[CaptainCrunch]

You got me thinking about this Flash. I think its no secret that I'm a huge fan of wrestling history. Its amazing to follow from its start in the Carny world where they retained the language right to its rise as what was a very guarded fixed sport.



I was raised on Stampede Wrestling, I loved it because it was easy to suspend disbelief. I mean fight down to the rules about heels and faces not being seen together, the protecting of Kayfabe. Scripting it to feel as feel as possible. My dad is a very smart man, well read, very creative, but he had this blind spot when it came to wrestling, he firmly believed that while the results might be pre-determined, the action was real and these guys were pounding the crap out of each other. But when you have a guy like Stu training these guys in a manner that looks legit, its mission accomplished.


I remember growing up and watching Stampede Wrestling, and All Star wrestling out of Vancouver. I didn't watch a lot of WWF at the time because the shows were so different, they were complete squash matches and the characters were actual character. We had vikings, and savages from Africa, and Space Men and rockstars. It wasn't my thing.



We didn't get a lot of WCW or NWA up here back then, but when I go back and watch the NWA tapes so to speak, it was better wrestling, worse story telling.


When WWE bought Stampeded Wrestling, I was excited to see the change. I remember that a couple of weeks later I saw the debut of Bret Hart and the hero of Stampede Wrestling was there looking nothing like a WWF wrestler, in his plain Black Trunks, and he was skinny and pasty. I remember I thought that Neidhart was going to be the Star of the two. The Bulldogs looked awesome they were already juiced.



I remember seeing the debut of the Hart Foundation and looking in disbelief as they were villains. But you could see the influence of Stampede Wrestling in their matches. I remember the Wrestlemania match with the Bulldogs and Ozzy Osborne in their corner winning the Tag Team Champions using a move that probably caused a ton of damage to Dynamite. I remember the rise of the Foundation. I remember seeing Bad New's Allen, and Bill Kazmier (sp?) and all of these Stampede alumni taking over, and their matches were just so much better then everyone elses.


I think what fails for me with Modern Wrestling is its not spontaneous, its too scripted, and when you combine that with the loss of Kayfabe, the whole thing feels too paint by numbers, too polished and too scripted. I think for wrestling to work you have to be able to suspend your knowledge for an hour that this is fake. I think if you know its fake and your grinding on peoples lack of pushes, or bad matches, it pulls you out of the product.


Just my 2 cents.