Now that wrestling was back on, I felt like a little kid again and was able to relive my youth. By seeing Hulkster and rest of the heroes of days of old, I was opened up back to the past - but a whole new era as well since I had never seen WCW wrestling (being that I was from up North and all, we never got TBS or were exposed to much of the Billionaire Ted's rasslin' group in WWF territory. I was exposed to not just the big heavy weights, but other divisions of cruiser weight as well and silly other belts such as "Television" and "United States" championship. If you ask me, it was just more belts to go around, but WCW offered me some interesting wrestling times that I'll never forget. Like when Macho Man and Diamond Dallas Page had a Texas Death Match for what seemed like twenty minutes. The only way you won was to see who couldn't stand up by the count of ten.
John F'N Bolland
My friends in high school and family were also becoming over-whelming influence by the new wrestling craze. In school, I sat with a group of kids during lunch - yeah we were the biggest bunch of losers around. But there was one of us that stood out the most - John Bolland. John was a monster of a kid, he never talked much, always wore his jacket around and had a funny little wirey afro with a bald spot on top. I think he had some trust issues as it took him a while to begin to let you in to his private life. When he started to tell you how truly obsessed he was about wrestling - that he taped every house show and pay per view for the past few years; that he practically walked around with a Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine at all times (and occasionally the pocket sized reader's digest version with a detailed list of the title belt changes over the past few years) or even his obsession of collecting the wrestling action figures.
Lights go out and Sabu appears
I think I was initially able to connect with John on this fact. By this point in my teenage nerdy years, I was previously equally obsessed with Star Wars memorabilia, in particular my Star Wars action figures and accessories. I still cherished all of my other older toys from the past, and was currently in the hunt of getting other old toys - but still bragged to John that I had all of my Hasbro WWF action figures and watched John's eyes glaze over. Especially when I told him my brother owned the rather covenanted and rare Andre the Giant with "body slamming action." On top of geeking out with my buddies at the lunch table, I rode the bus with John. Any questions I had for him about wrestling and what I had missed over the past few months / years - John could fill me in the storyline script to script. John was also the real guy that introduced me to ECW. He would give me tapes, fill me in on everything and he helped me really take a glimpse on the current wrestlers of WCW's background in "Barb Wire City". He was also part of a click of students who frequently impersonated the "Sabu pose"
A classic game for the N64
My Dad My Hero - 'stache n'all
Ah yes, faithful Ratboy
And if I was getting back into wrestling, than my brother and father weren't too far behind. We got WCW vs N.W.O. for the Nintendo 64 and we were addicted as all Hell playing as our favorite wrestlers. Dad had some connections and he got us to matches and we were able to catch every major pay per view. It was actually pretty exciting seeing my father get back into wrestling again too. His words to me were, "You are always a wrestling fan - they'll always find a way to get you sucked back in." And just like his undying love and hatred for the NY Giants, he has many points throughout his years of stating "This sucks...I'm never watching this crap again," to "Oh, guess what happened last night?!" But, I remember the real mayhem all started off with a trampoline..... my brother and I would have wrestling matches on it all the time. Lucky for me, I was making frequent visits to the gym and was roughly double the size of my brother. But he was still in football and quite the scrappy little chap, so he always gave me a run for my money. Our other siblings wanted to get involved, and it wasn't before long that even my sisters were kicking the crap out of one another, wrestling with us - it was getting out of control. I know I was! I was probably the most testosterone pumped and hormone driven I ever was. I would head butt through doors, threw a butter knife through a door, choke slams and power bombs. It wasn't until one day when I power bombed my sister Jackie over my knee by mistake that I saw her eyes roll back in her head. Or another time when I power bombed my then six-year-old sister Julie (aka Mankind) on a raft in the pool and I heard her neck snap back.
Here I am choke slamming Joey
It wasn't too much later that similar stories of sibling violence imitating professional wrestling began to make the news due to serious injury or even death. Wrestling was beginning to be held accountable for their actions, and it became strike one for the third golden age. When WWF clearly labeled themselves as "sports entertainment" and even showing the beginning of each show that they are trained professionals and no one should try this at home. Well, hearing that only intrigued me more. I wanted to find out more about "sports entertainment," I figured I wasn't necessarily the strongest guy around. I could easily beat the Hell out of little children half and yes, even an eighth of my size. I wanted to know everything that I could about the real deal about wrestling, not just the televised stuff but the behind the scenes things. I wanted to know what it took to be a wrestler and would I be judged for getting really hit or faking an acting career. And in the real world, everyone in society was thinking - but is wrestling real or fake?
Mick Foley as Mankind
So returns John back into my life on the school bus. I would begin to ask him these questions and he would fill me in with as much as possible. There was a recent issue of PWI that was entirely dedicated to the inside and underground business of professional wrestling. I was introduced to the terms of face (good guy), heel (bad guy), mark (a gullible fan), juice (the act to cut themselves), heat (getting the crowd's attention), gimmick (the character the wrestler portrays), shoot (unscripted real event) and others. I knew somewhat of the business now and what it took. I really had a new set goal when I was about sixteen or seventeen - "I want to become a professional wrestler." As I continued to gather information as much as I could and John and I went on our quest to see what it took, I idolized and truly looked up to two newer wrestlers - Mick Foley and Bill Goldberg.
I think I was initially able to connect with John on this fact. By this point in my teenage nerdy years, I was previously equally obsessed with Star Wars memorabilia, in particular my Star Wars action figures and accessories. I still cherished all of my other older toys from the past, and was currently in the hunt of getting other old toys - but still bragged to John that I had all of my Hasbro WWF action figures and watched John's eyes glaze over. Especially when I told him my brother owned the rather covenanted and rare Andre the Giant with "body slamming action." On top of geeking out with my buddies at the lunch table, I rode the bus with John. Any questions I had for him about wrestling and what I had missed over the past few months / years - John could fill me in the storyline script to script. John was also the real guy that introduced me to ECW. He would give me tapes, fill me in on everything and he helped me really take a glimpse on the current wrestlers of WCW's background in "Barb Wire City". He was also part of a click of students who frequently impersonated the "Sabu pose"
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