My Wrestling Bio of Sorts

I've been a wrestling fan pretty much all my life. My earliest memories of wrestling are of asking to stay up late so I could watch Saturday Night's Main Event and of watching the cartoon on Saturday mornings. To me wrestling was like the cartoons I watched on Saturdays, but instead they came to life and were real living breathing people. These were real cartoon characters and that I thought was cool and I guess was partially the reason let me watch it in the first place figuring that it was just cartoon characters so no harm could come about me watching it.

Yes I was a mark when I first watched wrestling. I believed everything was real. However, I hated most bad guys except for one at the time when I was little, that being Macho Man Randy Savage. See I had become of fan of his along with many others when he stepped up against the Honky Tonk Man and later joined forces with Hulk Hogan. But for some reason even after he turned on Hogan I stilled like and was mesemerized by the man know as Macho Man.

Then in 1990 I believe after they were done showing a video package of Ultimate Warrior beating Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 6 on Saturday Night's Main Event. I stopped watching and partially I stopped watching because they were laking on showing it and someone finally informed me it was all fake. So far all those years believing in these guys all idol worshiping was over. I totally stopped and wanted never to watch it ever again.

Thenin 1992 my neighbor and a few other guys who lived on my block had some wrestling magazines and they looked at them on the bus. I just shook my head and said you do know that stuff is fake don't you? Then I got the you are a girl you just don't understand speel. At this very time my dad's life was slowly coming to an end. So I needed something to get my mind off of that and have something to connect me with my neighbors. So I would occasionally watch Superstars and even WCW's syndicated program on Saturdays I was entertained and I really got into.

That August my father passed away and not long after that moment I thoroughly got into wrestling. I subscribed to the WWF magazine I taped Superstars every week. I'd go to circle K every Saturday and check out the latest wrestling magazine and talk to my neighbor when we'd go eat at Gambino's pizza after Superstars about what was on that week. Then I stared putting posters and pinups of all my favorite wrestlers on the wall. Then when my family would go rent movies I would rent whatever wrestling video tapes they had over and over and over. Pretty soon it got to the point where they gave us good deals on buying the videos from them.

Then in the Summer of 93 I begged and pleaded with my mom to get cable so I could watch RAW. Well my mom didn't like they whole cable idea, but satellite TV, and I'm talking the big huge dishes, she was willing to take a look out. That summer we go our satellite dish and I know had a plethara of channels to watch wrestling on. I haad MSG that had wrestling spotlight and occasionaly house shows. I had USA where I had WWF Mania, WWF RAW, WWF All American Wrestling, Then of course the occasionally Sunday Night Slam. Then I could watch Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars on The Colorado station affiliate on other local TV affifilates we got. But the best thing of all was now finally I could watch the Pay Per Views Live.

The first PPV we ordered was Summer Slam. One of the Original four PPVs of the WWF. This one was being Headlined with Lex Luger taking on Yokozuna for the WWF title. It was a great PPV all around, however the ending was a disapointing. What's the point in having balloons dropping down and guys from the back coming out and raising up a guy on their shoulders if he didn't win the WWF title. Seemed really really stupid to me, and back then I was only like 12 years old. Even to this day I think it was stupid. I mean if they didn't feel confident in Luger why bother even having him win the match. They could have had him just get squashed by Yokozuna.

However, even before this point once again I liked a guy who I wasn't suppose to like. Much like Randy Savage their was another guy who there was just something about him I liked and that was Shawn Michaels. At this point time they I had just gotten to he was about to get suspended for failing a drug test I believe. Anyhow a few months lately when they had the poll to vote for whether he should be reinstated I would have voted for reinstating him but it was one of those darsh gone 900 numbers and I got in trouble with those during Wrestlemania 9 back in March of 93 so I was banned from every calling WWF 900 ever again, that was partially the reason why we got the Satellite Dish.

This was also the begining of a period of change in Wrestling. Hogan went to WCW and thus the mass exodus from the WWF. However, Hogan leaving to go over to WCW meant nothing to much to me because I hated the jerk. I don't care if he was the reason wrestling became as big as it had become in the 80's I hate this guy like no other when it comes to people in wrestling. Maybe I'm just a very loyal Macho Man fan and after hearing his tirate on Hogan on Radio WWF in 94. Or Maybe I just don't think a boot and a leg drop is all that believable. Or Maybe I just think his tired routined of beating a guy up for a bit and then being beat down then hulking up and giving a guy a boot to the face and then a leg drop is all that exciting. Which probably explains why I have such a dislike for John Cena.

