Your Wrestling Breaking Point

[jdw]

As far as completely stopping watching, none. I still watch wrestling here and there. Just a far lower priority in things I spend time one.

 

As far as various promotions:

 

WWE:

 

Somewhere along the line of the unending HHH push. Brock getting put over so well by Rock, only Trip create his own World Title, was the starting of the slide of me just loathing to watch it. Still, I continued to watch weekly through at least the following Mania, but the combo of the insanity of Angle along with the HHH-Book storyline, had me cutting back after Mania. Even the Eddy/Benoit pushes didn't draw me back into fulltime watching since I knew they wouldn't end well.

 

All Japan:

 

The Split. Never much interested in the Mutoh Era. Was already annoyed with the working style in the promotion going back to 1998 (and probably some of 1997 as well), so it was easy enough to move on with the Split. Never strongly got into NOAH since it was an extension of the work I disliked in All Japan.

 

New Japan:

 

Hash-Ogawa clusterfuck storylines. Hadn't been enthused by the Sasaki push, the junior division when Ohtani got the belt, etc. But Hash-Ogawa was the tipping point.

 

Joshi:

 

Aja and Kyoko leaving AJW was a sign of how bad things were, and I just found AJW too depressing to watch. I was an AJW fan, and didn't do a good enough job investing in the other promotions. Probably my error as there was good non-AJW stuff to watch, but (i) it was the height of the Nitro Era and way too much US TV stuff to watch, and (ii) it still would have been depressing to watch a genre destined to doom. :/

 

Lucha:

 

When we stopped going to shows regularly.

 

WCW:

 

Watched to the bitter end.

 

 

John

[MJH]

I'm not really sure I have a breaking point, I just go through phases. If I watch too much of one thing, I'll move onto another, then another, and so forth, and then back to something else of the first thing and so on. There's enough stuff that I really like and can watch over (it can a few years between watching them again) that I've never fell into complete over-saturation with wrestling as a whole.

[ohtani's jacket]

I stopped watching in 1991 after it was taken off the air due to parental complaints, probably would've stopped watching in '95 if I hadn't discovered the internet and stopped watching WWE properly in 2001 when the midcard failed to deliver the type of matches I expected after the WCW guys jumped. In particular, the Jericho vs. Benoit and Benoit/Angle matches really disappointed me. I suppose the company ended up delivering the type of matches I wanted to see during the Smackdown Six era, but I skipped that era altogether and didn't even read about it. I still enjoy the occasional WWE match these days, but I doubt I'll ever watch their weekly programming again. Reading the Hunter thread is amusing to me as I remember at the time I was such a big WWF fan that all I wanted was for Hunter to get over and WWF to continue their hot run against WCW. It's a lot more enjoyable when you're that into a promotion even if it's stupid.

 

Japan is worse, though. I've lived in Tokyo for six years and haven't been to a wrestling show once. I could have hiked out to BattlARTS or Futen and probably should have, and I suppose I could have seen guys like Solar and Navarro, but I dunno if I'd go if it was free. Lucha has actually been pretty enjoyable of late, including a lot of good stuff from CMLL, so I can watch a few matches a month and be satisfied.

[Marty]

Like others, I never really stopped watching fully, but...

 

In 1990-91, I HATED the Slaughter heel turn and Iraqi sympathizer angle. HATED it. Don't ask me why (as looking back, it's something, whenever I watch the matches with Warrior and Hogan that I appreciate now) but I hated it. It didn't push me away, but it was the start. For the next five years, I only caught things sparingly, with Hogan's win at WM9 being probably that breaking point, as I was a Hart fan. After that Slaughter heel turn, I did discover WCW more, as it was shown on a local station where I'm at, so I'm happy to say I did see some of Austin's earlier WCW stuff as it happened. But I really didn't watch frequently until 1996 upon hearing about the Hogan heel turn.

 

By 1997, between the nWo and Austin, I frequently watched again, especially since the whole Canada-US angle appealed to us Canadians back in the day. Montreal, when it happened, never actually pushed me away, as Bret was somewhat stale even for someone like me and part of me at the time, for whatever reason, felt he would've been better off in WCW anyway (boy was I wrong). Like a lot of others, peak of watching both companies was 1998.

