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Today’s column was inspired by a chat I was having with RPadholic Tokz_21 on the RPad.TV Google+ Messenger group. On last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw, wrestling legend Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on air. It’s sad and I hope everyone sends positive vibes to Jerry, hoping for a speedy recovery. Now to be completely honest, initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was an angle. Pro-wrestling can be funny that way. The writers have no boundaries and have crossed several lines over the years. Would an angle involving Lawler’s age (he was in the ring that night too) be out of the realm of possibility? Of course not. Sadly, the heart attack was real, but the whole thing had me thinking about times when I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t in pro-wrestling.
When Owen Heart died due to a harness mishap during the Over the Edge PPV, I initially thought it was an angle. He was playing The Blue Blazer, a masked idiot that thought he was a superhero. He was actually supposed to have a botched fall to the ring, keeping with his character. Sadly, the harness released him too soon and he suffered a tragic fall. I distinctly remember watching the PPV at my friend Justin’s place and arguing that it was a work. It wasn’t until the cameras completely pulled to the crowd that I was aware that something very bad and very real happened.
On a lighter note, a pair of WCW angles vexed me for a long time. The first involved Brian Pillman. In an “I Respect You” match against Kevin Sullivan, Pillman suddenly bailed with the words, “I respect you, booker man!” I knew that Sullivan was a WCW booker, but this was something that was never said on air. Pillman was fired and that’s where things got cloudy. Did he really get fired or was it part of a storyline? Former WCW exec Eric Bischoff said it was part of an angle and that Pillman was supposed to develop his “Loose Cannon” character in ECW before returning to WCW. Pillman said that he wanted to get fired and had no intention of going back to WCW. He ended up going to ECW and eventually brought the “Loose Cannon” persona to WWE.
Kevin Sullivan was involved in an angle with his wife, Nancy Sullivan, and Chris Benoit. The story was that Benoit, who was feuding with Sullivan on TV, took things too far by stealing his wife. Sullivan booked it so that Nancy and Chris traveled together, ate together on the road, and stayed in the same hotels. Art imitated life, with Nancy and Chris actually falling in love and eventually getting married. For a long time, I thought it was just an elaborate angle. It wasn’t until kayfabe went out of style that I realized, “Oh…that really happened.”
Anyway, those are some wrestling moments where I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. I’d love to hear about some angles that you weren’t sure about. Please share some stories in the comments section!
So… the Mark Henry and Mae Young storyline was….?
(besides really, really gross)
-M
When i was growing up i fell for the story when zeus from hogan’s no holds barred movie came to life. As i grew up i learned that it was a story but i thought it was real but then i never believed anything ever again that wrestling showed me on air.
When I was a kid I thought the 4 Horsemen got their name because of the state of Texas and did not get the biblical reference. I also thought they were all super rich because of Rick Flair.
Tim Burton style Pokemon http://imgur.com/a/Wu3BM