DUBYA-DUBYA-E CHAMPION JOHN CENA DEFENDS HIS TITLE IN THE...

[Optimus-Crime]

So I'm going to WrestleMania 32, and the Hall of Fame ceremony, WM Axxess, the NXT special and Monday Night Raw the night after WM. Pretty much a childhood dream come true.
People think of WrestleMania as the Super Bowl of wrestling, but I see this more like a Comic-Con because I'm a huge wrestling mark. Lot of guys from work going, we'll probably tailgate and pregame at Cowboys Stadium. Already got 2 weeks off from work, thinking about taking a 3rd. Feels good, man.

Hi Paradox! I think you're the only one who's still reading

May as well turn this into a wrestling thread.

and the obligatory prank call
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRRsXxE1KVY

 

[Paradox]

Hell yeah man! I'd thought about going, but I just didn't have the spare funds to throw at it.

As for making this a wresting topic, I've just been having a lot of trouble getting into the current product. I catch Raw on Hulu which is thankfully edited down to a ninety minute show. Usually I'll put it on my laptop while I play Xbox or read comics and look up if something sounds interesting. I am into the Kane split personality storyline. I think he's going to retire next year so I hope they have Rollins drop the title to him, at least for a month. Before Lesnar broke Taker's streak, I'd always envisioned a scenario where Kane went into full monster mode and ended the streak.

Some of these new men and women that have been coming in out of NXT are fantastic. I am eager to see if the product will get more invigorating once more of the old guard steps down and the newer guys are more prominent.

 

[used44]

Good on you for going for the biggest, baddest package. Might as well go all out and do it right.

What venues are NXT and RAW at?

 

[UghRochester]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-WdAJd9L9k

 

[StudioTan]

My dad took me to two WWF shows. The first one was a Saturday night show and I had no idea we were going until we were almost there. He announced it to me like that comic strip. Steve Austin rammed the ring with a dune buggy!

The second one was Monday Night Raw and we were seated front row on the balcony; excellent view. I made a sign and got on TV! The camera panned to me for a split second at the beginning of the show. The sign was The Undertaker's "T" with an American flag inside of it; "American Badass" written underneath. It was during his biker stint.

 

[Master_Craig]

I used to love WWF when I was a kid. I eventually grew out of it (lost interest really, I suppose) but man it was so cool back in the day. I bet going to a big show like Wrestlemania would be so much fun though.

 

[StudioTan]

May I ask a super generic question just to promote more discussion? Who was your favorite wrestler as a kid and has that title changed over the years?

Looking back on it now, I can see how Eric Bischoff and the nWo sank their own ship. They suppressed so much incredible talent in favor of theatrics. I mean, look what they did with Bret Hart - nothing really. But as a kid, I loved Hollywood Hogan. He played an excellent heel and his air guitar was top notch. I loved how he would sneak cheap shots after pleading on his knees to his opponent, or when he'd look around in disbelief when he was in trouble. He always made me laugh.

These days, I really enjoy watching old matches with Big Van Vader. That guy was a monster! He was so stiff in the ring, nobody wanted to wrestle him. He really made it all look real. His punches were very convincing, and he delivered some of the most brutal clotheslines I've ever seen. He also was quite acrobatic for his size; those moonsaults blew my mind.

There is an incredible match between Vader and Ken Shamrock that used to float around YouTube (I can't find it in its entirety any more.) Shamrock actually stiffs Vader and breaks his nose! Vader stated in an interview that he could barely walk for a week from all the leg chops he received. The match was from a PPV titled "In Your House" in 1997. Has anyone ever seen it?

 

[Paradox]

I haven't seen that particular PPV, but I'm sure it's in the WWE Network somewhere.

I watched wrestling occasionally as a young kid, the early and mid eighties stuff mostly. As I got older, no one else in the house liked it so I'd quit watching. After I moved out on my own I started watching again. This was '98-'99, during some of the best parts of the Attitude Era. Rock and Austin were great, but my favorite became Mankind, aka Mick Foley. Today, there's lots of guys I like in the ring, but Foley had the persona, in ring performance, and mic skills to make him my favorite of all time. That guy can out-promo anyone in the business, past or present.

 

[madster111]

May I ask a super generic question just to promote more discussion? Who was your favorite wrestler as a kid and has that title changed over the years?

Kane is and always will be king
Just saying

I also never really got into the show(s), but the N64-PS2 era games were straight up excellent. I can remember 4 player co-op on N64 button mashing and me and a broseph playing through a couple of the smackdown games on PS2.

 

[StudioTan]

Yea, Kane debuted by showing up at Hell in a Cell and ripping the door off the cage! So awesome.

I think it was Wrestlemania 2000 on N64 that I used to play with my friends. We sank so many hours into that one.

I need to pick up Mick Foley's book. I heard it was fantastic, I just never got around to reading it.

 

[used44]

Anybody looking to read a wrestling book should get "Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Profesional Wrestling" by David Shoemaker, who you may know from his "Dead Wrestler of the Week" articles under the nom de plume The Masked Man. It goes from pre-territorial era up to a little bit of current era. In some ways it's a bunch of essays strung together, but that's not a bad thing. I highly recommend it.

