Growing up, I loved to watch wrestling. On a Saturday afternoon, "World of Sport" became an almost religious experience – although I was never really a fan of Big Daddy. For some reason, I was always drawn towards the heels – that's wrestling-speak for bad guys, if you didn't know – so my favourites tended to be the likes of Giant Haystacks, Fit Finlay and Kendo Nagasaki.
Then all of a sudden, it was taken away from us all, as ITV stopped broadcasting wrestling on Saturday. Something called "WWF Wrestling" was shown late at night on a Wednesday or Thursday. I was not impressed – this was nothing like the wrestling I knew!
Of course, as time went by, I saw that the American product was a lot better produced than World of Sport had ever been, and I finally got used to the differences in the rules. And the rest is history!
I watched quite regularly until the early 2000s, but gradually lost interest. I watched wrestling because it was fun – not because I believed it was a true sporting competition. It's certainly REAL – the injuries and deaths in the ring prove that – but it is usually predetermined. I don't expect people watch EastEnders and are disappointed by the fact it is not "REAL" – it is just for fun.
The fun slowly left wrestling for me. There was nothing new, and all the characters seemed to be muted.
And Owen Hart died. And Mr Perfect. And the British Bulldog. And Rick Rude. And then Eddie Guerrero. And Chris Benoit (but we don't talk about that). And countless others. Suddenly, Coronation Street looked appealing.
I tried watching again with my kids a year or two ago. I was a little disappointed with WWE (as they are now called), to say the least. Everyone was the same! All around 6 foot 2, all around 225lbs, all wearing shorts and boots, all doing the same moves. Cookie cutter wrestlers, and no matter what the storyline was, you could switch them around and not notice the difference. Anyone who was different got put on the back burner. We gave up.
The Rock came back for Wrestlemania last year. Made a point of watching that, and although it was getting better, there was still a long way to go to get back the "glory days".
We watched WWE sporadically since then, and TNA when there was NOTHING ELSE ON.
Tomorrow is the Royal Rumble – and I'm actually quite looking forward to it. There is a sudden resurgence in 'characters', and I like it. Kane is back wearing a mask. Brodus Clay is the "Funkasaurus", a cross between The Godfather and Flash Funk. Dolph Ziggler is the reincarnation of Mr Perfect. It's actually interesting!
And there are rumours that Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Road Warrior Animal and Road Dogg may be appearing. It's like being a kid all over again!
Anyway, it's more realistic than any soap. Stuff happens all year round – not just on Christmas Day to get higher ratings…
