Believe it or not, this is why I quit watching pro wrestling for years.
Vince McMahon is a psychopath who surrounded himself with stooges and yes-men, and wouldn't take any nay-saying. You HAD to affirm his crazy ideas, or you were gone--even if you spent weeks preparing for them, and he changed his mind on the day of the show.
After years of putting up with this nonsense, I gave up on the company entirely in 2013. I knew that with their monopoly, they had zero incentive to get better. And for those unaware, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was somehow even worse at the time.
It took the formation of All Elite Wrestling in 2019, breaking the monopoly, to get me interested in the art form again.
Eventually, Vince was finally forced out of his company thanks to credible and disgusting accusations--and normally I'd call this another MeToo attempt, but with how much of a piece of shit Vince is, they proved sadly believable. Look up Janel Grant.
WWE's huge increase in show quality since his ousting speaks for itself--and now that there's a viable competitor, they have every reason to keep producing good stuff.
Neither show is perfect, of course, but today's American pro wrestling is the healthiest it's been in a LONG time, largely because the psychotic old man you never say no to is gone.
Vince is the strange case where both his company and the entire industry would probably be nothing but a shell without his constant devotion and insanity dedicated to it, but his actual true hand was also a plague of utter nonsense and shit upon it too.
I'm glad to hear its gotten better as I myself bounced sometime in the mid 00s because of how hokey it had gotten.
Also, MeToo accusations against a tired, already retiring old man should never be believed. Its waiting to hit someone when they can't hit back and that's a literal violation of the Constitutional right to face your accuser. If you are that scared of him that you need to wait until he can no longer "threaten your career" then clearly the threat to your safety, dignity, and anything else wasn't strong enough for me to care either.
Vince is disgusting and I’m not surprised at the allegations. I guess the only thing is that she was happy to take the money to participate in the disgusting stuff.
I’m an 80s baby so started watching as a little kid and to this day Hogan is my all time favorite. My favorite time frame as a wrestling fan is the 80s through ruthless aggression and I’m happy to rewatch those times on the network. I agree that it is now better than it has been in a long time. I’m still a fan but not as engaged as I was in the timeframe I mentioned earlier but the product is much better than it’s been in a long while.
I agree that it is now better than it has been in a long time
Is it though? Genuinely?
I watched religiously from 1996 until around 2010, it was my favourite thing in the entire world until the PG era just made everything tame and boring.
I’ve glanced briefly at the current Raw roster and it’s mostly a bunch of weird looking, diverse, corporate boardroom approved, modern-day nobodies. They flash the Rock’s face here and there for star power, but I don’t see any actual “superstar” show stoppers. Everyone just wrestles under a pseudonym (a porn-star name basically), there are no “characters” anymore, like a cowboy or a clown or an undertaker or a plumber etc. They don’t feel like superheroes fighting supervillains anymore, just a bunch of roid enthusiasts getting into arguments.
It just looks fuckin lame, but maybe it’s just that I’ve grown jaded and cynical in my old age.
I would love it to be something my 8 year old son could watch with me and enjoy as much as I once did, but I dunno, it just doesn’t hit the same now as it did when Stone Cold Steve Austin would arrive, raise hell and leave. WWE was better under Vince, deranged narcissist that he was
Well it’s definitely better than PG era. Like u said I loved 80s to ruthless aggression. Attitude Era was amazing but my all time favorite time for wrestling is 80s. Love the over the top gimmicks and promos along with heel commentary
Believe it or not, this is why I quit watching pro wrestling for years.
Vince McMahon is a psychopath who surrounded himself with stooges and yes-men, and wouldn't take any nay-saying. You HAD to affirm his crazy ideas, or you were gone--even if you spent weeks preparing for them, and he changed his mind on the day of the show.
After years of putting up with this nonsense, I gave up on the company entirely in 2013. I knew that with their monopoly, they had zero incentive to get better. And for those unaware, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was somehow even worse at the time.
It took the formation of All Elite Wrestling in 2019, breaking the monopoly, to get me interested in the art form again.
Eventually, Vince was finally forced out of his company thanks to credible and disgusting accusations--and normally I'd call this another MeToo attempt, but with how much of a piece of shit Vince is, they proved sadly believable. Look up Janel Grant.
WWE's huge increase in show quality since his ousting speaks for itself--and now that there's a viable competitor, they have every reason to keep producing good stuff.
Neither show is perfect, of course, but today's American pro wrestling is the healthiest it's been in a LONG time, largely because the psychotic old man you never say no to is gone.
Vince is the strange case where both his company and the entire industry would probably be nothing but a shell without his constant devotion and insanity dedicated to it, but his actual true hand was also a plague of utter nonsense and shit upon it too.
I'm glad to hear its gotten better as I myself bounced sometime in the mid 00s because of how hokey it had gotten.
Also, MeToo accusations against a tired, already retiring old man should never be believed. Its waiting to hit someone when they can't hit back and that's a literal violation of the Constitutional right to face your accuser. If you are that scared of him that you need to wait until he can no longer "threaten your career" then clearly the threat to your safety, dignity, and anything else wasn't strong enough for me to care either.
Vince is disgusting and I’m not surprised at the allegations. I guess the only thing is that she was happy to take the money to participate in the disgusting stuff.
I’m an 80s baby so started watching as a little kid and to this day Hogan is my all time favorite. My favorite time frame as a wrestling fan is the 80s through ruthless aggression and I’m happy to rewatch those times on the network. I agree that it is now better than it has been in a long time. I’m still a fan but not as engaged as I was in the timeframe I mentioned earlier but the product is much better than it’s been in a long while.
Is it though? Genuinely?
I watched religiously from 1996 until around 2010, it was my favourite thing in the entire world until the PG era just made everything tame and boring.
I’ve glanced briefly at the current Raw roster and it’s mostly a bunch of weird looking, diverse, corporate boardroom approved, modern-day nobodies. They flash the Rock’s face here and there for star power, but I don’t see any actual “superstar” show stoppers. Everyone just wrestles under a pseudonym (a porn-star name basically), there are no “characters” anymore, like a cowboy or a clown or an undertaker or a plumber etc. They don’t feel like superheroes fighting supervillains anymore, just a bunch of roid enthusiasts getting into arguments.
It just looks fuckin lame, but maybe it’s just that I’ve grown jaded and cynical in my old age.
I would love it to be something my 8 year old son could watch with me and enjoy as much as I once did, but I dunno, it just doesn’t hit the same now as it did when Stone Cold Steve Austin would arrive, raise hell and leave. WWE was better under Vince, deranged narcissist that he was
Well it’s definitely better than PG era. Like u said I loved 80s to ruthless aggression. Attitude Era was amazing but my all time favorite time for wrestling is 80s. Love the over the top gimmicks and promos along with heel commentary