What age did you realize pro wrestling is fake ?

[goose 5]

I never understood the talk about wrestlers "protecting the business". For me, I was ten when I realized what was going on-I had my doubts since I was 9 and one day I looked up pro wrestling in the encyclopedia and got the answer.

How could any adult have been duped into believing pro wrestling matches are legit contests ?

[The Docker]

Ha ha, I grew up with ITVs World of Sport featuring the likes of Bid Daddy and Giant Haystacks Et al. At what point did you think it could possibly be real? The American stuff was even more unbelievable yet middle aged blokes seemed to lap it up. Least the American wrestlers were on the whole in shape, the Brits looked like freakshow castoffs.

[DrDuke]

I remember getting to know about pro wrestling along with the criticism of being staged.

[JxhDel.]

Started to realize it at 10, but still was hooked, and in some parts also today (I have been for years what they call an "internet smark", not only following WWE or TNA alone, started with WCW in 1999).

Staged or not, if it gets you in, why not watch?

By reading some pro wrestling books written by historians, people generally believed it was a "legit" sport until the truth was revealed by some begrudging promoter in the late 1930s and there were discovered some ties with the mafia (which forced to fix some results and thus "working" matches in the 1920s, with still some legit bouts during those years).

After WW2, people knew but the "catch" nature of it made it suitable for them to suspend their disbelief altogether and they took it as a "shoot". Jim Ross recollects his father telling him in the 1950s that it was fake but he liked it nonetheless because "the guys must be so tough". With Vince MacMahon publicly declaring to a sports committee the business was a "work" and some other shenanigans happening in the 80s (Tiger Mask going out and declaring the "work" nature of the business, Verne Gagne not flinching during an interview, and openly suggesting it was fake and not being a great deal, EG). To this day, I think these kinds of "it's fake, don't watch it!" discussions are more stupid than pro wrestling (which it is in a good fashion)... you don't angrily refrain your friends to not watch that "Fast and Furious" fun trash because it has people flying over cars in the space, donìt you?

[oogiebe]

FAKE?!?!?!?! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Ruthless-RKO]

FAKE?!?!?!?! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!

There wasn’t even any SPOILER ALERT on this.

[oogiebe]

FAKE?!?!?!?! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!

There wasn’t even any SPOILER ALERT on this.

none

[Baby Face Finster]

When wrestling went Meta right after the Bret Hart betrayal.

[HomicideHenry]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

[goose 5]

I agree that the history of the business is fascinating but as much as I loved watching it as a kid I now find it an absurd "sport" and I'm not just talking today's product but the wrestling of the 60's and 70's.

[Glass Joe]

I laugh at the social media posts that bash WWE as fake, then can't wait to watch the boys/stranger things.

I stopped watching WWE around 2010 ish. Not sure age I realized it was scripted.

I only found out today our British prime minister was born in New York

[maverick23]

Started to realize it at 10, but still was hooked, and in some parts also today (I have been for years what they call an "internet smark", not only following WWE or TNA alone, started with WCW in 1999).

Staged or not, if it gets you in, why not watch?

By reading some pro wrestling books written by historians, people generally believed it was a "legit" sport until the truth was revealed by some begrudging promoter in the late 1930s and there were discovered some ties with the mafia (which forced to fix some results and thus "working" matches in the 1920s, with still some legit bouts during those years).

After WW2, people knew but the "catch" nature of it made it suitable for them to suspend their disbelief altogether and they took it as a "shoot". Jim Ross recollects his father telling him in the 1950s that it was fake but he liked it nonetheless because "the guys must be so tough". With Vince MacMahon publicly declaring to a sports committee the business was a "work" and some other shenanigans happening in the 80s (Tiger Mask going out and declaring the "work" nature of the business, Verne Gagne not flinching during an interview, and openly suggesting it was fake and not being a great deal, EG). To this day, I think these kinds of "it's fake, don't watch it!" discussions are more stupid than pro wrestling (which it is in a good fashion)... you don't angrily refrain your friends to not watch that "Fast and Furious" fun trash because it has people flying over cars in the space, donìt you?

Good info.

I think I was around 10 when I realised it was fake. I was 8 when I was heartbroken that Yokozuna beat my all time favourite Bret Hart.

WWF looked far more fake in hindsight in the 80s than the NWA/JCP stuff. I watched Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA in cage match from one of the mid 80s and it looked like a proper fight. I could fully understand someone watching that or Harley Race or even Naitch and thinking it’s legit.

JR’s dad said he didn’t believe it was real because of the 10 punches in the corner spot. He said that if he hit someone 10 times then their face wouldn’t look untouched.

I stopped watching from around 2005 but started again when AEW came to ITV and watched some WWE in lockdown (didn’t last long - it’s pretty damn dull). Really enjoy AEW now and watch the PPVs too.

Whilst of course I know it’s pre-determined and they’re not actually trying to hurt each other I also don’t want it to look fake which it often can now with all of the obvious catches of guys when they jump to the outside and sloppy punches. A lot of guys seem to focus on the more extreme stuff now rather than mastering the basics which winds me up a bit.

[margaret thatcher]

i mean people watch movies and shows and stuff that are 100 percent fake and about 50 percent violence + 50 percent sexual content, i dont see why they'd have beef with wrestling being fake. it's basically all a running action show

[gilgamesh]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

I can almost remember the address.

