Thanks for the post. It brought back memories of sitting with my grandfather every Saturday, watching Bruno Samnartino and other early wrestlers on his black and white TV. Don't know whether or not he believed it was real, but he loved it!
On the Kudzu Vine we discussed how former pro wresting manager Donald Trump needs an adversary to play off of as he campaigns and how Ron DeSantis has become that for Trump and may help explain his rise in the polls.
When I was a young kid in the early 70s my mom used to take me to see pro wrestling here in Philly at The Arena. No doubt the modern era of wrestling is awesome, however for me it goes back to seeing greats like Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Antonio Inoki (who once battled Muhammad Ali!), Andre, Terry Funk, Jack Brisco and others. Great article.
Great article, Chris! I once attended a WWE event at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and was fortunate enough to be in a suite. The funny part is that when one of the wrestlers got taken to "the hospital", it turned out "the hospital" was actually the corridor outside the suites! Good times!
Chris, I go back a little further than you (mid to late 1960’s) as a wresting fan. Often went to Madison square garden and can honestly say that wrestling is my favorite “sport” to watch in person (I agree that live magnifies significantly how fake it is). I haven’t gone in about 20-25 years, but I loved to go and root for the bad guy and develop good natured ribbing with the crowd, especially kids. My shining moment was when I was rooting, quite loudly, for Greg “The Hammer” Valentine against Tito Santana. My insult to Santana of “Hey Santana, you’re not a has been, you’re a never was!”, was greeted by a shout from an elderly lady of “Will you shut up already!!! Made my day. Love your columns but do miss you on CNN.
When I saw the title I groaned. I am not a sports fan. Not any sport. :) But since you wrote the article I had to read it. And I enjoyed every word of it!!! The correlation between society and wrestling was very interesting!!!!
Okay Chris, I’m confused…if you were at Oracle Arena, your were in Oakland, not San Francisco. If you were in fact in San Francisco, you were probably at Chase Center - where the Warriors play.
Thanks for the post. It brought back memories of sitting with my grandfather every Saturday, watching Bruno Samnartino and other early wrestlers on his black and white TV. Don't know whether or not he believed it was real, but he loved it!
On the Kudzu Vine we discussed how former pro wresting manager Donald Trump needs an adversary to play off of as he campaigns and how Ron DeSantis has become that for Trump and may help explain his rise in the polls.
BTW, glad you went to an AEW show over the WWE.
When I was a young kid in the early 70s my mom used to take me to see pro wrestling here in Philly at The Arena. No doubt the modern era of wrestling is awesome, however for me it goes back to seeing greats like Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Antonio Inoki (who once battled Muhammad Ali!), Andre, Terry Funk, Jack Brisco and others. Great article.
Great article, Chris! I once attended a WWE event at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and was fortunate enough to be in a suite. The funny part is that when one of the wrestlers got taken to "the hospital", it turned out "the hospital" was actually the corridor outside the suites! Good times!
Ugh! and also disgusting how vince mc Mahon and WWE came to take all
The money from the sport
Ugh!
Chris, I go back a little further than you (mid to late 1960’s) as a wresting fan. Often went to Madison square garden and can honestly say that wrestling is my favorite “sport” to watch in person (I agree that live magnifies significantly how fake it is). I haven’t gone in about 20-25 years, but I loved to go and root for the bad guy and develop good natured ribbing with the crowd, especially kids. My shining moment was when I was rooting, quite loudly, for Greg “The Hammer” Valentine against Tito Santana. My insult to Santana of “Hey Santana, you’re not a has been, you’re a never was!”, was greeted by a shout from an elderly lady of “Will you shut up already!!! Made my day. Love your columns but do miss you on CNN.
This is a perfect take on the parallels between today's world and the world of sports entertainment. Bravo!
Signed,
Also a longtime pro wrestling fan
My friend Gwen was there. She loves AEW!
When I saw the title I groaned. I am not a sports fan. Not any sport. :) But since you wrote the article I had to read it. And I enjoyed every word of it!!! The correlation between society and wrestling was very interesting!!!!
Looks like the picture is from the Chase Center.
Okay Chris, I’m confused…if you were at Oracle Arena, your were in Oakland, not San Francisco. If you were in fact in San Francisco, you were probably at Chase Center - where the Warriors play.
It was actually at the Cow Palace
Two nights at Cow Palace. But Sunday was at Chase!
Thank you for writing this, Chris. I love professional wrestling too. But you should go to live events more often. Wrestling is much better in person.