When did you stop caring?

[DazzM]

Maybe poor wording on  my part, but I think it kind of sums up what I'm getting at.

When did you stop caring? (if you have). I know from being on this board for many many years (I lost access to my old username), that we've seen booms and busts constantly. There has however been some members that have been ever presents regardless of how the wrestling landscape is.

Though, there is obviously some that would class themselves as "lapsed fans", or that don't take as much notice as they used to, or just read up and consume their wrestling by reading here, or catching bits and bobs on socials. 

My question is, at what point did you stop caring about Wrestling as much? and what caused it? 

For me, it's a combination of real life taking over, and the strange combo of oversaturation and accessability. 

Having had 2 kids now, finding time is at a premium, and simply put there's loads more than wrestling that I need or would prefer to be doing.  I'll still make time for some of the big events that I love, like Mania and The Rumble, but really, finding the number of hours I need to properly consume the product is at a premium now.

Wrestling I suppose is much easier these days to consume, as with the focus on Social media, I feel you can get the bite sized chunks you need to know what's going on without the need to sit through the long shows. Especially with a lot of the product being tedius. I want action, I can't be bothered with the 40 minute opening monologue. So I guess that's part of what's made me not care as much. The product has shifted into a harder to watch and pay attention to product. 

In theory things like WWE should be tons easier to watch given that it's on Netflix, but really, I just can't be bothered with the tedium. I will watch the bits I hear are good, I'll keep up with news and stuff, and I'll dabble here and there, but sitting down for a 3hr stint. It's just not a priority now.

The "product" is infuriatingly difficult to watch sometimes. The formulaic shows with the opening monologue, the "unplanned" main event that happens after the inevitable confrontation... meh!

I'm still a fan. I still enjoy watching the bits I enjoy, but it's not the priority it once was. 

 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

I dropped wrestling really after the Benoit stuff. I only picked it up again during the last few years, but after the Hangman photo I have definitely started to wane again.

[Chili]

Slowly for years from around 2007 post Benoit, then completely when the Saudi stuff started and just watched old stuff, back in 2019 for current stuff after giving Double or Nothing a go. Started wavering again in 2023 to just become very casually watching again.

[DavidB6937]

I don't think I ever stopped caring. It's just the way life goes in terms of having the time to care. 

It's the difference between planning a week around watching shows and now just some days waking up and looking forward to reading results and watching clips on socials instead.

If I had the time to watch the shows, would I? I think so. I don't think my lower consumption is linked to a lack of caring. I just had a lot more time as a youngster.

I wouldn't choose to go to a live show for something I didn't care about, let alone travel half way across the world for it. Wrestling, the people involved and the overall experience is still second to none for me. I say that as someone who isn't massively into football or other sports - I used to be, but again it's a time thing. I'd say live music comes close.

I've sat through years of regular watching of far worse products than we're getting in 2026 and if that didn't put me off I'm not sure what would. I've never really had a 'down time' or 'break' in terms of deliberately stepping away because of exhaustion or whatever. 

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

I stopped watching watching regularly around 2005/06… still caught the odd episode of Raw, and watched WrestleMania up until 2015. With the exception of Royal Rumble 2023 (because I was at a mates house) I have not seen any events at all.

These days, I am just happy watching wrestling from 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, but even then,  I really only have it on in the background when I am exercising.

[tiger_rick]

I still care, I wouldn't be on here chatting shit otherwise, but I don't care much. Around 2004/2005 was when I went from being someone who would watch every week, regardless, because I just loved wrestling and couldn't get enough of it - current or old - to someone who would dip out for weeks or months at a time, keep up to date on here and jump back in when something interesting happened. 

I've been like that ever since. Throughout the 2010s, I was way more out than in but I'd always keep up to speed. From a WWE POV, that ended around 8 years ago. I've barely watched them since. AEW kept my fandom alive and I've definitely cared about them and what they've done. But even then, I've had several breaks from it, sometimes due to the product not being up to much, generally because they've done something I really don't support (like hiring Ric Flair) or a combination like at the moment where I'm still fucked off at Hangman and there's nothing much appealing at me to come back.

I still care. I watch old stuff on YouTube most days, I listen to wrestling podcasts and I read this place. I'll watch stuff that comes up on my Facebook sometimes too. I just don't care enough about modern wrestling.