 

Started fading from WCW in 1999 and gave up completely on them during the start of the Russo era. Still watched WWF fairly heavily. WCW finally getting into Canada in late 99 hardly changed things, in my mind, it was too late for them. Caught my first viewing of ECW with the TV deal with TNN, but don't remember watching much past the spring of 2000, if even then. Kept watching strongly after WCW and ECW closed down, but things started to fade in 2002, as it didn't feel the same anymore. By 2003 going into 2004 I was done with the current product and was more interesting in learning about and watching older stuff. Still heard about what things were going on, but I do somewhat regret missing things like the Eddie-Rey feud of 2005.

 

I didn't get closely eyeing the current product again until about 2007, when I started appreciating John Cena's work some more. Heard about the DX rebirth and hated what I heard. The Benoit incident halted things sharply and I honestly wanted to give up on wrestling, albeit it lasted maybe a couple of weeks. I watched sparingly, but honestly, the PG era got me watching full time again, and I don't know if it was so much the PG stuff as it was, in my case, my wife enjoying some of the characters. We watched frequently for a while together, although she's faded away from it and I feel like I'm hitting that point again. I'm trying to stay fired up for Mania, but the two main matches, as much as I've enjoyed most of the build, involve 3 (now 4) older guys who aren't full timers and the other guy has already been on top for a while. Even if the Benoit/Eddy push in 2004 wasn't really that strong of a push, at least they gave the illusion of trying. They don't seem to be doing that anymore, but that's another story for another thread.

[Matt D]

In 1990-91, I HATED the Slaughter heel turn and Iraqi sympathizer angle. HATED it. Don't ask me why (as looking back, it's something, whenever I watch the matches with Warrior and Hogan that I appreciate now) but I hated it. It didn't push me away, but it was the start. For the next five years, I only caught things sparingly, with Hogan's win at WM9 being probably that breaking point, as I was a Hart fan. After that Slaughter heel turn, I did discover WCW more, as it was shown on a local station where I'm at, so I'm happy to say I did see some of Austin's earlier WCW stuff as it happened. But I really didn't watch frequently until 1996 upon hearing about the Hogan heel turn.

The Slaughter heel turn is interesting since at the time, people LOATHED it. the sense I get from what sources we have is that it was basically thought to be THE WORST THING EVER.

 

Looking back, it's feels pretty harmless comparatively.

[Al]

In hindsight, I think turning Sgt. Slaughter heel was a good idea. He was always better in that role. The problem was making it an Iraqi sympathizer angle.

 

I started watching wrestling in Dec. 1990. Within the first 18 months I watched Earthquake squash Damian, the Undertaker lock the Ultimate Warrior in a casket, Papa Shango's voodoo antics, Jake Roberts' snake legitimately biting Randy Savage's arm, etc. I could blame cartoonish angles but they've been going on as long as I can remember. I think honestly I simply outgrew it. I'm 30, engaged, I don't enjoy the same dramas and entertainment most people do. In a way, wrestling hasn't changed as much as I have.

[S.L.L.]

The death of Eddie Guerrero and the realization that I had - in a small way - contributed to the system that facilitated and encouraged the things that ultimately killed arguably my favorite wrestler ever caused me to swear off WWE forever...for two months, before I found out Finlay was coming out of retirement.

 

I am a consumer whore, and how.

[artDDP]

I can't point to a single moment that caused me to drift away. Prior to 2003 I was a total die-hard fan, the kind who consumed all the news he could and could watch hours of anything online or DVD/VHS. It was during that year that I felt myself becoming less interested in the product as the characters were becoming less and less interesting and more focus seemed to be on Triple H's legacy push than anything else.

 

I would still check in from time to time, of course, and watch what I heard was interesting online now and then. I remember being pretty turned off by a much more violent WWE style, emphasizing grotesque chair shots, gory blade jobs, and dangerous stunts. I felt uncomfortable even back then regarding the amount of trauma their brains and bodies were enduring and it was becoming all too commonplace. One thing I remember finding particularly offensive was Brock Lesnar's beating of Zach Gowen. I thought that was wholly unnecessary for Lesnar's character and Gowen's, especially for someone who wasn't going to get a serious push as a result and wound up being released sometime afterward.

