"They thought it was real!"

revoltub

revoltub

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Concerning the attitude era...

I've noticed several times, in wwe documentaries on NWO and on the attitude era and monday night wars...that sometimes they will say things to the tune of people thinkingis was real back in those days.

Honestly, when I go back and look at those segments, I don't see how anyone can possibly think it is real. I mean, even the matches. These arent shoot style matches we are talking about.

I wonder if the wrestlers say this about the attitude era to make it seem more...realistic I guess.
 
It was the dawn of the Internet. The sheets were online.

Once 97 and 98 rolled around and anyone with a dial up Internet connection that watched wrestling had read Meltzer's Montréal Screw Job report.

Everyone got a peek behind the curtain and the sheets blew up online.

Once everyone was smartened up the business was never the same. It changed from actively defrauding the public to become Sports Entertainment completely.

Now I watch more shoots from the Kliq and other guys from the era than I do actual wrestling because you love hearing stories from that time just before the Internet revealed everything about the business.
 
gspieler said:
Any specific examples?
Click to expand...

Like wrestling matches in general while entertaining arent very realistic even if you believe beforehand it isnt real.

I remember the nwo had a brawl outside of the arena and people called the cops in real life. I think when rey was tossed into the wall
 
People always talk about kayfabe dying in the 90s with the internet, but actually Keller was saying on a podcast recently that polling of some fans in the deep south in the early 70s showed that the vast majority knew it was scripted even then.

The difference is people were willing to go along with the story until the 90s. I think the reason you don't get those reactions now is that your average "mark" is scared of being uncool by cheering wildly for a vanilla babyface or booing a dastardly heel, and your average "smart" doesn't treat it like a story, they watch it as an analyst.

You can be the biggest wrestling fan in the world, but if you're watching a match thinking about the booking and how the crowd are responding to the structure of the match, you're probably not as engrossed in the result as you should be.
 
People have known pro wrestling was staged since the 30s.

There are just some real dumb people out there, they shouldn't rep the entire fanbase. That's like saying because Lena Headey getting heckled because of her Game of Thrones character means, that all GoT fans think it's real.
 
hoonosewot88 said:
People always talk about kayfabe dying in the 90s with the internet, but actually Keller was saying on a podcast recently that polling of some fans in the deep south in the early 70s showed that the vast majority knew it was scripted even then.
Click to expand...

But as the Internet caught on there was a primetime cable ratings war going on with a ton of backstage drama constantly developing.

Different time
 
No one thought it was real in the 90's and regardless of what Bret says in his book no one thought it was real in the 80's either(other than kids of course)
Rasslers like to talk about fooling the marks but really theyre the marks that fooled themselves into believing the fans believed
People have always kinda known it was a work but the fact that rasslers kept a strict code of kayfabe and believability back then it allowed the fans to suspend disbelief, enhoy the show and get emotionally invested in it
Its like going to a magic show, we know its not real but we cant figure out how its done so were entertained by the mystery
Rasslin fans wanted to be fooled and just sit back and be entertained by the show
Not like today when the fanbase is a buncha whiny snarky ass nerds obsessed with match ratings and move sets and work rates, no one gave a fuck about that stupid shit back then and it was so much better
 
I think some of it also has to do guys in the 90's partially shooting at times, in interviews, etc. Yes, everyone knew wrestling was a work. But you also had things MSG curtain call. Shawn/Brett shoot style promos, Scott Steiner in general, etc.
 
On a side note, when Trips turned around and comforted that kid when Cena was getting handled, it was officially over. We've reached the point where the promoter's son-in-law won't even protect kayfabe on live tv.
 
