Question for older wrestling fans

[Lady Redfield]

For those of us who are dinosaurs, do you find it harder to get young people to watch older wrestling? I'm not talking fucking early 2000's, I mean back in the 70's and 80's, even some of the 90's can fit in here. I know there are some of the younger generation who do appreciate classic wrestling, it was just such a different beast back then, it was slower, more grappling, wrestling for a number of years now is much faster paced, high flying, it just seems (based on experience with showing younger people older wrestling) that it seems there's a fairly large amount of younger people (again, just basing on my own personal experiences) that don't really appreciate it and can't stay interested in the matches because they are so accustomed to what wrestling is now, they just can't get used to the slower moving wrestling. I've seen plenty of comments over the years of how older wrestling 'sucks', that's just fucking bollocks, but, I may just be biased. Just wondering how others feel about wrestling then compared to now and if you feel like it's sometimes difficult to get someone who had missed those times in wrestling to be able to watch it and appreciate it without being bored.

Just wanted to add that this isn't a generation of people bashing thread and I don't think I'm elite because I have grey strands of hair and some fine lines near my eyes, I just generally want to know experiences and thoughts. Younger people can definitely chime in and maybe explain why they don't like older wrestling.

 

[Chris]

I'm pretty young, but I enjoy all wrestling so none of this really applies to me. Some earlier stuff is definitely harder to watch, but I can still be entertained by most of it, and I love seeing what wrestling came from and how it's evolved over time.

 

[Vegeta]

I'd probably not fall into this older crowd. But I enjoy some of the older stuff, some I don't. Hell there is crap from my generation I don't even enjoy if I'm being honest. But I enjoy learning about wrestling history, and wrestlers. Watching old promos, matches, etc. Just seeing how much the business has changed over the years is really awesome.

Interested and seeing what the older crowd has to say.

 

[Cwalker]

I’m 30 so I’m not sure exactly how much this relates to me but I can’t go back and watch older wrestling just because it’s not good. Nor is it entertaining

 

[Deezy]

You can't get younger people to even watch movies older than them.....not to mention music.

Rasslin is impossible.

 

[Vegeta]

You can't get younger people to even watch movies older than them.....not to mention music.

Rasslin is impossible.

Which is sad on a whole other front. Music from the 60s, 70s, and some of the 80s are some great music and that's all before my time.

 

[southrnbygrace]

I've been a fan since around 1967 or so. (Yes, I realize I'm really old!) Wrestling back in the 70s and early 80s, to me, is still the very best of what the sport should be. I relished watching Flair and Steamboat do a broadway time after time after time. It never got boring, even though many of their 'spots' were in every match, they made it feel new and fresh each time they met in the ring. I will never understand the mentality that 'gymnastics' is the same as wrestling. No it's not. It never has been and it never will be. Give me a Stan Hansen vs Bruiser Brody match over anything in today's WWE. One reason I love Roman is that he reminds me of those old school bruiser type guys. You rarely see him leave his feet when performing his moves (I'm talking dives and acrobatics here) but yet he still gets the job done. He makes the moves believable and better yet he knows how to SELL!! What happened to selling your opponent's offense?? Another aspect of the business that has gone by the wayside.

I'm kinda off track here...I've raised both my sons to appreciate and enjoy old school matches. And they still do! But yeah, it's nearly impossible to get the younger crowd to watch anything that doesn't involve a 1450 splash of some sort, or a suicide dive from the titantron thru a table onto an ambulance with pancakes on top of it. And God forbid someone uses a headlock or armbar for more than a minute and a half. The business does not need all those ridiculous acrobatics to be interesting, yet that's all there seems to be in today's world of wrestling.

 

[Apoho Creed]

For sure to show Wrestling from past eras to younger people is hard as fuck. They have a lack of patience for it from what I've seen. They don't understand the different pace of it, and I blame the newer eras going for that hotspot rather than doing a move that makes in the sense during a Match. I'm 31 about to turn 32 in a few Weeks and I raised up on that old school vibe so it's embedded me since I was a little kid, but I can be honest in saying if I started watching Wrestling today I don't know if I would of had the same interest to see past eras of Wrestling.

 

[The Gurricane]

I prefer old wrestling. The Andersons are amazing and are probably my favorite tag team.

