What did/do your parents think of wrestling?

[King Kamala 0]

The Great TSM Wrestling survey and thinking about how my interest in wrestling started brought this up. Figured it would be a fun topic. Despite the fact that my dad was the one who directly introduced me to wrestling and the fact that he attended WWWF shows regularly in the mid to late '60s when he was a young teenager, I never remember him liking it all of that much. And as we grew up, his disdain grew even further. This peaked when he was forced to accompany us to a WWE house show in July '02 where he complained the entire night. From then on, me and my brother just got dropped off at shows until we could drive ourselves.

 

There were some odd exceptions that he enjoyed, he liked the Bra & Panties and other gratuitous T&A matches (not Test and Albert) and for some reason, he got a huge kick out of the comedy acts. He still brings up Cloudy, the Bodydonnas ugly transvestite manager every once in a while. He also really liked Rikishi and Too Cool and would sit and watch their matches. Those type of matches are the ones I think would drive the non-viewer away but they were the only ones Dad liked. Anyways, despite not liking wrestling at all, he took us to house shows and ordered PPVs. I don't think if it were for him, I'd be a fan. To this day, I wonder if he mildly regrets asking me if I wanted to rent a wrestling video.

 

Oh and my Mom really didn't seem to like it at all and she was disgusted Inside Edition segment chronicling the seamier aspects of Attitude Era WWF which ended with Vince McMahon "attacking" the reporter who was grilling him (Does anyone else remember this?) but she never stopped us from watching it except I think we had to watch Nitro instead of RAW for a weeks after that.

[Diamonddust 0]

I think my dad tolerated it. I know he took my uncle, his younger brother, to matches in Birmingham in the '70s, and he never really had a problem taking me to events as well. He'd quickly make sure I knew everything was scripted and such, but he never outright complained about it. Heck, he even got someone that he worked with to tape PPV's for me.

 

I do remember the first ECW show in Birmingham. We both went, and he had two distinct reactions. When New Jack came out, he, let me put it delicately, was not a fan. However, Tommy Rich came out as well. It was the day of an Alabama/Tennessee game, and Tennessee had won. Tommy Rich came out in a Houndstooth hat (The style Bear Bryant would wear), and he started talking about all the stuff he was glad to see when he came back to Birmingham. He ended it by saying, "The one thing I'm really glad about is that Bear Bryant is dead!".

 

Naturally, the crowd went ballistic. My dad, who never really got suckered into things, looked at me and was like, "He better watch himself after that one."

[Aero 0]

When I was 5 or 6 years old, I don't think my parents really cared much since I was never asking to order the PPVs or anything. I remember my dad LOVED the IRS gimmick only because he just thought it was really amusing. To this day, anytime he sees me watching, he always asks about IRS. When he won that battle royal last year, I was pretty excited to show him the video.

 

I only first got PPV ordering capabilities in 1997, so the first I managed to see live on TV was WM 13. On a different note, that would be the reason why I don't hate that show... I kind of have those fond memories of it being my first PPV. After that, I got to order KOTR 97 since it was on my birthday, and anything after that was a huge hassle attempting to order. He pretty much hated it anytime I asked and always asked why I even liked wrestling. He eventually stopped caring really, and let me order whatever just so long as I had the money to give him.

 

There were two specific instances where my dad willingly decided to sit and watch wrestling with me. The first was when I did manage to order Canadian Stampede in 1997. He had watched bits and pieces of the opening Mankind vs. HHH match and thought it was pretty dumb (I disagreed). But then TAKA vs. Sasuke was next, and he actually seemed to like it a lot. He stopped watching the show after Taker vs. Vader, to which he said the only good match on the show was TAKA vs. Sasuke.

 

The other time, was when I had bought the 1999 re-release VHS of WM X. He came in right at the start and just randomly decided to watch Bret vs. Owen. And again, he legitimately seemed to like the match. At least he has good taste in matches, I suppose.

 

My mom was always pretty indifferent, but she knows who's who in regards to all the big names over the last 15-20 years or so. She always seems amused to see HBK, Undertaker, and (when he was still going) Ric Flair STILL wrestling. When I told her Ric Flair was retiring, she actually sat down and watched his ceremony on Raw.

