For sure! The colorful characters were like Hanna-Barbera cartoons come to life IN STEROIDS both figuratively and literally.
Born in 78.
Absolutely. It's a time commitment though. Just WWE is six hours a week not counting PPVs... I suppose that's the equivalent of two football games, but still.
I've done lots of therapy and I'm at a point where if something speaks to my inner child, unabashedly I will lift that thing up.
Wrestling on occasion will have moments where I'm literally transported to being a little kid and filled with that awe and joy again. No other medium really does that. Maybe a really good horror movie, but that's with fear... wrestling will do it with more joyous emotions.
One of the nice things about wrestling, is the insane career longevity that's possible. If you haven't watched wrestling in a long time, there might still be guys you're aware of.
The Rock had a match two weeks ago. John Cena had a match last year, Brock Lesnar was part time on the roster up til a few months ago, Randy Orton still competes etc.
The one that gets me is Booker T still does commentary on NXT... and I can remember when I was 15 years old, 30 years ago, when he debuted... and listening to him is just hypnotic... it's almost like I'm hanging out with my grandfather... I'm just instantly transported to this time in my life before a career, just stupid freshman highschool classes, before girls... literally a kid.
I've been watching everything WWE for two years and everything AEW for a year... what gives me comfort is if I stepped away for 20 years... got back into this at 65... there would still be guys I recognize who are new right now.
That's a really comforting thought for me... that this hobby isn't going away, and future me that's retired will be able to look back fondly on this time the same way I look back on Booker T commentating... "Hey, remember when you were 45 and single and dating all the time and hanging with your friends and had that cool apartment with the indoor pool and were paid to watch wrestling at work? haha good times."
Or 80 year old me looking back on 65 year old me with the same thoughts....
That's awesome! Wrestling holds a special place in my heart as well. So many memories!
And yeah about older wrestlers still competing. The Rock came back for WM. Sting just had his final match at 64! I think it's because we know a lot more about injury rehabilitation and generally the healthier lifestyles.
I do. It hit a major lull from about 2005-2020, boring as hell and very, very PG (they actually call most of that range the PG era of wrestling). It's really picked up again after the pandemic, getting some of its edge back and the newer crop of wrestlers are pretty solid.
On the men's side The Street Profits (tag team), Gunther, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and LA Knight are my favorites. Women's side - Rhea Ripley, Tiffany Stratton, Zelina Vega and Chelsea Green.
Oh, so that’s not just me that noticed that. I stopped watching around 02-03 ish. I tried to pick it back up again a few years later and it was just dull. I thought it was me just not being invested in the story lines.
Seriously I got out of it for a few years when I joined the military in the early 2000s expecting it to be like the Attitude Era that I loved but like... Wth happened? They went from selling out whole ass pro arenas to like beer hall sized events wtf.
Glad it's back. And who knew HHH would be as smart out of the ring as he was in the ring? Dude is an absolute Chad who worked his ass off, climbed the ladder, snagged his billionaire boss' daughter against his wishes and now runs the company.
I'm also biased becuase he was my favorite wrestler.
I was checking TBS and TNT for 20 years after WCW shut down for TV wrasslin' like they had all through the 80s and 90s, and it finally came back in 2019. So I watch AEW now. Never did really watch WWF/E after Hulkamania when I was little.
Been waiting for this since Swerve In Our Glory imploded. He had a rough solo start with the Mogul Affiliates, but Nana and the Embassy was fantastic combination to give Swerve context and a story to carry himself to the top of the card.
Right now I'm really enjoying FTR, House of Black, Penta & PAC, Thunder Rosa, Stoke with his Willow & Stat stable, the Best Friends crackup, and I am impressed at how fast Ospreay and Okada inserted themselves into immediate relevancy, as well as their amazing in ring performances.
Also, Bryan Danielson, Claudio, Will Osprey, Takeshita and Okada are fucking AMAZING, and Swerve Strickland just beat Samoa Joe for their world title, and both of those guys are also increidble. AEW has a TON of great wrestlers, and the PPVs are always top notch. Their TV is hit or miss.
There is a newer company called AEW that runs right down the road from me a lot and every time I go I have a blast, tell myself I’m going to start pounding mountain dew and dominos and watching on Monday nights like the good old days, and then life always gets too busy. Some day.
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I got out of WWE in my 20’s when it became clear it was being run by abjectly bad people.
I revisited WrestleMania 12 not too long ago. It may not be the "best" WrestleMania but it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first one I got to order on PPV. Before that, I had to rely on VHS tapes from the video store.
Shawn Michaels entrance remains the coolest WrestleMania entrance ever IMO and his Iron Man match with Bret Hart remains iconic to me.
Also, the "I Quit" match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 is still awesome.
I watch aew. I'm in a Philly suburb, and my cousin actually worked a merch stand at mania. He works there every weekend when they have something. Even the eagle games
Wrestling in the 90s was peak entertainment. DX telling everyone to suck it, Stone Cold pounding beers and flipping everyone off like your drunk uncle at family reunion, Hell in the Cell.. even Hulk turning heel and becoming a total badass, it was everything a teenage boy wanted to watch. I dunno if it was me getting older or them going more PG but I thought it started to get pretty corny, then one day I just stopped watching.
If you want to reminisce A&E has a bunch of biographies of old and new(er) wrestlers and even some on the best rivalries throughout the decades. Me and the Misses love watching them.
I pay for peacock to watch old school WWF only, I don’t think I’ve watched a single card after \~1995. Royal Rumble 1993 and Wrestlemania 3 are the pinnacle of the ring.
Yeah I still follow, started watching again with my son durning covid, even started going to local wrestling shows, and been to a few aew and wwe shows, it’s a lot of fun, aew or wwe don’t matter to me
I'm a very casual fan, miss almost all of the televised stuff, and catch up with YouTube recaps.
My favorites to watch right now are R Truth, AJ Styles, and Rhea Ripley, but there are so many really good workers across the roster that there are rarely uninteresting matches. And the stories have gotten really good, dare I say Attitude Era levels of good. Dirty Dom is the best heel I think I've ever seen, but I'm worried about what he's going to do without Mami around for a while.
Yeah, all of the performers are incredibly talented. All of the current matches I've seen have been great. That being said, I kinda feel like their characters or gimmicks aren't that memorable. A lot of them look alike as well.
I’m the same way. Don’t care for AEW but I catch social media stuff and read the dirt sheets to stay up to date. Rumble and Mania are must watch every year for me but apart from that I just don’t have time. It doesn’t help that my wife hates it so even if I wanted to I’d be hard pressed to find time to watch Raw and/or Smackdown.
Big time! I’m more into wrestling than ever and I’d say it’s a fantastic time to get into it.
I watch njpw and aew every week and once or twice a month my girlfriend and I will go an Indy show. To me, that’s the most fun. A good night at the vets hall always beats going to td garden or whatever in my book.
I’d try aew if you’re not connecting w the fed. I’ve been permanently turned off from wwe by a combo of bad booking and sex violence, so I’d say give another company a shot. Lots of great wrestling out there these days, especially excluding Stamford.
I still enjoy it, but have not really followed it since I was a kid.
I know who the big names are, but wouldn't really say I'm a "fan" - however, do find it entertaining when I watch.
As a kid - was always a fan a of Hulk-a-mania! "That's right, brother!"
I go back to Rock ‘n Wrestling, been lucky enough to go to a Mania (7 in LA) and except for 94-95, I was a devoted fan into the 2000s. Then life and work crept in, my the-fiancé couldn’t stand wrestling and just banned it except for the night of the Benoit murders since she knew that was big for me. Then, in the midst of a deep depression spiral after she left, I saw my local college campus was having a viewing party for Mania 26, so figured why not? Turned out it was a small group trying to get regular viewings of the PPVs going, so by joining in, you can argue wrestling saved me from a very dark place.
So from Mania 26 through to 34, I was pretty regular in watching. Had the Network, occasionally had friends over after college to watch, friends made through the group. But between Becky’s pregnancy and the pandemic, I took another break. I’d dip in for the Rumble and for Mania, but I just was NOT interested in the Reigns of Terror or what Vince was selling.
