Making a Mark

[BullyRayStoleMyKitKat]

OK, this topic may have been covered to some degree before. Should it be a topic that's been covered at length on several occasions, then I give you all not only my most profuse apologies, but permission to rename this thread the "Flame the newbie until he pays his bloody dues thread".

 

Basically, the clue's in the title. The one sentence we all likely feared as kids, even above "Well son, its actually your Mum and me that buy your Christmas presents" is "You know all of that wrestling stuff is fake, don't you?"

 

So, I'm kind of intrigued as to how we all made the journey from being the wide-eyed kids literally SCREAMING for Bulldog to win at Wembley Stadium, to the hopefully not too jaded informed fans we are today?

 

What was the moment that first drew you into wrestling? What were your first impressions of this larger than life world as a kid?

 

For me, I loved the showmanship, things like Macho Man's colourful, frilled outfits with the hat (1991). I loved that guys like Jake, Koko, Bulldog all had their animal mascots at ringside. Heenan and Monsoon bickering like a couple of kids, even while telling the in ring story.

 

 

When did your "OK, this might not be as real as I thought" moment happen, and how did you feel?

 

I think I had a "in denial" period for a good 18 months - failing to suplex a friend in the playground, and putting it down to "Not taking my vitamins". (Thanks for that Hulk, by the way - you owe my mum an apology for me bugging her for vitamin tablets in EVERY chemist we visited...)

 

But the real epiphany was the Nigel Benn (or was it Eubank?) boxing match around 94ish, where the other guy was put into a coma. I'm sat there thinking "Well, the wrestlers hit each other every single night, and they don't even get a black eye... OHHH."

 

Did having that realisation affect your enjoyment at that time, for better or worse?

 

I think for the first few weeks, I was PISSED OFF - How DARE they trick me, lie to me, etc. But after cooling down, and learning to appreciate it for what it was, I began to enjoy it more for the skill of how they'd tricked me in the first place.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, what opinions did you have as a kid that turned out either spectacularly right on the money, or woefully wrong?

 

Right: (While watching WCW Worldwide on a Saturday Afternoon - Old ITV schedules ruled!) "Why is that Stunning Steve Austin only holding the TV Title? He looks like a star in that robe, and I bet he moves faster than Lex!"

 

Wrong: "That Nailz guy is really big and scary! I think Hulk might need to watch out for him, he could keep the belt for YEARS!"

 

And for you good folk?

[NorthSeaTiger]

I was drawn in by my friends turning up at school with a Big Boss Man and Jake The Snake Roberts figure when i was in P7. I had never seen or heard of "Wrestling" before, and as i had a huge collection of He-Man figures, there wrestlers were just an extension of the superheroes i was used to. So i bugged my parents for a video of anything they could find and the first VHS i got was Summerslam '88. As i mentioned in the thread i started about most watched matches, the Main Event got me well and truly hooked. Those MASSIVE guys dripping with colour and muscles made me sit up and take notice, and it has been an obsession of mine for over 25 years now. I cant really remember when i had the "It's all pretend" epiphany, but i was gutted when i learned about blading, then re-watched the Hulkster VS Slaughter match from WM 7 and saw it all unfold, from Hogan fiddling with his wrist tape, to the PADDED side of the chair hitting him, to his "falling down and swiping his forehead" to leaving his arm outstreched and Earl Hebner conveniently putting his hand right there then same hand going into his pocket.....a little bit died inside me that day...i was GENUINELY gutted that it was all exposed.... Still love it though.

[PowerButchi]

Ahhhhhh, the bloody "when did you find out" thread! We only had one of these a couple of weeks ago.

 

As a new poster I'd recommend reading through the past 3 months or so of On Top so old ground doesn't get rehashed mate

[BullyRayStoleMyKitKat]

Ahhhhhh, the bloody "when did you find out" thread! We only had one of these a couple of weeks ago.

 

As a new poster I'd recommend reading through the past 3 months or so of On Top so old ground doesn't get rehashed mate

 

 

Very much noted.

 

In my defence, I did try to expand it out a tad: I'm kinda interested in what ideas we had as kids about certain wrestlers, or aspects of wrestling that were either scarily accurate, or horribly wrong!