WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), which I knew most of my life as WWF (World Wrestling Federation), was something of an enigma, an inspiration for fitness, and hero-worship, when growing up in Mumbai. We used to collect post-card pictures, and make scrap books with these. We used to have card-games with these, talk about the wrestlers, imagine how matches between them would fare..all sorts of things..
I remember the top stars at the time, the early 90's used to be Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon..these were the heroes, or the "face" as I recently learnt is the term used within the company. And then there were the villains (heel), like Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Yokozuna! I was always a big fan of Bret Hart. His wrestling style clearly showed how he stuck to the basics. No high-flying moves, focus on the opponent's weaknesses, and never give up. Kind of how I am too. I'm sure he was a boring superstar..
After I think the 9th standard, I lost touch of WWF, and crucial career-defining studies (at least in India) of Std 10th and 12th took over. I remember the last match being Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels in WrestleMania '94, which he controversially lost. I watched this match with my favorite cousin, Biju Ettan. Throughout this era though, it was discussed but mostly agreed upon that the matches were not anyway rigged. There were some rules to follow, but the outcome is totally like a sport!
When I got back to watching Wrestling, in around '99, I was disappointed to see Hitman had been turned heel. There is an extended documentary where even he explains he had a lot of concerns about this move by the company. I saw Stone Cold Steve Austin win King-of-the-Ring. A bad guy with no respect but a lot of guts. I hated him when promos revealed how he was targetting the "old generation" that Hitman reflected, and the intense rivalry between them. I loved seeing how Hitman beat him in that match. And yet, since Stone Cold never gave up, he won my and the fans' respect.
I thought I was done with WWF after this, as Hitman's era seemed to have ended, but the WWE (which it was known as by then) had a real surprise storyline up their sleeve. The Stone Cold vs. Vince McMohan the boss was a damn good entertainer! Mind you, even at this phase I had no idea all these are cooked up storylines. And I applauded how Stone Cold won the championship against all odds from the boss, dumped all norms, and stayed himself all through. He defended the belt against the best contenders, the Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley, The Rock. But sometime in between, Engineering studies got hectic, and I let go.
And since then, the guts of Stone Cold and resilience of the Hit Man have always stayed as cherished inspirations.
I recently found out how these are all storylines, including that entire fights are choreographed. I still am amazed how they do it...
But with that understanding though, I might never go back into it the way it was back in the 90's and early '00s.
But from a fan who really learnt a lot about inspirational qualities in life from examples of characters that were created, a Big Thank You to the WWE and a Bigger Salute to the Stars, the inspiring Wrestlers!!
I remember the top stars at the time, the early 90's used to be Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon..these were the heroes, or the "face" as I recently learnt is the term used within the company. And then there were the villains (heel), like Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Yokozuna! I was always a big fan of Bret Hart. His wrestling style clearly showed how he stuck to the basics. No high-flying moves, focus on the opponent's weaknesses, and never give up. Kind of how I am too. I'm sure he was a boring superstar..
After I think the 9th standard, I lost touch of WWF, and crucial career-defining studies (at least in India) of Std 10th and 12th took over. I remember the last match being Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels in WrestleMania '94, which he controversially lost. I watched this match with my favorite cousin, Biju Ettan. Throughout this era though, it was discussed but mostly agreed upon that the matches were not anyway rigged. There were some rules to follow, but the outcome is totally like a sport!
When I got back to watching Wrestling, in around '99, I was disappointed to see Hitman had been turned heel. There is an extended documentary where even he explains he had a lot of concerns about this move by the company. I saw Stone Cold Steve Austin win King-of-the-Ring. A bad guy with no respect but a lot of guts. I hated him when promos revealed how he was targetting the "old generation" that Hitman reflected, and the intense rivalry between them. I loved seeing how Hitman beat him in that match. And yet, since Stone Cold never gave up, he won my and the fans' respect.
I thought I was done with WWF after this, as Hitman's era seemed to have ended, but the WWE (which it was known as by then) had a real surprise storyline up their sleeve. The Stone Cold vs. Vince McMohan the boss was a damn good entertainer! Mind you, even at this phase I had no idea all these are cooked up storylines. And I applauded how Stone Cold won the championship against all odds from the boss, dumped all norms, and stayed himself all through. He defended the belt against the best contenders, the Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley, The Rock. But sometime in between, Engineering studies got hectic, and I let go.
And since then, the guts of Stone Cold and resilience of the Hit Man have always stayed as cherished inspirations.
I recently found out how these are all storylines, including that entire fights are choreographed. I still am amazed how they do it...
But with that understanding though, I might never go back into it the way it was back in the 90's and early '00s.
But from a fan who really learnt a lot about inspirational qualities in life from examples of characters that were created, a Big Thank You to the WWE and a Bigger Salute to the Stars, the inspiring Wrestlers!!
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