 

To this day I find so many of the current WWE wrestlers to be totally bland and dull and the entire product is so homogenized. I have seen quite a bit of TNA thanks to friends' DVRs and I have enjoyed absolutely none of it, probably because it's next to impossible to make sense of.

[Chess Knight]

I'll never stop watching wrestling, but current programming.....I barely followed it for two years. I got into past things really early and became hooked on that instead. I watch Raw and SmackDown surprisingly often (Eh on Raw; that's been too bad too long), but it's mostly if I hear something good from a 'net poster or if there are no good sitcoms on. Or if I'm excited to see a weekly act like I was for Bryan and Henry in recent months.

 

But yeah, been watching wrestling (as in, from all eras/companies/whatever) and won't stop that, evah.

[Franchise]

I started losing interest in late 99 & totally stopped watching current product by 2002.

 

I went to a fair amount of shows between 89 & 02 including the West Coast ECW PPV.

 

It wasn't 1 specific event it was more a case of me not enjoying the overal direction. I never watched wrestling to see half naked women I watched it to see wrestling. If I wanted to see naked women I would watch porn.

 

I still watch a few hours a week but it is all late 70's thru 98 footage

[Dooley]

In 1990-91, I HATED the Slaughter heel turn and Iraqi sympathizer angle. HATED it. Don't ask me why (as looking back, it's something, whenever I watch the matches with Warrior and Hogan that I appreciate now) but I hated it. It didn't push me away, but it was the start. For the next five years, I only caught things sparingly, with Hogan's win at WM9 being probably that breaking point, as I was a Hart fan. After that Slaughter heel turn, I did discover WCW more, as it was shown on a local station where I'm at, so I'm happy to say I did see some of Austin's earlier WCW stuff as it happened. But I really didn't watch frequently until 1996 upon hearing about the Hogan heel turn.

The Slaughter heel turn is interesting since at the time, people LOATHED it. the sense I get from what sources we have is that it was basically thought to be THE WORST THING EVER.

 

Looking back, it's feels pretty harmless comparatively.

 

The fact that troops were actually fighting and dying in the first Iraq war at the time they were running basically a parody of it on WWF TV turned a lot of people off.

[Mad Dog]

I just watched that era of television last year. Sarge was plastered all over television. A couple of promos every week and consistent matches. It really felt like he was being forced down your throat. And he got his Iron Shiek boots personally from Saddam.

[flyonthewall2983]

When WCW was bought out, I quickly realized that the fun of watching it was soon to end and that we would be stuck with the company I hated for much of '96 and after Bret left (actually liked the Bret heel turn enough to be interested in WWE again). I wouldn't describe that period as a breaking point, but during the Attitude era there were plenty of things that happened that turned me off, mostly the stupid lowest-common denominator stuff that was done to please the bone-heads in the audience. WCW wasn't much better then at all frankly, but I thought with the right people on board it would turn itself around. History ended up proving me wrong.

 

I was already kinda out when the Benoit thing happened, to the point where it could be easily said I was watching more wrestling on CNN and MSNBC than on USA or Spike. It pushed a lot of personal buttons and feelings towards domestic violence and such, to the point where I just stopped reading the boards and the news and put on my DVD copy of The Big Lebowski to just have a fucking laugh at something.

[BrickHithouse]

Got into it in 1984 when I was 6. It was a local Central States TV show (I think), plus we got World Class. WWF popped up here on TV sometime in 1985 and quickly became my favorite. Still liked all the other promotions as well, and could not get enough wrestling, any wrestling, from 1984 - 1992. I kept detailed results of all TV shows that I watched, booked a fed with the LJN figures, and bought all the magazines. Went to every house show that I could talk my dad into going to.

 

Hulk Hogan coming back for Wrestlemania IX was the first breaking point. I got sick of him in 1989 and was totally burned out on Hogan and wanted him to go away forever. Got nervous that he was coming back permanently in 1993. Still, I thought "At least he's not going to be WWF Champion" and upon finding out what happened at WM the next day, stopped watching all wrestling cold turkey.

