Your Wrestling Guilty Pleasure

[PSF]

Face Doink the Clown. Loved the heel version as much as the next man, but as soon as he turned face, changed his music added Dink to the fray, I fucking loved him! Now I would have only have been 9 or 10 at the time of this happening, but I think I'm still immature enough now to believe that I would still be as invested in the Bigalow/Doink fued if it was to happen now as I was back then.

 

Speaking of the Bigalow fued, I adored their match at Mania X. The dynamic of a Beast, a clown, a freak of a women and a tiny clown all involved in one match was too much for my little brain to take at the time and I found it fucking hilarious.

 

I equally love both of the survivor series matches from 93 & 94. 93 didn't have the actual Doink involved in the actual match, but that match is so full of dodgy characters and cheesy as fuck wrestling that I cannot help but find it on my TV at least once a year come SS time. 94 had Lawler and Doink and I feel like that needs no justification to explain my love.

 

Can I just add that in the real world, I fucking detest Clowns. Not that they scare me or anything, just that there horrible boring bastards that don't have a midget, fake limbs to batter people with, don't go around smacking mad dogs daughter on the arse or anything. Who wants a clown that can juggle when you can have a clown that can fucking wrestle!

[HarmonicGenerator]

Watching wrestling in itself probably qualifies as a guilty pleasure for me!

 

But that doesn't really count, so here's a few.

 

 

 

X Factor. The best thing that the otherwise eternally gormless Justin Credible and generally rubbish Albert would ever do. Not the highlight of X-Pac's career, granted, but I still really liked him throughout this run, plus he was having crackers with the likes of Kidman and Tajiri not long after it so he was still good. X Factor were great, it was really good having X-Pac as the leader of a group rather than just a member and they fitted into the mid card very nicely for me. And their music! It was terrible, but I bet you can still remember how it goes, which is more than I can say for half the current roster's music, and it was 15 years ago!

 

Squash matches and battle royals. I love a squash match, and I love a battle royal. Give me a big powerhouse like Sid or the Steiners or the Brothers of Destruction or Ryback pummelling a nobody for 90 seconds, and I'll take it over a 20-minute indy wankfest any day. Especially if it ends with a chokeslam or a powerbomb. As for battle royals, I don't know why I like them so much but I just do. They're inoffensive easy watches, they're fun, they're never long, they'll never get plaudits but dammit I'd miss them if they went away.

 

Heel Stone Cold. I never got on board with babyface Stone Cold (probably partly because I missed his rise through the ranks) and he was an utter twat when he returned in 2000 Stunning all and sundry and interrupting loads of people's matches. Heel Stone Cold, however, where he was still a twat but you weren't supposed to cheer him for it, was thoroughly entertaining. There's an episode of SmackDown where he's bullying Spike and Molly all episode culminating in a really good match against Spike (at least, I remember it being good) where he's a fantastic heel. And I liked all that 'what's my watch saying' stuff as well. Just gave him a new lease of life, that promptly disappeared again once they turned him back after the Invasion. Speaking of...

 

The Invasion. I don't mind the Invasion in the slightest. Never watched, or gave a shit, about either WCW or ECW. As separate entities to WWF, they meant nothing to me. I watched WWF, and that was it. So for me, the Invasion was just a WWF storyline with no real-world context or background bogging it down. And it was great! Taken on its own it's got drama, high stakes, twists and turns, new stars and old, and the right team won at the end. I appreciate that for most people watching at the time, that context and background would have been there, and would have soured the angle in what could have been, but for me, seeing all these new guys (and for me, they were new) come in and be a threat only to be beaten back by my beloved WWF was exactly what I wanted to see. Week to week you didn't know who was going to turn, you had the rise of RVD, you had Rock back, Angle was having a great run, it was really watchable and fun, but I totally understand (especially now) why it wouldn't have been for many others. But I loved it!

[Arch Stanton]

Heel Stone Cold. I never got on board with babyface Stone Cold (probably partly because I missed his rise through the ranks) and he was an utter twat when he returned in 2000 Stunning all and sundry and interrupting loads of people's matches. Heel Stone Cold, however, where he was still a twat but you weren't supposed to cheer him for it, was thoroughly entertaining. There's an episode of SmackDown where he's bullying Spike and Molly all episode culminating in a really good match against Spike (at least, I remember it being good) where he's a fantastic heel. And I liked all that 'what's my watch saying' stuff as well. Just gave him a new lease of life, that promptly disappeared again once they turned him back after the Invasion.

 

I don't think many would feel guilty for loving Stone Cold's thoroughly entertaining comedic heel run, but I have seen lots of people on here in the past saying that they hate the whole 'What?' gimmick. So I will put it out there that I absolutely loved it at the time and still do to this day. Just a beautifully simple, organically grown catchphrase that got over like rover and you could tell Austin just had so much fun with it. 

[FUM]

It was a great catchphrase but I think the hate for it is solely down to it constantly ruining promos these days.

 

Mark me down for loving the invasion. One of my favourite ever RAW episodes was the Kurt Angle turn where the hint all night was that Y2J was turning.

[Philjax]

Total Divas. I've binge watched about 25 episodes over the weekend. It's fucking brilliant.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Divas title era women's stuff featuring the likes of Kelly Kelly, Eve, Maryse, the Bellas, Beth Phoenix, Layla etc.

