I need to vent & I need to get my mind of things. What better way to (ab)use an offtopic forum? So I got a lot of questions, a lot of comments and such even after my last post and... You guys rock. For the record: I did have a run-in with staff, I did got demoted, there were some words (which evidence I removed from my profile out of frustration, no disrespect Kryssy) but I would be lying if I said that staff mistreated me. An early upcoming April 1st joke ran which unfortunately didn't go as planned and had to be ended early. But that obviously doesn't change the fact that you guys still rock. I lived all my life in the Netherlands, and during my teens I discovered a sport which beat them all. I mean really. American wrestling, as we tend to call it. Back in those days we had Sky Channel which had the WWF (No, not the World Wildlife Funds, they're boring.. The World Wrestling Federation) included. And boy was it awesome. What those guys did... That Roddy Piper sure was a nasty person and man.. Hogan seemed immortal back then as well (now my opinion has shifted a bit). I lived WrestleMania I. I heard the crowd go bananas when Eye of the Tiger played (darn you WWF for being a cheapskate and not paying your dues and instead remaster / redo history). I recall how the living legend Mohamed Ali cleaned house (he was a guest referee because of the high profile match, if anyone could keep order it was him). A match of high magnitude... "Rowdy" Roddy Piper with his bodyguard "Ace" cowboy Bob Orton had teamed up with Mr. Wonderful himself: Paul Orndorff and they were going to show who was boss by challenging the Hulkster himself: Hulk Hogan. Who had teamed up with none other than Mr. T., to get a bit of the "street sense" which should help him live through the match. I can recall some comments from mind. I was impressed with the into of Hot Rod, also because Scotland is one of my favorite places to go to. So yah; Mr. Ventura's comment left an impression back there: "You may not like him but you still gotta respect him". And with so many things, he was right. At least I think so. Especially with the stuff I learned in between then and now. Oh yes, I know: "Its fake you dumbo!" (the flying elephant). No, its not. I said it back then and I will say it now. Yes, the main difference is that I now know that its staged. Theatre. Entertainment. Not a real competition. But it sure as heck is real. It is a real physical process, its a real challenge and most of all its awesome when done right. In my opinion. What? You still insist its fake? So, like.. What about those medical records? Those injuries don't lie. Some of the wrestlers even insisted that their records be made public, because of that. Fake you say? Humbug! Staged, for sure. Predictable, I can agree. Fake? No way. The physical stress is real. I am biased, but... it should be a sport of some sort from my POV. Look... If you can win the Tour le France on dope and make a big deal out of it and be recognized, why can't wrestling (where dope would have not much meaning at all where the outcome is concerned) be recognized? Esp. given the physical stress here. BUT... I am rambling now. What the heck happened? I used to turn on the tellie, and there is was: a good (or not so good) wrestling match. Nowadays the show lasts for 3 hours where 1.5 is commercials and 1 hour is nothing but talk and yadda, yadda, yadda. The rest is filled with predictable matches. Seriously.. Wrestler X feuds with Wrestler Z. So the next week we get X insulting Z. Then we get Z attacking X. Next we get X + gf Y in a tag team vs. Z and gf W (or males ofc.). And then we just repeat the process. Jack Swagger (which I think is pretty good) vs. Rusev (which I also think is good, he sells awesomely). How many times have we seen this? And just before WresteMania.. for sure.. Here comes Swagger again, obviously only to lose to Rusev. Can it get worse? YES. A Pay Per View (PPV) comes up; and the next day on the weekly show ('Raw') what do we get as the finale? The exact same headline match as on the PPV. For real? In "my days" (I feel old.. and no; that's a jest because I don't) we had better ways to start a fued than a 30min whine. I recall Jim Duggan coming out for his match while Harley Race was just leaving. And he happened to have a "King complex" (was the self proclaimed king of the WWF) so he insisted that Duggan got out of the way. After which he got shoved off (literally). Wham! instant fued. I don't dislike the modern days, but I do think they're a lot less believable.. and I miss that. I still like a good wrestling match, I still like a good performance but I don't like it when the performance part starts to dominate the wrestling parts. Heck.. Brock Lesnar and the genius (IMO) Paul Heyman.. Lesnar calling out the "authority" and actually staring down Triple H? That was gold, and way too short lived. Yes, its fake, yes its staged, yes its one big comedy. But it sure was enjoyable... I miss the good old days. And with that I am sharing (but also reporting this post to be sure) a wrestling match which I consider to be the ultimate classic. One of the best matches of all times. "Macho Man" Randy Savage who settled scores with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in WrestleMania III. For the record: It may look brutal, it may look disturbing (which is why I am reporting this post after posting to have an official verdict) but: these two guys were friends, and they rehearsed this match for approx. 2 months. All the injuries shown in the preview are fake: Steamboat needed time off and got it. In "WWF style". (making a bad guy look even worse). Why I consider this THE match? The hype was all about Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. And the next day on school all we could talk about was Macho Man losing. While he (s)could have won. So yah.. thanks for reading my vent.. And in this corner... Nah, not working. I leave you now with what I call one of the best matches ever... But please; before you click the spoiler open: this may seem harsh, violent and maybe disturbing to you. I don't know. Keep in mind: this is all staged. If you might be upset with this: do not click the spoiler and/or report this port (I am serious, just do so). Last thing I want is cause more problems. But having that out of the way... Here is one of the best WWF matches of all times. IMO: click here if the video doesn't play
It never was and will never be as good as it was during the nWo days. You thought it was really happening. 'The Invasion'. Haven't watched in years, just garbage now. I occasionally watch the PPVs and I'm watching the PPV on Sunday though, just another excuse to drink.