 

Caught the 1996 Slammys by chance and was THRILLED to see Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels on top and liked the look of the WWF roster. Got back into wrestling full force and watched everything I could (WWF, WCW, ECW).

 

Second breaking point was September 1998. My dad died early that month and wrestling was just not fun to watch anymore. I kept up with it through the newsletters until giving those up in April 2001.

 

I then came in and out for a number of years, generally coming around January thru April each year for the WM buildup.

 

June 2007 was the final breaking point and I haven't gone back.

 

Now I just concentrate on collecting/educating myself with Japan footage (80's and 90's) and any other shit from the 80's that is still new to me.

[Exposer]

I've never had a true breaking point. I've only been a fan for a little over 12 years now. The Benoit stuff did affect me but the most it did was finally shut down all thoughts of ever trying to get in the business. As far as other times go, in the falls of 05 and 06 I was becoming a huge college and pro football fan and I often chose MNF over Raw. I tried to make a point in 07 not to do it again and by 08 I was involved with the SC polls for WWE and WCW. That really turned me into a ultra-hardcore fan and I haven't looked back since.

[gordi]

Katie Vick. My interest had been waning since the botched Invasion and the Trips uber-push of outright boredom, but the Katie Vick stuff finally crossed that line for me where I just felt like an idiot for watching. I've never really been back barring a special occasion night here and there (like Bret's return). I still enjoy the older stuff, but that one angle turned a lifelong fan who had spent a ton of money to go to two Wrestlemania's, various Raw tapings and every house show in my area; as well as getting together regularly with friends to buy PPV's to someone who just said "fuck this shit".

Yep, me too. It was so stupid and so insulting... and at the same time it was so clear that the people producing the show sincerely believed that they were being hilarious and cutting edge. I had to ask myself how much of my time and money I wanted to keep handing over to people like that. I have simply never been able to just be a fan of WWE from that moment on. I will still, a couple of times a year, take a look at something that has everyone talking and if someone gave me a ticket to a show I'd go... but I'll never be able to fully enjoy their stuff again. That was a legit breaking point for me.

 

 

...the death of Misawa. I honestly have watched very, very little wrestling since then. He was pretty close to my all time favourite and I think it got pretty similar to me as it did for Loss when he says "because I couldn't watch anything without noticing how many people were dead/in prison/wrecked their lives when watching old stuff" and I had that going on too. It became a bit... morbid isn't quite the right word, but it wasn't fun. Part of it was probably also burnout from years of watching so much, but that death hit me really hard and I sort of flipped a switch then.

Yeah... 90s AJPW was the one thing that I thought I'd always be able to enjoy without qualifications, the one thing about pr wrestling that would always be great in my eyes... but anytime I see a guy taking a head-drop now, it always reminds me of how I felt when I heard that Misawa had died in the ring... I've got so many DVDs from that era, but I can hardly bear to watch them now.

 

90 per cent or more of my pro wrestling jones these days is satisfied by going to live Osaka Pro Wrestling shows. I'm happy giving those fine people a fair chunk of my time and money and I can just relax and enjoy the show, the atmosphere, the camaraderie, the characters, the stories, and the good times without having my intelligence insulted or worrying about seeing one of my friends destroy themselves in the ring. I feel pretty damned lucky that I have easy access to a form of pro wrestling that I can still enjoy that way.

[Johnny Sorrow]

My "breaking point" originally was more about slowly not being as obsessed about wrestling as I had been. I remember getting really turned off to WWF when Honky Tonk beat Steamboat for the IC Belt. But I still watched UWF on Saturday nights when I was near a TV, and TBS same deal. But we still went to a ton of live shows for another year. But by the end of 1988 I had pretty much stopped watching. Going to college and following the Grateful Dead around the country really trumped wrestling. I still goof around that I missed 1989, the so called greatest year ever in wrestling. Maybe so...but it was also the start of the Dead's last great run so I'm happy with my choice.

 

I'd watch here and there over the next few years. I saw a bunch of Clash of the Champions cause they were free and really enjoyed WCW at the time. I also was happening to flip around the TV one Saturday morning and caught Heenan introducing the Big Gold Belt. That led me into watching WWF for about a year and then lost interest again. Right before Mania 10 I got into it again, and it's been hardcore Wrestling watching ever since.