80s Wrestling and The Internet

[PSachkovsky]

This is a discussion I thought about for a long time now.

1. Let's say, it's the 80s, and let's say that the internet was already created back then. How much effect will it have on the careers of guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and others, if fans back then knew that wrestling wasn't 'real'?

2. What would have changed, if the gossip about the wrestlers behind the scene was open to the world wide audience through the internet during the 80s?

3. Do you think that the internet community is effecting the WWE nowadays?

 

[King Sheamus]

I don't think hogan would have had as many fans if they knew how much of. Jerk he was behind the scenes he would still have been the face of the company no doubt but he would have a few less adult fans. I'm sure most fans knew it was. Not real the adults anyway and I don't think it would be a big deal. During the wwe's best run (1998-2002) fans knew it was fake but it was huge. This may be off topic but some of the things wcw did would not have been as shocking (Luger,Ramon,Nash) as the fans would have known about the contracts. The Internet has a huge effect in today's wrestling. From dirt sheet sights to knowing the results of taped shows the Internet is apart of wrestling now.

 

[xavyer]

Well, if the internet would have been arround in the 80's, it would have been a little diferent than it was back then, the same thing happening to Cena right now would have happened to Hulk Hogan, people would have been sick of him and writte about it on the internet, same for guys like Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase could have been world champion, so would Jake the Snake, and as oppose to today, people would be demanding more pay per views, considering that in the 80's there were 4 ppv's per year, in other words, what make's the IWC unhappy now, probably would have made them happy in the 80's, or even then they probably would have found something to be unhappy back then........

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It was in a sense, but via the "dirt sheets". You had to pay to get them though. Today there are a million and one sites and forums you can be part of for free. Also bear in mind that Kayfabe was still the code until the 90's. You had the Blackburn/Apter mags portraying the sport as legit, so most fans would buy those rather than get Meltzer's newsletter.

I was one of those guys who in the UK used to call the premium numbers, so that was how I learned a lot of "insider stuff" before it aired, most notable being Diesel's title win.

The concept of a "spoiler" was always there but not like today where they are actively sought... if your buddy was at the taping and told you about a turn or angle that was yet you air it was privileged info and you kept it quiet till it aired. Real names, angles were almost currency when I was at school... That I knew The Blue Blazer was really Owen Hart or that Jim Hellwig was the Ultimate Warror was cos I actively sought that kind of info and learned how to wrestle myself.

Wrestling then relied on the Kayfabe mystique, a free IWC like today would have meant Hulkamania never working, the business remaining small and territorial and never getting major TV.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

80's wrestling is known for being "All-kayfabe". If the internet was around back then, it would change the entire face of the wrestling world. People that would moan about everuthing always existed, they aren't a result of the internet showing up. Just, at the time, they couldn't have their thought heard.

The first thing that comes to mind is that people (as always) would be in love with the era befora that era. Which means that there would be a lot of complaints about the amount of wrestling they were getting. Complaints about Vince ruining wrestling and wrestling isn't and shouldn't be entertainment.

In addition, there would be a lot of complaints about Hogan dominating everyone and that well-deserving guys aren't getting an opportunity.
Guys like Ric Flair and Randy Savage would be the Internet Favourites and guys like Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon and The Ultimate Warrior would be Internet's most Hated.

Same thing as now.

There are also some positive things. Wrestling would become known around the world much quicker. And when I say wrestling I don't mean only the WWF but also other promotions like AWA, NWA etc. It would be much morre difficult for Vince to wipe them out.

Everything would be known. Backstage scandals, backstage politics. Some people that had power at that time wouldn't have it if the Internet was around.

Let's be honest here. Do you really think that WWE's competion is TNA, ROH or even the UFC? No, WWE's real competion is the Internet. That's a common secret.

With so many things going on at the time, mostly backstage, I don't think WWF would have survived. History has shown that you can't build an empire with good pappers. Empires are build only by stepping over someone's else dead body. Controversy Creates Cash, not only in wrestling, everywhere. The easiest way to get money is by stealing them. I don't say that Vince is a thief, what I say is that a lot of things have happened in order Vince McMahon to become what he is today.

If the Internet was around, who knows If he or anybody else would dare to take the easy way out?

