Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 6, 2014 12:07:24 GMT 2
There are certain rules in life. Don't piss into the wind, don't tug on Superman's cape (that one I've never understood.. he's fucking Superman, he's not going to do anything to you. Don't tug on Doctor Doom's cape, surely?)... and don't imply that what wrestler's do is fake.
It's more accepted now that it's staged and pre-determined, but "fake" implies no-one gets hurt and they're out there play-fighting instead of hurling their 300 pound frames against one another.
Back in the 80's, though, there was still a very real need to "protect the business", and any implication it was fake usually resulted in bad news. I remember reading a story about Irish wrestler and bonafide Do Not Fuck With machine Finlay.
Not the usual 7 foot beast you'd expect, but he was in a bar with a bunch of guys who were calling wrestling "fake", and he laughed along and shook one of the guy's hands. He didn't let go, instead grabbing hold of the guy's thumb. He kept smiling and laughing like nothing bad was happening, at the same time snapping the poor bastards thumb, and no-one could work out why the guy was screaming in pain while Finlay was sitting smiling and talking away like nothing was happening.
Just a bit of backstory to give you an insight into the mentality of wrestlers, especially in the coke fuelled insanity that was mid-eighties WWF. Richard Belzer had Hulk Hogan and Mr T on his show, and had spent a good part of the show mocking wrestling and wrestlers as a whole. Why you would do that when they're right there is either very brave or knowing you're on your own chat show in front of millions of people, what's the worst that could happen? Hmmmm.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7n_SHrK408
On the one hand, Hulk Hogan is a prick for doing that, whether he meant it to be as severe as it was, but who the hell basically says "what you are doing is fake and you're not real fighters" to hulking brutes like Hogan and Mr T?
What's your take on this?
It's more accepted now that it's staged and pre-determined, but "fake" implies no-one gets hurt and they're out there play-fighting instead of hurling their 300 pound frames against one another.
Back in the 80's, though, there was still a very real need to "protect the business", and any implication it was fake usually resulted in bad news. I remember reading a story about Irish wrestler and bonafide Do Not Fuck With machine Finlay.
Not the usual 7 foot beast you'd expect, but he was in a bar with a bunch of guys who were calling wrestling "fake", and he laughed along and shook one of the guy's hands. He didn't let go, instead grabbing hold of the guy's thumb. He kept smiling and laughing like nothing bad was happening, at the same time snapping the poor bastards thumb, and no-one could work out why the guy was screaming in pain while Finlay was sitting smiling and talking away like nothing was happening.
Just a bit of backstory to give you an insight into the mentality of wrestlers, especially in the coke fuelled insanity that was mid-eighties WWF. Richard Belzer had Hulk Hogan and Mr T on his show, and had spent a good part of the show mocking wrestling and wrestlers as a whole. Why you would do that when they're right there is either very brave or knowing you're on your own chat show in front of millions of people, what's the worst that could happen? Hmmmm.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7n_SHrK408
On the one hand, Hulk Hogan is a prick for doing that, whether he meant it to be as severe as it was, but who the hell basically says "what you are doing is fake and you're not real fighters" to hulking brutes like Hogan and Mr T?
What's your take on this?