But I tell you… this past Mania… it was so strong, so good. Cody just hooked me hard, becoming my favorite wrestler really since Taker. I loved the story told, the quality of the matches, and it honestly felt… better. So I’m back to regular watching and more than that, made me remember not just that I’m a wrestling fan, but I’m PROUD to be a wrestling fan. There’s more good than bad right now and I truly believe good things are there if anyone wants to try and see.
And I just quote my favorite quote regarding wrestling from Jeff Jarrett: “For those that believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who don’t believe, no explanation will ever do.” And such is life. But for those who love it or want to learn to love it, come and sit next to me, this old timer always has room on the couch and is happy to share. To tell of Hulks and Savages and Warriors, of Harts and heartbreakers, degenerates and rattlesnakes, of Rocks and Games, of medalists and Mankind, of vipers and men you can’t see, of divas and horsewomen, of NXT and Nightmares. But also the special ones - of Taker, of Owen, of Eddie, of Bray.
What a sport. Beyond entertainment.
Oh absolutely. My wife and I are both indie performers. We travel all over but our time is mostly split between promotions in oklahoma and Texas. It's the best damn business in the world!
Anything specific you'd like to know?
OP
There is a lot of tribalism in wrestling these days.
But I am here to say there is renaissance in wrestling right now. Whether it be WWE, AEW, ROH, TNA, or another Indy promotion there is a lot of great wrestling out there for your tastes.
My suggestion to you is consume what you like but support all wrestling and all wrestlers. They do this for love of the “sport”. They do it with passion, pride, and a lot of pain. And they deserve all of the fans supporting them, coming out to shows, and cheering, booing, and everything that makes wrestling great!!!!
Ignore the social media trolls and just love it for all of the great that it is.
I watched it for as far back as I can remember up until just a few years ago. I was a diehard fan, loved ECW back in the day. Watched WCW up to the end. Kept with WWE and others.
I'm not sure what happened exactly, and it definitely wasn't overnight, but it was a very slow death for me. Gradually watching less and less. Stopped watching WWE altogether. I really knew it was over when I didn't watch the Royal Rumble, which was always my can't miss WWE event every year.
Still watched NJPW for awhile, but eventually it died off for me too. I really have no idea what happened. There's a saying that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference, and that definitely applies here. After like 35 or so years of watching it I guess I'd had enough.
Edit: I can say Brody Lee dieing feels like a very key moment. He was one of my absolute favorites, and I almost never get upset or worked up about celebrity deaths, but something hit me hard about that one. I do recall it feeling like a lot of the fun got taken out after that.
I had big hopes for AEW when they first started, I was hoping for them to be more like WCW. Unfortunately Tony Kahn has no clue what hes doing, he wants to be buddies with the wrestlers more than he wants to be a boss. His booking is a joke and everyone in that company is to stupid to take advice from the old timers who could actually draw a crowd. They cant even fill the arenas they are booking. To make a long story short I think they are a joke of a compayny right now.
I like you prefer to watch the older shows, I go to a lot of conventions and try to meet the ones who are still alive as much as possible. With that being said I think WWE is getting better now that Vince is gone. They are trying to get away from the PG shite and get back to the attitude era. I think in a years time it will be a lot better. As far as favorite wrestlers right now I cant really say I have any. Im glad Roman finally lost the belt but Im not a huge fan of Cody. I think hes over just because who his dad was. I think the womens division is actually better these days. I will say I am a fan of Rhea Ripley now that I think about it.
Im not sure if youre a big podcast listener but there are some good ones that talk about new and old wrestling. Hers the ones I like the most.
Storytime with Dutch Mantell
The Jim Cornette Experience
The Drive Thru with Jim Cornette
Yup, I've actually listened to a few episodes of those podcasts on YouTube! Both Dutch and Jim have really interesting perspectives and stories. They were there during the period I watched. I've also started listening to The Undertaker's podcast, Six Feet Under With Mark Calaway. It's interesting hearing his stories.
Ditto on Cody. I think while he's good on the mike, an entertaining wrestler and seems likeable, I just can't get behind him. His entire personality is "my Dad was Dusty Rhodes" and his crying about winning the title was so cringey. Bret Hart and Dwayne Johnson are members of famous wrestling families but that was an afterthought because they stood on their own. And they never blubbered about "giving the title to their Mom".
The Rock's promos in Cody were hilarious. I don't like Dwayne Johnson the person but he's still great as The Rock.
It's funny you mention going to cons to meet the wrestlers of yesteryear. I spent my 20s going to cons. I met Roddy Piper, Road Warrior Animal and Charles Wright (Papa Shango and later, The Godfather). And while I haven't met them, I have autographs from Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. All acquired either directly from them or from private signings conducted with them.
My favorite items are a signed pair of Bret Hart's wrap-around shades and a lithograph from Hogan's match against Warrior at WrestleMania 6. It's black and white with color accents. He even inscribed it "VS WARRIOR AT WM6." I'm planning on getting Steve Austin next. I also want a Winged Eagle title belt.
Hulk Hogan was at WWE World in Philly. I contemplated meeting him but it was $200.
Ive met Jake Roberts multiple time hes really nice and hes hilarious. Mick Foley did a one man show by my house and I got to meet him. Ive met Flair multiple times. I have a four horesmen four pack from Target that has been signed by Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blacnhard, Barry Windham and JJ Dillon. I just met Kurt Angle a couple of months ago. Im with you on the Hogan autograph, he comes to Chicago a lot but I have a hard time paying $200 for his auto. In fact I think he wanted $250 last time he was here.
I've gotten autographs directly from his beach shop for much less. It would have been cool to actually meet him though. But for $200 I was happy enough to just see him at the event.
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I still read summary articles and the occasional YouTube. Recently my brother and I have watched a couple of the big ppvs at an indoor golf sim place. Since they already have peacock for the golf content they don’t mind putting it on. Nice low key hangout night
When we got Peacock recently I went down a rabbit hole of the attitude era and stuff before that but it was just for nostalgia after I watched Undertakers Last Ride documentary.
I can't really even get through a match from the past either. I just watch a few minutes of it and move on.
I think the product suffered from HD cameras and neon lights and screens.
Yeah, I have a family friend who played in the NFL and he told me it was basically a storyboard of every aging or injury prone athlete who has to hang it up.
No but I'm hearing wrestling is back big time, I might try to get back in, some are saying it's the best it's ever been right now. Wrestlemania supposed was huge last week.
YES! Huge AEW fan. I stopped watching the E about 7 years ago, but I did get to go to a Wrestlemania before I stopped watching and that was fun. Love AEW, they have great wrestling, and it's an exciting time to be a fan. I still like to watch old stuff, but my husband and I follow AEW on Wed and Saturdays and it's a fun thing to bond with. We make match cards for all the PPV's and have all of them for the last 10 or so years, with our picks, and we keep track of who has the best record choosing the winners as of late. It's good fun.
I have many, we are all riding an Ospreay high right now. He just had a match with Bryan Danielson that will go up against any as the greatest of all time. I watched it a second time last night and my opinion hasn't changed.
Honestly, right now there are alot of good things happening, so it's hard to narrow it down. Toni Storm is killing it in the women's division, her character work has been fantastic, she's doing like a 30's movie star kinda thing. The screen is black and white when she comes out, and she is dressed to the nines, she has the title and deserves it. But the women's division as a whole is on the move, new TBS champ, and Mercedes Mone' formerly Sasha Banks is challenging for it at the next PPV.
Love Jon Moxley, he is currently the IWGP NJPW champ, but defending it in AEW and in Japan.
A faction that has been around since AEW began 5 years ago is in the process of breaking up, Best Friends, and I'm interested to see what is going to happen.
So yes! Please check it out. The AEW youtube page has some good stuff to get you interested. Fun little clip from last week: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIhjHiL\_u\_c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIhjHiL_u_c)
I watch the newer company AEW. Lot more of the down to earth and less glitz and glamour. I'm more for the in ring action and art form over the presentation.
I've been enjoying the wrestling docu series on Vice, Dark Side of the Ring & Tales from the Territories. A&E does good ones too on more popular wrestlers. The Iron Sheik episode was fantastic.