I do hate the mindset old wrestling gives certain fans on the flipside. The "back in my day" wears thin after awhile. Like those fucks at OSW Review, I hate it. I watched an episode where they were reviewing Johnny B.Badd v. DDP and popped seeing an armwrech reversal, saying "no one does that nowadays", which is the stupidest thing I've heard. There's PLENTY of old school wrestling out there, people act like it's dead when it's not. They talk about "chemistry" and "pschology" when they know nothing about it. I think if you want a younger fan to like the old school style, you show them current NWA. It has recognizable names and great wrestling. I think it's being brought back into a bigger light, but that's because most wrestling fans are dense as fuck and don't seek out things for themselves.

 

[Lady Redfield]

I've been a fan since around 1967 or so. (Yes, I realize I'm really old!) Wrestling back in the 70s and early 80s, to me, is still the very best of what the sport should be. I relished watching Flair and Steamboat do a broadway time after time after time. It never got boring, even though many of their 'spots' were in every match, they made it feel new and fresh each time they met in the ring. I will never understand the mentality that 'gymnastics' is the same as wrestling. No it's not. It never has been and it never will be. Give me a Stan Hansen vs Bruiser Brody match over anything in today's WWE. One reason I love Roman is that he reminds me of those old school bruiser type guys. You rarely see him leave his feet when performing his moves (I'm talking dives and acrobatics here) but yet he still gets the job done. He makes the moves believable and better yet he knows how to SELL!! What happened to selling your opponent's offense?? Another aspect of the business that has gone by the wayside.

I'm kinda off track here...I've raised both my sons to appreciate and enjoy old school matches. And they still do! But yeah, it's nearly impossible to get the younger crowd to watch anything that doesn't involve a 1450 splash of some sort, or a suicide dive from the titantron thru a table onto an ambulance with pancakes on top of it. And God forbid someone uses a headlock or armbar for more than a minute and a half. The business does not need all those ridiculous acrobatics to be interesting, yet that's all there seems to be in today's world of wrestling.

I find it is the same as concerts. There was a time where you could just watch a bunch of average looking people (who had talent) put on a show while they stood and sat in virtually the same spots as they performed and it wasn't a problem. Now, you have all these people lip synching in tight, barely there outfits because they have to put on crazy shows with lots of dancing and flying through the air, or else everyone will fall asleep. I feel the younger generation needs these things to keep their attention or they will just wander off after a minute or two and find something else to do. It's like everyone develops ADD if something doesn't involve high flying and other ridiculous things.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I prefer old wrestling. The Andersons are amazing and are probably my favorite tag team.

I do hate the mindset old wrestling gives certain fans on the flipside. The "back in my day" wears thin after awhile. Like those fucks at OSW Review, I hate it. I watched an episode where they were reviewing Johnny B.Badd v. DDP and popped seeing an armwrech reversal, saying "no one does that nowadays", which is the stupidest thing I've heard. There's PLENTY of old school wrestling out there, people act like it's dead when it's not. They talk about "chemistry" and "pschology" when they know nothing about it. I think if you want a younger fan to like the old school style, you show them current NWA. It has recognizable names and great wrestling. I think it's being brought back into a bigger light, but that's because most wrestling fans are dense as fuck and don't seek out things for themselves.

Disrespecting OSDub.

 

[Deezy]

Any review show not involving anyone who's actually ran ropes gets no love for me.

I can easily do that myself.....no skill involved.

Unless it's a review here

 

[The Gurricane]

Grim.... wHAHT BAHR, are yew?

A deliciously rich pack of Kit-Kat Dark!

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Grim.... wHAHT BAHR, are yew?

A deliciously rich pack of Kit-Kat Dark!

Also a can of Coke Zero!

 

[southrnbygrace]

I find it is the same as concerts. There was a time where you could just watch a bunch of average looking people (who had talent) put on a show while they stood and sat in virtually the same spots as they performed and it wasn't a problem. Now, you have all these people lip synching in tight, barely there outfits because they have to put on crazy shows with lots of dancing and flying through the air, or else everyone will fall asleep. I feel the younger generation needs these things to keep their attention or they will just wander off after a minute or two and find something else to do. It's like everyone develops ADD if something doesn't involve high flying and other ridiculous things.

Yeah I can barely do concerts today either. I vividly recall going to see Conway Twitty in the late 70s. All he did was sit on a bar stool on the stage and sing. And the crowd sat there and listened to him and LOVED it. They sat there mesmerized by his voice. No autotune required.

Folks have the attention span of a gnat these days.