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Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied
The thing about the book that really stood out was that amount of abuse the heels got. People would throw coins and punches and spit on them, but i guess they loved it.
How as a civilized human being can you spit on someone? No matter how evil they are in the ring? crazy.
It also shed alot of light on the financial difficulties that Stu went through losing a fortune on the wrestling business. I thought because it was on tv that they were making a tonne of money.
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Ya I was shocked when I read the abuse the heels received from the fans. I couldnt believe it when I read that even the Stampede Pavilion crowd stormed the ring to back up Bret, which terrified the heels. I guess the biz has changed a LOT since then, as I cant even imagine as a fully-grown adult believing it's real(which these people obviously did at the time), and getting that worked up over it.
Also, I agree about what you said at the end, on being shocked how actually cash-strapped Stu and alot of the wrestlers were. As for Bret, even though $1.8 million/yr in his hayday is a nice chunk of change, back then I always thought he was making at least $5 million/yr, as well as most of the other big names in the biz. I was surprised when I read this book how basically all of em except for whoever was holding the belt was making under a mil. I always figured they were making money equal to sports stars in the NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL at the time.
It also shocked me to read that in the mid-90's, right before the WWF enjoyed its 2nd stint as a pop culture icon, that Vince McMahon was ready to lay off a ton of wrestlers and return the WWF to being only a northeastern U.S. promotion. As a kid watching the WWF religiously back then, I always figured Vince and the WWF were just drowning in $$$.
Just finished reading the Montreal Screw-Job chapter, only got about 90 pages left in 'er. Great book. I'm shocked at what an ass Shawn Michaels is(and how sensitive he was too. I can't believe he was bawling in the locker room after the screw job), though Id like to hear his side of the story. Although this book has led me to respect Bret the way I used to as a kid, I still laugh at alot of his comments throughout the book. You can tell he really thinks he was arguably the greatest wrestler ever, and head and shoulders above everyone else in the WWF when he was still around. He may be right, but its still funny to read, he's definitely got a healthy ego on him.