Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Matches you'd show to non-fans to illustrate why you like wrestling


Recommended Posts

7 hours ago, J.T. said:

I usually take the nuclear option of the Mass Transit incident when people talk about wrestling being fake.

That's a good one for explaining what happens when non-wrestlers imagine they can suddenly try to be one.

EDIT: to include your other comment, J.T., I like the Hogan/Belzer showdown so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the examples...

I'd use Savage/Warrior from Mania 7 as my example.

Really, that match has everything good about the sport in one neat little package:

Insane, coked-out larger than life superheroes in the ring.

Specifically, two people even the non-fans would recognize as pro wrestlers.

The match itself had everything storywise: A little bit of drama, a little comedy, a little tragedy, a little romance, a little of all the big things in a traditional story.

And it's all held together by a match that was very good. 

If you need to use one match, that would probably be it.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One I showed my wife that she really liked was The Crew vs. Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico from LU season 1. The ladder match. Tells a phenomenal story and the high spots are insane. Great synopsis of what makes wrestling great in a 20 minute segment...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing this made me think of: how many people really become a fan because of some all time classic match?

Like, I figure most of you, like me, became a fan as a kid. It wasn't Flair/Steamboat or Funk/Briscoe that grabbed me. It was a pair of tag matches from SummerSlam 90. I'd seen a bit of  wrestling before that, but it was being PISSED that Power & Glory cheated to beat Marty Jannetty even though Shawn was hurt and never got into the match and then seeing the Harts win the tag belts that hooked me.

Those matches are, as much as anything, WHY I love wrestling, but I don't think they tell anyone else anything about it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd want to show them the match that grabbed me and made me a lifelong fan which was Hart/Perfect at SS 91. Easy to follow story, the cocky champion getting his comeuppance from the hard working do the right thing face.

I'd choose the Ladder match from Takerover:New Orleans to show someone the spectacular car crash style, TLC from WM 17 would also be a choice but the inclusion of things like chairshots to the head and Lita getting gored would make me pause before showing a nonfan that as it would highlight some of the things that people have negative ideas of wrestling will focus on.

To show them how epic wrestling can be I'd want to show them something along with a video package that builds the story, I think Bryan's two matches from Mania XXX would work. Either of  the Taker/Michaels Mania matches could work two but I think Bryan's story is so easy to relate to and understand that it's more satisfying.

I'd probably try to get Naito/Tanahashi or Omega/Okada from last years G1 to show a non-WWE style

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Hogan/Rock from Wrestlemania 18 is a good one, it really reignited my fandom after a bit of a break. It may not be a workrate style of match, but in my experience non-fans tend to gloss over stuff like that. 

Back in high school, at the height of the Attitude Era, I worked in a pro wrestling kiosk that sold shirts, hats, all sorts of wrestling memorabilia. I'm sure It was totally legal. Anyway we had a TV with a VCR set up to attract people to the kiosk. My boss knew fuckall about wrestling besides it was popular, so he deferred to me as to what to put on. I played a bunch of BJPW death match stuff. It definitely attracted attention, though probably not the right kind. This thread reminded me of that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

One thing this made me think of: how many people really become a fan because of some all time classic match?

The very first wrestling match I ever saw and made me fall in love with it? The blindfold match at WMVII.

  • Thanks 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Undertaker Mania Matches from 25-28.

You get the promo packages explaining why Taker/Shawn are two greats to lead into WM25

For WM26 you get HBK becoming obsessed with Taker leading up to him losing his career in an effort to prove he's better than Taker.

WM27 gives you Triple H t prove he's better than HBK and he's the one who can defeat the Undertaker. While Hunter loses, he still walks out on his own while Taker does not.

Then you get WM28 with all three men involved in a HITC match where Taker becomes superhuman surviving the best shots both HBK and HHH can  throw at him. This time it's Hunter needing help to the back and you end with three men who have gone through war with each other over the course of four years showing mutual respect to each other as they "end an era"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

One thing this made me think of: how many people really become a fan because of some all time classic match?

Ding ding ding. Which is why I hate this question. Even if you've got something fun and exciting and the storytelling is tip-top, you're almost certainly taking the huge risk of dragging someone too deep into the woods on something they're likely culturally predisposed to see as garbage. 

I'm happy some people have had success with these sorts of things. But my love of wrestling isn't a thing I'm interested in sharing in any significant way. Because even I think it's stupid. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

One thing this made me think of: how many people really become a fan because of some all time classic match?

But that ties to the same problem there:

For those who get it, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation will do. 

But that's also part of the whole point. This question isn't totally about "what you'd show a non-fan to make them a fan", but "what you'd show a fan to say why YOU'RE a fan." 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tajiri/Psicosis ECW 1999.  I was always the wrestling nerd at my first TV job and I was watching ECW on TNN and that match came on and one of my co-workers who would tease me about liking pro wrestling, started watching it, probably preparing to make fun of it.  It was an edited match, but he watched the whole thing and he was actually getting in to it.  And when it was over he told me "Okay, I get why you like it" and I don't think he ever gave me shit about it again.  

I haven't seen it in years so it may not have aged well, but I fucking LOVED that match back in the day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The years have been long and my memory is failing but I just recalled that I've actually showed death matches (specifically Funk/Onita) and brutal Joshi to non-fans before. Specifically, pseudo-hipster college kids I was drinking buddies with at the time, both male and female. They responded glowingly to my surprise, but then we were all a little fucked up back then (and still are)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grave Consequences 1 from LU. Behind the masks and gimmickry is two dudes just straight up trying to kill each other.

Hogan/Warrior, Mania VI. Two real-life superheroes trying to decide once and for all who the better man is.

Mr. Perfect/Bret Hart, SummerSlam ‘91 for reasons already mentioned; a clear cut arrogant bad guy getting his comeuppance at the hands of the mat prodigy.

Bret/Owen, Mania X. Who hasn’t experienced sibling rivalry?

Andre/Hansen. Wrestling’s one and only version of King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...