[haws bah gawd 0]

My parents have always been indifferent to the whole thing. My mom shoved it down my throat from Day 1 that it was"all fake", though.

 

Speaking of my mother, she still to this day insists that Kevin Nash is a "fine example of a man".

[Maztinho 0]

My mom was pretty indifferent to it, she was like, "This is stupid," but didn't really care if I was watching it. Actually, when Maxx Payne first hit WCW she got really excited since he lived the next street over from us, "Is that Darryl?" And she got a little upset when Payne lost his guitar to Johnny B. Badd at one of the Clash of the Champions.

 

Aside from that my grandpa always would make a big deal about me watching it, again with the it's fake baloney, but it's just become a running gag in my family and nobody really cares.

[Timmy8271 0]

My mother was alright with it. I use to get PPV's all the time and she'd watch sometimes. She was way into the Undertaker and Kevin Nash too.

 

I actually made my dad a fan when we went to my first raw ever. He stopped watching in like 04/05.

[Molotov The Bear 0]

My parents have always just.. let me like what I like. When I was kid they'd order ppvs for me and let me be watching them, didn't really bother me about it. My dad has always teased me about it though, but not really in a bad way just "yknow that stuff's fake right?" and we'll joke about it but it's all in good fun.

[TheTomster 0]

My parents have always actually been pretty cool about it. Every now and then they'll take me to events and stuff and get some pretty good seats if we got the money to spend on it, and they always pick me up some DVDs or something for Christmas. Mom enjoys it because her father was always a big wrestling fan and she sees a lot of him in me I guess, and dad has just always been cool about it for no reason. My parents own everyone elses

[fazzle 0]

My dad was who got me into wrestling. He was a huge fan the entire time I was growing up, however he lost interest around the Attitude era. Too much story, not enough wrestling. He'll still go to live shows with me and enjoy himself, but he never watches it on TV.

 

My mom always thought it was stupid, but she had the hots for Austin.

[The Truthiness 0]

My Father and Grandfather loved it, but they hated each other taste as far as styles was concerned. My Grandfather loved the NWA (He got kick out of Dusty and Flair), and most of the old school territories. My Father was more a fan, of the spectale known as the the WWF. Fortunately for me, I was able to attend a lot of shows from both companies, when they came through DC, MD, VA, or NC.

[daileyxplanet 0]

Dad hates it. States that it is just a bunch of knuckle draggers hollering.

 

Mom doesn't like the yelling but got a kick watching the luchadores on WCW.

[Guest]

My mom likes/liked Kevin Nash a whole lot. What the fuck is up with this? Anyway, she would watch with me when there was nothing else to do. The night after Rock Bottom, Val Venis came on the screen. She made me turn that shit off with the quickness. Probably thought I was gay or something. Wasn't able to watch wrestling for a week or two because of that. Anyway, she doesn't mind watching wrestling with me even now, as long as it isn't ECW. She gets bored much quicker than she used to, though.

 

My dad likes watching wrestling when he sees that it's on...sometimes. Attitude Era shows and 1987-1992 WWF will keep him in the room. WCW, nope. ECW, sometimes. Depends what it is.

 

They both wouldn't actively ask if I wanted to watch wrestling or anything like that, which is fine with me. I'd find it weird.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

A friend of mine once theorized that every male in the world has willingly watched wrestling at least once.

 

My dad was the one who got me into it. I remember him being pretty into it from around the time I was born ('84) up until the mid 90's, and he still catches replay shows every now and then, but doesn't make a point to. I've essentially stopped watching since Benoit's incident.

 

My mom never liked it, but she did say that when she was first dating my dad, she would watch and let him know what happened, since neither of them had a VCR and my dad worked when wrestling was on.

[Ravenbomb 0]

They used to watch it, my dad watched a bit of it now and again in the late 90's/early 00's. My mom will occasionally see me watching it (did before I moved out at least) and would lament that it seemed more athletic-based back in her day.