Anyhow moving on. I was taping every program I could I was buying PPVs, Magazines, posters and merchandise. I finally convinced my mom in the Summer of 94 to finally let me go to a live wrestling event. My mom had/has this notion that most wrestling fans are trailor park trash and low lifes. Which is sort of true. Anyhow I convinced to let go, but the catch was it wasn't going to be around here we were going to to Chicago. We were going to go to the first ever event at The United Center we were going to to to Summer Slam 94. Wow Summer Slam has seemed to be a significant impact on my life. It was the event held not long after my father died and really drilled me into wrestling. It was the first PPV I ever ordered and now it would be the first every live I event I went to.

We went to Chicago and I had a great time. I loved the excitement being their live, the sound of them slamming each other on the canvas caught me off guard. But all in all it was very exciting and fun. The crowd was into everything, including the women's match, which now of days you really can't say too much. It was great seeing the whole spetacle of the Undertaker coming back with the light show with the urn to the creepy music and lightining. MY mom still can't get over the Undertaker getting on the top rope and walking on it. To seeing the whole Hart family ringisde during the cage match between Owen and Bret. Which later led me to realize cage matches are much better being viewed on TV instead of live. Plus knowing Tatanka was going to turn but still cheering for him anyway against Lex Luger. It was a night that really got me thinking this was the coolest thing ever to watch live.

I watched and ordered every WWF PPV and I even watched every WCW Calsh of the Champions and wuite a few of the their PPVS. I just love watching wrestling. Then I believe in the fall of 94 Macho Man left WWF, and where did he end up going? WCW. That mean now I actually had to follow everything that was going on over there too. That mean I started taping WCW Saturday Night.

Then WCW wanted to go head to head and the Monday Night Wars began in abou 96 I believe. Well this left me in bit o a struggle because I had an old dish you couldn't watch more than one thing at once. But thank god for the tape delay version they showed after the live version of Nitro, but also thank god for at the time we had a USA West so then I could pick and choose who I wanted to watch first.

Now if it would have just been me watching I would have chosen RAW over Nitro, but however my neighbor always came over to watch and if he had heard about something exciting going to be happening on Nitro that's what we'd watch. However, if there was anything awesome with Macho Man he'd always win out.

It was a great time for wrestling during the wars. But me I was always loyal to RAW. I went to several RAW tapings and house shows. Went to one WCW house and a few Nitros. In fact one Nitro the main event was Hogan Vs. Savage . The match from my childhood I was finally getting to see live. Plus I was finally getting to see the Real person who should have won the match at Wrestlemania 5 win, but that's just my opinion.

Also around this time I started going to PPVs. I went to Wrestlemania 12, King of the Ring 96, Royal Rumble 97, Royal Rumble 98, Wrestlemania 2000. At many of these events we stayed at the Hotels where the wrestlers were staying so I got to meet a lot of wrestlers. I met Steve Austin, Ahmed Johnson, Triple H, British Bulldog, Ken Shamrock, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Kurt Angle, Test, Trish Stratus, Ivory, Al Snow, Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and of course Shawn Michaels.

Now yes I did go to some other WWF and I think maybe one WCW PPV but I never met any wrestlers during them. Unfortunately one PPV I will never forget happened to be the last PPV one ever had. It was Over the Edge in 99. Back at KOTR 96 after the PPV Owen and Bulldog were in the hotel bar and restaraunt messing around. Owen signed something for the lady who sat with us and talked with us the whole weekend. He looked at me, and I had a Shawn Michaels shirt on so I didn't say anything at all considering all the hate you heard between Bret and Shawn backstage. But I regret not saying something and taking a picture and getting his autograph. We were in the upper deck facing the entrance way at Kemper Arena. They were showing the Blue Blazer video package and you hear his music and then all of a sudden the cape starts to drift down. Then next Owen comes down. He it's either his head or neck on the ropes and he's laying on the mat. Jerry Lawler quickly gets up and goes over to him as paramedics and other come rushing out. Owen tries to raise up, sort of like the Undertaker except he only paritall comes up and it looks like he is saying something to Jerry Lawler or just out loud to anyone. Then he's back down and Lawler holds Owen's head till paramedics begin CPR. At this point my friend is saying this is not good. I'm still in the belief that Owen can get back up, because months early from the same position I saw a guy free fall down into a cardboard box in flames and he didn't die. So I thought it was possible. Oh how wrong was I.

