What If The Curtain Call Hadn’t Happened?

#2 Bootlegging remains stigmatized

Bootleg footage of the Curtain Call became the official record.

In an era before smartphones or even digital cameras hitting the mainstream, there was a deep stigma against fans bootlegging live events, and particularly WWE shows. Unlike the present day when it’s totally normal for a fan to upload a video to social media during a show, fans in the 1990s had to dare to smuggle a video camera into the arena, and typically tried to keep a low profile to avoid the risk of prosecution, or at least being kicked out of an event.

It was in this context that two fans taped the house show at Madison Square Garden and just happened to stumble upon recording the Curtain Call. Their bootleg would become a part of wrestling history that WWE eventually paid them for.

While WWE, like most major companies, still frowns on bootlegging, the importance of this particular tape—and the possibility this moment in wrestling history may have otherwise been lost—has arisen as a defense for people who record goings on at live events.