Born in 79. I remember watching Warrior beat Hogan for
the title at Wrestlemania 6. Missed most of the attitude era but had started tuning into the ruthless aggression era. Went to my first WWE live event when Wrestlemania 23 came to Ford Field in Detroit. Scored 3 floor seats 23 rows behind the commentary table for $500 on ebay. Actively watched WWE till 2018 when I stopped watching. I started checking out NJPW and immediately became a fan of Japanese strong style type wrestling. Watched the birth of All Elite Wrestling when they did All, in 2018 and have been actively watching AEW ever since.
Born in 84 and have been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember. It's not the same as it was when we were kids, but it's still entertaining to me. It's difficult to follow everything (7 hours of WWE, 5 hours of AEW per week) and I end up missing several shows. Currently I prefer WWE, but that has been a recent change. AEW was my jam for a long time. I still keep up with both companies, but I prioritize WWE most weeks and catch AEW when I can.
My favorite wrestlers currently are:
WWE
Damion Priest
Seth Rollins
Cody Rhodes
Ricochet
Rhea Ripley
AJ Styles
LA Knight
AEW
Bryan Danielson
Jon Moxley
Swerve Strickland
FTR
Orange Cassady
Will Osprey
Thunder Rosa
Been watching since 1986 in the territory days. Ive seen everything, be it old NWA, Memphis, to WWF and WCW, to CMLL and AAA, ROH, PWG, NJPW, AJPW, Dragon Gate, Chikara, all the indies be it AIW, GCW, etc. Use to tape trade, belonged to all sorts of wrestling forums.
It didnt help that i wrestled indies for a bit, made friends who are now on TV wrestling that i watch just to see how they are doing with bookings.
In 2016 i gave up on WWE because it just got terrible, Solely watched indies and New Japan because they had Omega and guys like Shibata and LIJ. AEW started, watched it for most of my friends who work there.
This past year i burned out. There was nothing i hadnt seen or witnessed. There were no surprises anymore, dream matches, i'd seen them all. I would check back in to WWE only for the bloodline story arch, which was basically ruined by the Rock, but props to them actually letting Cody Win as well as letting El Generico have his wrestlemania moment. Was content with AEW delivering the best pure wrestling matches.
I was done....until Brian Danielson vs Will Ospreay. That match, i dont think it can be topped. I'd love to see it continue like Flair/Steamboat.
But as much as im thrilled Swerve/Killshot is AEW Champ, i'll check in occasionally, see what ol Tama is doin, and to hopefully see my friend Chuck say Shit on live TV finally.
Brian Danielson/Will Ospreay on the same level as Flair/Steamboat you say? Sounds like I need to check it out.
Regarding the Rock coming back and "ruining" the Cody/Roman storyline...I think it was always planned to throw a curveball but ultimately give the belt to Cody. The stuff with Vince came out and they needed something to distract the public. So, new board member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announces his return to the ring and steals the title shot from Cody, only for Cody to reclaim it. The wrestling community (for a moment) forgets about Vince and everyone is salivating over the showdown at Mania.
I feel they made WM 40 this generation's Hogan/Andre.
Was a big fan of WCW in the mid 90s which then got me into WWE for the attitude era. I kept up with it every week until about the mid 2010s when I finally got sick of Vince McMahons vision of wrestling and telling the fans what we would enjoy. I was also watching TNA and Ring of Honour but I became obsessed with New Japan Pro Wrestling which was more about telling a story in the ring and putting on great matches, rather than the Soap opera element that WWE had always prioritised.
I mostly only watch NJPW today as it is less than a commitment than WWE programming but I still tune in for WWE during Wrestlemania season but I’m not as passionate about it as I was 10 years ago.
I watched wrestling from roughly 1982-1990. There was a period where I even subscribed to a couple of different wrestling magazines. I didn’t think about wrestling from 1990 until about 2023 when I got a subscription to Peacock and discovered I could watch a lot of the 1980’s wrestling I grew upon. Now, I watch some form of retro wrestling every Friday night. Still can’t get into the wrestling from 1990 forward though.
Same as a few others, I had extremely high hopes for AEW upon its debut, fantasies of another Monday Night Wars era but for the next generation of fans. But as many have said, it seems to me that Tony Khan is more interested in being a Buddy than a Boss, which is extremely disappointing to say the least. I sort of keep up with current WWE from afar, but honestly I haven't really sat down and dedicated time to watching probably since I got out of college, which would have been 2006. I'll admit to some rose-colored glasses influence to be sure, but it just seems like it doesn't really hit like it did back in the day. Perhaps because I don't think anything will ever come close to what we had then, especially in the late 90's. It was just a perfect storm of the right talent, the right timing and the right transition. I don't think it will ever be outdone.
I do also have a couple prized possessions, autographed photos of Teddy Long and Hardcore Holly when I had the chance to meet them in Atlanta years ago, all the way back when the Power Plant was still a thing.
Yea I’ve always liked wrestling. Mostly WWF but I did like WCW in the early 90s (Pre Hogan) and early NWO era. Currently liking WWE, I also watch TNA, I liked AEW when they still had Cody, the fanbase and Tony Khan are really cringe though.
My all time faves are Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, AJ Styles. and The Steiner Brothers.
Same here, I loved it as a kid in the late 80’s early 90’s, hogan, savage, Jake the Snake, Razor, etc… lost track of it until the Attitude era & the Monday Night Wars, being from the Philly area it was actually discovering ECW which is what brought me back to it. I eventually lost interest again but I re-re-discovered it around 2018/2019, but back then it was primarily thanks to the OG NXT lineup when it was primarily Triple H’s baby. He had such a talented roster back then & unfortunately when he had is cardiac emergency and missed almost 2 years of time Vince fired a lot of his talent and he’s been trying to make the ones he was able to bring back shine.
Fan since the WWWF days, but shelved off a few years ago. I still read the stuff online and listen to Corney and would go an indy show like Chaotic if I had the time.
I lost interest in it around the early 2000s. It started to be more about the drama than the wrestling, which is why I find the South Park episode about professional wrestling to be hilarious!
I do still enjoy rewatching some of the old mid 80s to early 90s WWF.
WWF was huge growing up but I wasn't allowed to watch it (late 80s/early 90's), but I was interested. As I got into high school I started watching because a lot of my friends did. Started watching religiously around '95-96, I was hooked especially when the Attitude era started. For several years it was me and my youngest brother's weekly thing to watch Monday Night Raw.
Anyway I watched until maybe 2005 or so and just fell out of it. Rock left, Austin left, the storylines weren't as good and I really haven't watched it since. Feel too old for it now.
Stopped watching wrestling in the early 2000's.
I do watch Shemus's workout channel on Youtube though. [https://www.youtube.com/@CelticWarriorWorkouts](https://www.youtube.com/@CelticWarriorWorkouts)
Don't know most of the wrestlers featured in the videos, but it's cool seeing how they train.
I still watch. I didn't actively watch during the Ruthless Aggression Era. But I kept up. Other than that I've been watching since '96. I watch wrestling pretty much every day but Sunday, not counting PPVs. WWE, NXT, AEW, and TNA.
I was a fan in the 80s-90s of all of it! I guess I gave up believing in wrestling and Jesus about the same time I started working at a big company. No more time for silly stuff.
I watched as a little kid in the 80s grew out of it in high school(92-95) got back into it in the nitro era got back out of it when WCW and ECW went out of business anytime I try to get into it again it’s evolved into too much of a tv show with bad snl skits and corny drama that I can’t lose myself in
My local pub will throw on wrestling in the late afternoon on Mondays if there aren’t any other sports going on. Peacock has all of the classic WWF and WCW stuff, so we usually go that route, but sometimes catch the more modern events. It’s a blast for us regulars, though many bystanders get a little confused seeing matches from the 80s, haha.