But that's just the opinion of a fan who started watching wrestling in 2009. I'd like to hear opinions of people who were actually watching wrestling during the 80's.

 

[Spack]

I personally think the internet ruined many aspects of professional wrestling. It caused us to break down a fourth wall that really didn't need to come down. Seriously, ask all the old school fans, like myself, and most will tell you wrestling was definitely more captivating before the internet age.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

The first thing that comes to mind is that people (as always) would be in love with the era befora that era. Which means that there would be a lot of complaints about the amount of wrestling they were getting. Complaints about Vince ruining wrestling and wrestling isn't and shouldn't be entertainment.

Damn, you nailed it good. I have watched since the early 80's. You started to see a lot of this type of stuff during the attitude era. People complaining that they miss and liked 80's wrestling better. You see it today too. Nothing is good enough.

A lot of wrestling fans are just unhappy people and they take it out on the sport. They find ways to nitpick. Like when Benoit won the title at Wrestlemania I heard people bitching about the way he won it.

I also agree with Spack in that the internet helped ruin wrestling. It took away the surprises. Now you know the minute someone signs with another fed or the moment they are fired. Plus you get the news that is false that the fans take as gospel because they don't like someone.

 

[OG Mark]

Agree with most of the above. The first thing that came to mind were the heel turns - would they have had the same impact? What about when the Four Horsemen broke Dusty's arm? Even in the mid-90s: would Bash at the Beach have been so iconic if everyone knew about this crazy idea called the New World Order?

The information has always been there; the internet just makes it more accessible. When kayfabe went away and the fourth wall was broken, everyone wanted to be an insider. With the internet, they can be... kinda...

 

[legendkiller1979]

We would not have as many great memories as we do.

People would have whined and bitched about Hulk Hogan not being a good worker. Bob Backlund would be a much bigger star because he was a better worker even thought Hulk Hogan had more personality in his little finger than Backlund had in his whole body.

Demolition would not have had any success because people would not have stood for them being a road warrior rip off. They were such a huge success and people get over the rip off factor fairly quickly. I don't think that would have happened if the internet had been around.

The twin referee swerve with Hogan and Andre probably would have been spoiled. In my opinion, this was the best swerve ever. Who could have seen that coming. It allowed Hogan to drop the belt without really being pinned. I don't think this would have been possible with the internet.

The internet has done wrestling no favors. It has taken any sense of realism that might have been left and taken it away.

 

[braveh]

This is a discussion I thought about for a long time now.

1. Let's say, it's the 80s, and let's say that the internet was already created back then. How much effect will it have on the careers of guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and others, if fans back then knew that wrestling wasn't 'real'?

Two things, if you read some rundown on the history of pro wrestling it's going to tell you that the wrestling boom in the 80s was a result of tv-exposure and that the product became more kids/family oriented. So I don't think internet would've affected it at all.

Have you seen that big 20/20 or Nightline report that sets out to expose the fraud of professional wrestling? They faced those problems in the 80s.

 

[theBec2101]

1) a lot of the people that were popular and thought to of been great wouldn’t of ended up that way. You think Cena righteous ass and 5 move list was bad imagine Hogan Holy Righteous ass with his 3 move list. I think people like flair and steam boat would do ok. Everyone seems to like technical wrestling and blading.

2) It would of been the same, trust me he would want Hogan to turn heel and what not just like Cena. Austin might not of even got a chance cause the Ringmaster wouldn’t of lasted all the way to KOTR. I think we might know a little more personnel information from back then and the beef with everyone. We would know things such as Macho Man and VKM, Liz and Hogan, The Cliq and Harts, The ultimate warrior issues. That would all have been out and a lot faster.

3) Yes. No one can sit back and enjoy it now days. I would understand if this was just humor and all in fun but there are people out there that think they know what to do and how to do. I mean don’t get me wrong I have my opinions and I write them. But at the end of the day I watch, don’t complain and just chime in on the threads. I don’t really care; I don’t want someone to lose their job because I think they suck or whatever.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I think what would have been effected most is the speed of everything. In the 80s/early 90s storylines would last a few months - several years. I think that would be majorly effected by the internet due to spoilers. Wrestling changes with the times.

