Any old school (80s/90s) WWF/WWE fans?

[Dodfather]

Hi guys

I'm watching some old WWF matches right now and regressing to childhood/teenager status all over again. Man, I was obsessed with this for so long!" I do still like it and, as much as he's clearly a complete a****le, you've got to admire Vince McMahon for being a publicity genius.

I don;t really watch it at all now but back in the day there was no-one better than The Excellence of Execution, Bret Hart! I'm still angry about the whole Montreal Screwjob thing and can;t bring myself to like Shawn Michaels! Bret's box set is superb!

So were there any 80s/90s WWF fans? Macho Man, Ted DiBiase, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jake The Snake, Mr Perfect... who were your favourites? For the record, I always hate Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior, They couldn';t wrestle!

Oh and check this out... from two years ago when I went to a book signing for Bret's incredibly detailed and well=written autobiography. If it had been anyone else I wouldn't have gone but I just had to! If this had been in 1994 I doubt'd I'd have been able to actually speak to him! As it was the place was packed but we had a nice chat.



There's actually a lot to be said about WWE (as it is now) in relation to acting, stardom and creating a performane "persona" and so I could have worked it into the phD...

[MacFan92]

I just watched an old Raw on Youtube last week from either 1999 or 2000. I watched it from really late 1999 til about 2003. It definitely isn't as good today as it used to be. I really liked Kane and Lita. They were my two favorites. Even though red isn't my favorite color haha.

[HomerMcvie]

I used to go watch matches as a kid, only because the neighbor kids went.

I don't really understand the obsession with it. ALTHOUGH, I have a friend who is giving it his best shot, at making it. If you look on my friend's list, he's PJ.

[Macfanforever]

I use to watch some back in the 1980's Hulk Hogan.Rowdy Piper days.WWE Headquater is right here in Connecticut along with ESPN.

[GODDESS6]

love, love rasslin'!!!~

[mottabam]

I liked the WWF way back when Pedro Morales, Jesse Ventura, Superfly Snuka and Roddy Piper were in the ring. My favorite tag team was Tony Garea and Rick Martell. The managers of that era were cool too...Captin Lou, Fred Blassy and the Grand Wizard. As far as the current era I find it unwatchable. Little wrestling and far too much talking and drama.

[WildHeart69]

As much as I hate to admit it, I was (and still am) a fan of 80's and 90's pro-wrestling!

My fav's: Randy Savage (if I had to pick an all time fav, it's probably him), The Undertaker (a VERY close second, almost a tie for second), Jimi Snuka, Mr Perfect, and Ricky Steamboat were probably top 5 favorites


I got to meet quite a few wrestlers: Capt Lou Albano, The Bushwackers,Ricky Steamboat, King Kong Bundy, Afa the Wild Samoan, The Iron Sheik, Chris Candido off the top of my head...and even some of the "managers":Sensational Sherri, Sable, Sunny

I kinda lost track of it around the late 90's, are there still big followings?? I dont hear too much about it anymore.

[tilthefirefades]

OMG

1996-2001 WWF is probably my favorite thing ever next to Stevie

I still watch all the old matches and pay-per-views. Shawn Michaels is a God to me, as is all of DX. I lovelovelove Stone Cold too, and old school Kane and Undetaker. But yes, Shawn Michaels is without a doubt one of my favorite people ever, even beyond his wrestling career.

I am incredibly jealous that you got to meet Bret!! How can I help but love him because of his rivalry with Shawn. Bret seems like a great guy, and I've been eyeing his book since it came out, how is it?

WWF (because it will never be WWE to me >.>) has been horrible since the merger with WCW, and that really crushed me as a kid. I was never a fan of WCW, and thought it was a cheap version of WWF.

And just because I'm in love with this thread...

[Dodfather]

Originally Posted by MacFan92

I just watched an old Raw on Youtube last week from either 1999 or 2000. I watched it from really late 1999 til about 2003. .