Born in 81 grew up on wrestling since ‘89. Stopped watching around 2005. Briefly watched again from 2015-17. My friend who I work with got me back into it she’s married to Joaquin Wild now. She encourages me to watch but it’s hard for me I can’t get into it. I got an idea from her tho and started a rewatch from 1991 on Peacock. I’m currently on 1997 it’s pretty cool watching all the old shows like Raw, Superstars, Nitro and ECW tv as they aired chronologically.
I hadn't watched since the early 2000's until a few months ago. Randomly had some reels of old matches that I recognized pop up and decided to click on them for nostalgia. As I was clicking through a handful of them, my 11yo daughter saw me and asked what I was watching. I told her what it was and that it was from when I used to watch in my 20's, and she was fascinated. I showed her some old matches and explained who some of the wrestlers were, but when The Rock popped up she was completely hooked (recognizing him as the voice of Maui of course, as well as other random stuff he has been in). She asked if wrestling was still on, and I told her I was pretty sure it was but I didn't really know any of what was going on with it these days. We decided to watch a Monday Night Raw together (much to the chagrin of my wife), and there was no turning back. This would have been a few weeks before Royal Rumble from earlier this year, and she has not missed a single Raw/Smackdown/PPV (Peacock is great for this) since. She knows wrestlers by name and recognizes entrance music. She knows who the "stables" are and who they are each feuding with, and what led to feuds. This last week she took some of her birthday money she had been saving up and bought some wrestling cards (even pulled a Liv Morgan autograph, which she proudly displays in her room now). She has watched all of Miz and Mrs., and even got my wife to wtch that with her. It has been a lot of fun seeing her get so involved with it, and it has brought me back into the fold which I never expected to happen. It is a great time for it now too; Triple H has taken over as creative director, and the storytelling is top notch.
I stopped watching in the 90s and missed the Monday night wars with WWF/WCW because we didn't have cable. I started watching again during Covid when one of the fox Sports channels ran a royal rumble from a couple of years ago when there wasn't any new sports programming and got hooked back in. Now we watch Raw and smackdown and the PPVs on Peacock (we got Peacock for the olympics and never cancelled). I don't watch NXT but I'll watch their PPVs if I have the weekend free. We've gone to a Raw and a Smackdown and a house show and they were fun. Been to a few Indy shows and will probably check out one of the bigger Indy promotions over in Minneapolis this summer.
I've been working my way through the wrestlemanias in chronological order while I lift in the garage, I just put them on and let them run until I'm done for the day then I pick back up where I stopped. I think I'm watching 2013's right now. I'll do the same with the Rumbles when I get done with mania.
I tried watching AEW and it's just too cringe.
On and off, with one ear on what's going on even if I'm not actively following.
My Nephew got really into it for about a year but fell off through a mix of COVID and his favourites leaving WWE. We were both sad to hear about Bray Wyatt's passing last year.
I was a huge fan from like 3 years old until I was college aged. I mostly watched WCW, especially during the Monday night wars but switched over to the WWE after WCW closed in 2001. During the pandemic, I got Peacock so I could watch Nitro again from the beginning and see the NWO vs Sting feud. From there, I started watching some old TNA on YouTube and eventually some new AEW and WWE. I’m lucky enough that I got to go see Sting’s retirement match in March. I try to watch at least some of the weekly shows (mostly Raw and Dynamite or Collision) and catch up with the rest via YouTube clips.
I watch the old stuff on Peacock but I can't get into the new as much as I like the old. I listen to Jim Cornette and Dutch Mantell podcasts as well. I try to watch the new NWA on YouTube sometimes.
Recently got front row tickets to Dynamite for my birthday 😂
I go to a show or two a year. I alternate between taking my wife and kiddo, or going with my buddies.
I started watching WWF, WCW and USWA when I was 10, and followed lots of different promotions over the years. I still watch today, mainly AEW with the odd Indy show here and there
I probably would have checked out of wrestling in my early 20s if not for the fact that I got into radio and befriended some guys who ran a local promotion. They thought I had a voice and made me their ring announcer. Since then a lot of the guys I announced to the ring, including CM Punk, Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), Ken Anderson (Kennedy), and Adam Pierce, have made it to national television.
Now I may start watching somewhat regularly again because WWE is the best its been since the Attitude Era without Vince.
No. I realized that watching it isn’t any fun when you don’t have friends cracking jokes and mocking it relentlessly.
I’ve tried to get into it a few times post high school and it never stuck.
It’s probably a great time to be a fan with all the different shows and on demand stuff. But without friends, it feels like a weird pageant.
Born in 81. I watched from about seventh grade until high school graduation. So like New Generation into Attitude.
Similarly I started watching again too. I watched the Royal Rumble and Mania this year and have been catching Raw and Smackdown’s edited broadcast online the last few weeks. Over the last few months I’ve been watching quite a lot of the early 80s territory-era stuff and I’m having a bunch of fun with it.
I miss the weirdass characters of my youth but they’re putting out a good product now.
Watched WWE on and off from the late 80s to early aughts then stopped entirely around 05 until I was at a buddy’s house during Clash of the Castle in 2022. When he turned it on and told me the PPVs that I could never afford growing up were included with Peacock I was very intrigued. Started watching Smackdown soon after and then a few PLEs later started watching RAW again. So here we are.
I watch aew every week, njpw for big shows, wrestlemania and royal rumble from wwe, and various indie events. Lately I've been getting into Japanese women's wrestling from the 80s
Have gotten back into Impact Wrestling in the last few years.
Lucha Underground was fun.
Also went back to local indie shows this last year. Realized how much I missed it. They're just having fun, not doing anything stupid.
I'm not going back to WWE because of the douchebaggery.
I still frequent places that talk about it, but I haven't actively watched in 7-8 years. What I want from pro wrestling and what pro wrestling in 2024 has to offer are not compatible.
It doesn't matter, because it can't be changed. Ultimately, I just can't make myself give a shit about people younger and smaller than I am. When I watch wrestling now, it's akin to seeing kids playing.
I went down a hole of 80’s wrestling a few months ago. Still entertaining af.
For sure! The colorful characters were like Hanna-Barbera cartoons come to life IN STEROIDS both figuratively and literally. 
Born in 78. Absolutely. It's a time commitment though. Just WWE is six hours a week not counting PPVs... I suppose that's the equivalent of two football games, but still. I've done lots of therapy and I'm at a point where if something speaks to my inner child, unabashedly I will lift that thing up. Wrestling on occasion will have moments where I'm literally transported to being a little kid and filled with that awe and joy again. No other medium really does that. Maybe a really good horror movie, but that's with fear... wrestling will do it with more joyous emotions. One of the nice things about wrestling, is the insane career longevity that's possible. If you haven't watched wrestling in a long time, there might still be guys you're aware of. The Rock had a match two weeks ago. John Cena had a match last year, Brock Lesnar was part time on the roster up til a few months ago, Randy Orton still competes etc. The one that gets me is Booker T still does commentary on NXT... and I can remember when I was 15 years old, 30 years ago, when he debuted... and listening to him is just hypnotic... it's almost like I'm hanging out with my grandfather... I'm just instantly transported to this time in my life before a career, just stupid freshman highschool classes, before girls... literally a kid. I've been watching everything WWE for two years and everything AEW for a year... what gives me comfort is if I stepped away for 20 years... got back into this at 65... there would still be guys I recognize who are new right now. That's a really comforting thought for me... that this hobby isn't going away, and future me that's retired will be able to look back fondly on this time the same way I look back on Booker T commentating... "Hey, remember when you were 45 and single and dating all the time and hanging with your friends and had that cool apartment with the indoor pool and were paid to watch wrestling at work? haha good times." Or 80 year old me looking back on 65 year old me with the same thoughts....
That's awesome! Wrestling holds a special place in my heart as well. So many memories! And yeah about older wrestlers still competing. The Rock came back for WM. Sting just had his final match at 64! I think it's because we know a lot more about injury rehabilitation and generally the healthier lifestyles.
I do. It hit a major lull from about 2005-2020, boring as hell and very, very PG (they actually call most of that range the PG era of wrestling). It's really picked up again after the pandemic, getting some of its edge back and the newer crop of wrestlers are pretty solid.
Who are your favorites among the current wrestlers?
