Every passing interest has a story behind it.

I had no access to pro wrestling before the ruthless aggression era.

Now that that's out of the way...

This is the experience of someone who is in a country not part of the anglosphere.
If you want to know who actually had appeal outside the niche and/or international recognition, my testimonial is as good it gets.

Pre-history

Hulk Hogan.

That's it. The only one who came close was Doink the clown, but we only had the vague notion of a clown who beat people up in the ring. And I'm talking about Hulkamania Hogan. He wasn't easy to find even then.

The first time I saw the Rock was when he had his cameo in the The Mummy 2. And I watched that movie on TV, years after it aired in theaters. Nobody knew who he was. Furthermore, the only show anyone knew of was WCW. That's as deep as wrestling went in this country's collective conscious.

The videogames were bland. Doink got the "I know you!" pop. Bam Bam Bigelow left a mark on account of the hilarious "BAM! BAM!" screams.

The story begins - ruthless aggression

The pro wrestling fad was well underway before it came to my attention thanks to a guy in my class who was obsessed with Triple HHH.
Curious, I decided to check out RAW.

No matter how overproduced, Triple HHH is a dork. Chris Benoit was no upgrade: no personality, stiff movements and worryingly roided up; that Kane guy had a downer of an entrance song. Awful main event and heatless freakshows aside, my only memory is watching guys like Shelton Bejamin and Muhammad Hassan lose to a balding 50-something with a "sexy boy" song straight out of a washed up 80s gay for pay convention. Suspension of disbelief broken, I switched to Smackdown.

JBL was as bad as Triple HHH, but his dorkness was acknowledged. Lots of wrestlers were cool to cheer and fun to hate. The Undertaker was a badass. Decay settled in quick in the form of a neutered Cena feuding with stooges like Jericho and Christian on RAW. Then Eddie died and Benoit got famous. My interest had been waning since wrestlemania 22, but that killed the fad. Eurosport had TNA and that was cool, but I rarely cared enough to watch. I'd occasionally watch the PPVs with friends along the years.

Finding /woo/

From YTMND to yotsuba and into /woo/, learning the sam canon inbetween mentions of Mark Meltzer, 「The Wrestling Journalist」. I'd seldom lurk and eventually reached the sam black hole's event horizon: botchamania. RAW after mania became a thing soon after. So many people against how sterile the shows had become! I wasn't alone!

Then I discover Cornette and he makes so much sense! And there's Bret Hart and his big nemesis is that balding stripper "boy" who made a mess of the WWE in the 90s with his merry clique! Turns out pro wrestling was once must-see unitedstatesian TV and guys like Steve Austin and that guy from the mummy movie were trailblazers. And Hulk Hogan? He was an untalented asshole who kept everyone down. Macho Man Randy Savage was the real fan favourite!

Although an interest, mine was only superficial, looking stuff up for half hour entertainment whenever I bothered. First on the list was Macho Man's legendary match against Ricky Steamboat. It was OK. I guess I had to be there to really get it. Next were Bret Hart's greatest hits. They were fine. His match vs Stone Cold was the best of the bunch. Surely all these matches get a new layer of fun if you know the backstage story! I found myself gravitating towards shoot interviews. Talking. Grudges. Bitching.

I took a step back. Cornette got me in and he would take me out: the high pitched voice, the penchant for the dramatic, the quick wit and rhetoric of an overconfident, sassy overweight woman... He's the wrestling world's effeminate guy in the otherwise all-female cast of the local celebrity gossip TV show. I had devolved into an eager wallflower, partaking in the kind of high-school bullshit I never allowed myself to get sucked into. All this to squeeze a drop of entertainent in the bland TV everyone was praising. I had uncovered the journey of spiritual defilement the typical sam takes, which eventually leads them back to the modern business. Kayfabe replaced by backstage drama.

Vince Russo and purification of the Soul

I noticed I was only paying attention to one side of the story. So now, whenever I remembered pro wrestling in bored moments, I'd look into the trash TV that sam thought leaders complained about: the attiude era and WCW/nWo.

There's really not much to say. It's great. Characters with motivations going after each other and solving their problems with violence. Both shows had good stuff to offer all over. In the WWE there's D'Lo and Mark Henry, X-pac, Sable, the Undertaker and... Is that Kane?! Meanwhile on WCW there's Hogan, Savage, Sting, the Outsiders, Rey Mysterio, Disco Inferno, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Jericho (this bland shitter was once funny?!), DDP... I haven't watched every single show, but those I did never insult my intelligence as much as the current era. Once again, I was watching pro wrestling for pro wrestling's sake.

A thought formed.

Maybe these smarks are all stupid.

From there to stumbling upon nwowolfpactv, the smarkbusters, Rock316AE and finally building enough tolerance to a brooklyn accent to hear what Vince Russo had to say were simple steps.

And thus we find ourselves at the point when I created this webpage. I wouldn't label myself as part of any fan faction. Listening in on backstage interviews is fun for the entertainment value of the story teller. 99.9% of the time, the wrestlers only approach the truth in a way that favours their point of view or to push an agenda. But I will say this: the opposite corner to the sam canon is not right about everything, but at least they have not worked themselves into shoot mental illness.

... Or at least not yet. The corpse of yotsuba let out a final whisper of air from its rotten lungs in the form of /asp/, which has since turned into /pw/. The once gathering spot for the modern misfit smark has slowly been co-opted by the /woo/ddit types who gave us wrestlemania 30, so who knows what the future has in store for this side of the fence.

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