Anybody here a WWE fan?

I liked wrestling...when I was 8.

I remember as a kid, when Dad took me and my buddies to the TV studio on Saturday afternoons to watch the wrestling matches. That was way before the WWE, etc, before color TV, and the matches were televised "live" from the studio, with perhaps 40 spectators on folding wooden chairs all bunched on one or two sides of the ring to make it appear as if there was a big crowd. They even had signs so the audience would know when to moan, or yell in anger, etc. And even some "lucky" guys who were designated throwers of programs or something into the ring. I said "studio", but it may have been an actual gymnasium. That was a very long time ago.

He "knew" someone, and we even got to see them rehearse once during the week, by special invitation. That's when I decided it was not real and much of the fun went out of it for me. But I continued to watch and enjoy over the years anyway, with an understanding that it is entertainment, scripted for the most part, and just showmanship.

Bruno San Martino, Andre the Giant, young Hulk Hogan, etc came along after my early exposure to the "sport".

Some of the story lines over the years have been interesting when viewed from my perspective that it's not a real sport, just a weekly, well written entertainment series. And occasionally things go terribly wrong and a player does get injured, etc.

Andre the Giant was not supposed to lose to Hulk Hogan, but got hurt during the match. His name was not "Hulk Hogan" at the time, if I'm not mistaken.

I will still watch it occasionally on TV, if there is not a better choice. And, I still enjoy some of the televised events. It's comedy, and some difficult stunts combined into a pseudo reality that can make a viewer wince in sympathetic pain with the athlete.

People really believe it's real.




Yeah. Right. Like that is "real".

Professional wrestling. Love it or hate it, it is entertaining at times.

Actually, if it was when Andre got pressed slammed. It was.

Hogan got his name when he came over to then the WWF. He started out as a heel and the progressed to a face once he started his run to win the title.

Man, too bad Miss E passed away. Damn, what a beautiful woman.

DonDiego's interest waned when Haystacks Calhoun retired.

Here is a cool story. There was a wrestling manager by the name of Skandor Akbar who was in World Class Wrestling as well as Mid South. He lived not far from the Kroger store where my brother in law worked. He would come by every so often and buy a ton of bologna and cheese and was always pull out a big wad of cash out of his pocket and pay.

He would often stay from thirty minutes to a hour and talk wrestling with my brother in law. Unfortunately he passed away this year.

Many wrestlers before they hit big in WWE used to wrestle here in Dallas. Stone Cold Steve Austin lived near me and sometimes I used to see him and his first wife eating at Furr's here.

There used to be a tag team called the Samoian Swat Team that wrestld here. Samu and Fatu who later in WWE was called Rikishi. They spent one Thanksgiving at my house as their family was in California.

Man could those guys eat and drink!