It's real to me, damn it!

[DustyMartellaughs]

Before you clued in that wrestling was (ahem)...not quite real life, what was your biggest suspension of disbelief?
I BELIEVED, and bought a wrestling magazine in the early Seventies when I was 10 years old. The cover featured the scowling Baron Von Ratschke, modelling his fearsome "brain claw" beside a quote saying "My dream is to kill a man in the ring!"
I ran home from the corner store, frantically waved the magazine at my Mom, who was 29, and yelled "We have to CALL THE POLICE!!!"
My Mom was awesome. She showed me that the magazine was published in the United States, and assured me that the FBI were no doubt on the Baron's trail as we speak.

Click to read more...

 

[BonMorrison]

I thought Kane was actually burned in a fire.

 

[GarbageGoal]

That Ox Baker had killed two men in the ring.

 

[Fro]

Dusty Rhodes' eye was gouged out with a spike...

 

[Megahab]

I actually never thought wrestling was real, even though I started watching at 3-4 years old. My older cousins told me it was fake right from the beginning.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I think the inferno match was the last time I ever bought kayfabe. It was just so obviously worked.

Good thing I never saw the infamous blind fold match years earlier when Jake killed the business.

 

[Engebretson]

That Papa Shango could actually make the Ultimate Warrior vomit on command

 

[TD Charlie]

I knew it was all fake but for some reason I thought the Undertaker actually hung the Big Bossman

 

[JackSlater]

That Papa Shango could actually make the Ultimate Warrior vomit on command

Indeed. I remember seeing Live and Let Die as a kid (on a TBS 24 hour marathon of course) and thinking how stupid it was for Baron Samedi to rip off the real thing, Papa Shango.

 

[dahrougem2]

I was scared ****less of Undertaker and Kane as a kid lol

 

[Sheppy]

Kane scared the hell out of me. I was 7 when he debuted, haha.

When i was 2/3 I thought Hacksaw Jim Duggan was my neighbor. He looked exactly like him and i used to call Martin (my neighbor) Hacksaw. I don't remember this but my old man assures me it's true.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Kane scared the hell out of me. I was 7 when he debuted, haha.

When i was 2/3 I thought Hacksaw Jim Duggan was my neighbor. He looked exactly like him and i used to call Martin (my neighbor) Hacksaw. I don't remember this but my old man assures me it's true.

Kane scared the shit out of me when I was younger too. I'd run out of the room.

I also remember seeing Undertaker's hand poke through the ground after being "buried alive" and I thought if I walked by any cemetery all the dead people would poke their hands through and emerge from the ground because of Undertaker.

 

[dahrougem2]

Kane scared the **** out of me when I was younger too. I'd run out of the room.

I also remember seeing Undertaker's hand poke through the ground after being "buried alive" and I thought if I walked by any cemetery all the dead people would poke their hands through and emerge from the ground because of Undertaker.

Well, at least I know now I wasn't alone in this thought lol.

 

[Shoalzie]

Choppy choppy...

Seriously though, I wondered when my "Santa isn't real" moment with wrestling. I bought into most of the attitude stuff and the Monday Night wars. Even the ECW stuff seemed legit. When you didn't have dirt sheets and internet spoilers...you could allow yourself to believe the stuff was real. I'm trying to think of how long until I stopped believing. Wrestling would be fun if they went back to true kayfabe and wrestlers stayed off social media and didn't do reality shows. Wrestlers were pro wrestlers and not sports entertainers.

This week with the Bryan story was a great study in modern day wrestling and how news is covered and how it plays into storylines or spoils storylines. I think WWE is getting to the point of not insulting our intelligence and they're acknowledging that news stories are out there and they write them into storyline and into their programming. Even if they wanted to do Bryan's return as a surprise...how long until a dirt sheet jumped on to say Bryan was cleared before the show and then the attack happened with Owens and Zayn.

 

[dahrougem2]

Choppy choppy...

Seriously though, I wondered when my "Santa isn't real" moment with wrestling. I bought into most of the attitude stuff and the Monday Night wars. Even the ECW stuff seemed legit. When you didn't have dirt sheets and internet spoilers...you could allow yourself to believe the stuff was real. I'm trying to think of how long until I stopped believing. Wrestling would be fun if they went back to true kayfabe and wrestlers stayed off social media and didn't do reality shows. Wrestlers were pro wrestlers and not sports entertainers.

This week with the Bryan story was a great study in modern day wrestling and how news is covered and how it plays into storylines or spoils storylines. I think WWE is getting to the point of not insulting our intelligence and they're acknowledging that news stories are out there and they write them into storyline and into their programming. Even if they wanted to do Bryan's return as a surprise...how long until a dirt sheet jumped on to say Bryan was cleared before the show and then the attack happened with Owens and Zayn.

If they wanted to truly go back to kayfabe, they all need to take a lesson from Chris Jericho. I'm legitimately surprised every time that dude returns.

 

[CHGoalie27]

Being on the bus in 2nd grade 1993 arguing whether or not Taker was actually a real life zombie.

 

[GKJ]

Test and Stephanie being in love. The first episode of Raw I ever saw was when Triple H married Stephanie. Took me about an hour to become a smark. Although I had watched most of the Smackdown before it.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I actually never thought wrestling was real, even though I started watching at 3-4 years old. My older cousins told me it was fake right from the beginning.

Same although it was my mom who told me it was fake.

 

[Engebretson]

Speaking of kids and their reactions to creepy things...

My 7 year old was just watching the Smackdown replay with me and he saw the Bludgeon Brothers entrance. I was a little worried about what he’d think of Rowan’s mask but he just laughed and said he looks like a Tusken Raider from Star Wars.

 

[ManofSteel55]

I think the inferno match was the last time I ever bought kayfabe. It was just so obviously worked.

Good thing I never saw the infamous blind fold match years earlier when Jake killed the business.

Ok, the blindfold match sucked, but it hardly killed the business.

 

[ManofSteel55]

That Papa Shango could actually make the Ultimate Warrior vomit on command

This was my "wait a minute, this can't be real" moment. I sure as hell thought Warrior almost died when Undertaker tossed him in that "airtight" coffin though.

 

[Ozz]

I can't be sure. I was 10 in 1992 and it was shortly after that when I really knew.

Before that I'd had some questions like why the punches and kicks didn't hurt so much, my grandma (who got me into it from the start) said they had rules for open fists, hold back on kicks, etc. Or they'd get DQ'd. I think the big thing is that we used to go to all the live events, and one day I wondered how the hell they were always ending perfectly on scheduled time.
If I'd believed in kayfabe much past the new generation Era, I can't even imagine how I'd have kept believing with half the shit they put out.

 

[OmniSens]

Boogeyman eats real worms. I know it's true, but I've had people think it was fake. Quite the opposite purpose of this thread I guess

 

[BigGreen]

I was told it was fake by my older brother. I was completely invested into the idea it was all real until he stepped in and let his little sister know it's all a ruse. I was 8 at the time.

 

[JackSlater]

On a somewhat related note, I have had a few wrestling conversations in places where wrestling is much newer to people (Middle East and parts of Asia) and it's actually refreshing in a way to talk with people (adults) who buy into it for the most part. People in those regions who buy into it as a legitimate sporting event also generally love Cena and Reigns, which I think helps explain why kids generally like those two so much.