Also check out his column on Grantland. His Dusty Rhodes obituary is the best piece of sportswriting I read this year

http://www.amazon.com/Squared-Circle-De ... 8&qid=&sr=

 

[used44]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/requi ... rvey-race/

 

[Master_Craig]

When I was a little kid, my favourite wrestler back in the day was Bret "The Hitman" Heart. I loved his theme music and the sharp shooter was awesome. I also liked The Ultimate Warrior.

I used to like Sting in WCW too, but I got bored of WCW because of the nWo, I thought that was so dumb, and I was nine years old back then.

I was also a big fan of Hulk Hogan back in his old school Hulkamania days. I didn't like him as "Hollywood" but I guess that was the point of it.

I liked The Rock as well back in the Attitude era of WWF (geeze, I woulda been around eleven years old back then).

THE PEOPLE'S ELBOW.

 

[StudioTan]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/requiem-for-the-dream-dusty-rhodes-rip-obituary-wwe-nwa-professional-wrestling-ric-flair-harvey-race/

Hard times, indeed. What an excellent read! Thanks for the link and those suggestions. I'll see if I can find them next time I'm at the book store.

 

[Optimus-Crime]

Good on you for going for the biggest, baddest package. Might as well go all out and do it right.

What venues are NXT and RAW at?

Thanks. NXT is going to be at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (honestly not the best venue) but Raw is at the AAC, so that's cool. I'm guessing they're not willing to give NXT a big stage atmosphere just yet, so if you look at it that way the Convention Center is very "indie" and more like house show than the arena where the Dallas Mavericks play, but I'm looking forward to it no matter where it'll be.

I read the Foley books, and they're all great but the first one was definitely my favorite. Right now I'm reading through the Chris Jericho books and they're just as good, if not better, than Foley's.
And my favorite wrestler was always Mr. Perfect. The vignettes that the WWF aired of him bowling, playing darts, throwing a football all set to his theme music just won me over. I still try to swat my chewed up gum when spitting it out. Cool to see some wrestling fans around here.

 

[C_nate]

Who was your favorite wrestler as a kid and has that title changed over the years?

As a kid, most of my favorites were the "classic" WWF wrestlers. Junkyard Dog, Coco B. Ware, Jimmie Snuka, Jake the Snake, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Million Dollar Man, Big Boss Man, Bam Bam Bigelow. When Undertaker came along though, he became my all time favorite.

I lost interest for a while when things had started getting "weird" and when WCW did their whole Nitro thing, I got into it again for a bit. I liked Sting even with his The Crow rip off get-up and I loved Goldberg just from the ring intro alone, along with the whole bit of going undefeated for a long time.

After that, I kind of lost interest again and haven't watched or followed wrestling in quite a while so I have no idea whats going on anymore.

 

[StudioTan]

I don't know how I forgot to bring this up earlier but I have a Rick Flair story:

I used to wrestle in school and we were forced to do those lame state championships that took up our entire weekends and lasted all throughout the day; I despised them. The tournament was held in Charlotte, NC, and Flair was attending with his son, who wrestled in the 145 lb weight class.

Now, I had actually seen Rick Flair twice before at Charlotte Hornets basketball games. I attempted to get his autograph after seeing people lining up to talk to him, but as I approached, no joke, an old lady stopped me and gave me some line like, "ah, ah, sonny!" I used to tell people this was the type of body guard Flair brought along with him, but she was probably just an employee of the coliseum.

Fast forward to high school, several years later, and we're at this state tournament. Flair was down on floor level with his son and all of us kids, who were also pro wrestling fans. I was so close to him, I could see his Cauliflower ears. Now, I was old enough to understand that he's in a more "personal" setting, just trying to support his son. I didn't want to bother him for an autograph; I merely wanted him to at least acknowledge our praise. Something like, "Hey, kids. How ya doin'?" would have sufficed. Well, he completely ignored everyone: no waves, no smile; nothing. I lost respect for him right there, and I'm sure others felt the same.

A few hours later and Flair's son is queued up to wrestle my teammate and friend, Dwayne Murphy. There were dozens of mats strewn about the floor to enable many matches to go on simultaneously, but I can assure you, all eyes were fixed on this match.

Flair's son begins by shooting for a single leg takedown with his elbows wide open (one of the very first things I ever learned was to keep those elbows tucked.) Murphy sprawled, hooked his arm with a whizzer, and was on top of Flair, pinning him in less than fifteen seconds. The entire coliseum erupted with a "WOOOOOOOOO!" It was one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed. It certainly made up for an abysmal weekend.

 

[Optimus-Crime]

Wow, that's an amazing story!
I wonder if it's his son who died?

Dustin Runnels (Goldust) tried picking up my aunt when my uncle was in the restroom of the Dallas Sportatorium. Runnels probably thought she was a ring rat (who knows?) and had his arm around her, ready to take her away for the night. My uncle, a Marine vet from the 70s, arrives from the restroom and, is such a huge mark himself, sheepishly said, "Hey, man! That's my lady!"

I could've had Goldust as an uncle

 

[StudioTan]

Oh, man; just did a search for his children. That was him. I had no idea he died. I feel like a tool now.

Haha Your story sounds like an angle that could have been used for RAW! I guess having Goldust as an uncle wouldn't be so bad. I kind of liked him. He really knew how to get the crowd reeling. I always loved the heels.

 

[Optimus-Crime]

Same :mrgreen: