Moderndaywarrior Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I know we have quite a few fans of "the old days" of wrestling here,but I haven't seen one these yet so I figured what the heck, let's start one. Let's try to keep the focus on the "old shool" stuff (which IMO is everything through the early 90's,up to and including SMW,which was probably the last of the great "old fashioned" type promotions around) Other than that,anything is fair play: old stories and memories of promtions,wrestlers, or shows.....thoughts,opinions,comparison/contrats with today's product,as well as FRIENDLY discussions and debates(it's ok to disagree but that doesn't mean we can't be reasonable about it) on the promotions,wrestlers,or events of the time period. Alternatively,if you have a question about the "territory days" you can ask it here; I'm sure one of us will be able to come up with an answer for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHK1978 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Why would you start this thread up? Isn't that what olympia's diary is for? Seriously, I think this is a great idea for a thread. One thing that I miss is the change in the fans. When I was a kid and I used to go to wrestling, be it a house show or whatever, the fans were a lot more crazy. I remember one time Hulk Hogan was taking on Bad News Brown at the Providence Civic Center, and BNB had Hogan down on the ground. BNB grabbed the house mic and started saying how he was beating our hero and now he was going to give him the ghetto blaster. Just as he finished an old man from the crowd tried to jump the guardrail to stop BNB. It took, like five security guards to take this guy down as he seemed hell bent at getting BNB. That was just great stuff! I also miss the fans throwing the cups at the wrestlers. I know that it is not cool to do that to the wrestlers but I used to love that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 I've heard a good number of stories like that from bad guy wrestlers,apparently those little old ladies used to get pretty fiesty and it wasnt uncommon for them to go after the villain with their purse or umbrella. If you watch some of the older stuff, many TV studios,and even some arenas didn't have the railing manned be security like now;there was absolutely nothing preventing the fans from approaching the ring, and often times they did....up until the late 80's/early 90's it wasn't a totally uncommon sight to see the heel having to stay in the ring for 10 or 15 minutes after a win in a big match because the fans had surrounded it,so all they could really do was sort of hang out until the crowd calmed down.The only real exceptions to the rule were guys like The original sheik,Brody,Abdullah,Jos LeDuc....basically people that the fans were so afraid of(with good reason too) that they always gave them a wide berth. There was even a fairly well known in the late 50's at Madison Square Garden where a riot occured after the matches...I don't remember everyone inolved off the top of my head but definitely one was Dick the Bruiser (supposedly he was banned from wrestling NY State for life afterwards,it may actually be true)...and i think Argentino Rocca....it led to certain rules being imposed for wrestling to be allowed at MSG;IIRC minor were not allowed in under any cimcumstances(even with an accompanying parent) until the early 1970's. Heck,one of the reason black wrestlers during the "early" years were always good guys was that many promoters were afraid if a black bad guy wrestler beat down a white good guy wrestler,there would be riots. Jim Cornette has more than once told stories of his times in Bill Watts MSW;both he and Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey had some very scary incidents during the Midnight Express/JYD&Bill Watts feud with nearly being knifed or shot by crazed fans.....the same thing happened when The Freebirds blinded JYD, they had to have a police escort because there were legitimate death threats against them. The change in fans came with the change in the business;back then fans went nuts because everything was orchestrated and presented in such a way that many really and truly believed.....nowadays everything is always kind of done with a sort of "wink and a smile,we know you're in on the joke" kind of attitude......which is much safer for the wrestlers in terms of fan interaction,but much worse in that it has caused it to sort of lose that little bit of "magic" it had "back when it was real". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningHamster Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Since I don't watch current day WWE, I have become a pretty big fan of old school wrestling over the last few years. Random thoughts .... You got the sense people wanted to kill each other when feuds were done well back then, there was a certain intensity that is missing now. Maybe because every promo is scripted and so it loses some of the immediacy and impact, maybe because most guys can't throw a good punch anymore, I don't know. The Freebirds were awesome, even when they split up. I still wonder what happened to Michael Hayes later tag team partner Steve "Do it to it" Cox. Pat Tanaka was possibly the most underrated wrestler of the late '80s. Holy crap was he good and Paul Diamond was no slouch either. The promos were a lot more risque at times than I would have thought. Also people shouted over each other, notice how everyone in the WWE waits for their turn to talk now? There were lots of cowboys. Some announcers were good, some not so good. Bill Mercer sometimes made no sense at all. Abs were a rarity. Jobbers! Mean Gene was probably the best interviewer ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Since I don't watch current day WWE, I have become a pretty big fan of old school wrestling over the last few years. Random thoughts .... You got the sense people wanted to kill each other when feuds were done well back then, there was a certain intensity that is missing now. Maybe because every promo is scripted and so it loses some of the immediacy and impact, maybe because most guys can't throw a good punch anymore, I don't know. The Freebirds were awesome, even when they split up. I still wonder what happened to Michael Hayes later tag team partner Steve "Do it to it" Cox. Pat Tanaka was possibly the most underrated wrestler of the late '80s. Holy crap was he good and Paul Diamond was no slouch either. The promos were a lot more risque at times than I would have thought. Also people shouted over each other, notice how everyone in the WWE waits for their turn to talk now? There were lots of cowboys. Some announcers were good, some not so good. Bill Mercer sometimes made no sense at all. Abs were a rarity. Jobbers! Mean Gene was probably the best interviewer ever. Good point about the promos,they used to ad-lib things a lot more on the spot,which I always thought worked much better, esp. for those like Piper,Flair,Graham,etc. who could really talk;letting them do their own thing helped make them unique personalities instead a guy who throws out a catchphrase. That little element of realism really "made" feuds, if you watch some of the Terry Funk stuff leadig up to the Empty Arena Match,he really is crazy and paranoid, and Lawler is the perfect "every guy" thrust into a situation where he must deal with a madman who is beyond reasoning with....same thing with the Savage/Lawler feud;It really comes off as this crazy man from another wrestling company coming to humiliate Memphis wrestling by going after Lawler(the high profile guy) and Lawler is again your "every guy" who is just SO sick of hearing this guy run his mouth he want to kick his butt just to shut him up.Even when watching Magnum/Tully, in their outside the ring brawls leading to the I Quit match, they really work it to where they looked legit pissed at each other. Don't even get me started on the punching and kicking....let's just say I feel now they should put less focus on learning how to do a triple 360 back flip and more on throwing a realistic strike...to me,I don't care how flashy a move you can do,if you can't make everything look real(which IMO is the base from which any good match must start),what's the point?Far too much "stuntman style lay there and take it while the other guy dances around" stuff anymore.... Steve Cox...there's an obscure one....I think he kicked around the indys for a while after that.... Tanaka and Diamond were good...they just had the misfortune of coming around when tag team wrestling was just starting it's long slow decline into the sad mess it is today. I suppose there were alot of cowboys...I guess that was because they were trying to go for something people could relate to,if you get what I mean....I think that also ties into why you didn't see alot of really cut guys with 6 pack abs either;the focus was less on the cosmetic(definition,body fat,etc.) and more on the realistic(having the strength and stamina to go for hours)....you had alot of guys like Dusty or Race who were never going to win a Mr.Universe title, but could do a 60-90 minute match 5 nights a week,and that was what mattered.....heck,two the real greats, Race and Dory Funk,Jr. probably would hardly even get a look now,much less a spot,which is a shame. Announcers tended to either be really good(a la Solie,Russell,Caudle) or really bad(a la David Crockett).....there was not much in between;in a way though,each had a style that defined their product and made it unique.....I remember how strange it was to me the first time I heard Jim Ross announcing for the WWF,same for Schiavone when he worked for the WWF. Jobbers are kind of an odd thing....at the surface level it looks easy(sit around and get beat up),but if you go past that, to the level of "making the star look like a star" it's actually pretty hard.I always kind of liked the old "Job squad"....you knew they were going to lose,but at least you got to see someone "good" and see some of their moves;really using jobbers to introduce a crowd to a particular wrestler's style is smart....plus by showing them getting wins you have a sensible,logical base to start for showing them go up the ranks to get title shots.....it's just a shame the word "logical" has been all but thrown out the window in today's booking style,as it is the foundation from which all good wrestling programs are built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Fenoli Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 The promos were a lot more risque at times than I would have thought. Also people shouted over each other, notice how everyone in the WWE waits for their turn to talk now? There were lots of cowboys. These two things I think come from wrestling being so produced these days. Now, everything is so written out, every word. Back then it was "Ok Ric, last week you attacked Dusty. Next week we have you and Dusty in the cage. Now, go sell some tickets." The cowboys thing came from wrestler's characters coming as extensions of themselves. Guys weren't playing a part as much as they are. Their character was pretty much them, and alot of guys were from the south. So, in a sense, "in the old days" wrestling was more real. Now, everyone knows it's fake... There's no effort to maintain kayfabe really. People dont go crazy on heels like they used to because of this. We still boo Randy Orton, but we dont hate him like we did the Koloffs. We boo them like we do Darth Vader. I think that's also why wrestling seems to have more kids as fans than it used to. Look at the crowds at the Sportatorium, it's like 90% adults. Now, it's probably 60%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franchise22 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 i love reading about the "old days" in the various books out. one question, who REALLY was first to use entrance music? ive seen and read different sources that state Hogan was, and others state the freebirds were. thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 i love reading about the "old days" in the various books out. one question, who REALLY was first to use entrance music? ive seen and read different sources that state Hogan was, and others state the freebirds were. thoughts? The early ones were the Freebirds using "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, JYD using "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen,Hogan using "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, and Sgt.Slaughter using The United States Marine Corps Hymn. Of those, I'd say Fritz Von Erich was the first to have the high production value TV show with WCCW so my feeling is it was probably The Freebirds,at least on a regular basis. I can say without a doubt that Jerry Lawler was likely the first wrestler ever to be the subject of a music video,back in the mid 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantabulous Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 The first wrestlers to use entrance music were those in Japan in the 60s or 70s. Like a lot of concepts, Japan did it first, and then it was popularized in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappyboy Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 The early ones were the Freebirds using "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, JYD using "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen,Hogan using "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, and Sgt.Slaughter using The United States Marine Corps Hymn. Of those, I'd say Fritz Von Erich was the first to have the high production value TV show with WCCW so my feeling is it was probably The Freebirds,at least on a regular basis. I can say without a doubt that Jerry Lawler was likely the first wrestler ever to be the subject of a music video,back in the mid 70's. Dude, you mention the Freebirds and JYD et al. But considering your message board name, it blows my mind you overlook Kerry Von Erich using Tom Sawyer by Rush. MODERN DAY WARRIOR Mean, mean stride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Dude, you mention the Freebirds and JYD et al. But considering your message board name, it blows my mind you overlook Kerry Von Erich using Tom Sawyer by Rush. MODERN DAY WARRIOR Mean, mean stride LOL true, i wasn't as sure if that happened as early as the other ones though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappyboy Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Think I have both albums on cassette around here somewhere. So if I can dig em up I can confirm this. But I'm pretty sure Tom Sawyer predates Eye Of The Tiger which you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvdWarrior Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 I've heard a good number of stories like that from bad guy wrestlers,apparently those little old ladies used to get pretty fiesty and it wasnt uncommon for them to go after the villain with their purse or umbrella. I remember there was this one little old lady who was ALWAYS at the NWA/WCW tv tapings when they came to town, (I was always there too), and she was always pretty feisty. Good times. Seeing the live events back then was always a lot of fun - I haven't seen an event live and in person for years, but I just have a feeling it wouldn't be the same as it was in the good old days. The tickets and merchendise would be so much more expensive, not to mention the refreshments. Aye carumba, last time I went to my nearest arena, a slice of pizza cost.... well, way too much for a slice of pizza anyway. I used to go to the show every time they came around. They used to tape their tv shows like 3 or 4 episodes at a time, and I'd always look for myself when it came on tv. I also remember back then that anytime there was a near-fall, there'd be this huge heard of kids in the crowd that'd take off for the guard rail to try to get a high five from the wrestler as he left. I was usually a part of the herd, and it was always kinda fun to see on tv. I don't know that much about really old school wrestling, but some of the things I read about 1960's wrestling, mainly in Mick Foley's book Tietam Brown, sounds really rough and tumble, especially brutal compared to the wrestling of today. Not to change the subject, but I'll never forget this promo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristram Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 i love reading about the "old days" in the various books out. one question, who REALLY was first to use entrance music? ive seen and read different sources that state Hogan was, and others state the freebirds were. thoughts? Well before both of them. Gorgeous George - Pomp and Circumstance. The same theme used by Randy Savage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningHamster Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Gorgeous George - Pomp and Circumstance. The same theme used by Randy Savage. Yeah, I remember seeing a match of his from I believe the 1950s and was shocked not just by the entrance music but also by how much he worked the gimmick. He had a male valet disinfect the ring, would put on an oxygen mask and breath in "florida air" between falls as it was a 2/3 falls match and spent half the time trying not to get his hair messed up so when the babyface managed to do it he went nuts and the crowd loved it. He also had this really cool move, like a flying hipmare type deal that is hard to descibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristram Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Definitely revolutionary. Watching old Gorgeous George footage is... wicked. In many ways it is still perfect ring psychology in today's environment. He knew how to work the crowd beautifully. Classic stuff, I love the disinfectant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Exactly, Georgeous George is pretty much the template for every "sissy" or "outrageously gay" gimmick in wrestling, from Terry Garvin to Adrian Street to Goldust. Of all of those, George was probably the best in-ring.IMO Street just slightly edges him in psychology and interviews,but George was still head and shoulders over almost all of his contemporaries though.And like all those who did that sort of gimmick "pre-Sports Entertainment", George was an extremely tough guy that could handle anyone in a real fight;in those days you had to be like that to use that gimmick since it wasn't uncommon at all to be harrassed by fans on the street because of the prevailing attittude of the times when it came to homosexuality,plus they figured the "sissy" would be an easy target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="dvdWarrior" data-cite="dvdWarrior" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25088" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I remember there was this one little old lady who was ALWAYS at the NWA/WCW tv tapings when they came to town, (I was always there too), and she was always pretty feisty. Good times. Seeing the live events back then was always a lot of fun - I haven't seen an event live and in person for years, but I just have a feeling it wouldn't be the same as it was in the good old days. The tickets and merchendise would be so much more expensive, not to mention the refreshments. Aye carumba, last time I went to my nearest arena, a slice of pizza cost.... well, way too much for a slice of pizza anyway.<p> </p><p> I used to go to the show every time they came around. They used to tape their tv shows like 3 or 4 episodes at a time, and I'd always look for myself when it came on tv. I also remember back then that anytime there was a near-fall, there'd be this huge heard of kids in the crowd that'd take off for the guard rail to try to get a high five from the wrestler as he left. I was usually a part of the herd, and it was always kinda fun to see on tv.</p><p> </p><p> I don't know that much about really old school wrestling, but some of the things I read about 1960's wrestling, mainly in Mick Foley's book Tietam Brown, sounds really rough and tumble, especially brutal compared to the wrestling of today.</p><p> </p><p> Not to change the subject, but I'll never forget this promo...</p><p> </p><p> </p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="150" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/WJYx1-4fI-4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Road Warriors promo Starcade 86'"></iframe></div></div><p> </p><p> <img alt=":eek:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I remember the "old fashioned shows" very well;as a kid,back before Vince Jr. took the WWF national,my parents or grandmother would take me down to Ag Hall for the WWF TV tapings....this was back when the (W)WF only ran a few buildings other than The Spectrum and MSG;they would tape one months worth of TV is one sitting so the show ran rabout 4 1/2 and sometimes up to 5 hours.You sat down on the same cheap chairs the guys hit each other with(back then they weren't even the metal ones,they were usually wood) with only a very short,very thin rail between you and the action;one or two spotlights over the ring and the rest was dark;you could always see the smoke hanging in the air from all the cigarettes and cigars that were being smoked.It was dark,dirty,a little cramped, and some of the fans would get worked up to levels that as a kid,kind of scared me.Looking back though,I really miss those days and the especially the atmosphere, the only wrestling show since that came close was when the original ECW ran a few shows in the same building about 12 years back.</p><p> </p><p> Also,good Roadies vid, the pumpkins was a nice little touch of psychology to get the "danger factor" over; you just don't see that kind of care being put into things now.</p><p> </p><p> Here's another classic "Road Warriors" moment I remember very well:</p><p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv3aYQ1ICl8&feature=related" rel="external nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv3aYQ1ICl8&feature=related</a></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remianen Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Moderndaywarrior" data-cite="Moderndaywarrior" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25088" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Jim Cornette has more than once told stories of his times in Bill Watts MSW;both he and Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey had some very scary incidents during the Midnight Express/JYD&Bill Watts feud with nearly being knifed or shot by crazed fans.....the same thing happened when The Freebirds blinded JYD, they had to have a police escort because there were legitimate death threats against them.<p> </p><p> The change in fans came with the change in the business;back then fans went nuts because everything was orchestrated and presented in such a way that many really and truly believed.....nowadays everything is always kind of done with a sort of "wink and a smile,we know you're in on the joke" kind of attitude......which is much safer for the wrestlers in terms of fan interaction,but much worse in that it has caused it to sort of lose that little bit of "magic" it had "back when it was real".</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Yeah, contrast that to today. I saw Triple H and Sean Waltman at LaGuardia airport once several years ago. No dark glasses, no 'celebrity trying to act low key' act, they were waiting for a flight to Chicago (and they were flying in COACH).</p><p> </p><p> There were a lot of things about kayfabe that wouldn't work in today's world. Today, promotions own gimmicks (copyright & trademark) for the purpose of selling merchandise. That wouldn't work with kayfabe. No promotion wants to spend money promoting a worker (and the worker's merchandise) so a competitor could reap benefits from it. Now, there are people that say 'it's good for the business...' and then they wonder why 'the territories' were so poor (relatively speaking). The business aspect is what undermines kayfabe more than anything else. People's gimmicks were part of them back then. Nowadays, workers are GIVEN gimmicks more often than not.</p><p> </p><p> And MDW, they can't really do the punches and kicks the way they did back then. Many of those workers from that day were genuine tough guys so they'd tell their opponents to 'really lay it in' to get that realistic look. Given the schedules that exist today (and the relatively wussy workers), that's a risk most companies aren't willing to take. You still see very good punches and kicks from indy workers/promotions but when they 'hit the big time', that's the first thing to go.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tag01 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="BurningHamster" data-cite="BurningHamster" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25088" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Yeah, I remember seeing a match of his from I believe the 1950s and was shocked not just by the entrance music but also by how much he worked the gimmick. He had a male valet disinfect the ring, would put on an oxygen mask and breath in "florida air" between falls as it was a 2/3 falls match and spent half the time trying not to get his hair messed up so when the babyface managed to do it he went nuts and the crowd loved it.<p> </p><p> He also had this really cool move, like a flying hipmare type deal that is hard to descibe.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Reading about, and having my dad tell me about, Gorgeous George got me into wrestling when I was young. What a great gimmick! One of the best heels ever.