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Memories of watching wrestling with your parents


Wendell Cooley

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My mum laughed at Demolition, but she also said something very astute once. I was watching a tape of WM V (possibly III - I used to watch 'em both a lot) that a mate gave me a shot of, and there was a moment when Jim Duggan is seen with a big bogey dangling from his nostrils. Ventura says 'look at that doggin' snot hangin' out of his nose, Gorilla!' or something similar, with utter disgust. At that point my mum said, 'I don't like you watching this - the other one (meaning WCW) is better' Why? 'More holds, it's more serious, this is horrible'. Well, yeah... She wasn't a fan at all but she got that WCW was more 'technical'.

 

My dad, on the other hand, hated wrestling, and broke kayfabe for me as soon as I plucked up the courage to ask him if he thought it was fake. He told me exactly how it worked without ever having read The Observer. However, he really liked Razor Ramon, and the few times he took me, my sister and my mates to the wrestling, he got into it - maybe just pretending for my benefit, but I like to think he enjoyed the spectacle a wee bit, secretely. I have fond memories of him yelling. 'You yankee poser!' at Rick Rude in Aberdeen after Mr Rude called us 'Scottish, skirt-wearing scumbags'.

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I first started watching wrestling when I was 13 or 14. My dad would let me and my younger brother watch wrestling in the front room whenever it was on. He'd half watch it himself, but he wasn't really interested and would mainly be preoccupied doing something else. My brother and I would secretly take the piss out of him, as my dad was (and still is) a really tall fat ill-tempered bastard with black hair. So everytime the Big Show appeared on the screen, me and my brother would look at each other, then at our dad, then at the screen, then back at each other and start uncontrollably pissing ourselves laughing. Somehow, he never caught on as to what we were finding so funny.

 

My mum has never had any interest in wrestling, although she has made the occasional remark about how she 'wouldn't kick that black fella (Booker T) out of bed, as long as he wore a paperbag over his head', and how she 'bets that one with all the veiny muscles (Triple H) has a tiny cock.' My mother, ladies and gentlemen.

 

Also, she apparently never knew that wrestling was 'fake' until about a year ago when I happened to mention it to her while we were watching an episode of 'Hogan Knows Best'. It's still real to her, damn it! :cry:

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Exellent! More of this kind of thing! I'll be gutted if this thread dies on its arse.

 

It interests me, what our parents think of us, watching wrestling. It's not exactly the sort of thing you'd brag to the neighbours about, is it? 'Well, little Wendell isn't very good at maths, but he had a letter published in Powerslam, Maureen - Findlay Martin himself replied!'

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I lost interest in wrestling for a few years until stumbling across King of the Ring where a certain bold headed, beer drinking, middle finger giving bad ass came into my life. From his first match me and my dad was hooked. Until the Austin match my dad was saying why are we watching this fake rubbish, but after seeing a true bad ass who did not care about anyone or anything my dad was the one wanting to keep watching. After Austin's 3:16 promo me and my dad were hooked as WWE fans all through the attitude era.

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It was actually my father who got me into wrestling when I was very young. My earliest memories are watching on Saturday evenings on Sky 1 back in 1994, although I was watching long before that. I've just got a shit memory. Because of this, there are a only a few specific things I can recall regarding my old man and wrestling . . .

 

- Him scolding my mother. Remember when Shawn Michaels and Diesel had a massive bust up? On this particular episode of Livewire (or whatever it was called back then), they reunited after HBK jumped into Diesel's arms. Being a little pansy, I had a bit of a cry. My mother laughed and dad rightfully put the bitch in her place. Me and my dad went upstairs and spent the remainder of the day playing Fifa on the Megadrive :cool:

 

- My old man snuck me downstairs to watch the Royal Rumble 1995. It had happened a few days before I think, and as we didn't have any of the sports channels at the time, he got a copy off of a friend. It was my mother who would go apeshit if I stayed up past by bedtime, so after she had gone to bingo for the night, he came up and said "you wanna watch the Rumble?". Of course I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs as fast as my little legs would take me. Dad was rooting for the Bulldog that night and was gutted after the end result.