That's just when I wasn't watching it at all 9I still don't much any more). I couldn't bear to watch it after the horror (the horror!) of Survivor Series 1997!

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

Rowdy Piper

How could I not list Roddy?! He was one of the best and Piper's pit was always great.

Originally Posted by mottabam

I liked the WWF way back when Pedro Morales, Jesse Ventura, Superfly Snuka and Roddy Piper were in the ring. My favorite tag team was Tony Garea and Rick Martell. The managers of that era were cool too...Captin Lou, Fred Blassy and the Grand Wizard. As far as the current era I find it unwatchable. Little wrestling and far too much talking and drama.

I completely agree. Not enough actual wrestling and although of course you knew it was fake, far more effort went into keeping up the pretence/kayfabe. Now they can't even be bothered doing that. Although some of these names were just before I really got into it I have to agree that then and the 10 years or so after were WWF at its peak.

Originally Posted by tilthefirefades

Shawn Michaels is a God to me, as is all of DX. I lovelovelove Stone Cold too, and old school Kane and Undetaker. But yes, Shawn Michaels is without a doubt one of my favorite people ever, even beyond his wrestling career.

I am incredibly jealous that you got to meet Bret!! How can I help but love him because of his rivalry with Shawn. Bret seems like a great guy, and I've been eyeing his book since it came out, how is it?

WWF (because it will never be WWE to me >.>) has been horrible since the merger with WCW, and that really crushed me as a kid. I was never a fan of WCW, and thought it was a cheap version of WWF.

And just because I'm in love with this thread...

Ok, as a big Bret fan this entire post gets a big from me!! I think that the rise of DX and the Attitude era was when things started to go of the rails and it became less about wrestling and the skill involved (both technically and in relation to storylines) and more about sensationalism as reflected in the, albeit forced, title change from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Gotta love Stone Cold though. His gimmick as the bad guy everyone loved was just enough attitude to make things really interesting and it's what Vince McMahon really ran with for Attitude. Do you remember him as Stunning Steve Austin in WCW?

I think Shawn in onbviously one of the best wrestlers/workers in the business and wrestling involved in him and Bret's rivalry was first rate. I've always been a fan of his ability to work the crowd too. I just didn't like how obviously real Shawn's attitude was. As for the "I'm going to find my smile again..."...AAAGHHHH!

Bret's book is one of the best biographies I have ever read. It's well written,incredibly detailed and surprisingly honest about his own failings. It's quite a tome though! I got the North American version on pre-order way before it came out in the UK, a fact noticed by Bret when he signed it! He also asked me what my favourite match of his was and my answer got a smile and a "Hey, you're an old school fan!"

There's a 3dvd set just been released all about Bret and Shawn. Well worth checking out.

[tilthefirefades]

From what I understand, a combination of DX, Stone Cold, and The Rock saved WWF. I'm not sure I understand where you're coming from when you say DX changed everything. When was sensationalism not involved? Does Hulkamania and the Macho Man not reek of it? Considering how immensely popular DX was and still is, I do believe that the result of their formation can be considered a positive one. Also, if you want to get technical about it, it was when Vince Russo was hired in 1992 that the storylines changed to become more dramatic. Oddly enough it was the downfall of WCW when they hired him in 1999 because he tried it again to less popular results.

And yes, Shawn once had a huge attitude problem, but what alcoholic with millions of dollars and fans doesn't? He finally became champion after working for it for 10 years only to have the weight of WWF's less than desirable ratings on his shoulders. It was solely up to him to try to save the WWF, and DX was born

And as for the "I'm going to find my smile again", that was part gimmick, he really had to leave due to emergency back surgery. He had talked to his mom a few nights before and she asked him "why don't you smile anymore?". This was then the excuse he gave a few weeks later on Raw after he lost the belt to Stone Cold at Wrestlemania (one of the greatest matchest ever )

Why can't someone be both a Bret and Shawn fan? I am, and I also love Lindsey and Stevie

[Dodfather]

Originally Posted by tilthefirefades

From what I understand, a combination of DX, Stone Cold, and The Rock saved WWF. I'm not sure I understand where you're coming from when you say DX changed everything. When was sensationalism not involved? Does Hulkamania and the Macho Man not reek of it? Considering how immensely popular DX was and still is, I do believe that the result of their formation can be considered a positive one. Also, if you want to get technical about it, it was when Vince Russo was hired in 1992 that the storylines changed to become more dramatic. Oddly enough it was the downfall of WCW when they hired him in 1999 because he tried it again to less popular results.

