OK, this is one of those things people ashamed to admit they like. But I've been a pretty big wrestling follower most of my life. I guess it's just a byproduct of being a 80s kid, in a time period when people like Vince McMahon, Verne Gagne and Jim Crockett were making it a big thing.

The thing I remember most about wrestling in the 80s was how mainstream it was compared to before and after. Part of it was probably just the novelty of having the first nationally-televised promotion in the WWF. at one point NBC was occasionally showing it in place of SNL. I credit this more to Sylvester Stallone's support of the sport/business, and his featuring of Hogan in Rocky III (Sly did a wrestling movie called "Paradise Alley" in 1978, and has had wrestlers act in later movies as well, such as "Over the Top"). I think Sly was probably more responsible for the major boom than Vince.

Though I enjoyed some of the characters over the years, I was always more impressed by the athleticism and drama in the ring. To me wrestling is a sport that needs to be taken as seriously as one would gymnastics, figure skating or any other similar dramatic performance sport. Sure, the facade is that they fight on the fly, trying to beat the other man, like a boxing, MMA, or amateur, and in a simulated sense this could be the "sport" in wrestling. From a spectator standpoint there isn't much difference. But in reality, modern professional wrestling is more like a performance sport where participants are judged based on form, technique, and overall 'routine'. Nevertheless, most of the stuff they do is improvised, and 'scripted' isn't a very accurate way of describing it. 'Fake' is a word I hate to associate with it, since it insults the people who put their bodies on the line nightly doing it.

Anyway, now that I've explained wrestling as I understand it (misunderstandings are rampant about this subject, and part of the blame could be placed on the business itself over the years), I'd like to say this was a great wrestling period. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were the two titlebearers, with guys like Randy Savage, Arn Anderson, Ultimate Warrior, Lex Luger and Sting not far behind in popularity. Call me a rebel, but I was always more interested in the guys I wasn't supposed to think of as my favorite. The undercarders were usually more entertaining to me than the main event guys, They seemed to try harder at least. I personally never liked Hogan much, but I did like a few main-eventers here and there. Mostly I just followed every wrestler I was shown.

Wrestling was a Saturday morning ritual with cartoons and other shows. Once I got cable, (about 1986-1987) I started watching the predecessor to RAW -- Primetime Wrestling -- Monday nights on USA network. As much as I'd try to deny it in my later years, it's just part of the fabric of my life, and I've learned to embrace it as such.

Edit: typo in title. Should be 'period' of course