WWF (as it was previously known) was a big deal back in the day. I remember anxiously waiting for Thursday night Smackdown and even more so for Friday morning debrief with my classmates. We could smell what The Rock was cooking, and we were ready to rumble.
It wasn't just a show you watched on Thursdays and Mondays (if you had satellite, which I did not!), it was a lifestyle. I had WWF pajama pants, a glow in the dark pillow that my grandma had crafted, a WWF soundtrack, and numerous other pieces of swag to show my allegiance to WWF.
When one of my besties began working for the WWE, it was too good to be true. She hooked my family up with some free tickets when WWE was in Minneapolis, and months later WWE was coming to Shanghai. Anwer, some friends, and I headed to Shanghai via bullet train for what was sure to be a cultural explosion.
It wasn't just a show you watched on Thursdays and Mondays (if you had satellite, which I did not!), it was a lifestyle. I had WWF pajama pants, a glow in the dark pillow that my grandma had crafted, a WWF soundtrack, and numerous other pieces of swag to show my allegiance to WWF.
 |
| My fave from back in the day! |
Sure our seats were plenty far away, but that did not take away from the fun of it all. Here are some major takeaways from WWE Shanghai:
1. Chinese security and orderliness sucked some of the life out of what I imagine are true WWE fans. They kept telling the floor side people to sit down. How can people sit down when their superheroes are flying around the ring in front of them? It was very bizarre.
2. Watching wrestling on TV is a very different, dare I say, cooler experience. There was no commentating for us to hear, no backstage interviews, and a lot less of the other shenanigans you expect when you see WWE. And sadly, it seemed, maybe, less real in person.
3. No wrestlers spoke in Mandarin to the audience, which I thought was a huge ball drop. I remember in the months leading up to the event, John Cena was doing some bits for his Chinese friends, but in real time, he did not even talk to his fans! I felt that most of the wrestlers were underprepared for their interactions with the Chinese audience.
4. There are some senior citizens on the roster. Chris Jericho and The Big Show were wrestling when I was in the fifth grade. They are still running around that ring today! Part of me was proud that they could stand the test of time, and the other part of me was bored with their old slow bodies. I wanted to see more of the high flying tricks of Jeff Hardy and company.
5. My favorite performance/match was with the New Day, which reminded me a bit of the days of Rikishi and his crew. They had great dance moves, amazing crowd involvement, and there was a trombone. LOVED em.
 |
| tjrwrestling.net |
6. All of the cheering and chants were in English. This was strange to me, but I guess if you are a wrestling fan, you are familiar with the language. During a few very slow moving matches/smack talking sessions, there were even some "this is boring" chants, which I found very clever.
 |
| Real time pic of John Cena and The Big Show |
No comments:
Post a Comment