[The Buzz 0]

I guess my grandfather on my dad's side used to watch it late at night back when The Shiek, Gorgeous George, and Dick The Bruiser were around, and my dad would sneak out into the hallway and watch it instead of sleeping sometime. My mom and her brother liked it a little during the Hogan era, but my dad wouldn't watch it. Finally when I was a kid I loved watching WCW for Sting, Flair, Vader, Simmons, Pn News, Sid, Steiners, etc. I liked WWF too for Bret Hart, Hogan, and my dad's favorite the Ultimate Warrior, which is one of the reasons I have a soft spot for him to this day. He watched shows with me all the way up until around late 98 and 99 when I would watch it alone. He'd even watch for me if I needed to get to sleep before it was off. Nowadays I watch whats on tv in cycles. I'll watch TNA and all three brands of WWE for a few months than watch it sporadically, and catch up on dvds. Sometimes he watches and sometimes he doesn't.

 

He's never really outright loved it, but I think he enjoys it enough where if he has to watch it with me he will.

 

Currently the guys he'll pay the most attention to are the big guys like Sting, Nash, Cena, Batista, CM Punk, HBK, etc. He thinks Santino is funny as well.

 

My mom never really has an opinion on it.

[Dr. Zoidberg 0]

My parents pretty much didn't care if I watched it, either. My mom thought it was "cute" and my dad was into Stacy Keibler, so it all worked out.

 

On another note, I ordered that November to Remember where Steve Corino beat Justin Credible, The Sandman and Jerry Lynn in that Double Jeopardy match for the World Title, and my mom and Dad were REALLY into it. They really liked Nova vs. Chris Chetti and F.B.I. vs. Unholy Alliance.

 

Which was awesome, by the way.

[Papacita 0]

Ironically, my dad turns on a Chris Jericho promo as soon as I clicked on this thread.

 

He's always been into boxing (in fact, he used to box), so he's always been down on wrestling. When I was growing up, he used to tease me for watching "fat men roll around pretending to fight," and for a while he actively sought to prove to me that it was fake (even though I always knew). This pretty much stopped around 98, when I noticed that he was following WWF on the low. My friends and I went to the Raw here in Philly that featured Kane and Mankind in HIAC. During the match, Kane got dropped on thumbtacks, and I was telling my dad how he was walking around with all these tacks sticking out of him, and he's like "yeah I know." But he was apparently only watching to see if he saw us on TV.

 

He still hasn't changed his stance on wrestling, but I notice he pays extra attention when I'm watching ROH or some old school ECW stuff. He recently had a stroke, so he can't speak, but he still turns to me and smiles whenever he spots a contrived/fake looking spot.

 

Meanwhile, my mom used to take both me and my older brother to shows, but she's always been pretty indifferent. Most notable thing about her is that she swore off wrestling after having to sit through a WCW Thunder taping (she changed her stance after going with me to a WWF show a couple of years later).

[Maztinho 0]

Finally when I was a kid I loved watching WCW for Sting, Flair, Vader, Simmons, Pn News, Sid, Steiners, etc.

 

One of these things is not like the other... which one of these things just isn't the same?

[Ravenbomb 0]

Finally when I was a kid I loved watching WCW for Sting, Flair, Vader, Simmons, Pn News, Sid, Steiners, etc.

 

One of these things is not like the other... which one of these things just isn't the same?

Ron Simmons, cause he's black.

[DCH 0]

Both my parents just downright hate wrestling. My dad is especially bad. He does not understand the concept of finishers. He keeps telling me, I know it's fake but if it's a fight wouldn't a guy be able to pinned by now? But no, the ref is a shithead that's forcing me to watch this garbage by not counting the 3rd second. I eventually start facepalming after explaining for 5 minutes the idea of providing enough entertainment for a two hour show and the idea of finishers being the reason somebody can get a three count.

[Maztinho 0]

Both my parents just downright hate wrestling. My dad is especially bad. He does not understand the concept of finishers. He keeps telling me, I know it's fake but if it's a fight wouldn't a guy be able to pinned by now? But no, the ref is a shithead that's forcing me to watch this garbage by not counting the 3rd second. I eventually start facepalming after explaining for 5 minutes the idea of providing enough entertainment for a two hour show and the idea of finishers being the reason somebody can get a three count.

 

NOAH would really fuck him over then since they'll do backdrop drivers, Burning Hammers, Ganso Bombs, and kick out of all of it and then finish with an elbow smash or a lariat.

[Kinetic 0]

909's mom making him change the channel because of Val Venis made me lol.

