Staged Reality

I've been a pro-wrestling fans for about 7 years now, and it's really sad to see what the program has come to be today. Wrestling became popular in mainstream in 1985 when Cyndi Lauper joined forces with the WWF and brought the media's attention to the sport. Wrestling reached its height of popularity in the mid-90's, and almost everyone in America was at least aware of the sport. Stone Cold Steve Austin became their poster child, and he and The Rock are probably still the first names that come to mind when one mentions pro-wrestling. Sadly, nowadays the sport is probably at its lowest point of popularity ever. And I use the term 'sport' lightly. I mean, obviously, it's always been staged, and some would question the legitimacy of calling it a sport. It's an event where people display great acrobatic abilities and strengths, and must be greatly skilled to do so, so in sense, it is a sport. But, now the program is something completely different. In the mid-late 90's, during the "Attitude Era", wrestling was the most badass thing on television. Now it's nothing but a shitty soap opera. They wanted to dumb down the stunts and promos so that they can aim it at younger viewers. The problem is, that age group is usually put in bed by 8 or 9, when the show comes on. Kids these days are more mature (in a sense) than they used to be. A 10-year old kid watching wrestling today isn't going to be as easily affected as a kid from the 90's. They're not as impressionable to the sport as they used to be, it's just a part of society evolving. So now instead of interesting wrestling matches and MANLY VIOLENCE AND MUD-WRESTLING DIVAS, it's a whole bunch of overly-scripted storylines and stupid angles. I'm barely even a fan anymore because of what the sport has become. It's really sad, It upsets me to watch wrestling matches as little as 3 or 4 years old. It was so much better then. Obviously this blog is only aimed at a certain audience, those being wrestling fans. Any regular person wouldn't give a fuck. The whole 'who cares, wrestling is fake' mindset kicks in. The point is to use your imagination. You know it's scripted, but it's not 'fake'. Obviously they pull punches, but everything they do is still dangerous. There's been countless injuries and deaths from wrestling accidents. It's like watching Taken. You picture Mel Gibson as a badass ex-agent fighting to get his daughter back, not some old, psychotic racist bastard who's been brainwashed by Hollywood. When watching wrestling, you have to picture Stone Cold Steve Austin as the badass S.O.B. his character is portrayed to be, and not the guy who visits terminally ill children every tear to grant lifelong wishes to meet their favorite wrestler.