite podcast. It got me thinking about my pro wrestling fandom. I am not the biggest wrestling fan in the world. I never bought a wrestling magazine, I did not grow up with wresting action figures, my older siblings thought pro wrestling was stupid, and my father hated the idea of ordering a wrestling Pay-Per-View. That being said, I watched a lot of pro wrestling on free television. I remember watching a lot of WWF Superstars on Saturday morning after the cartoons were over.

I like pro wrestling, but it was never my favorite interest. I would rate it was the behind Comic Books, Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Movies, Cartoons, Video Games, and camping as a kid. It was still something I paid attention to. It was a good way to spend an hour on Saturday morning before I could drive.

In college I had a few friends who were really into pro wrestling. We talked about the history of pro wrestling and stories about the behind the scene action. This got me interested in wrestling in a new way. We talked about the patterns of pro wrestling. Like the way the WWF (and before that the WWWF) liked to do the same things over and over again. Before Hulk Hogan the WWF had long title reigns Bob Backlund, and Bruno Sammartino. Bruno Sammartino would Hulk Up long before Hogan. It was something I could know and geek out about.

After college the ECW hit air on SportsChannel Philadelphia. I still think the ECW was the birth of Post Modernism in pro wrestling. Pro wrestling has a habit of being behind the time. Compared to the WWF or WCW the world of the ECW was radically different. Faces broke rules to dispense justice and heels used rules to be underhanded. Watching ECW got me back into watching WWF and WCW.

Right after this the Monday Night War started. I got to watch one the greatest eras in wrestling. I watched Bret Hart, the NWO, the start of the Attitude Era, Lucha Libra in America, Taz, Public Enemy, Stone Cold Steve Austin, DX, the death of WCW, the death of ECW, and too many other things to list. It was a great and terrible era in wrestling.

Since that point I have been a wrestling fan on and off. I still don't buy Pay Per Views. I never had enough wrestling fan in California friends to spread the cost to an acceptable level. That being said there is usually 6 hours a week of pro-wrestling on cable TV.

Now I am in the point where thinking and learning more about how pro wrestling stories are told. I like to hear what people who have been watching pro wrestling with a critical eye think about pro-wrestling. I am finding a lot of podcasts where people are talking about wrestling like it is an art form. These podcasts have got me thinking a lot. I think I am going to write about wrestling more going forward.



Old School Wrestling Podcast
Wrestlespective

International Object