Random Reasons why people stopped watching wrestling

[Strummer]

Loss's comment in the wwe style thread got me thinking

 

I know someone who stopped watching wrestling because The Rockers did synchronized super kicks and that would never happen if it was real. So yes.

 

 

when I was a kid my brother had a friend named Alex who would watch the PPVs with us and talk wrestling all the time. He was a gigantic Tatanka mark. When Tatanka lost to Ludvig Borga he stopped watching completely. Never watched again to my knowledge. This was always strange to me as a die hard fan. Couldn't relate to it at all.

 

so what are other random reasons given when people stop watching?

[flyonthewall2983]

I started watching in early '92, and by late '94 I was getting bored with it. The honeymoon period of Hogan in WCW had worn off, and by the next spring (coupled by a major family catastrophe) I was not as interested anymore. I really hadn't paid attention until early the next year I picked up one of the Apter mags and learned about WCW Monday Nitro and how Lex Luger defected. I started watching bit by bit again in the winter of '96, and was hooked to the Monday Night Wars until the very end. Once WWF became the only game in town, my interest started to fade. I kept watching because of either routine or I was living with my brother who was still a super-fan. I even went to a ROH show in 2007, but I couldn't tell you who was on the card. It's to the point now where I'll watch maybe WrestleMania or something else if a name I liked comes back.

[sek69]

Nearly everyone I know who used to be a fan and isn't now stopped watching because their favorites left. My wife was a big fan during the Attitude Era but once Rock left/was just part time her interest dropped dramatically. She'll still go with me if I go to a show but it's more her taking one for the team rather than any interest on her part.

 

Most of the people I was friends with growing up stopped watching the WWF after the Hogan/Savage/Warrior era ended too. People get attached to the guys who first got them interested and if/when they leave, it's just the crazies like us who keep watching.

 

I think it's probably part of why current WWE tries so hard to make the company the main draw rather than the wrestlers. Among other reasons, in theory it would stop people from drifting away when their favorite left.

[DeanColes1987]

One of my School Friends stopped watching in 02 after the nWo came in to the WWF, to him WWF was turning into WCW which he hated with a passion

 

An older work colleague of mine told me he stopped watching wrestling when in his words "Hulk Hogan joined that Gang"

[Loss]

I remember my mom getting furious anytime she'd walk in the room that anyone would ever try a sunset flip in a match against Vader. Her other thing was people putting their head down to do a back body drop and being kicked in the face. "Stuff like that is why I don't watch anymore."

[sek69]

I wonder if there's anything to be said about people who were fans as kids who get kind of peer-pressured out of being fans. If you were unlucky enough to come of age in a time period where it was uncool to watch, there was a definite stigma attached to watching that dumb rasslin stuff.

[Mrzfn]

I remember my mom getting furious anytime she'd walk in the room that anyone would ever try a sunset flip in a match against Vader. Her other thing was people putting their head down to do a back body drop and being kicked in the face. "Stuff like that is why I don't watch anymore."

 

He never really watched in the first place, but when I first started watching without fail my Dad would always walk into the room when Rikishi was on. Needless to say, he didn't quite get the appeal.

[Strummer]

Good responses but I was more in the line of thinking about seemingly harmless, innocuous reasons why people stopped watching instead of lousy booking or other aesthetic reasons. Similar to Loss's original statement about the Rockers.

 

Another one I remember from childhood was a friend quit watching when Jake Roberts turned heel in 91. He didn't like the way he treated Miss Elizabeth

[DeanColes1987]

I remember my mom getting furious anytime she'd walk in the room that anyone would ever try a sunset flip in a match against Vader. Her other thing was people putting their head down to do a back body drop and being kicked in the face. "Stuff like that is why I don't watch anymore."

My Grandad would hate it when guys would try to Back Drop Mr. Perfect in 93 and get caught in the Perfect Plex, slamming the Headshrinkers heads into the mat was another

[Loss]

I think any signature defense spots are a huge thing that turns people off. Signature offense is fine and makes sense. But moves or sequences done to the same guy by different wrestlers is something I've heard gripes about many times from casual fans.

[cpst]

I think any signature defense spots are a huge thing that turns people off. Signature offense is fine and makes sense. But moves or sequences done to the same guy by different wrestlers is something I've heard gripes about many times from casual fans.

I'd like to hear Bret justify the difference between the ringpost bump and the Flair flop.

[cpst]

I'm pretty sure that someone on a PTBN/PWO podcast mentioned that they stopped watching wrestling because of the Warrior / Papa Shango angle.