I can hear the voice of Lord Alfred Hayes "For more information on Coliseum Video, write to....."

When I was a kid I rented I'm sure every Coliseum Video release that my Video Rental store carried.

[maverick23]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

I can almost remember the address.

I can hear the voice of Lord Alfred Hayes "For more information on Coliseum Video, write to....."

When I was a kid I rented I'm sure every Coliseum Video release that my Video Rental store carried.

The videos were released by SilverVision in the U.K. but they were exactly the same.

Weirdly I made some pretty good money in the early 2000s when the WWF lost the rights to their name. They could no longer sell their videos until they’d all been edited to remove the WWF logo so there was a period when wrestling was still pretty hot yet you couldn’t buy brand new videos. They were also pretty slow embracing DVD.

I had pretty much every PPV on video (I think I must have like 250 still in my mum’s loft). I used to buy loads of WWF/WCW PPVs from things like car boot sales or in bulk from classified ads (often paying less than £1 per video) and then sell them on eBay or privately for an average of about £8 for a WWF PPV or £15 for a WCW one. Also used to burn them to DVD for people too. It paid for my first year of university.

[gilgamesh]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

I can almost remember the address.

I can hear the voice of Lord Alfred Hayes "For more information on Coliseum Video, write to....."

When I was a kid I rented I'm sure every Coliseum Video release that my Video Rental store carried.

The videos were released by SilverVision in the U.K. but they were exactly the same.

Weirdly I made some pretty good money in the early 2000s when the WWF lost the rights to their name. They could no longer sell their videos until they’d all been edited to remove the WWF logo so there was a period when wrestling was still pretty hot yet you couldn’t buy brand new videos. They were also pretty slow embracing DVD.

I had pretty much every PPV on video (I think I must have like 250 still in my mum’s loft). I used to buy loads of WWF/WCW PPVs from things like car boot sales or in bulk from classified ads (often paying less than £1 per video) and then sell them on eBay or privately for an average of about £8 for a WWF PPV or £15 for a WCW one. Also used to burn them to DVD for people too. It paid for my first year of university.

I have the majority of the WWF PPV's from like 1998 thru 2000 on VHS tape. I got them all at a Goodwill store for like $1.50

I don't mean 1.50 a piece. I mean that was the price for the whole lot of 'em.

[Baby Face Finster]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

I can almost remember the address.

I can hear the voice of Lord Alfred Hayes "For more information on Coliseum Video, write to....."

When I was a kid I rented I'm sure every Coliseum Video release that my Video Rental store carried.

I remember a Lord Alfred Hayes match against Bobby Heenan and if Heenan lost which he did he had to wear a weasel costume. The AWA was great back then.

AWA and the NWA from the late 70's into the early 80's were awesome.

[gilgamesh]

I do remember as a kid practically crying when Sergeant Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan over the head multiple times with a steel chair making him bleed all over the place it was on one of those Coliseum Home videos, remember those?

I would say maybe the age of 10, maybe slightly earlier. Of course my dad would constantly say that it was fake but it was hard for my mind to process that it was orchestrated as a kid considering these guys were capable of doing things that I knew had to hurt--- I don't know how many times I hurt myself jumping off the steps to the living room floor trying to be like The Rockers or Randy Savage, lol.

And of course by the time I was a teenager I knew it was completely fake but I wanted to get into the wrestling business myself--- I love the drama of it all and the athleticism of it all, and of course I love the history of the business.

For a brief time I helped set up shows with Jim Painter (Lancaster) who trained Al Snow, etc--- but when his revived MCW venture went under, I kind of shifted from wrestling to boxing especially when Stacy Goodson started talking about putting on extreme low level boxing matches for everyday average Joe's.

I can almost remember the address.

I can hear the voice of Lord Alfred Hayes "For more information on Coliseum Video, write to....."

When I was a kid I rented I'm sure every Coliseum Video release that my Video Rental store carried.

I remember a Lord Alfred Hayes match against Bobby Heenan and if Heenan lost which he did he had to wear a weasel costume. The AWA was great back then.

AWA and the NWA from the late 70's into the early 80's were awesome.

I never saw the original Weasel Suit Match, but I did see the one Bobby had with The Ultimate Warrior. Hayes was the commentator on that match laughing his ass off at Bobby in the Weasel suit.

I know he had done it before though he mentioned it in his book. I know he wanted to do it with Hogan, but they had him do it with Warrior instead.

I think that's the match where Bobby hurt his neck actually because Warrior was such a careless dingbat.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I only found out today our British prime minister was born in New York

His citizenship status was only until 2016 when the IRS caught up with him.

[1057147]

I think I started watching wrestling around the age of 7 or 8, sometime around the fall of 1998. If I can remember correctly, I think it took me about a year to realize it

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think I started watching wrestling around the age of 7 or 8, sometime around the fall of 1998. If I can remember correctly, I think it took me about a year to realize it

What when you started seeing them being buried alive or big bossman being hung..

[margaret thatcher]

[gilgamesh]

As for what age I realized it was fake. I'd say about 8 years old. When I was 5 I still had that child-like belief where I'd get really pissed if you said it was fake to me

But it becomes quite obvious over time even with a child's eyes.