 

When I first became a fan in the early 90s, my dad would give me shit about it all the time. This was actually how I discovered that wrestling was fake: we somehow got into discussing an injury that Tugboat had recently suffered, and my dad opined that he was probably just on vacation or something. I was able to connect the dots from there. My mom, who actually used to babysit for Ric Flair when she was a teenager, was fine with it, and even got me front-row tickets to a WWF show in San Antonio. Totally awesome, even though I neglected to use the bathroom before leaving the arena and ended up pissing my pants on the way home. Both of my parents got into wrestling during the Attitude era, but lost interest at about the same time everyone else did.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Any adult I watched wrestling with in 1991/1992 thought IRS was awesome. I went with my uncle to Survivor Series 91 and I guess he had taken my cousin to other shows (both before and after) but that was the extent of it. He seemed indifferent to it - he wouldn't be watching Superstars with us on the weekend but he didn't seem to be ripping his hair out with boredom at Survivor Series (which was a boring show, to kudos to him). I think a few times he may have sat in with us while watching a PPV, but not for very long.

 

I recall one time in 1995 or so I had Raw on while my mom was doing laundry and she began mocking a promo Kevin Nash was doing with Bam Bam Bigelow. Nothing specific, but she just kind of said "GRR! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU UP!" or something, then asked what I saw in it. From time to time I got the "are you still into wrestling?" questions as she assumed I was going to move on when I got older (she did the same thing with video games) but by Christmas '98 she got on board with the fact wrestling and I weren't going anywhere and bought me the WrestleMania collection, a Steve Austin shirt, and a Wolfpac shirt.

 

I think my dad saw some Mania XI footage on the news at one point and made a generic "those guys are big!" comment. He knew I watched it because we had been out for lunch in Mexican Town in Detroit the day of the event and I was keeping him appraised of the fact I had to be at my cousin's house by a certain time (and I got to bring left over Super Nacho to boot!). He brought up the news coverage thing the next time we went out. Sometimes now he or my grandmother will ask "when the next big wrestling show" is, or when I'll be going to Joe Louis next for a show, and I'll begrudgingly humour them with an answer but I really don't want to. I really don't like discussing anything wrestling related outside of friends or co-workers that enjoy it, and even then it's risky because a non-fan might hear me talking about it (but this topic is for a different thread entirely).

 

My grandfather and above mentioned grandmother used to watch wrestling with me on Sunday's when I was over there for lunch in the early 90s. Apparently they used to watch wrestling back in the day (because in their day there was only 1 channel and wrestling was on it, or something). I think from time to time my grandfather sneaked in some wrestling to see what was up in the wrestling business in 1991, but not very often. I liked it when he complained about the referees being incompetent during tag matches or allowing Jimmy Hart to stand on the ring apron while The Mountie grabbed his shock stick.

 

Every house show I attended from 1993-1995 was courtesy of a friend's father who got tickets via being a buyer with Ford and dealing directly with suppliers. He was always a good sport about it but I think the best part for him was he didn't need to pay attention - we always had box seats so he could just watch TV if he wanted. It was pretty great when we went to a WCW house show in 1998 with Sting defending the title against Hogan - being a house show, Hogan was obviously going to lose, but since his knowledge of wrestling was more in tune with "The Hulkster is #1", he was shocked that he lost.

 

 

[The Buzz 0]

Finally when I was a kid I loved watching WCW for Sting, Flair, Vader, Simmons, Pn News, Sid, Steiners, etc.

 

One of these things is not like the other... which one of these things just isn't the same?

 

 

Lol, I was wondering how long it'd take someone to notice PN News. Hey I was a little kid, I blame it on youth. I think he wrestles primarily in Germany now, last I checked.

[Jingus 0]

So DCH and me are the only ones who have parents who hate wrestling? My dad doesn't watch it, doesn't care about it, thinks it's a waste of time, and he's the kindest opinion in the family. My mom is a pacifist liberal who spent a while working at a head injury rehab clinic, so she looks at wrestling as basically being on the same level with hardcore pornography or devil-worshipping. Her second husband, my stepdad, thinks it's a stupid waste of braincells entirely populated by maniacs and retards, partly because his younger brother many years ago was dumb enough to do one of those "fans challenge the wrestlers" thing at some old territory show and got pretty badly fucked up. That's why I literally never watched wrestling at all until I was nineteen years old. It was never watched, never talked about, never considered, never even thought about in our households.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Well it depends what you mean by "hate". Neither parent enjoys it, my dad has said he "has no use for it and it does nothing for him", and I'm sure my mom secretly (and a few times not so secretly) resents the amount of money I've spent on tickets, PPVs, and DVDs (and by proxy, amount SHE spent when I was a kid at home) in my lifetime. But I wouldn't say they HATE it. Hate is a strong word, but they really, really, really don't like it.

