Wrestling's most shameless, most glorious exaggerations

[MoS]

The business we all know and love is undoubtedly the carniest, and it is awesome most of the times. What are your favourite blatant exaggerations spawned by wrestling promoters?

 

One thing that strikes me first is "Bruno sold the MSG 197 times" talking point. I think the real number is close to 60. I do not even know how or why they settled on the 197 number. Might have made it an even 200.

[NotJayTabb]

This is more hilarious lie than exaggeration, but Hogan claiming the Undertaker broke his neck on a tombstone...in 1971

[Log]

I've always loved the exaggerated weight of the STEEL steps. I think JR used to claim they weighed 300 pounds!

[cheapshot]

52% of households in the United States could be considered a WWE fan household

 

· There are 10M households in the United States with a Passionate WWE fan

 

· There are 15M households in the United States with a Casual WWE fan

 

· There are 9M households in the United States with a Light Casual WWE fan

 

· There are 3M households in the United States with a WWE Fan Parent

 

· There are 20M households in the United States with a Lapsed WWE fan

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

WCW claiming Bash at the Beach '95 drew 100,000 fans when it was closer to 10,000.

[MFoy]

Didn't Hogan claimed he lived for 400 days one year by traveling to and from Japan repeatedly?

[...TG]

Didn't Hogan claimed he lived for 400 days one year by traveling to and from Japan repeatedly?

 

I don't know if it was 400 exactly, but yeah he claimed that on (IIRC) Stern once a few years ago. This could be just a Hogan thread:

 

* He claimed he tore every muscle in his back when he bodyslammed Andre at WMIII.

* He's told a couple different stories about becoming the spokesman for what became the George Foreman grill - one was that he invested in Pastamania instead, another (IIRC) was that he didn't return his agent's call about the grill.

* He's repeatedly claimed that he was the first choice for the Mickey Rourke role in "The Wrestler". And every time he says this, Darren Aronofsky releases a statement saying that Hogan was never considered.

[MoS]

Didn't he also say he was considered for Metallica, but he rejected?

[...TG]

Didn't he also say he was considered for Metallica, but he rejected?

 

Yes! That's a great one.

[S.L.L.]

I never saw a single person literally hang from the rafters at any show Gorilla Monsoon called. Unacceptable.

[Parties]

Flair is full of these, particularly re: Steamboat. "We wrestled hour broadways every night for years", "We wrestled five thousand times in our careers". It's hard to tell what's knowingly hyperbole w/ Ric, as he often says absurd things in his sincere voice and true things in his worker voice. But you'd think every match of his career from about 77-88 was a one-hour draw from the way he tells it.

[Slasher]

 

 

Didn't Hogan claimed he lived for 400 days one year by traveling to and from Japan repeatedly?

I don't know if it was 400 exactly, but yeah he claimed that on (IIRC) Stern once a few years ago. This could be just a Hogan thread:

 

* He claimed he tore every muscle in his back when he bodyslammed Andre at WMIII.

* He's told a couple different stories about becoming the spokesman for what became the George Foreman grill - one was that he invested in Pastamania instead, another (IIRC) was that he didn't return his agent's call about the grill.

* He's repeatedly claimed that he was the first choice for the Mickey Rourke role in "The Wrestler". And every time he says this, Darren Aronofsky releases a statement saying that Hogan was never considered.

Come on. You left the best part out, where he claimed that body slam led to Andre dying a few days later....which is true if you consider 6 years or so to be "few days".

[Loss]

Flair's claims are somewhat verifiable if anyone wants to vet it.

[MoS]

I don't know if this is necessarily an exaggeration, but old westlers talk as if every show they did had riots and other such hungama, and the heels would barely escape with their lives.

[Eduardo]

This is more hilarious lie than exaggeration, but Hogan claiming the Undertaker broke his neck on a tombstone...in 1971

 

Meltzer has a funny story about this, regarding Survivor Series 1991. According to Meltzer, Hogan legit claimed Undertaker hurt him with that tombstone and 'Taker felt guilty about it. 'Taker then finally saw the video clip, and saw that Hogan's head never even came close to touching the canvas (even as a kid, it was super obvious), and Taker was pretty upset about Hogan making shit up.

[Champagne]

The WWE's claiming that RAW is the longest running weekly episodic series in television history.

[joeg]

The attendance figure of 93,000 for WMIII. And how they keep saying they are going to break that record this year. Suposedly WMIII was closer to 78,000, but that wouldn't have been the all time attendance figure at the Silverdome.

 

Any of the attendance figures New Japan put out for Dome Shows from 2004 to 2011.

[supremebve]

I want to watch every Hogan interview about Wrestlemania III, and count the number of changes, injuries, bullshit, etc. That dude will lie when the truth will do, he just plain can't help himself. I forget who I heard say it, but they said the difference between Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin as people are that Hogan is always working and Austin is never working. Hogan's phoniness is part of his appeal while Austin's appeal is his authenticity.

[Tabe]

The attendance figure of 93,000 for WMIII. And how they keep saying they are going to break that record this year. Suposedly WMIII was closer to 78,000, but that wouldn't have been the all time attendance figure at the Silverdome.

The real number is closer to 93,000 than 78,000.

[pol]

Any of the attendance figures New Japan put out for Dome Shows from 2004 to 2011.

 

They were worked from 2012-2015 too.

[artDDP]

Hogan and Fujinami turned into an "out-and-out shoot, brother" and Hogan barely escaped with his life. Hogan had to do it to prove to Andre the Giant that he could hang with the big boys but it wound up killing Vince's chances of every working with the Japanese again.

[EricR]

Fuck Hogan getting Tombstoned by Undertaker in 1971, Hogan claimed he worked for Pride....in 1977.

[EricR]

Hogan also partied with Jon Belushi after Wrestlemania II (you know, 4 years after Belushi's death).

 

The Hogan/Metallica stuff is so embarrassing as he claimed he auditioned for them in 1981 (you know, so he would have been auditioning right when Hetfield and Lars met) and would have quit wrestling in a second if he would have got the gig. Every single word of his stories are so pathetic that it comes off like my pathological liar co-worker who claims he downed 45 cocktails in an evening while gambling in Vegas (and of course taking the casino for all they had).

[Rah]

From Cubsfan:

 

"Canek rates slamming Andre el Gigante as one his biggest career highlights, but blames his knee injuries on the tremendous strain from performing the move. He says he tore tendons and did not completely heal for twenty years. Canek says he’s never consumed drugs that weren’t prescribed by a doctor. Canek says he’ll continue to wrestle as long as his body holds up."

 

Masterful way to explain away his career.

[Loss]

I'm pretty sure Black Bart said Hollywood came calling after the Desperados skits.