WWF - A Legend

Barbed wires, chairs, cages, rods, turnbuckles and everything in between that could cause a stream of blood to flow from your opponents broken skull. What could something that sounds as brutal as that be? War? Blood from your opponent’s head – yes it has to be war! But think again, it was something just short of war. Or maybe it is a war of sorts – an entertaining war, the most brutal battlefield in sport – oh yes, it’s the WWF! The organization that shall go down in the pages of entertainment history as the pioneers of using blood effectively to create awe and tremendous excitement among fans!

The WWF never failed to make a strong impact on its audience. Of course, the audience that enjoyed the gimmicks, story lines and brutality of the whole WWE thing the most were teens, kids, youth and young adults. But it’s a thing for certain that even if men beyond that age group ever come across WWF on their TV sets, they’d make it a point to stop by and watch for a few seconds, before they’d reluctantly change the channel in their endeavor to display a very gentlemanly figure to the family. But what is it about WWF that attracted people so much? I can’t remember the last time I saw or heard of a friend speaking about any other pro wrestling circuit (WCW was way back in the day). How did WWF captivate this kind of an audience? Well, major credit would go to the whole managing committee. Vince McMahon, as much as he was hated, did a great job not just as manager and owner but also as someone you could really wish death as punishment for. But, unquestionably, the real big factor for the grand WWF success were the characters. Some names that you’d not forget even after some severe shock therapy would include Stone Cold, The Rock, Goldberg, HBK, HHH and of course the brothers of destruction and the gimmicks attached to these guys were no less than a well written movie script! It was thrilling to see the audience go totally crazy when they heard the themes of someone they totally loved! And in case your favourite star broke someone’s skull before winning the match, you’d be totally thrilled the entire day and in case of loss, you’d want to bury yourself in the planet’s darkest corner.

While in the present day WWE still has a great fan following, it is nothing compared to the golden Attitude era. Part of this can be blamed on weaker scripts and a lesser use of bloody matches. However, one cannot deny that stars like John Cena and Sheamus have certainly caused heads to turn, but they’re still a long way from bringing in the aura and charisma of the Attitude Era stars. Wish them luck and all of us do hope WWE shall live forever!