I'm watching Friday Night Smackdown and I'm thinking it's just a matter of time before some male wrestler identifies as a woman. Lol...that'll be funny; Roman Reigns dressed up like Pippi Longstocking.
When my son was young, I would take him fishing every Saturday morning. We have a very large lake here and we knew that Rick Flair had recently bought a home on that lake. One morning we were fishing docks and my boy tossed a line that wrapped around a garden hose hanging on one of the docks. I didn't want an unsuspecting homeowner to grab his hose and get a hook in his hand so I eased the boat over and stepped onto the dock to untangle the line from the hosepipe. I had just reached out to the hosepipe when I heard the bellow out of the house... THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!! I recognized the voice right away and I near jumped into the lake. I quickly explained the dilemma and he smiled and went back in his house. We never fished the Nature Boys dock ever again.
WOOOOO!!!! When I lived in Austin, I saw Dusty Rhodes at an intersection in his Yukon. He made that SUV look small.
I was like you. Bunch of testosterone filled big guys choreographing a match. My oldest boy was a big fan when he was a kid. Had all the action figures and he made me take him every time they wrestled in our city. I came away impressed that those monstrously huge guys came out of those wrestling rings without crushed bones and the like. And I did enjoy the dad time with my boy.... But man, some of those folks at those matches were dead serious about those wrestling matches. It tickled me.
Back to the original post. Sorry I got things off track..... You know this will happen. Pro wrestling is all about the drama and charade. No question that we will soon have an identified woman wrestler...... Now that I think about it... Maybe it could be me. Have you seen those pro wrestling women?
On one level, it's completely stupid. On another, these people are highly skilled performers. When performed well, professional wrestling is like watching the most athletic circus act imaginable. If you've never been to a live event before, I would highly recommend it. Get as close to the action as possible! What's amazing is that they can do the moves they do and not get hurt. Sometimes someone makes a mistake and a real fight breaks out. When I was working overseas, we had a bowling team and we each took on the personality of a professional wrestler (I was "Tugboat"). We would show up for bowling matches dressed as our wrestler.
I did something similar with a kayak on a local lake where an NBA star was living for the summer. Oh boy, he wasn't happy some 15 year old was beached near his house.
Tony Atlas is the only wrestler I’ve met. He moved to my hometown and got hooked on drugs apparently. Still works out at the YMCA and whenever I see him in public he asks me to meet up with him. He asks a lot of young men if they want him to mentor them. I mean, he is a hall of fame wrestler who was an absolute beast in his heyday. I read something once saying he was one of the only people to ever choke slam hulk hogan. I have the VHS in my house somewhere. Here’s a more recent pic. From Twitter. My father used to work early mornings at the bread factory. Before work he would hit one of the gyms in town and get some work in. Well Tony Atlas comes up and asks my dad to spot him. My dad knew he absolutely couldn’t help Tony if he happened to drop the bar on himself. We are talking like 400 pounds. “Oh no, I will just need you to get one last rep in at the end” so my dad is fine with that, Tony gets through a few reps and drops the bar on his neck. Apparently he started screaming and yelling that he was going to die, whatever. My dad was pulling as hard as he could on that bar but it wouldn’t move an inch. Imagine the panic!! Well, Tony was being an ass and playing a joke on my father, who wasn’t very happy at the time. What a punk! But a fun story nonetheless.
I think the plot lines and whatever are stupid, but I personally see why it does appeal to people. These are stuntmen… their bodies really are on the line and their performances could end poorly if things go wrong. In that regard, I have a lot of respect for the work those guys put in, and the fact they can throw each other around the way they do.
Yes...it's choreographed. Anyone who thinks it's meant to be real doesn't understand Professional Wrestling. The storylines are hilarious (imo). It's all a goof...except for the skill and athleticism. That's real! I saw the Ultimate Warrior catch the Big Boss Man (350 lbs) in mid air, spin him 90 degrees, pile drive him head first into the cavass...and didn't hurt him. Absolutely amazing! The floor outside of the ring is concrete...covered with a 1" foam pad. The railings are hollow, but they're still made of steel. It's like watching a magic act! When done at the highest level, it's hard to see how they don't hurt each other. Sometimes they miss and someone really does get hurt. Btw, professional wrestlers are members of the Screen Actor's Guild. That should tell you something.
I would say that NASCAR is a tad more competitive than Pro Wrestling, Like you say, both are acquired tastes. I'm just saying that one doesn't need to be a country rube to enjoy either. I have a lotta friends who are into NASCAR. I was always critical of the sport (and still don't understand all the intricacies), but I've learned to enjoy it. We get together at a local sports bar on Sunday afternoons. We run a six (6) person pool where we pick a number between 1-6. Each person gets the first six drivers from their starting number. For instance, if you draw #1, you would get drivers 1, 7, 13, 19, 25, 31...based on their pole positions. The person drawing #2 would get drivers 2,8,14,20,26,32 ...and so on. We each put $20 in the pot and whoever has the driver with the best finish wins the pot! Even if there aren't six people playing, the winner is the one with a driver that finishes highest. Anyway, if you try this, you'll really begin to enjoy/learn about NASCAR without needing to know anything to get started...and each week you get different drivers to root for. Of course, the winner always pays the beer tab. Btw, Bill Elliott's little boy "Chase" is my favorite driver.
I was such a racing nut from the time I was old enough to say lugnut….. the Army flew me from Germany to Fort Jackson SC to process out. I had never been in the state but some time with a road atlas showed me that I was within an hours drive of three major NASCAR tracks. Up until the time my son was born in 1991, I had been to almost every major southern NASCAR track multiple time. Man, those were the days…….. The sport has gotten so watered down over the years that I no longer have any idea what intricacies are involved anymore.