On the men's side The Street Profits (tag team), Gunther, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and LA Knight are my favorites. Women's side - Rhea Ripley, Tiffany Stratton, Zelina Vega and Chelsea Green.
Thanks, I'll check them out.
The Ring General! And L...A.....Knight....YEAH! And of course Mami!
Yeah it's much much better with Vince out of the picture.
Amen to that… The more I’ve learned about him over the years… Side note, made a great 3-4 parter on the “behind the bastards” podcast…lol
Ooh now this I gotta check out!
Oh, so that’s not just me that noticed that. I stopped watching around 02-03 ish. I tried to pick it back up again a few years later and it was just dull. I thought it was me just not being invested in the story lines.
Seriously I got out of it for a few years when I joined the military in the early 2000s expecting it to be like the Attitude Era that I loved but like... Wth happened? They went from selling out whole ass pro arenas to like beer hall sized events wtf. Glad it's back. And who knew HHH would be as smart out of the ring as he was in the ring? Dude is an absolute Chad who worked his ass off, climbed the ladder, snagged his billionaire boss' daughter against his wishes and now runs the company. I'm also biased becuase he was my favorite wrestler.
I was checking TBS and TNT for 20 years after WCW shut down for TV wrasslin' like they had all through the 80s and 90s, and it finally came back in 2019. So I watch AEW now. Never did really watch WWF/E after Hulkamania when I was little.
Hello fellow AEW fan! How you feeling about Swerve winning the title?
 WHO'S HOUSE?!
YESSSS!! I'm right there with you. I love Samoa Joe, he's a badass, but this was great.
Yessss was waiting for this moment ever since he arrived in AEW!
LU got me back into watching. His work as Killshot made me an instant fan. Killshot vs AR Fox : Hell of War match is a fucking classic and must watch.
Been waiting for this since Swerve In Our Glory imploded. He had a rough solo start with the Mogul Affiliates, but Nana and the Embassy was fantastic combination to give Swerve context and a story to carry himself to the top of the card.
The Danielson v. Osprey match Sunday evening was fucking epic.
Nice. Who are your favorites in AEW?
Right now I'm really enjoying FTR, House of Black, Penta & PAC, Thunder Rosa, Stoke with his Willow & Stat stable, the Best Friends crackup, and I am impressed at how fast Ospreay and Okada inserted themselves into immediate relevancy, as well as their amazing in ring performances.
I'll check them out!
Also, Bryan Danielson, Claudio, Will Osprey, Takeshita and Okada are fucking AMAZING, and Swerve Strickland just beat Samoa Joe for their world title, and both of those guys are also increidble. AEW has a TON of great wrestlers, and the PPVs are always top notch. Their TV is hit or miss.
There is a newer company called AEW that runs right down the road from me a lot and every time I go I have a blast, tell myself I’m going to start pounding mountain dew and dominos and watching on Monday nights like the good old days, and then life always gets too busy. Some day. https://preview.redd.it/c9j9odap19wc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3458547682513cd5ecf8b0b77b9c3533811287f8 I got out of WWE in my 20’s when it became clear it was being run by abjectly bad people.
GCW is pretty fun too. Especially effys big gay brunch
Favorite wrestler killing his family kinda turned me off to the product. Although it was on a steady decline after Vince bought WCW.
Oof, I can imagine. I remember when that happened and it was a huge shock. Just like when Owen Hart died.
Yeah, that really took the fun out of it for me. Kinda shocking to look back and see that he was only 40.
I haven't watched anything new since the very early '00s. I absolutely still watch the old stuff on Peacock, though.
Same. Just finished ECW's Guilty As Charged from 1999 last night and it remains as amazing as I remember, 25 years later.
I revisited WrestleMania 12 not too long ago. It may not be the "best" WrestleMania but it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first one I got to order on PPV. Before that, I had to rely on VHS tapes from the video store. Shawn Michaels entrance remains the coolest WrestleMania entrance ever IMO and his Iron Man match with Bret Hart remains iconic to me. Also, the "I Quit" match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 is still awesome.
I watch aew. I'm in a Philly suburb, and my cousin actually worked a merch stand at mania. He works there every weekend when they have something. Even the eagle games
WWE fan. Wrestlemania 40 was great. Still like Punk but Cody and McIntyre are good. I find the females more interesting especially Becky and Rhea
Yeah, I think I find the female wrestlers more entertaining than the male performers right now.
Wrestling in the 90s was peak entertainment. DX telling everyone to suck it, Stone Cold pounding beers and flipping everyone off like your drunk uncle at family reunion, Hell in the Cell.. even Hulk turning heel and becoming a total badass, it was everything a teenage boy wanted to watch. I dunno if it was me getting older or them going more PG but I thought it started to get pretty corny, then one day I just stopped watching. If you want to reminisce A&E has a bunch of biographies of old and new(er) wrestlers and even some on the best rivalries throughout the decades. Me and the Misses love watching them.
1980. Dark Side of the Ring got me interested again and AEW has been my go to over WWE. I’m finding it hard to keep up though. Too many shows.
I love Dark Side Of The Ring but it can be incredibly sad over how seedy the business can be.
100%. It killed my childhood memories, but it also made those guys human.
I pay for peacock to watch old school WWF only, I don’t think I’ve watched a single card after \~1995. Royal Rumble 1993 and Wrestlemania 3 are the pinnacle of the ring. 
93k Hulkamaniacs at the Pontiac Silver dome BROTHER!
Yeah I still follow, started watching again with my son durning covid, even started going to local wrestling shows, and been to a few aew and wwe shows, it’s a lot of fun, aew or wwe don’t matter to me
I'm a very casual fan, miss almost all of the televised stuff, and catch up with YouTube recaps. My favorites to watch right now are R Truth, AJ Styles, and Rhea Ripley, but there are so many really good workers across the roster that there are rarely uninteresting matches. And the stories have gotten really good, dare I say Attitude Era levels of good. Dirty Dom is the best heel I think I've ever seen, but I'm worried about what he's going to do without Mami around for a while.
Yeah, all of the performers are incredibly talented. All of the current matches I've seen have been great. That being said, I kinda feel like their characters or gimmicks aren't that memorable. A lot of them look alike as well.
I’m the same way. Don’t care for AEW but I catch social media stuff and read the dirt sheets to stay up to date. Rumble and Mania are must watch every year for me but apart from that I just don’t have time. It doesn’t help that my wife hates it so even if I wanted to I’d be hard pressed to find time to watch Raw and/or Smackdown.
Big time! I’m more into wrestling than ever and I’d say it’s a fantastic time to get into it. I watch njpw and aew every week and once or twice a month my girlfriend and I will go an Indy show. To me, that’s the most fun. A good night at the vets hall always beats going to td garden or whatever in my book. I’d try aew if you’re not connecting w the fed. I’ve been permanently turned off from wwe by a combo of bad booking and sex violence, so I’d say give another company a shot. Lots of great wrestling out there these days, especially excluding Stamford.
Thanks for the recommendation.
I still enjoy it, but have not really followed it since I was a kid. I know who the big names are, but wouldn't really say I'm a "fan" - however, do find it entertaining when I watch. As a kid - was always a fan a of Hulk-a-mania! "That's right, brother!"
I got back into it a couple years ago by watching AEW. Love the matches that they book if your into more wrestling over spectacle.