 

But yes, your family clearly HATES it.

[King Kamala 0]

Both of my parents dislike it but I wouldn't say they hate it. They've never stopped me from watching and bought me wrestling crap for birthdays and Christmas. Dad took me to shows, even though as we grew older, he became more vocal about not liking having to take me and my brother to shows. Though that may have just been him thinking we were "too old" to be still into wrestling. I remember when he took us to indy shows at the local armory, he would just sit in the car and listen to Celtics and Red Sox games on the radio for most of the show, checking in about once every half hour to see we hadn't been kidnapped. But yeah I think my dad realizes that he likes too much other goofy shit to really give me too much guff about still liking wrestling.

 

Mom has never said much about it but she was always vocal about how she wouldn't take us to shows if Dad couldn't attend. As for other relatives, my uncle was a casual fan for a while around the InVasion. I remember we talked about it briefly one family gathering. His favorite was Christian for some reason. I remember another uncle sat down and watched a couple matches when me and my brother were watching WCW Worldwide one afternoon at my grandmother's house and he seemed mildly impressed. My grandmother didn't seem to like it all that much and would occasionally complain when me and my brother would watch Superstars or Worldwide at her house but again she never stopped us from watching it. Nothing else from other relatives other than my grandfather once mentioning how one of his siblings was a big fan of Haystack Calhoun back in the day.

[Diamonddust 0]

My mom was a bit indifferent towards it but never discouraged it or anything. Her family heritage is Italian so when I brought home a F.B.I. shirt after an ECW house show, she got a kick out of it.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

My mom indulged me. She told me almost right away that it was fake, but that was more of a precautionary measure to make sure I didn't kill my brother with the piledriver. She often took me to rent wrestling videos, bought every WWF pay-per-view, took me to any house shows in the area, made sure I had all of the WWF Hasbro figures, bought me the WWF Magazine each month, and shit, even hooked me up with Hulk Hogan pajamas and a Halloween costume. She didn't particularly like everything about wrestling, but she watched all of the PPVs with me and had her own favorites throughout the years (DiBiase, IRS, Razor).

 

My dad, on the other hand, hated it. He'd occasionally let me rent a wrestling video when my brother and I had to spend the night at his place. But him buying me anything wrestling related was a rare occurrence, and I took a lot of verbal abuse from him about my love for the hobby. Having my mom pander to my interest in wrestling offset just about anything my dad had to say about it, though.

[Diamonddust 0]

My mom indulged me. She told me almost right away that it was fake, but that was more of a precautionary measure to make sure I didn't kill my brother with the piledriver. She often took me to rent wrestling videos, bought every WWF pay-per-view, took me to any house shows in the area, made sure I had all of the WWF Hasbro figures, bought me the WWF Magazine each month, and shit, even hooked me up with Hulk Hogan pajamas and a Halloween costume. She didn't particularly like everything about wrestling, but she watched all of the PPVs with me and had her own favorites throughout the years (DiBiase, IRS, Razor).

 

My dad, on the other hand, hated it. He'd occasionally let me rent a wrestling video when my brother and I had to spend the night at his place. But him buying me anything wrestling related was a rare occurrence, and I took a lot of verbal abuse from him about my love for the hobby. Having my mom pander to my interest in wrestling offset just about anything my dad had to say about it, though.

 

My mom was the same way the more I think about it, especially when it came to picking up the WWF magazine each month. Thinking back on past Christmases, I remember them being filled with action figures, wrestling buddies, PJ's, and my favorite wrestling related toy of all time - the WWF ring.

 

Kind of off subject, but thinking about the WWF ring made me realize how counter-productive the WWF Action figures were at the time. You could barely do anything with them. Instead, I wrestled my GI Joe's because you could move their arms and legs into actual wrestling moves.