Larry Matysik's 50 Greatest Professional Wrestlers

[jdw]

Guilty until proven innocent. I assume that most people who started out as wrestling fans have similar doubts.

I actually think that a lot of fans in the pre-internet days who cared about wrestling history probably wanted to find a point when wrestling was "legit". I've run into a number of those folks in the earlier days of the net in places like WC, and you'd be nails on the chalkboard getting them to admit that pro wrestling probably was always a work/fake/ripped people off. There was a lot of "want to believe" in them, or similar to Dave the desire to have this thing of ours at some point "legit" to have been a credible "sport".

 

I think your internet era hardcore fans are likely more jaded and always think it was a work.

 

John

[Indikator]

Yes, generally people want to believe, but that has mostly to do with lack of knowledge. For me as a German it started with the "Those were the days..." sentiments that Catch fans had and then I found more and more statements like "nowadays everything is fake unlike the 1950s/1930s/1900s/189Xs". You just have to dig deeper and then you just can't assume this sincerity anymore.

 

My brother recently spoke with a Dutch wrestler about their old kickboxers and I think the wrestler had interaction with I might be mistaken but I think it was Chris Dolman. Dolman was highly critical of pro wrestling - yet he had worked with Maeda as it was even pointed out. The "want to believe" is probably very widespread and will hinder older Shootstyle and MMA in a way.

[jdw]

I got to see Dolamn wrestle Maeda at the 4/2/95 Tokyo Dome.

[evilclown]

Yes, generally people want to believe, but that has mostly to do with lack of knowledge. For me as a German it started with the "Those were the days..." sentiments that Catch fans had and then I found more and more statements like "nowadays everything is fake unlike the 1950s/1930s/1900s/189Xs". You just have to dig deeper and then you just can't assume this sincerity anymore.

 

My brother recently spoke with a Dutch wrestler about their old kickboxers and I think the wrestler had interaction with I might be mistaken but I think it was Chris Dolman. Dolman was highly critical of pro wrestling - yet he had worked with Maeda as it was even pointed out. The "want to believe" is probably very widespread and will hinder older Shootstyle and MMA in a way.

Bas Rutten told me a funny story about Doleman and other guys from Rings that he palled around with like Dick Vrij. When they would lose a match they'd play up that it was just a business move and a work. But when they won a bout in Rings they'd strut around the gym like the cock of the walk afterwards. Rutten would be infuriated "It can't only be real when you win and fake when you lose!"

[jdw]

 

John

[Guest Andrews]

Speaking of Danny Hodge, what's the general opinion on him? He's usually listed among the 50 greatest on most lists. But I haven't seen much on him as a draw

But in comparing people from different eras, in terms of being a "draw" etc, there are so many changed variables over time, it's a waste to think too much about it.