And yes, Shawn once had a huge attitude problem, but what alcoholic with millions of dollars and fans doesn't? He finally became champion after working for it for 10 years only to have the weight of WWF's less than desirable ratings on his shoulders. It was solely up to him to try to save the WWF, and DX was born

And as for the "I'm going to find my smile again", that was part gimmick, he really had to leave due to emergency back surgery. He had talked to his mom a few nights before and she asked him "why don't you smile anymore?". This was then the excuse he gave a few weeks later on Raw after he lost the belt to Stone Cold at Wrestlemania (one of the greatest matchest ever )

Why can't someone be both a Bret and Shawn fan? I am, and I also love Lindsey and Stevie

Apologies if the tone of my post led to it being taken far too seriously.

I did state that I am a BIG fan of Shawn's technical ability and his gimmick/persona. He's had some absolutely fantastic matches over the years, not to mention he's a great performer. Of course I know that the "smile again" thing was a gimmick, as was the Bret dwarf that was brought to the ring after the Montreal screwjob. I was kidding. Just because I don't like a gimmick that doersn't mean I can't see it for what it is.

Yes of course all eras of WWF/E have been saturated with sensationalism - that's arguably the main function of pay per views etc. What I wasn't so keen on was the overt sexualization of the industry (or at least WWF/E). I should have used that term rather than sensationalism.

It just seemed that, in my opinion, in the attitude era the ability to wrestle, to work an angle and build a match was compromised in favour of overt sexualization and increasing transparency. It was always fake, of course, but there was at least a pretence that it was "real" and fans bought knowingly into this suspension of disbelief. That seemed impossibe when things were so over the top that the company themselves had to admit some of the secrets of their industry.

Has anyone here seen either Beyond The Mat or Wrestling With Shadows? Both are excellent and well worth a watch.

[MacShadowsBall]

I'm a big wrestling fan, especially WCW back in the late 9o's with the NWO, Sting, Hogan, Flair, and Goldberg. For awhile there I flipped between Raw and Nitro. I still remember Nitro's last show back in April 2001.

I lost interest in wrestling around that time. I back into it around 2005 and was into WWE fairly well until last year when it just started getting to kid-friendly and too much John Cena.

[David A]

For me, and I am 35 years of age. I dont watch any wresling unless Hogan is involved

It is amazing how many Hogan haters there are out there today, and I can almost bet most of the haters were born after Hogans hey day. I mean, at the end of the day, whether you like him or hate him, he was and is wrestling , he made it what it was and is, and Wrestling golden days were with him at the top

Time has a way of confusing things, but Hogan was and is the best. I dont care for his personal life, but thats his business and no one elses. He tried to be a good father but at the end of the day, his children turned into adults and for better or for worse, they have made their choices

But Hogan is the God of wrestling period, unlike music and sports where you can make arguments, I dont see many arguments than can be made against Hogan

[Dodfather]

Originally Posted by David A

I dont see many arguments than can be made against Hogan

My main issue with Hogan is an almost complete lack of wrestling ability. I remember reading an interview with a few wrestlers back when I was a big fan (fandom that had started in Hogan's heyday) and they said that the best wrestlers must have a combination of technical ability, ability to sell/build a match and also skills on the mic/performance.

While Hogan is obviously great at the last one, with an undeniably great ring character, he's only ok at the second and his technical ability is very poor. He has stated so himself. The same can be said for the Ultimate Warrior.