When did you learn wrestling wasn't real?

Mr.Nice Guy

I was inspired by something I saw in the random wrestling thoughts thread which took me back to the moment when I first learned that wresting wasn't a legit contest between wrestlers.

I would have been about six when I found out. I was on holiday with family and and it was one of my older cousins that told me. At first I was like, 'You're lying!' but then he suggested we ask our grandmother to confirm it. As everyone knows, your grandmother never lies to you and once she confirmed it wasn't real I was like, 'No f*cking way!' (I may not have used these exact words)

Anyway I'm curious when people here learned the shocking truth and in what circumstances. Were you watching a match that just seemed too unbelievable to be true? Or perhaps it was a family member that clued you in? Maybe it's still real to you? (If so, sorry)

the groutch

Itssoeasy

I was told by my aunts partner did I find it strange that the person out second always wins. This was years ago.

Lord TSC

I think I always knew; Mom made sure that I didn't think it was real so I wouldn't be emulating it too much (didn't stop me).

Though I didn't realise HOW "not real" it was till I found a copy of Powerslam Magazine in a local shop. Had never seen stories from backstage or any of that jazz, and I wow'd friends for weeks with my "insider knowledge" :P

gimmick

Always knew it was "fake" from the get go. I had all older friends growing up.

Pretty sure I alwasy knew Vince was the owner as well, but my mind might be lying to me.

jaykhunter

I'd be the same as Gimmick. All my older brothers knew it was worked so it was never an issue. It worked out better as they prized talented/fun heels so I loved them too, along with me loving the babyfaces; so wrestling was doubly awesome.

Ridley

Wasn't really given the chance to think it was real.

Have no interest in legitimate sports and got into rasslin through the N64 games so if anything it was nice to watch something that actually looked the way it was on TV/films.

(Except for Hollywood's habit of depicting pins on people face down.)

Mr.Saturn

Ridley wrote: »

Wasn't really given the chance to think it was real.

Have no interest in legitimate sports and got into rasslin through the N64 games so if anything it was nice to watch something that actually looked the way it was on TV/films.

(Except for Hollywood's habit of depicting pins on people face down.)

Was the exact same. Thought the games were exaggerations of what went on, since I didn't think anything that flat-up outlandish would exist. T'was a pleasant surprise to tune into Livewire one Saturday morning to discover that the games only capture half the mentalness of pro-wrestling.

jimmy180sx

When my ould fella use to come in from work and tell me to turn that ****e off...i was never allowed get wrestlemania or any ppv because it was fake...

Icaras

Around the time earthquake killed jake the snake's snake.
My dad told me sometime before because I loved snakes and he knew I'd get upset. After he told me it was then obvious it was fake, I was amazed I never spotted it before.
Still watched it for years after though.

jimmy180sx

Icaras wrote: »

Around the time earthquake killed jake the snake's snake.
My dad told me sometime before because I loved snakes and he knew I'd get upset. After he told me it was then obvious it was fake, I was amazed I never spotted it before.
Still watched it for years after though.

The ould bum drop...didnt sleep for days after jakes face

LeeJM

I was told very early on by my dad but he never stopped me watching even though he didnt like it at all and he even took me to the WCW show in 93 when I was 7

gerrybbadd

I remember, I was about 8 i'd say.

I thought it was one of those deals, like Santy being made up

Lies...lies... - bastards, the lot of ye, and yer lies! OF course Santy is real. Of course there is a wrestling Undertaker, who takes souls from within the confines of a squared circle.

Eventually, I learned Accepted the truth

sky88

i pretty much always knew that it wasnt real as my older brother wanted me to as he told me it was hard for him when he found. i did the same with the next brother

Scavenger XIII

I feel like I've always known, but I know there was a time I didn't, when that changed I actually have no idea.

