Many people think that baseball is our national pastime, but it was clearly not the pastime in the minds of wrestling fans at the Pepsi Arena on Monday night. Wrestling had replaced the ball and glove in favor of DDTs and body slams.
As I walked through the arena’s main doors for my first “WWF Raw” experience, a recollection of my childhood hit me like a finishing elbow drop from The Rock, the People’s Champ. It was simply amazing to see how many devoted fans attend these events (approximately 12,000 people). I remember watching this show and collecting comic books when I was a young, nerdy child. Years later, however, I lost interest and I grew up. This show again caught my attention, and I gained slight interest in this fake sport.
I did some studying on the WWF at www.wwf.com to prepare for the live wrestling show. For anyone not familiar with the program, “WWF RAW” is one of many World Wrestling Federation shows aired on TV for horny young adolescent males—an alternative to watching “Ally McBeal.” “WWF RAW” is also the most highly watched and the highest rated cable program on Monday nights, aired live on the TNN television network. Many men will go as far as calling “WWF RAW” and its brother show, “WWF Smackdown,” the male soap operas. We can see deceit, corruption, lies, greed, sin, romance, and heroism, all in a two-hour brawl of the brawns—and even sometimes the brains.
When my friends and I reached our ringside floor seats, we knew how crazy the show would get. The action started at 7:45 pm, when pre-tapings for matches used in the weekend WWF TV specials such as “Metal” and “Sunday Night Heat” were recorded. The arena was crowded with people carrying huge poster-sized signs, hoping to have their sign shown live on TV. People had signs that said the most absurd things like “Lita will you marry me?” and “The Next Great One” with arrows pointing inward.
Then the arena was lit up by zany pyrotechnics as air time for “WWF RAW” approached. This particular episode of “WWF Raw” was important because there are now two permanent co-owners of the WWF according to the script; former wrestler and ladies man Ric Flair runs “WWF RAW,” whereas Vince McMahon, the brains behind WWF’s global impact, directs “WWF Smackdown,” the Thursday night show on the UPN television network. Apparently, due to a recent feud between McMahon and Flair, the WWF’s Board of Directors decided to split control of the two shows between McMahon and Flair. This episode culminated in the crowning of wrestler Triple H with the Undisputed Championship Belt and aired the decision of whether veteran superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin would choose to wrestle on “WWF RAW” or “WWF Smackdown.”
The crowd went nuts when the wrestlers took the stage. People were running to the front barricades just to watch the matches or to hold their sign up and try to be on TV. Chants like “What!” and “Whoooo!” filled the arena as hard-rock music was played.
The re-introduction of old wrestlers like Goldust, Big Bossman, and Mr. Perfect was particularly interesting to see. These wrestlers are in their late forties and early fifties but are still fit for the ring. Sure, wrestling is fake and scripted, with predetermined results and cheesy hits to the face. However, much of the pain, body-slamming, head crunching, etc. is real. These guys are putting their bodies through some torturous pain. What does not help are the matches with the young guys, including newly acquired Brock Lesnar—the NCAA Divsion I Wrestling Champion—who has the right genes on his side. The guy was a giant and obviously could not be on steroids since he was fresh from the collegiate level.
The evening’s highlight was the paddle on a pole match between Trish Stratus and Terri. These two scantily clad divas wore g-string bikinis and wrestled each other to get on top of the rope and to pull the wooden paddle down. The lady who reaches the paddle first gets to use it on her opponent as she see fits. Of course this was a match that caters to young, horny guys. I also enjoyed watching Stone Cold Steve Austin make his trademark stunner on Vince McMahon, declining the Smackdown contract, and then to Ric Flair for not toasting him a beer immediately after deciding to stick with “WWF Raw.”
Overall, “WWF Raw” was an interesting experience, and I suggest that people should give more credibility to this “circus-performance.” The show has proven to be a huge money-maker in the entertainment business and provides many men with a soap-opera fix that could not be easily gained from watching a show like “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Where else can a guy turn to get his fix of hardcore violence and pleasurable viewing of hot women?