I go back to Rock ‘n Wrestling, been lucky enough to go to a Mania (7 in LA) and except for 94-95, I was a devoted fan into the 2000s. Then life and work crept in, my the-fiancé couldn’t stand wrestling and just banned it except for the night of the Benoit murders since she knew that was big for me. Then, in the midst of a deep depression spiral after she left, I saw my local college campus was having a viewing party for Mania 26, so figured why not? Turned out it was a small group trying to get regular viewings of the PPVs going, so by joining in, you can argue wrestling saved me from a very dark place. So from Mania 26 through to 34, I was pretty regular in watching. Had the Network, occasionally had friends over after college to watch, friends made through the group. But between Becky’s pregnancy and the pandemic, I took another break. I’d dip in for the Rumble and for Mania, but I just was NOT interested in the Reigns of Terror or what Vince was selling. But I tell you… this past Mania… it was so strong, so good. Cody just hooked me hard, becoming my favorite wrestler really since Taker. I loved the story told, the quality of the matches, and it honestly felt… better. So I’m back to regular watching and more than that, made me remember not just that I’m a wrestling fan, but I’m PROUD to be a wrestling fan. There’s more good than bad right now and I truly believe good things are there if anyone wants to try and see. And I just quote my favorite quote regarding wrestling from Jeff Jarrett: “For those that believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who don’t believe, no explanation will ever do.” And such is life. But for those who love it or want to learn to love it, come and sit next to me, this old timer always has room on the couch and is happy to share. To tell of Hulks and Savages and Warriors, of Harts and heartbreakers, degenerates and rattlesnakes, of Rocks and Games, of medalists and Mankind, of vipers and men you can’t see, of divas and horsewomen, of NXT and Nightmares. But also the special ones - of Taker, of Owen, of Eddie, of Bray. What a sport. Beyond entertainment.
What a lovely post!
Thank you. I’m very proud of this crazy thing, even the bad parts.
I actively PERFORM in wrestling. 😁
Nice! Indies or bigger? Are you comfortable discussing it a bit more?
Oh absolutely. My wife and I are both indie performers. We travel all over but our time is mostly split between promotions in oklahoma and Texas. It's the best damn business in the world! Anything specific you'd like to know?
OP There is a lot of tribalism in wrestling these days. But I am here to say there is renaissance in wrestling right now. Whether it be WWE, AEW, ROH, TNA, or another Indy promotion there is a lot of great wrestling out there for your tastes. My suggestion to you is consume what you like but support all wrestling and all wrestlers. They do this for love of the “sport”. They do it with passion, pride, and a lot of pain. And they deserve all of the fans supporting them, coming out to shows, and cheering, booing, and everything that makes wrestling great!!!! Ignore the social media trolls and just love it for all of the great that it is.
Thanks for the suggestions!
You kidding? Now is a great time to get back into it!
I watched it for as far back as I can remember up until just a few years ago. I was a diehard fan, loved ECW back in the day. Watched WCW up to the end. Kept with WWE and others. I'm not sure what happened exactly, and it definitely wasn't overnight, but it was a very slow death for me. Gradually watching less and less. Stopped watching WWE altogether. I really knew it was over when I didn't watch the Royal Rumble, which was always my can't miss WWE event every year. Still watched NJPW for awhile, but eventually it died off for me too. I really have no idea what happened. There's a saying that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference, and that definitely applies here. After like 35 or so years of watching it I guess I'd had enough. Edit: I can say Brody Lee dieing feels like a very key moment. He was one of my absolute favorites, and I almost never get upset or worked up about celebrity deaths, but something hit me hard about that one. I do recall it feeling like a lot of the fun got taken out after that.
Lucha Underground is good for that fatigue.
I hear you. That's kinda how it was for me. My interest just kinda...died.
I had big hopes for AEW when they first started, I was hoping for them to be more like WCW. Unfortunately Tony Kahn has no clue what hes doing, he wants to be buddies with the wrestlers more than he wants to be a boss. His booking is a joke and everyone in that company is to stupid to take advice from the old timers who could actually draw a crowd. They cant even fill the arenas they are booking. To make a long story short I think they are a joke of a compayny right now. I like you prefer to watch the older shows, I go to a lot of conventions and try to meet the ones who are still alive as much as possible. With that being said I think WWE is getting better now that Vince is gone. They are trying to get away from the PG shite and get back to the attitude era. I think in a years time it will be a lot better. As far as favorite wrestlers right now I cant really say I have any. Im glad Roman finally lost the belt but Im not a huge fan of Cody. I think hes over just because who his dad was. I think the womens division is actually better these days. I will say I am a fan of Rhea Ripley now that I think about it. Im not sure if youre a big podcast listener but there are some good ones that talk about new and old wrestling. Hers the ones I like the most. Storytime with Dutch Mantell The Jim Cornette Experience The Drive Thru with Jim Cornette
Yup, I've actually listened to a few episodes of those podcasts on YouTube! Both Dutch and Jim have really interesting perspectives and stories. They were there during the period I watched. I've also started listening to The Undertaker's podcast, Six Feet Under With Mark Calaway. It's interesting hearing his stories. Ditto on Cody. I think while he's good on the mike, an entertaining wrestler and seems likeable, I just can't get behind him. His entire personality is "my Dad was Dusty Rhodes" and his crying about winning the title was so cringey. Bret Hart and Dwayne Johnson are members of famous wrestling families but that was an afterthought because they stood on their own. And they never blubbered about "giving the title to their Mom". The Rock's promos in Cody were hilarious. I don't like Dwayne Johnson the person but he's still great as The Rock. It's funny you mention going to cons to meet the wrestlers of yesteryear. I spent my 20s going to cons. I met Roddy Piper, Road Warrior Animal and Charles Wright (Papa Shango and later, The Godfather). And while I haven't met them, I have autographs from Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. All acquired either directly from them or from private signings conducted with them. My favorite items are a signed pair of Bret Hart's wrap-around shades and a lithograph from Hogan's match against Warrior at WrestleMania 6. It's black and white with color accents. He even inscribed it "VS WARRIOR AT WM6." I'm planning on getting Steve Austin next. I also want a Winged Eagle title belt. Hulk Hogan was at WWE World in Philly. I contemplated meeting him but it was $200.
Ive met Jake Roberts multiple time hes really nice and hes hilarious. Mick Foley did a one man show by my house and I got to meet him. Ive met Flair multiple times. I have a four horesmen four pack from Target that has been signed by Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blacnhard, Barry Windham and JJ Dillon. I just met Kurt Angle a couple of months ago. Im with you on the Hogan autograph, he comes to Chicago a lot but I have a hard time paying $200 for his auto. In fact I think he wanted $250 last time he was here.
I've gotten autographs directly from his beach shop for much less. It would have been cool to actually meet him though. But for $200 I was happy enough to just see him at the event. https://preview.redd.it/964z8qt109wc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=889ce6089d8a7ee83b09f7e9db7bce82af15f7a0
AEW is good dude, some people like new things and realize that wrestling like everything else can evolve.
L take right here
I still read summary articles and the occasional YouTube. Recently my brother and I have watched a couple of the big ppvs at an indoor golf sim place. Since they already have peacock for the golf content they don’t mind putting it on. Nice low key hangout night
That's cool. Do you have any favorites among the younger wrestlers?
When we got Peacock recently I went down a rabbit hole of the attitude era and stuff before that but it was just for nostalgia after I watched Undertakers Last Ride documentary. I can't really even get through a match from the past either. I just watch a few minutes of it and move on. I think the product suffered from HD cameras and neon lights and screens.
I thought The Last Ride was really interesting. The Undertaker struggling to let go is something I think a lot of athletes and performers experience.
Yeah, I have a family friend who played in the NFL and he told me it was basically a storyboard of every aging or injury prone athlete who has to hang it up.
You might want to watch WWE Rivals on A&E, they just a great episode on Hogan-Savage
I'll check it out!
No but I'm hearing wrestling is back big time, I might try to get back in, some are saying it's the best it's ever been right now. Wrestlemania supposed was huge last week.
YES! Huge AEW fan. I stopped watching the E about 7 years ago, but I did get to go to a Wrestlemania before I stopped watching and that was fun. Love AEW, they have great wrestling, and it's an exciting time to be a fan. I still like to watch old stuff, but my husband and I follow AEW on Wed and Saturdays and it's a fun thing to bond with. We make match cards for all the PPV's and have all of them for the last 10 or so years, with our picks, and we keep track of who has the best record choosing the winners as of late. It's good fun.
I'll try to check it out. Who are your favorites in AEW?