Would have been pretty early on at least, I remember being impressed with early 3D wrestling games relying on some "actual wrestling logic" like having to work the crowd in order to build up to your finisher and suchlike.

krustycustomer

96, thankfully as royal rumble 95 was a cracker bar lex lugar 123 kid flipping off everything. yokuzuma, randy savage

Iang87

I remember I was about 7 or 8 and my da said it couldnt be real because you werent allowed bet on it. Well guess whats real now Dad

deadybai

I always knew the wrestling itself was fake because my friends told me but thought some of the story lines were real. I remember when Vince mchmahon limo blew up I shamefully thought it was real. I was 14 ffs haha. I think when he admitted to be alive on a chat show the next day was when I fully believed everything was fake.

beakerjoe

Its a tough one. I grew up watching wrestling from 1988 as a 4 year old child and used to watch it with my Dad. He always told me it wasnt real though i never believed him. He loved pointing out how they were only messing maybe just so I didnt emulate it. "hes not even touching him" or "its just tomato ketchup" was a few of his fav lines. As i got over I realized he may be right after all.

I was so sure Japanese wrestling was real. I used to watch it on euro sport and saw the likes of Jushin Liger, Misawa, The Road Warriors, Vader and the Pegasus kid knock the poo out of each other. It had to be real.

Stereomaniac

When I picked up a copy of PWI in 1997 and saw photographs of Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow and Terry Funk in the ECW I thought "what the hell is this, does this group actually wrestle real?" Like a lot of people have said here, I think it just seemed to make sense that it wasn't real as I got older. However, one of the most real moments ever was the final nail in the coffin for me, funnily enough. That was, of course, November 9th 1997.

thebostoncrab

Knew from day 1. Like a few others I was introduced by my older cousins, who told me straight away that it's fixed but it doesn't take away from how fun it is. Never bothered me and, to be honest, I think it's why I never stopped being a fan. Saw other kids who would stop watching as soon as they found out after watching for a few years.

john the one

It's not real???

Hashtag_HEEL

I was told from the begining by other kids that it was fake, but everyone believed some of the story's were real. We were 100% convined Eddie Guerreuro had custody of Dominick at the time. Later it was the uncool thing to be a fan of and that's when the "fake and ghey" insults started.

I stand by it though and people call me on it all the time. It is far far tougher to be John Cena than it is to be Brad Pitt and that's a fact.

Bounty Hunter

Wait you mean Taker isn't an undead Zombie who for some reason decided to start wrestling when not working in a funeral home!


Yeah I always knew it wasn't real like a few others although ill admit there was a stage when I was young that I wasn't sure about Japanese wrestling. Never looked fake to me, none of this stomping on the mat and hitting next to an opponent there, they slap the sh!t out of each other thought I

Moist Bread

My family didn't like me watching it, so they told me it was fake. We didn't have 'the channels' when I was a kid so I had to go and watch it at a friends. I guess I just treated it like any other form of TV and suspended my disbelief. Even knowing this I was still terrible at calling who would win matches, I remember thinking Shawn Michaels would drop the IC belt to Crush at the inaugural KOTR.

Wrestling became much more interesting for me when kayfabe was broken in the late 90's. Some of the backstage goings on were far more interesting than any storyline they could come up with. For example I still read this forum religiously, for the backstage happenings, despite watching maybe less than 10 hours of wrestling a year.

Ageyev

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Wait you mean Taker isn't an undead Zombie who for some reason decided to start wrestling when not working in a funeral home!


Yeah I always knew it wasn't real like a few others although ill admit there was a stage when I was young that I wasn't sure about Japanese wrestling. Never looked fake to me, none of this stomping on the mat and hitting next to an opponent there, they slap the sh!t out of each other thought I

Much like many other stories here, family members would bully me, say it's fake etc. Was sure that the Japanese stuff on Eurosport was legit though.

All these things exposed the business to me: reading Mick Foley's book; reading Powerslam magazine; watching the Wrestling with Shadows, Beyond the Mat and Louis Theroux documentaries; and Kane setting a "cameraman" on fire on Raw is War while a message on screen said it was a stunt.