The wrestling wasn't quite as good as it is now but for the most part it was still fun with a changeable roster of glamorous divas caught in a weird time between the ridiculously sexist attitude era, and the current women's wrestling landscape where competitive in ring action comes first.

[pitseleh]

My guilty pleasure would have to be giants in wrestling. I'm not just talking about your Andre's and your large wrestlers who can actually work a decent match, there's just something badass about watching a seven footer lumber around the ring. I remember being in awe when I first saw The Great Khali and I think the only saving grace of the Gonzalez/Undertaker match from Wrestlemania IX is the spectacle of Undertaker being totally dwarfed. They may lose their charm the longer they stick around (Khali being the main offender), but they are a big part of the freak-show element of pro-wrestling which I love.

[Killjoy_Gee]

For me, this is an easy one to admit - and I'm not all that embarrassed by it! The Invasion angle. Before you all laugh and tell me to disappear forever, let me set the scene. It's 2001, I'm 11 years old and I've been a wrestling fan since Summerslam 2000 and have only ever heard of WCW, but never seen it. To me, I had no clue about who the stars were. I was a naive wrestling fan who didn't access the Internet to get my information or spoilers (imagine that!) So when WCW started to invade I was genuinely pissed off - how dare they! It didn't matter that all we got was lance storm or Mike awesome because I didn't know who Goldberg was... My brother still reminds me that I once told him Goldberg was a returning-from-being-run-down Stone Cold who had got bored of WCW and come back. So I accepted these figures as the stars of the brand. When Shane and Stephanie started to try and destroy WWE I just saw them as ungrateful brats who needed a slap. #WWFFORLIFE! The inclusion of ECW added the betrayal of guys I only ever saw as WWF guys, and I hurt for it - how dare they abandon us in our time of need. And this is the same attitude I had towards Austin and over WWF guys leaving. I was so into the storyline that i made sure to never miss a show, and to this day I still love it. Back in 2011 - before rumblings of a network were around - I bought all the tagged classics from this year just to relive it, and, whilst I'm wiser to the business and know who they could have had represent each sides - I don't care. I love how stars like Edge, Christian and Jericho started to elevate to the next level; I love that it bought me RVD who has never been as good, I love the Austin Appreciation Night (Coz you are the wind beneath our ring) and the subsequent milk shower, I love Heymans impassioned promo before Survivor Series, and I even love Classy Freddie Blassies 'stand up' moment. The only thing from this time in wrestling I wish could be taken back is Austins goddamn 'What!' Chant. It's been 15 fucking years. Just die already. Continue to love the show, keep up all the good work chaps!

[Killjoy_Gee]

Only came to post that - and didn't read the other posts. Now I have, im glad I'm not the only one who loves this time!

[Grecian]

Mark Henry. Not the 2011, surprisingly good, World Champion, retirement promo Mark Henry, the awful, late 90's / mid 2000's Mark Henry.

 

There was just something almost hypnotic for me about watching him, I can only compare it to watching a car crash in slow-motion - you know what's going to happen, you know it ain't going to be good for the people involved, summed up nicely by him breaking his knee pretty much running into a turnbuckle. His matches sucked, he injured people and got hurt himself on a regular basis, but I still perversely enjoyed what he did.

 

He does throw a mean headbutt though, and I was annoyed when he suddenly got good!

[Kaz Hayashi]

Mine is liking wrestlers or gimmicks that I probably shouldn't... the type that are usually held in low regard years later.

 

I loved the Sultan, he looked fucking boss with his piercing eyes, his red leather dust mask and his Tong po hair doo. When I first saw him I didn't realise that he had previously been shrinking heads or saying 'Nooooo' to drugs, he just looked like a proper villain and I thought he would have ripped through the upper card with Sheiky and Political Bob by his side.

 

The same can be said for Kama the supreme fighting machine, the New Blackjacks and Farooq Asad sporting his big blue shiny helmet.

[WyattSheepMask]

Seems appropriate we're having this topic after the recent discussions about who are the guys that make you go "alright! It's my boy!"

 

I said it there, and I'll say it again for my King Boy.

Was he a well travelled vetern of the territories? Far from it.

Did he work his way from the high school circuit to the bright lights of MSG? Hardly.

However, while Vince McMahon stuck everything on a Wrestlemania roll of the dice, he was busy becoming a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and executing 838 tackles, 95 sacks, hell he even had 2 interceptions in a storied 15 year career in which he became a two time Pro Bowler and winning a Super Bowl.

I don't care if he dressed up his little dog Pepe, he'll always be the final and more importantly greatest of the "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING BABY!..." brigade. Ladies and gentleman, the Halliburton swinger himself, crusher of cream puffs everywhere, never mind that shit.....HERE COMES MONGO!

[Scott Malbranque]

Planet Stasiak is my all time favourite wrestler. I don't feel guilty about it, but others may think I should.

I love him, I miss him and I wish he were still on my TV. Even on Superstars instead of Zack cunting Ryder or any member of the Social Misfits besides Curtis Axel.

Actually, I love Curtis Axel. I love his face and the permanent look of entanglement on it. It’s like his mind is in a heap trying to decipher what he’s to do next and what he’s even doing there in the first place.

 

Other guilty pleasure was Bull Nakano. She was the very first person of differing race that I shamed myself all over my naval to.

[Keith Houchen]

Was waiting for the Stasiak post, Le Branquefurter.

[PowerButchi]

He wears a syrup though!