Are you or have you ever been a fan of wrestling?

[Zeraki]

From when I was little until about three or four years ago. I kind of stopped following it because I just started getting bored with the story lines and the people they were trying to put over *coughcenacough*.

However, I'm thinking of getting back into it now that CM Punk is a bigger name. I was a huge fan of his when he was in ROH.

 

[piinyouri]

It's not fake so much as scripted. In order for it to be believable, contact has to be made and just because someone stomps during a forearm, doesn't mean it don't hurt! It's all about managing it and taking a "bump" in a way that it looks realistic, might hurt like fuck, but doesn't do any real damage. In Foley's first televised match, the Dynamite Kid hit him with "a clothesline so hard he couldn't chew food for a week".

I'm trying to avoid becoming too overly enthusiastic about it myself, but reading a lot of the responses here makes me want to scream out "ASK VADER'S OPPONENTS HOW FAKE WRESTLING IS."

You are right though, it is more scripted than all out fake, though a part of this depends on the performer.
Some guys wrestle stiff and old school, like Vader.
Vader would fucking hit people. I mean you see how WWE wrestlers today make super exaggerated movements and what not, and they're connecting, but it's barely a love tap, relatively speaking.
Vader was a football player and didn't give a fuck if he hurt you, especially if you pissed him off in-ring.

Sometimes though you'll see someone who's not on their game or botch a move and it looks very obviously fake. It all depends on the skill and style of the wrestler.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Here in the USA, I was once a fan of the WWF, more specifically when it was known as the WWF and in the early years that it was re-branded as the WWE.

There were a lot of funny and interesting wrestlers from all blocks of life and cultures, and I enjoyed watching their matches, plot-twists, and drama that took place in and out of the ring.

Nowadays, I don't really follow any of the WWE, as it is more concerned about being a marketing ploy to sell merchandise (i.e. Making a new or known wrestler as the holder of the championship belt for about a year until it is won by the next "Wrestler of the Year").

 

[DeimosMasque]

I was a wrestling fan growing up in the 80s. I was actually scene on TV once for WWF Saturday Night as an 9 year old "Little Warrior"

I dumped it after Hogan got boring and Warrior dispeared from the scene. Only to get back into it at the tailend of the NWO era of the WCW. Stuck around for the Nostalgia of guys like Hogan, Savage and Curt Hennig and stayed for the Crusierweight division. When WCW died I stuck around the WWE for a bit but gave up when the Invasion came around.

As a current Florida resident I got into TNA Impact Wrestling for a while, especially right after Kurt Angle showed up. Went to a few Impacts, became casual friends with a few of the wrestlers there and then just sort of moved on again after Hogan showed up.

EDIT: Actually I remember why I stopped watching after WCW went under... it was the Chris Benoit incident. He was my favorite wrestler and after that happened... I couldn't watch it again for years.

Also, it never bothered me that it was scripted, that would be like disliking a TV Show or a Movie for the same reason.

 

[Bigbomb94]

Back when I was a stupid little child, I would watch the hell out of both WCW and WWE (though I watched WCW more). Then my interest started to go down over the years to the point where I don't lose my shit if I missed a show or not but not enough to know what exactly is going on.

Now I have a strange habit of watching old Royal Rumble or Hardcore matches at night.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well I did kind of watched it back in the 80's when the wrestlers did had a proper theme (The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior etc) on them, Hulk Hogan was in his prime and back when it was called WWF but I wouldn't called myself a fan.

 

[Varrdy]

I'm trying to avoid becoming too overly enthusiastic about it myself, but reading a lot of the responses here makes me want to scream out "ASK VADER'S OPPONENTS HOW FAKE WRESTLING IS."

You are right though, it is more scripted than all out fake, though a part of this depends on the performer.
Some guys wrestle stiff and old school, like Vader.
Vader would fucking hit people. I mean you see how WWE wrestlers today make super exaggerated movements and what not, and they're connecting, but it's barely a love tap, relatively speaking.
Vader was a football player and didn't give a fuck if he hurt you, especially if you pissed him off in-ring.

Sometimes though you'll see someone who's not on their game or botch a move and it looks very obviously fake. It all depends on the skill and style of the wrestler.

Watching Vader powerbomb Mick Foley onto bare concrete always makes me wince. To watch Foley do his show, it's obvious that he's literally given his body to the business. He does move about the stage but slowly and it's more to ease stiffness than anything else and he can't even look at a camera flash anymore due to one too many knocks to the head! Still - he's one of the loveliest and funniest guys you could ever hope to meet!

Also, never ask Foley "does it hurt" - in his show he urges the audience not to be "that guy" but there is always one. There was "one" in the show I went to - Foley announced he had a special response for anyone asking "does it hurt?", which turned out to be Kurt Angle's theme being played and Mick and the audience all chanting "You suck!" at "that guy" - awesome!

Botching is always a worry due to what happened to Stone Cold (Owen Hart botched a piledriver and buggered his neck) but that's the risk they run.

I loved seeing Vader back when Heath Slater was being flattened week in week out by an old RAW legend!

 

[Varrdy]

Well I did kind of watched it back in the 80's when the wrestlers did had a proper theme (The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior etc) on them, Hulk Hogan was in his prime and back when it was called WWF but I wouldn't called myself a fan.

The biggest problem with Hogan was that he couldn't wrestle. He could punch people, hit the odd body slam, stick a big boot in a face and drop the leg over the chest...and that's about it!

 

[suitepee7]

i used to when i was a lot younger, but i still enjoyed the games more, they were all kinds of awesome

 

[piinyouri]

Well I did kind of watched it back in the 80's when the wrestlers did had a proper theme (The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior etc) on them, Hulk Hogan was in his prime and back when it was called WWF but I wouldn't called myself a fan.

The biggest problem with Hogan was that he couldn't wrestle. He could punch people, hit the odd body slam, stick a big boot in a face and drop the leg over the chest...and that's about it!

Yeah, Hogan was never a good wrestler, as far as in-ring ability goes.
But he was a fantastic showman and could really reign an audience in.
Also the timing for his up and coming was perfect.
These days I can't stand to see him.