 

There's other little tidbits that I can vaguely recall. Dad kinda punching the air and shouting "oh, beautiful!" after watching Shawn Michaels drop an elbow, Him falling for the angle, like everyone else did, where Owen had knocked out Shawn on an episode of Raw, telling me that Psycho Sid used to wrestle years ago as Sid Justice.

 

He was a real mark for Kevin Nash though. I remember him standing up and letting out a "yoohooo!" after he jacknifed Undertaker at Wrestlemania 12. I'm sure his fascination stemmed from the fact Diesel was a lorry driver and so was he. He even had a small sticker on his truck of Diesel.

 

He eventually lost interest though, sometime in late 1996/early 1997. He briefly got back into it during the Austin and McMahon fued. Watching his reaction to Austin battering his boss in the opening of the Royal Rumble match was like watching him when Undi' got jacknifed a few years prior. His fascination ended at Wrestlemania that year.

 

Since I moved out, no-one in my family watches wrestling so I don't think it's been on their TV in some time. My last memory is of me watching the International Showdown DVD and him going batshit during the World of Sport match but calling the other bits he seen as "shite".

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My mother used to watch World of Sport as a kid as I'm sure many of our rents did (my mum is 47) and I recall her talking about Rollerball Rocco and I was impressed to see years later he actually existed and was damn good, she also couldn't believe it when Finlay appeared in the 'E in 2006. She remembered him when he belted her round the head when she went to see the wrestling back in t'day.

 

She watched casually during the Monday Night War era and I remember she liked Austin because he didn't talk shit and pretty much backed up his smack. Mother doesn't like bullshitters. She fucking hated HHH, thought the Rock was hilarious and would sit down whenever a Goldberg squash came on. Me and my Mum were united as one when Bill came out to murder someone. In recent years she liked Batista and Rey Mysterio as well. Shes never been interested in TNA.

 

My Dad is a bit of a different one. He watched alot of it with the lads in the army in the 80's (attended the London WWF show too) and used to go the gym with Dynamite Kid weirdly enough. He was like my mum a big Bulldog fan, loved Austin as well. He also fucking adores Jesse Ventura. I also remember when the Vader vignettes aired in 1996 for his WWF debut my dad hyped the fuck out of him saying he was a fucking killer. My Dad got me going apeshit for his impending debut. Loved Ahmed Johnson too.

 

He doesnt watch it ever anymore but he did come to a few GPW shows sprodorically over the years (partly when we were short of a lift) and at the Friday Night Fever show in 2006, Mark Kodiak worked a handicap squash match. Should have seen my old man, he marked the fuck out for the entire match, cheering Kodiak like he was Hogan and almost jumping in the air when Kodiak hit his Grisly Bomb finishing move.

 

There is something wonderful about watching one of your parents reverting to a mark state and going mental for something their trying to be a bit passive about.

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My Mam and Dad knew I loved wrestling so they would watch it with me and show some interest but I'll always remember my oldest brother delightfully informing me that 'it's all fake', that 'if he punched him

like that really he'd knock him out' and that 'Hulk Hogan takes drugs'. Being a 6 year old who believed it was all real and that Hogan was my hero, I took it badly and went to my room to cry.

 

I remember years later showing my Dad a Tajiri/Crazy match from ECW and I could tell he was impressed even though he tried to hide it.

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I first watched wrestling with the folks on a saturday afternoon, WCW. We are a big football family and if we were not at the match would watch Kck Off with Elton Welsby and watch random shows just to get the football scores flashing on the screen.

 

If I watched any in the living room my mum would take a passing interest, she was also a WOS fan back in her day. I have clear memories of the Mick Foley/Edge and Christian stuff from 2001 making her laugh and the horror on her face after the Mae Young birth scene.

 

I swear she had a thing for Austin too. She always supported my hobby though, buying me tapes and mags from an early age. Even now she asks about shows I may go to and will always buy me a dvd for birthdays/christmas.

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I can't remember who it was now, but I had someone tell me whilst watching either WWE or WCW that, "This American stuff isn't as good as the British wrestling I used to watch. That was real, not like this."

 

I honestly can't remember who it was now, but vividly remember having the argument that it's the same thing, just a different style, and British wrestling back in the days had predetermined outcomes

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