Hiatus: A Lot Can Change In Six Years (Match of the Day)

I want to start doing a regular 'match of the week' here on the blog and this week I came up with the idea of highlighting my falling out of wrestling and then finding it again as the focal point.

I always remember watching WWF as a kid (around the age of nine or ten) as a result of a couple of friends that lived up the road from me. They would lend me video tapes of the latest events. This would stop, for whatever reason, in about 1993. Maybe they knew how sh*t things were going to get in the next few years, and thus, saved me from it?!

Bret Hart vs Yokozuna... my last match for a few years...

The last thing I remember from that time was watching Wrestlemania IX (9), where, my hero, Bret Hart would defend his WWF Championship against the 500lb giant, Yokozuna. Now, in my mind, Bret was NEVER going to lose. He'd done the impossible at the Royal Rumble and locked the Sharpshooter on the gangly legs of Razor Ramon. Yokozuna wouldn't put up any challenge when it came to Bret's match-winning submission, would he?

Unfortunately, he did. Well, Mr Fuji was on hand to throw 'salt' in the eyes of The Hitman, leading to Yoko rolling him up for the pin and win. New Champion. sh*t.

The worst was to still to come.

Following this heartbreaking moment in my young life, Hulk Hogan would come to ringside to check on Bret, but REALLY he was there to sneak his way into another title shot. Luckily for him, Yoko and Mr Fuji extended the opportunity, and who would Hogan be not to accept? In steps Hogan and all that time building Yoko up over the months got sh*t on in a matter of minutes. OF COURSE Hogan would be the guy to EASILY knock the immovable object down?! And, unfortunately, OF COURSE he would be the one to stand tall at the end of Wrestlemania holding his newly won championship.

"What's that? A title match, you say?... see ya, Bret!!"

As young as I was, I'm pretty sure I was sick of Hogan. He always won; it wasn't unpredictable - and I was only nine-years-old?! I'm surprised that the nine-year-olds of today aren't trying to murder John Cena for his EVEN LONGER Hogan-esque run?!

Here is my last memory (without the Hogan part!) before I got back into wrestling:

Bret 'Hitman' Hart vs Yokozuna - Wrestlemania IX

Six long years passed.

I'm not sure what happened between 1993 and 1999, but that was the period of time that I didn't watch any wrestling. Maybe as a kid I had better things to do; bikes to ride; football took over? I have no idea. I will forever be grateful to my pal, Jeff, for letting me watch Wrestlemania XV (15) at his house, as it, in some ways, shaped me into the person that I am today. Despite how PG it has become, I think I'll always be loyal to watching wrestling in some form and that night, in late March 1999, amazed me.

To this day, Wrestlemania XV will always be my favourite Wrestlemania. I got into the Attitude Era a little later than others, and for them, Wrestlemania XIV (14) was the best that they had seen. For me, WMXV had everything. I'd never seen a Hardcore match, let alone a Hardcore Championship match contested in a triple threat. I'd only seen Owen Hart in matches with Skinner (losing). I'd never really seen a friend (Triple H) turn on another friend (X-Pac)... and I hadn't seen anything like the characters and attitude portrayed like that of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. These guys hooked me in that night, NEVER to let me go.

My Match of the Day this week is that main event:

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock - Wrestlemania XV

I think it's obvious to say that that era shaped a lot of what wrestling fans enjoyed, expected and wanted. Even to this day, them same fans, me included, want something that resembles the passion, attitude and desire to entertain week after week that the product offered back then. It's a hard pill to swallow that that might never happen due to pleasing the sponsors and shareholders, but there you go...

We'll always have the Network and Youtube to provide us with endless hours of memories...

@jimmosangle