Superstar Billy Graham. He's the reason I ever picked up a weight in the first place.
Scott Ricksteiner aka Scott Steiner aka Big Poppa Pump was a Superstar Billy Graham clone. And he wasn't even the best one. Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura were better. Dusty Rhodes got his rap from Graham. Quite a few others. Graham is credited (or hated depending on whether or not you are a pro wrestling "purist) for bringing pro wrestling in the 50s, 60s and 70s out of the plain, black trunks and boots and "legitimate" wrestling contests into the fast-talking, color, entertainment industry.
I will still watch "old school" pro wrestling because I have always thought it was funny as Hell. The crap they have now? Not a chance. It's not entertaining to me. I don't think people are dumb for watching something that entertains them. Now, if you have ANY kind of athletics in your background and you think one guy can hammer another's face in the corner for 30 seconds straight and that guy that got hammered is going to come back on the other dude and beat him, you got a problem with physics
If I hammer your ass in a corner for 30 seconds straight you ain't coming back on jack nothing.
For those who call it "fake", give it a try. Most of the old school, real holds and take downs are real and work. I used to test that theory out on my brother
The finish is predetermined. The wrestling is not. AND, something no one ever considers and I learned it in martial arts (I'm not a pro wrestler
) , but if you want to test your skills, try going through an entire match WITHOUT hurting your opponent but making it look real. It's easier to beat their ass. Not hurting someone is hard as Hell.
Like everything else life throws at you, someone has to come along and spoil the fun. I don't think I have watched wrestling in 20 years. I DID watch some Stone Cold Steve Austin back in the late 90 because my Marines started calling me Stone Cold. I was like, WTF is THAT? A pro wrestler that stole my damned gimmick is who
. Right down to the shaved head and bad attitude
As luck would have it, he is from Victoria and lives here and I ran across him in the airport one time taking my daughter to catch a flight.
This was when I was still at my biggest. TV doesn't do him justice. I felt like Mini-Me