[Mrzfn]

I think any signature defense spots are a huge thing that turns people off. Signature offense is fine and makes sense. But moves or sequences done to the same guy by different wrestlers is something I've heard gripes about many times from casual fans.

 

My brother is willing to watch wrestling with me, but he can't stop himself from saying "that NEVER works" whenever anybody leans down for a backdrop attempt in modern wrestling.

[Matt D]

 

I think any signature defense spots are a huge thing that turns people off. Signature offense is fine and makes sense. But moves or sequences done to the same guy by different wrestlers is something I've heard gripes about many times from casual fans.

I'd like to hear Bret justify the difference between the ringpost bump and the Flair flop.

 

That's not all that hard.

 

Direct vs Indirect. Whether you buy that justification is another matter, but I think it's pretty easy to differentiate.

 

The issue with signature defensive spots is also a direct vs indirect thing. They often rely on the other wrestler doing something that he wouldn't normally do. It's the difference between doing something to a wrestler and having him do something to you. If it's something he'd do anyway, in that way and at that time in a match, great! If it's not, then it causes dissonance. It raises a flag. If it happens as a signature spot in a "Powerbombing Kidman" sort of way, then it raises a huge red flag.

 

It's one reason why the 619 was so effective relatively. That was almost always Rey actively doing something to his opponent to get him into that spot, even if it was using a reversal to do it. It was rarely him reversing something that was outlandish for his specific opponent to do.

[sek69]

It's so weird that backdrop of all things is a deal breaker for a lot of people when that's been a spot in wrestling since the beginning of time.

[elliott]

I remember my mom getting furious anytime she'd walk in the room that anyone would ever try a sunset flip in a match against Vader. Her other thing was people putting their head down to do a back body drop and being kicked in the face. "Stuff like that is why I don't watch anymore."

 

One of the Lawler vs Dutch matches, I wanna say the no-dq match has one of the greatest spots in wrestling history where Lawler puts his head down early for a backdrop, Mantell goes to kick him, but Lawler was playing possum and moved out of the way. Mantell's whiff on the kick opened him up to a huge Lawler punch. Such an awesome spot because we all know that "put the head down to early on a backdrop" transition and Lawler used that to his advantage.

[JerryvonKramer]

Spinner belt

[Karl]

I stopped watching when the attitude era kicked in....represented the very worst of society to me and turned me off totally. Didnt fully come back in until 2013.

[cheapshot]

I stopped watching from 2001-2005 due to going to University and not having any access to watch. That coupled with WCW and ECW folding and changes in Japan made it less arduous.

[Beast]

Went to a Raw taping in Hartford as an 11 year old (6/9/97) and was turned off by seeing guys wrestle multiple times in one night since they taped Shotgun and a postshow dark match. Knew it was fake, but that was too much.

 

Missed everything until the Foley title win a year and a half later, watched for all of 1999, and then stopped again for some reason for all of 2000.

 

Basically, I missed two of the best eras in WWE history.

[Loss]

I remember a co-worker being REALLY upset going to a house show and taking a sign, only to find that it wasn't televised. This was early 2000. She stopped watching at that point. She said the show was pointless and didn't mean anything, and they didn't make that clear enough when they advertised the show.

[Matt D]

I know multiple kids who stopped watching out of fear of Papa Shango.

[...TG]

I remember a co-worker being REALLY upset going to a house show and taking a sign, only to find that it wasn't televised. This was early 2000. She stopped watching at that point. She said the show was pointless and didn't mean anything, and they didn't make that clear enough when they advertised the show.

 

Similar deal - one of my uncles was disappointed and confused during Kane's entrance at a house show he took me and my younger cousins to. When he came into the ring, he did his thing with his hands and the house lights came up, but there was no fire on the ring posts. My uncle felt a bit ripped off.

[Eduardo]

Last time one of my friend's saw a WWE PPV was in 2002, after a Ric Flair match. He wasn't the biggest fan, casually watched it, but he just hated whenever Flair would do the 'Flair flip' in the corner. Absolutely hated it and thought it was the phoniest looking thing ever. After Flair-McMahon at the Royal Rumble 2002, it was just too much and I don't think he ever saw another PPV again.

[flyonthewall2983]

Does anyone know of anyone else who quit watching because of the Rock n Wrestling-era WWF? Surely (depending where in the US they were) they had several other options to watch, but I wonder if there were fans so disillusioned by that stuff that they quit it entirely.