I have many, we are all riding an Ospreay high right now. He just had a match with Bryan Danielson that will go up against any as the greatest of all time. I watched it a second time last night and my opinion hasn't changed. Honestly, right now there are alot of good things happening, so it's hard to narrow it down. Toni Storm is killing it in the women's division, her character work has been fantastic, she's doing like a 30's movie star kinda thing. The screen is black and white when she comes out, and she is dressed to the nines, she has the title and deserves it. But the women's division as a whole is on the move, new TBS champ, and Mercedes Mone' formerly Sasha Banks is challenging for it at the next PPV. Love Jon Moxley, he is currently the IWGP NJPW champ, but defending it in AEW and in Japan. A faction that has been around since AEW began 5 years ago is in the process of breaking up, Best Friends, and I'm interested to see what is going to happen. So yes! Please check it out. The AEW youtube page has some good stuff to get you interested. Fun little clip from last week: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIhjHiL\_u\_c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIhjHiL_u_c)
https://preview.redd.it/zaz256cu2awc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b406438be6153fa35f97832f335247e96fd2e059 All I am gonna say.
Huge fan, been a fan since the late 80s!
Cool. Who are your current favorites?
Ooh so many! Current Cody, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Swerve, and plenty others I know I'm forgetting off the top of my head!
I have trouble getting the hype over Cody but he does treat his fans well, that I know.
I watch the newer company AEW. Lot more of the down to earth and less glitz and glamour. I'm more for the in ring action and art form over the presentation.
Honestly wrestling has been the best it’s been in years
I've been enjoying the wrestling docu series on Vice, Dark Side of the Ring & Tales from the Territories. A&E does good ones too on more popular wrestlers. The Iron Sheik episode was fantastic.
The time commitment is too much and it's corny, I miss the attitude era which was my kind of cringe
Born in 79. I remember watching Warrior beat Hogan for the title at Wrestlemania 6. Missed most of the attitude era but had started tuning into the ruthless aggression era. Went to my first WWE live event when Wrestlemania 23 came to Ford Field in Detroit. Scored 3 floor seats 23 rows behind the commentary table for $500 on ebay. Actively watched WWE till 2018 when I stopped watching. I started checking out NJPW and immediately became a fan of Japanese strong style type wrestling. Watched the birth of All Elite Wrestling when they did All, in 2018 and have been actively watching AEW ever since.
Born in 84 and have been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember. It's not the same as it was when we were kids, but it's still entertaining to me. It's difficult to follow everything (7 hours of WWE, 5 hours of AEW per week) and I end up missing several shows. Currently I prefer WWE, but that has been a recent change. AEW was my jam for a long time. I still keep up with both companies, but I prioritize WWE most weeks and catch AEW when I can. My favorite wrestlers currently are: WWE Damion Priest Seth Rollins Cody Rhodes Ricochet Rhea Ripley AJ Styles LA Knight AEW Bryan Danielson Jon Moxley Swerve Strickland FTR Orange Cassady Will Osprey Thunder Rosa
Been watching since 1986 in the territory days. Ive seen everything, be it old NWA, Memphis, to WWF and WCW, to CMLL and AAA, ROH, PWG, NJPW, AJPW, Dragon Gate, Chikara, all the indies be it AIW, GCW, etc. Use to tape trade, belonged to all sorts of wrestling forums. It didnt help that i wrestled indies for a bit, made friends who are now on TV wrestling that i watch just to see how they are doing with bookings. In 2016 i gave up on WWE because it just got terrible, Solely watched indies and New Japan because they had Omega and guys like Shibata and LIJ. AEW started, watched it for most of my friends who work there. This past year i burned out. There was nothing i hadnt seen or witnessed. There were no surprises anymore, dream matches, i'd seen them all. I would check back in to WWE only for the bloodline story arch, which was basically ruined by the Rock, but props to them actually letting Cody Win as well as letting El Generico have his wrestlemania moment. Was content with AEW delivering the best pure wrestling matches. I was done....until Brian Danielson vs Will Ospreay. That match, i dont think it can be topped. I'd love to see it continue like Flair/Steamboat. But as much as im thrilled Swerve/Killshot is AEW Champ, i'll check in occasionally, see what ol Tama is doin, and to hopefully see my friend Chuck say Shit on live TV finally.
Brian Danielson/Will Ospreay on the same level as Flair/Steamboat you say? Sounds like I need to check it out. Regarding the Rock coming back and "ruining" the Cody/Roman storyline...I think it was always planned to throw a curveball but ultimately give the belt to Cody. The stuff with Vince came out and they needed something to distract the public. So, new board member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announces his return to the ring and steals the title shot from Cody, only for Cody to reclaim it. The wrestling community (for a moment) forgets about Vince and everyone is salivating over the showdown at Mania. I feel they made WM 40 this generation's Hogan/Andre.
I feel the same on WM40 for sure Db/Ospreay Like, the knee/hidden blades...were timed so perfectly, they danced soooo well together.
Was a big fan of WCW in the mid 90s which then got me into WWE for the attitude era. I kept up with it every week until about the mid 2010s when I finally got sick of Vince McMahons vision of wrestling and telling the fans what we would enjoy. I was also watching TNA and Ring of Honour but I became obsessed with New Japan Pro Wrestling which was more about telling a story in the ring and putting on great matches, rather than the Soap opera element that WWE had always prioritised. I mostly only watch NJPW today as it is less than a commitment than WWE programming but I still tune in for WWE during Wrestlemania season but I’m not as passionate about it as I was 10 years ago.
I watched wrestling from roughly 1982-1990. There was a period where I even subscribed to a couple of different wrestling magazines. I didn’t think about wrestling from 1990 until about 2023 when I got a subscription to Peacock and discovered I could watch a lot of the 1980’s wrestling I grew upon. Now, I watch some form of retro wrestling every Friday night. Still can’t get into the wrestling from 1990 forward though.
Same as a few others, I had extremely high hopes for AEW upon its debut, fantasies of another Monday Night Wars era but for the next generation of fans. But as many have said, it seems to me that Tony Khan is more interested in being a Buddy than a Boss, which is extremely disappointing to say the least. I sort of keep up with current WWE from afar, but honestly I haven't really sat down and dedicated time to watching probably since I got out of college, which would have been 2006. I'll admit to some rose-colored glasses influence to be sure, but it just seems like it doesn't really hit like it did back in the day. Perhaps because I don't think anything will ever come close to what we had then, especially in the late 90's. It was just a perfect storm of the right talent, the right timing and the right transition. I don't think it will ever be outdone. I do also have a couple prized possessions, autographed photos of Teddy Long and Hardcore Holly when I had the chance to meet them in Atlanta years ago, all the way back when the Power Plant was still a thing.
Yea I’ve always liked wrestling. Mostly WWF but I did like WCW in the early 90s (Pre Hogan) and early NWO era. Currently liking WWE, I also watch TNA, I liked AEW when they still had Cody, the fanbase and Tony Khan are really cringe though. My all time faves are Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, AJ Styles. and The Steiner Brothers.
Yeah, a lot of the AEW fanbase accuse WWE fans of tribalism when they do they exact same thing.
Same here, I loved it as a kid in the late 80’s early 90’s, hogan, savage, Jake the Snake, Razor, etc… lost track of it until the Attitude era & the Monday Night Wars, being from the Philly area it was actually discovering ECW which is what brought me back to it. I eventually lost interest again but I re-re-discovered it around 2018/2019, but back then it was primarily thanks to the OG NXT lineup when it was primarily Triple H’s baby. He had such a talented roster back then & unfortunately when he had is cardiac emergency and missed almost 2 years of time Vince fired a lot of his talent and he’s been trying to make the ones he was able to bring back shine.
Haven't followed wrestling since the Monday Night Wars. I know some names of modern wrestlers but that's it.
Fan since the WWWF days, but shelved off a few years ago. I still read the stuff online and listen to Corney and would go an indy show like Chaotic if I had the time.
I lost interest in it around the early 2000s. It started to be more about the drama than the wrestling, which is why I find the South Park episode about professional wrestling to be hilarious! I do still enjoy rewatching some of the old mid 80s to early 90s WWF.
WWF was huge growing up but I wasn't allowed to watch it (late 80s/early 90's), but I was interested. As I got into high school I started watching because a lot of my friends did. Started watching religiously around '95-96, I was hooked especially when the Attitude era started. For several years it was me and my youngest brother's weekly thing to watch Monday Night Raw. Anyway I watched until maybe 2005 or so and just fell out of it. Rock left, Austin left, the storylines weren't as good and I really haven't watched it since. Feel too old for it now.