Edited May 8 by tiger_rick

[King Coconut]

The first time they carted Hogan out after the racist stuff. I think it was a WM. I think i just said fucks sake, turned it off and haven't cared since. Also took a hiatus when JBL became champion. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

I’d virtually given up before the Network came along and made everything available including every new PPV. Don’t think it was very long before I gave up on those, though, and 2016 - 2019 I was mostly just watching NXT. The neverending Gargano-Ciampa and Cole-O’Reilly matches were the nails in the coffin for me and that last bit of WWE I could still stomach, so AEW came along just at the right time to give me something new. I’m still with AEW every week, but as far as WWE goes for all intents and purposes I’m done.

[westlondonmist]

I've gone through numerous phases through life of barely watching to absolutely loving it. Right now I barely watch it. Although I know what's happening in all the big promotions so I definitely care. I'd like to pull myself away but it's hard when it's been a big part of your life since you were 6, whether it's cheering your hero on or getting the piss ripped out of you. 

I haven't been a WWE fan in years, probably nearly 20 and given what has become of the company probably never will go back. 

But the reality is I have a child. After he's gone to bed me and my partner have a couple of hours together and she hates wrestling so that's not going on. I've also only been to two shows since i started a family, Royal Quest 19 and All In 23. I used to go to a lot of RPW shows. If I felt I had more disposable income I'd go to more shows these days. But I always went by myself so I'm not missing out on socials. The money is better spent on Gladiators, Opperation ouch, Horrible Histories and Steve Backshall tickets. 

 

If AEW was suitable for kids I would probably happily let my son watch but Moxley would give my son nightmares. He has played AEW fight forever and loves Luchasaurus so is a shame. He's not allowed to watch WWE, it probably is suitable but I don't want him obsessed with that company.

 

 

 

[Carbomb]

If you mean WWE, it was roughly before 2012. The Ashley Massaro revelations were the last straw that meant I will never watch WWE again, but I was already checking out by 2011. I didn't see The Shield debut - the only thing I saw was their Wyatt Family EC match. If I had to pinpoint, it was the season of NXT that Leo Kruger turned into South African Skinner.

But the reason why I haven't watched much wrestling overall in the last fourteen years or so is simple: it just feels like fucking homework. Two-hour shows are bad enough, but when you've got loads of different programmes, it just becomes far too much to commit to, especially as I have loads of things I do or pursue that take up my time, the value of which I've become a lot more aware of as I've got older.

Have been to the odd live event here and there every couple of years or so, but that's really about it.

[AshC]

When people decided having a good match was more important than the outcome of the match. 

That's perhaps what I'd say if I didn't care anymore. 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I still care for the odd thing, Brock vs Oba and Punk vs Roman for example. Last time I cared about following week to week was in 2021 when Hangman was on the rise and AEW still looked like it might be something different. It will take a fresh presentation style with hot wrestlers capitalising on momentum to pull me back in. Maybe. Again, I was hoping AEW would be this but it's settled into this kinda WWE lite presentation, with more 'banger' matches and worse storylines. There is decades of wealth to draw from. Entire promotions to take inspiration in the different ways you can promote wrestling. Instead everyone is just stuck plundering from the same 1999 Raw onwards reference point.

[JNLister]

When Hogan turned up at WrestleMania 9 and took the title. I was done.

Then my mate phoned and said Mr Fuji had filed a protest, so I had to watch Superstars on Friday to see what Jack Tunney said.

[Chico Torres]

I stopped caring in 1997, 29 years and counting!

[Daaaaaad!]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

But the reason why I haven't watched much wrestling overall in the last fourteen years or so is simple: it just feels like fucking homework. Two-hour shows are bad enough, but when you've got loads of different programmes, it just becomes far too much to commit to, especially as I have loads of things I do or pursue that take up my time, the value of which I've become a lot more aware of as I've got older.

You're absolutely right on this, and in fact this post and HarmGen's comment about watching NXT up until the infinite Ciampa/Gargano business began really resonated with me. Part of the massive appeal of NXT from 2014-2017 was that you sort of could dip in and out a bit - if you wanted to watch the TV between big shows you could and it would enhance the experience, but just watching the TakeOver shows was enough to keep it enjoyable while not feeling like you had to marry Triple H just to know what was going on.

WrestleMania 29 was the one I was able to go to, and I lamented not taking the opportunity to go to 30 also. Everything from then on has felt like a bit of a blur, dipping in and out with decreasing frequency until AEW came to London. Sadly even that has slightly lost its lustre and I won't be likely to do it again this year, for many of the same reasons others have cited - money, morality, general home situation including family and the like. Plus just when my son was starting to get interested in Cody Rhodes after WM40, I showed him an edited video of the Cena heel turn, forgetting that he'd bloodied Cody up at the end. It freaked him out and now the closest I could potentially get him to any of it is when we go to Butlin's.