To me the internet had a negative impact on wrestling. Im glad I didnt know the Warrior was going to run in at WM8, didnt know whos corner Mr Perfect would be in at SS92, and didnt know Ric Flair would lose to Mr Perfect because Flair was going back to WCW. Im glad I didnt know Warrior was a dick when I first started watching wrestling, Im glad I didnt know Shawn Michaels was a dick in the 90s and I actually thought Vince sent Hall down to WCW.

 

[HBsam31]

1. Let's say, it's the 80s, and let's say that the internet was already created back then. How much effect will it have on the careers of guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and others, if fans back then knew that wrestling wasn't 'real'?

I think it would be the same as today. We would have gotten sick of the top stars faster, and the internet users would bash the top guys that they feel are being pushed down our throats.

2. What would have changed, if the gossip about the wrestlers behind the scene was open to the world wide audience through the internet during the 80s?

Same answer as the first. We would have known if they were pricks outside of wrestling, and we wouldn't look at them the same way. I idolized Hogan as a kid. Knowing his outside life may have changed that.

3. Do you think that the internet community is effecting the WWE nowadays?

I am sure in some way it would have to. The question I have is how much kids are affected by it. When I answered the last question I wondered whether my opinion of Hogan would have changed even if I had heard rumors he was a dick or cheated on his wife ore something. Just using those as random examples. It's hard to bring a hero down in a kid's eyes. Other than that though we that read the internet will sometimes not watch a show if we read the spoilers. So even in that little way it is affecting wrestling.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Personally I dont think the internet changed things that much. Yes, now more fans get access to behind the scenes stories, I didnt know in the 80s that Kerry Von Erich had a drug problem, that Ultimate Warrior apparently was a supreme jerk to work with, same with Sid, that Hogan was so protective of his character, the Savage & Liz were married in real life and she dumped him, that Flair drank & partied much the same way his onscreee character did, etc. Major stories did get in the news, Bruiser Brodie's stabbing, arrest warrants for assault for Ron Garvin, the whole messy Iron Sheik-Jim Duggan drug affair, Anvil Neidhart's airplane incident, major things like that were publicized in newspapers and TV even if rumors about Liz partying in Miami Beach or Flair dropping a grand at a Mariott Bar on a drink tab were not.

Certainly stories about guys like Warrior & Hogan might have impacted their popularity. Hogan was a major draw however for many years, well into the late 90s/early 2000s long after numerous stories of his "creative control" hit the internet. I would say most fans in "the know" were very familair with stories about Hogan's alleged refusal to put over Hart in 93 (wasnt a big enough star), Flair in 94 (didnt want to hurt merchandise sales), and other various tales. He was still a huge attraction and he drew major money.

The big thing that changed the industry is the PPV business. Even in the late 80s/early 90s both WWE & WCW only did a handfull of PPVs each year, only expanding by one or two the number of annual "SuperShows" they did in the pre PPV days early to mid 80s. By the mid 90s with audience numbers declining both companies started adding more PPV dates, which meannt fueds had to wrap up faster and storylines had to move quicker, sometimes without realizing the full potential of the workers involved. In the pre PPV era you could draw feuds out with a variety of twists and turns and have multiple "big matches" in differernt cities for several months. Once you charged the public $50 to broadcast the match nationwide it became much harder to draw out feuds as long. As stories moved quicker the shows in both companies sometimes became harder to follow and it became much tougher to break in and establish new talent, they simply didnt get as much time in different fueds to make their mark.

No doubt the Internet has changed things, but the PPV industry has changed much more. So has the pressure of weekly live TV shows, mini spectacles each week.

 

[FlairFan2003]

W

The twin referee swerve with Hogan and Andre probably would have been spoiled. In my opinion, this was the best swerve ever. Who could have seen that coming. It allowed Hogan to drop the belt without really being pinned. I don't think this would have been possible with the internet.

.

That was without a doubt a GREAT SWERVE!! Fake NWO Sting in 96 was pretty good but the twin referee thing was awesome, I still remember watching that on a TV special on a Friday Night and not believing my eyes, that's a classic memory. I was an NWA guy, always found the WWF product then to cheesy and cartoon like, but give credit, twin refs, that was terrific, and yes, that might have been hard to pull off with the Internet as it is today.