Pliny Pete said:
No one thought it was real in the 90's and regardless of what Bret says in his book no one thought it was real in the 80's either(other than kids of course)
Rasslers like to talk about fooling the marks but really theyre the marks that fooled themselves into believing the fans believed
People have always kinda known it was a work but the fact that rasslers kept a strict code of kayfabe and believability back then it allowed the fans to suspend disbelief, enhoy the show and get emotionally invested in it
Its like going to a magic show, we know its not real but we cant figure out how its done so were entertained by the mystery
Rasslin fans wanted to be fooled and just sit back and be entertained by the show
Not like today when the fanbase is a buncha whiny snarky ass nerds obsessed with match ratings and move sets and work rates, no one gave a fuck about that stupid shit back then and it was so much better
Click to expand...

Truth.
 
Yes. The Big Show's dead father was really towed by the Big Boss Man.

WWF/E has been a cartoon since 1986.
 
Anybody who thinks wrestling is real and is above the age of 12 needs help, regardless of the era.
 
Nobody thought it was real. It's a myth put forth by old school bookers and promoters, who want to believe they're geniuses who fooled everyone.

In fairness though, there are some things that fooled people. The NWO invasion was really well done, and if you were in your early teens or younger, you maybe thought that it was a legit WWE takeover of WCW, instead of an obvious WCW angle. Like maybe Vince had purchased WCW behind the scenes, or something. They blurred the lines a bit that way. There were certain business related angles that fooled a lot of people.

People still wonder about the Montreal screwjob. So yeah, real elements bled into the product. Some shoot angles were well done, but in no way did anyone think the actual wrestling part was real. Or the characters. Business aspects though? Yeah, and a lot of it was.

To further my point, some idiot executives at WCW actually believed Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were going back to WWE, when WWE teased the fake Diesel and Razor, and ended up giving Hall and Nash an extra half a mil on their contracts to keep them.
 
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HereticBD said:
Nobody thought it was real. It's a myth put forth by old school bookers and promoters, who want to believe they're geniuses who fooled everyone.

In fairness though, there are some things that fooled people. The NWO invasion was really well done, and if you were in your early teens or younger, you maybe thought that it was a legit WWE takeover of WCW, instead of an obvious WCW angle. Like maybe Vince had purchased WCW behind the scenes, or something. They blurred the lines a bit that way. There were certain business related angles that fooled a lot of people.

People still wonder about the Montreal screwjob. So yeah, real elements bled into the product. Some shoot angles were well done, but in no way did anyone think the actual wrestling part was real. Or the characters. Business aspects though? Yeah, and a lot of it was.

To further my point, some idiot executives at WCW actually believed Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were going back to WWE, when WWE teased the fake Diesel and Razor, and ended up giving Hall and Nash an extra half a mil on their contracts to keep them.
Click to expand...
What are your thoughts on the Montreal Screwjob?
 
gspieler said:
What are your thoughts on the Montreal Screwjob?
Click to expand...

Whether it was legit, or not?

I think it was legit. I don't really see the benefit of sending Bret to WCW at the time. I have a hard time believing it was some master plan. So Bret goes over there riding a wave of hype, to do what? Spy on them? Then you have to believe that Vince just knew that WCW would shit the bed with Bret. Even if he did, it's pretty inconsequential. I'd be more inclined to believe that Vince sent Russo over there to fuck them up, before Bret.

As to who was right, Vince was. 100%. Bret was being ridiculous.
 
HereticBD said:
Whether it was legit, or not?

I think it was legit. I don't really see the benefit of sending Bret to WCW at the time. I have a hard time believing it was some master plan. So Bret goes over there riding a wave of hype, to do what? Spy on them? Then you have to believe that Vince just knew that WCW would shit the bed with Bret. Even if he did, it's pretty inconsequential. I'd be more inclined to believe that Vince sent Russo over there to fuck them up, before Bret.

As to who was right, Vince was. 100%. Bret was being ridiculous.
Click to expand...
I could see it being a work, but I don't think it was. I mean, why would Vince even book Bret as the champ if he knew he was leaving? Vince is notorious for micro-managing, and booking months/years into advance. Combine that with how flawlessly the ending went for a guy being screwed, Vince selling the punch, just happened to be during filming of Bret's documentary, etc. But yeah, it was most likely a shoot, with a string of unusual coincidences attached to it.
 
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