Long after we were in the “everything is terrible” phase my best friend and I would meet up to watch this. And by meet up, I mean I’d bike over to his house; WWF was banned at my place.
We liked Macho Man, thought his GF was hot, and were blown away to learn that he and Leapin’ Lanny Poffo were actually brothers.
Rowdy Roddy Piper had ties to Portland, and so we (sorta) rooted for him too.
There was something about watching the (mostly) predictable drama unfold in the ring every week: east v. west; good v. evil; the guy who drives a corvette v the guy with the pick-up truck. I guess it really tapped into a lot of those sensibilities in the 1980s around dumb categories (preps/nerds) that we invested in or, at least, that Hollywood wanted us to :)
I've never watched this wrestling entertainment once. BUT you make it sound like so much fun! Thanks for all the details, Sheila! I missed out apparently
HAAAA!!! Well, you missed out on SOMETHING that was very unique to that decade…I wouldn’t necessarily say spend an afternoon on YouTube :) Thanks as always! You’re a peach!
I will definitely reserve a full afternoon of wrestling on my YouTube list. For aesthetic appreciation one needs a little time. However right now I have to get back to watching men getting haircuts... ha ha ha
What a trip down memory lane! I got a jolt of nostalgia with each name you mentioned. You even dropped Jimmy Super Fly Snuka (off the top rope)!
It's impossible to explain just how awesome the WWF was in the 80s to someone who wasn't there, and also hard to understand looking back. It's so delightfully cheesy, I can't believe we didn't know it was all staged. But it's true! I guess we were really naïve kids, or at least were desperate to buy what the WWF was selling: A magical place where wrongs could be righted without bloodshed or warheads, where being an American was a kind of superpower against which nothing else could stand.
I loved every bit of this! BTW--there's a Macho Man analogue in one of our D&D games and its so delightful when he talks, because it never gets old. Ohhh yea!
HAAAAAAA!!! That is AMAZING!! I would pay to have his voice as my GPS nav, wouldn’t you? “Listen UP. Take a right onto Oak St. yeahhhhhhhhh…” :) The WWF was totally unique in what it offered: the spectacle, the drama, the athletics, and all of these cultural tropes encapsulated in the pageantry and persona of these wrestlers. I didn’t even get to Captain Lou and Cyndi Lauper’s GLORIOUS and wicked smaaahhht collaboration. I think I’ll save that for the pod! :)
I mean what is his estate doing with all that audio?! LICENSING PEOPLE!!! Can you get me a meeting? He could be the voice of SO MANY DUMB SMART PRODUCTS! LG frige's: "The Macho Man thinks you better check the expiration date on that milk...ohhhhhhhYYYYEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"
So relatable! My brother acted very much like your brother, messing with my things in between doing his own thing, which I was almost always excluded from. The exception was being his unwilling wrestling opponent, I distinctly recall the "pile driver" move which resulted in the corner of the coffee table being lodged into my spine resulting in me being temporarily (TG) paralyzed and him being scared straight enough to not do that again!
OMIGOD!! That is no joke, Shire!!! I’m sorry that you were the recipient of those amateur and super dangerous moves. Like most kids, none of us knew better and were only too eager to imitate, right? And barely any oversight from the parental units! What a time to be alive! :)
Long after we were in the “everything is terrible” phase my best friend and I would meet up to watch this. And by meet up, I mean I’d bike over to his house; WWF was banned at my place.
We liked Macho Man, thought his GF was hot, and were blown away to learn that he and Leapin’ Lanny Poffo were actually brothers.
Rowdy Roddy Piper had ties to Portland, and so we (sorta) rooted for him too.
There was something about watching the (mostly) predictable drama unfold in the ring every week: east v. west; good v. evil; the guy who drives a corvette v the guy with the pick-up truck. I guess it really tapped into a lot of those sensibilities in the 1980s around dumb categories (preps/nerds) that we invested in or, at least, that Hollywood wanted us to :)
I've never watched this wrestling entertainment once. BUT you make it sound like so much fun! Thanks for all the details, Sheila! I missed out apparently
HAAAA!!! Well, you missed out on SOMETHING that was very unique to that decade…I wouldn’t necessarily say spend an afternoon on YouTube :) Thanks as always! You’re a peach!
I will definitely reserve a full afternoon of wrestling on my YouTube list. For aesthetic appreciation one needs a little time. However right now I have to get back to watching men getting haircuts... ha ha ha
HAAAAA! THAT sounds even better!!!
What a trip down memory lane! I got a jolt of nostalgia with each name you mentioned. You even dropped Jimmy Super Fly Snuka (off the top rope)!
It's impossible to explain just how awesome the WWF was in the 80s to someone who wasn't there, and also hard to understand looking back. It's so delightfully cheesy, I can't believe we didn't know it was all staged. But it's true! I guess we were really naïve kids, or at least were desperate to buy what the WWF was selling: A magical place where wrongs could be righted without bloodshed or warheads, where being an American was a kind of superpower against which nothing else could stand.
I loved every bit of this! BTW--there's a Macho Man analogue in one of our D&D games and its so delightful when he talks, because it never gets old. Ohhh yea!
HAAAAAAA!!! That is AMAZING!! I would pay to have his voice as my GPS nav, wouldn’t you? “Listen UP. Take a right onto Oak St. yeahhhhhhhhh…” :) The WWF was totally unique in what it offered: the spectacle, the drama, the athletics, and all of these cultural tropes encapsulated in the pageantry and persona of these wrestlers. I didn’t even get to Captain Lou and Cyndi Lauper’s GLORIOUS and wicked smaaahhht collaboration. I think I’ll save that for the pod! :)
Macho Man GOS would be amazing 😮
I mean what is his estate doing with all that audio?! LICENSING PEOPLE!!! Can you get me a meeting? He could be the voice of SO MANY DUMB SMART PRODUCTS! LG frige's: "The Macho Man thinks you better check the expiration date on that milk...ohhhhhhhYYYYEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"
So relatable! My brother acted very much like your brother, messing with my things in between doing his own thing, which I was almost always excluded from. The exception was being his unwilling wrestling opponent, I distinctly recall the "pile driver" move which resulted in the corner of the coffee table being lodged into my spine resulting in me being temporarily (TG) paralyzed and him being scared straight enough to not do that again!
OMIGOD!! That is no joke, Shire!!! I’m sorry that you were the recipient of those amateur and super dangerous moves. Like most kids, none of us knew better and were only too eager to imitate, right? And barely any oversight from the parental units! What a time to be alive! :)