No one at the arena knew what was going wrong or were telling us anything. So me and my friend got up and headed to the pay phones but there were lines for them. So I managed to get to one and call my mom. She was like what happened they are saying there has been and accident. I inform mom on what I saw and the fact that no one seems to know what is going on. Well since I didn't get much more info I figure we might as well go back to our seats and watch what is left of the show. So we sit back but still can't get over what we saw. Much of the show after that seemed to really lose all interest. So I talked to my neighbor and said we aren't going to get our money back so we might as well wait till Undertaker and Steve Austin make their entrances then go get in line to buy tickets to the Smackdown taping which would be the premier episode with Jericho's debut. We do and their is already a line. Not much of a line. A lot of people out there saying he's dead he's dead, but no one has any realiable sources for me to buy it. So we get our tickets and what's crazy is we managed to have the exact amount and we were pulling out coins guy in front of us got front row we got 5 and what we though would be by the ramp but instead was opposite of the ramp, I mean we were near the ramp but not next to it so we could slapp hands with the wrestlers but on the aisle where we could go up the lower bowl. Although Edge came through that way.

I remember coming home and opening the door and my mom standing right there in the front hallway. Which is weird because she wouldn't normally wait up for me. She shook her head and said he's dead. I couldn't believe it. You get in the mine set that these guys are super human, never would I have imagined ever witness in person one die, or for that matter to witness anyones death. Now I could have sued WWF for emotional distress if I was really thinking about it. Although that was about the time people started to become sue happy for just about anything. I mean still to this day deep down inside I think I deserve something for having to have witness something so horrendous, it has been emblazened in brain. I mean a week or so after in that very same building I had my high school graduation. Instead of thinking about how wonderful it was to be graduating and all while walking down the aisle all I kept doing was looking up and trying to imagine falling all that way down, knowing that this was probably the end. Not really the greatest thoughts to be thinking about.

I mean as you can tell since I've jumped around I went to PPVs and few house shows afterwards but anytime I went that's all I could think about. Also my enthuisiasm started to dwindle. By 2001 when I left to go to California for College I kind of fell out of wrestling altogether.

Then September 11th happened. I was out all by myself in a place where I didn't know anyone and had only made a few friends. People he went to my school either knew someone on the plane or had connections to people in the world trade center. It was such a devastating time and all that seemed to be on was the news. The even freaking prempted the Simpsons, which got a lot of people mad in Southern California. We needed to have some little break something to get our minds of this tragedy and the WWE decided to go ahead with Smackdown. It was one of the few times I watched Smackdown and it was a well needed diversion to escape from all the crap that was going on in the world. For that I admired the WWE and appreciated them for actually giving us something to have some normalcy. Even if to some people wrestling is crap, at least you could get away from watching seeing the building fall over and over again. Then watch the closeup FOX NEWS had of people you could totally see, I mean so much so you probably could tell who it was, jumping out of the twin towers.

Also WWE had Tough Enough one reality show I really enjoyed. I basically showed how people became professional wrestlers. That was basically is the only wrestling program I watched weekly. But just like most reality programs I felt the first was the best and all others were just not as good or interesting. The only thing I didn't like about it was who won the women's contract. I felt that Nidia shouldn't have won Tough Enough. Yes she had an "exotic" look, but who cares. I thought Taylor was way better in the ring and was more relatable than Nidia could ever think about being. Which I guess they don't really care if you can somehow contect with the characters in wrestling anymore.

Then after I was done with college in December of 2003 I returned home and back to my old viewing habits. I watched RAW ever week but I really didn't care for anyone in particular. I mean, if Shawn Michaels on I would care but everything else would mean very little to me and mundane. I'd buy and watch the PPVS, but if Shawn Michaels hadn't returned to wrestling I probably wouldn't have stopped completely.

Then before Wrestlemania 22 one of the few things that has ever drawn me in to wrestling, women's wrestling, finally did. The creepy stalker storyline they had been Mickie James and Trish Stratus was just so out there. It wasn't like the previous stalker storylines they've had. Just something about it pulled in my interest. Plus it was the only thing that really got me psyched about Wrestlemania cause usually you get a Wrestlemania buzz weeks and weeks in advance but that year I didn't get it till like two weeks or so before it was to take place. Thus making me a huge Mickie James fan , especially after they had her actually win the title from Trish Stratus who probably shouldn't have held onto the title for as long she did during that reign, but I won't get into that now.

Since then I've gotten back into being seriously into wrestling. Getting all the magazines, looking at news websites, buying merchandise, and going to shows. I do love wrestling and I'm not afraid to admit it. Sometimes I think they are missing the boat and sticking too much on trying to return to the old way of doing things as far as storylines go, which isn't going to work after you've done things a different way for so long. Those fans who've grown and evolved just like wrestling are no longer going to buy into the old way unless it's used for people that actually they enjoy watching their in ring work. Yes, maybe they can get those fleeting fair weather fans, but those aren't the fans who are keeping you afloat when the business drops from it's peak and goes into it's valley.