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Remianen" data-cite="Remianen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25088" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>And MDW, they can't really do the punches and kicks the way they did back then. Many of those workers from that day were genuine tough guys so they'd tell their opponents to 'really lay it in' to get that realistic look. Given the schedules that exist today (and the relatively wussy workers), that's a risk most companies aren't willing to take. You still see very good punches and kicks from indy workers/promotions but when they 'hit the big time', that's the first thing to go.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I agree, watch a match with Flair,Arn Anderson,etc. from the early/mid 80's then right after that watch a match by the same guy from the 90's,you will actually see the same guy go from throwing something reasonably believeable to "Jeez,you can see he missed the guy b a good two inches".</p><p> </p><p> Actually,I think the wrestling schedule itself is lighter now(alot of the territories wrestlers worked 5 or 6 nights a week,if you go further back there were guys who would wrestle 14 times in one week.) The bigger difference is in how the promoters handle their guys,it used to be if you got hurt the promoter didn't care much unless you were one of the few perennial "top draw" wrestlers that made him alot of money,they'd just bring in another guy from a different promotion to fill in the spot,and while you were out you went unpaid.Now with paid time off and so on they want to protect the guy since they have to pay him no matter what,so there is an active stake in keeping them healthy. Plus with the written contracts and such if your top guy goes down it's not like you can just call up another company and borrow someone with name value for a little while.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Fenoli Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Who was the first wrestler to have long hair? I imagine that besides cosmetically long hair aids a wrestler in selling moves... Does anyone know who the first wrestler was with it? Or was it just a gradual thing that caught on and became part of te culture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningHamster Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I can't think of who the first wrestler with long hair would have been but it would not surprise me if it was perhaps one of the early Native Americans having it as part of their gimmick? Aside from that it probably caught on when long hair for men in general became more popular around the late '60s (or maybe early '70s as wrestling is usually a few years behind the curve). I have not seen enough wrestling from this early to be able to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabataged Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I agree, watch a match with Flair,Arn Anderson,etc. from the early/mid 80's then right after that watch a match by the same guy from the 90's,you will actually see the same guy go from throwing something reasonably believeable to "Jeez,you can see he missed the guy b a good two inches". Actually,I think the wrestling schedule itself is lighter now(alot of the territories wrestlers worked 5 or 6 nights a week,if you go further back there were guys who would wrestle 14 times in one week.) The bigger difference is in how the promoters handle their guys,it used to be if you got hurt the promoter didn't care much unless you were one of the few perennial "top draw" wrestlers that made him alot of money,they'd just bring in another guy from a different promotion to fill in the spot,and while you were out you went unpaid.Now with paid time off and so on they want to protect the guy since they have to pay him no matter what,so there is an active stake in keeping them healthy. Plus with the written contracts and such if your top guy goes down it's not like you can just call up another company and borrow someone with name value for a little while. The schedule as far as work days may be lighter. Like 250 compared to 350-400. But the travel is far more ridiculous I think. When before they we stay in a couple of states or maybe just 1, now they are going cross country, or even the ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderndaywarrior Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 The schedule as far as work days may be lighter. Like 250 compared to 350-400. But the travel is far more ridiculous I think. When before they we stay in a couple of states or maybe just 1, now they are going cross country, or even the ocean. Now that i can agree definitely agree with for todays indy guys,they really do some hellacious travelling on their own.For WWE types it is tough to say as they certainly travel alot,though it does involve alot more plane rides than the really long driving sessions than the old school/indy guys do. Not that there weren't exceoptions back then; Sam Muchnick only ever ran in St.Louis,and mostly in the Kiel.Like many places they used to tape a whole of TV in one night so it was popular stop over since wrestlers could make some money with only having to commit to one night a month for the TV,then one more night if they were going to be on the big arena show that month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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