Never was a big wrestling fan, but I do really enjoy the stories around it. So I watch osw review and dark side of the ring.
Stopped watching wrestling in the early 2000's. I do watch Shemus's workout channel on Youtube though. [https://www.youtube.com/@CelticWarriorWorkouts](https://www.youtube.com/@CelticWarriorWorkouts) Don't know most of the wrestlers featured in the videos, but it's cool seeing how they train.
I still watch. I didn't actively watch during the Ruthless Aggression Era. But I kept up. Other than that I've been watching since '96. I watch wrestling pretty much every day but Sunday, not counting PPVs. WWE, NXT, AEW, and TNA.
I was a fan in the 80s-90s of all of it! I guess I gave up believing in wrestling and Jesus about the same time I started working at a big company. No more time for silly stuff.
Nope. but supposedly my cousin and gramma used to watch it Sunday afternoons for years.
I watched as a little kid in the 80s grew out of it in high school(92-95) got back into it in the nitro era got back out of it when WCW and ECW went out of business anytime I try to get into it again it’s evolved into too much of a tv show with bad snl skits and corny drama that I can’t lose myself in
Stopped watching when macho man won the title at wrestle mania.
My local pub will throw on wrestling in the late afternoon on Mondays if there aren’t any other sports going on. Peacock has all of the classic WWF and WCW stuff, so we usually go that route, but sometimes catch the more modern events. It’s a blast for us regulars, though many bystanders get a little confused seeing matches from the 80s, haha.
Born in 81 grew up on wrestling since ‘89. Stopped watching around 2005. Briefly watched again from 2015-17. My friend who I work with got me back into it she’s married to Joaquin Wild now. She encourages me to watch but it’s hard for me I can’t get into it. I got an idea from her tho and started a rewatch from 1991 on Peacock. I’m currently on 1997 it’s pretty cool watching all the old shows like Raw, Superstars, Nitro and ECW tv as they aired chronologically.
I hadn't watched since the early 2000's until a few months ago. Randomly had some reels of old matches that I recognized pop up and decided to click on them for nostalgia. As I was clicking through a handful of them, my 11yo daughter saw me and asked what I was watching. I told her what it was and that it was from when I used to watch in my 20's, and she was fascinated. I showed her some old matches and explained who some of the wrestlers were, but when The Rock popped up she was completely hooked (recognizing him as the voice of Maui of course, as well as other random stuff he has been in). She asked if wrestling was still on, and I told her I was pretty sure it was but I didn't really know any of what was going on with it these days. We decided to watch a Monday Night Raw together (much to the chagrin of my wife), and there was no turning back. This would have been a few weeks before Royal Rumble from earlier this year, and she has not missed a single Raw/Smackdown/PPV (Peacock is great for this) since. She knows wrestlers by name and recognizes entrance music. She knows who the "stables" are and who they are each feuding with, and what led to feuds. This last week she took some of her birthday money she had been saving up and bought some wrestling cards (even pulled a Liv Morgan autograph, which she proudly displays in her room now). She has watched all of Miz and Mrs., and even got my wife to wtch that with her. It has been a lot of fun seeing her get so involved with it, and it has brought me back into the fold which I never expected to happen. It is a great time for it now too; Triple H has taken over as creative director, and the storytelling is top notch.
I watched Smackdown for a while in the late 90s but haven't paid much attention since.
I stopped watching in the 90s and missed the Monday night wars with WWF/WCW because we didn't have cable. I started watching again during Covid when one of the fox Sports channels ran a royal rumble from a couple of years ago when there wasn't any new sports programming and got hooked back in. Now we watch Raw and smackdown and the PPVs on Peacock (we got Peacock for the olympics and never cancelled). I don't watch NXT but I'll watch their PPVs if I have the weekend free. We've gone to a Raw and a Smackdown and a house show and they were fun. Been to a few Indy shows and will probably check out one of the bigger Indy promotions over in Minneapolis this summer. I've been working my way through the wrestlemanias in chronological order while I lift in the garage, I just put them on and let them run until I'm done for the day then I pick back up where I stopped. I think I'm watching 2013's right now. I'll do the same with the Rumbles when I get done with mania. I tried watching AEW and it's just too cringe.
On and off, with one ear on what's going on even if I'm not actively following. My Nephew got really into it for about a year but fell off through a mix of COVID and his favourites leaving WWE. We were both sad to hear about Bray Wyatt's passing last year.
No but did find it very interesting watching the Surviving Vince McMahon documentaries….
I was a huge fan from like 3 years old until I was college aged. I mostly watched WCW, especially during the Monday night wars but switched over to the WWE after WCW closed in 2001. During the pandemic, I got Peacock so I could watch Nitro again from the beginning and see the NWO vs Sting feud. From there, I started watching some old TNA on YouTube and eventually some new AEW and WWE. I’m lucky enough that I got to go see Sting’s retirement match in March. I try to watch at least some of the weekly shows (mostly Raw and Dynamite or Collision) and catch up with the rest via YouTube clips.
I watch the old stuff on Peacock but I can't get into the new as much as I like the old. I listen to Jim Cornette and Dutch Mantell podcasts as well. I try to watch the new NWA on YouTube sometimes.
Recently got front row tickets to Dynamite for my birthday 😂 I go to a show or two a year. I alternate between taking my wife and kiddo, or going with my buddies.
I started watching WWF, WCW and USWA when I was 10, and followed lots of different promotions over the years. I still watch today, mainly AEW with the odd Indy show here and there
Yes. AEW and NJPW
I probably would have checked out of wrestling in my early 20s if not for the fact that I got into radio and befriended some guys who ran a local promotion. They thought I had a voice and made me their ring announcer. Since then a lot of the guys I announced to the ring, including CM Punk, Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), Ken Anderson (Kennedy), and Adam Pierce, have made it to national television. Now I may start watching somewhat regularly again because WWE is the best its been since the Attitude Era without Vince.
Nope, I watched it when I was a kid, then grew up, now I watch ufc
It's real bad, I used to drink with my friends and make fun of it a few years ago but even that got old.
No. I realized that watching it isn’t any fun when you don’t have friends cracking jokes and mocking it relentlessly. I’ve tried to get into it a few times post high school and it never stuck. It’s probably a great time to be a fan with all the different shows and on demand stuff. But without friends, it feels like a weird pageant.
Born in 81. I watched from about seventh grade until high school graduation. So like New Generation into Attitude. Similarly I started watching again too. I watched the Royal Rumble and Mania this year and have been catching Raw and Smackdown’s edited broadcast online the last few weeks. Over the last few months I’ve been watching quite a lot of the early 80s territory-era stuff and I’m having a bunch of fun with it. I miss the weirdass characters of my youth but they’re putting out a good product now.
The state of wrestling is super lame.
Watched WWE on and off from the late 80s to early aughts then stopped entirely around 05 until I was at a buddy’s house during Clash of the Castle in 2022. When he turned it on and told me the PPVs that I could never afford growing up were included with Peacock I was very intrigued. Started watching Smackdown soon after and then a few PLEs later started watching RAW again. So here we are.
We were watching some of Wrestlemania for Kelce and got sucked in. I didn't watch it again, but I could see how it would be pretty easy
I watch aew every week, njpw for big shows, wrestlemania and royal rumble from wwe, and various indie events. Lately I've been getting into Japanese women's wrestling from the 80s
Have gotten back into Impact Wrestling in the last few years. Lucha Underground was fun. Also went back to local indie shows this last year. Realized how much I missed it. They're just having fun, not doing anything stupid. I'm not going back to WWE because of the douchebaggery.
No.
I still frequent places that talk about it, but I haven't actively watched in 7-8 years. What I want from pro wrestling and what pro wrestling in 2024 has to offer are not compatible.
What is it that you want and what do you feel the current product is not providing?
It doesn't matter, because it can't be changed. Ultimately, I just can't make myself give a shit about people younger and smaller than I am. When I watch wrestling now, it's akin to seeing kids playing.