Same here man. I can trace my only real lapse in watching to that event. It was just so hard afterwards to watch week to week and pretend that nothing happened. After a little while I just kinda stopped watching altogether. I missed a lot, and only came back at the tail end of the YES movement leading up to WM30.
I started watching wrestling back with Wrestlemania III when I was three years old. I honestly don’t think I have taken a break from the business. I think the only break I had was around 2009-2010 when I just didn’t have the means to watch Raw every week but I still read updates and results.
The Benoit stuff did it for me. Stopped watching but read results and caught some highlights till about 2010-11.
94-95 was also a period I didnt watch a lot as the bigger companies were really bad.
It’s interesting to see how many of my fellow PostMarks were also affected by the Benoit tragedy. It really made me question my fandom. I also went through a big dip in interest around 02-05. With HLA, the fake gay wedding, Al Wilson, Eugene, it was all so desperate and not the groundbreaking or entertaining product I remembered. HHH winning everything also made me very jaded.
Before that I was a loyal wrestling fan dating back to 1995, watching anything I could find on tape. I love the current renaissance of quality wrestling, but as a father/husband it’s way too much to keep up with. Don’t know what I’d do without John and Wai.
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I first started watching WCCW before it was World Class on Saturday nights. This is before Keven Von Eric started wrestling. I watched off and on through high school and followed the NWA territories through magazines. Work friend was into wrestling and started watching WCW PPV with him around 91 and watched every thing I could WCW and WWF, up to the Katie Vick angle. The night Trips got in the casket I turned it off and followed from afar, catching a little bit here and there. The next time I turned it on was the night of the CM Punk pipe bomb. I have been watching since then but am not happy with WWE product and the only reason I still watch is habit and most time it is running in background while I do other things. I still like ROH when it comes on. (I seem to get random ROHi might get 4 weeks in a row or 1 in 2 month span) Started going to some local shows and really enjoy that.
M longest break was like everybody else in this forum… I have NEVER EVER watched the wwe since the Montreal screw job. Well… I almost didn’t tune in the next Raw, almost.
First watched regularly from 96-2003 and then very sporadically from 03-11. I caught Benoit’s title win, Flair’s retirement, and the first One Night Stand, but not much else . Sometimes it was enough to read recaps online from places like OnlineOnslaught. Started watching regularly again in 2012, but probably would have quit again had I not been turned on to NJPW.
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Around ‘10-‘11, I found the product to be rather stale, and a number of the bigger stars left the company around that time (HBK, Jericho, Batista, Edge). I lost interest and haven’t really been able to consistently watch since then. For the past 6-7 years I’ve mostly kept up with the world of pro wrestling through the podcasts, and tune in for the rumble/wrestlemania.
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Does anybody else feel a break in their viewership coming soon? At least WWE?
I’m giving it until Wrestlemania, but I have no real desire to watch the weekly TV or the pay-per-views. I’m constantly disappointed by the vast majority of what I see, and even the matches I’m looking forward to from an in-ring perspective seem to let me down more often than not.
And as I’m mentioned elsewhere, even if Mania doesn’t turn out to be the last straw, pay-per-views no longer being included in the monthly WWE Network cost would definitely do it.
I know a big part of my burnout has to do with how busy my life is (60+ hour work weeks, grad school and a toddler), but does anybody just not feel up to the task of keeping up with WWE right now?
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For the record, I am incredibly happy with my life, just not sure how WWE fits in. Please, please, please check this out if you’re feeling legitimate depression or burnout: https://www.sprc.org
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Mine is very similar.
Watched wm4 on vhs in about 90/91 and watched everything I could of WWF. Watched less around 95 but came back in around 96/97 and started watching Raw and Nitro a lot (here in the UK both were on Friday nights so great beer watching events). Watched until the invasion and dropped out about 2002 and didn’t watch really anything until 2011 with the pipe bomb bought me back (so missed peak Edge, Lesnar, Cena, Rey etc etc). Started watching a little bit here and there and got really into it all about 2012/2013 and then when the network launched I made it my mission to watch every PPV from 1988 on wards with every Raw and SD from 96 onwards and eventually went into that gap/space and have since been casually burning through everything and am currently about to watch WM XX for the first time.
Great thread!
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I hear you
I gave up RAW and Smackdown about 15 years ago when school got busy.
Now I will only watch the cool segments but largely it’s just NXT and AEW and NJPW and WWE PPVs
Not all - I don’t plan on seeing the EC given it’s stupid.
after mania I often don’t watch anything main roster (even PPV) until summerslam hype. Then I’ll tune in the second half to PPVs and watch highlights.
I’m debating what to do with NJPW and AEW and NXT. I like them all but with a new child and an older one already it’s too busy with work and wifey and life. I dragged my wife to All Out but she’s starting to bear the end of her rope for me watching wrestling. I’ll probably cut out AEW or NXT ultimately - I suspect it will AEW as long as NXT starts delivering a better product (hopefully post Mania after call ups are done)
I’m in a similar boat. I haven’t completely burned out, but I have been steadily losing interest over the last few years. Goldberg winning the title really has disillusioned me with the current product. I think the biggest problem is they very rarely pull the trigger on creating new stars. It’s always stop/start, and they never really seem to attach the rocket to anyone anymore. NXT is not for me either. Their big matches seem to have similar formulas of kicking out of a ton of near falls, which is fun to see at a live event but while watching at home it gets old after a while.
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Just discovered this thread so I’ll answer my wrestling break timeline in my next post. My WWE burnout isn’t there because I usually just watch the youtube Highlights of Raw & Smackdown. Part of that is because of lack of quality on those shows so why watch something that I won’t enjoy. And my job hours play another role. I use to work overnights for past 10 years so I didn’t have time and discovering John and Wais podcasts I would be caught up by the time I got off work. I just watch the main roster PPVs.
The enjoyment I have gotten from New Japan, ROH ,NXT, bits of TNA/Impact & AEW have far out weigh the bad from WWE for me.
Yeah I love NJPW But this is my biggest problem. I watch Okada and I know his drop kicks and tombstones mean nothing. Rainmaker means nothing. I need a spinning one and I need to fast forward to 30mins. Every big match
As far as breaks in pro wrestling I have had 2. I started keeping up with WCW in spring of 96 just weeks before the NWO formed. Thru cable and the weekend recap shows from WCW /WWF I keep watching til Starrcade 98. I thought it was cool how Goldberg lost . Most of 99 I didn’t keep up with anything with exception of Owen Harts death til Smackdown debut. School,Family, Church filled up my time at that point.
My 2nd break came in 2003 right after The Lesnar vs Angle Ironman match. Same reasons I mentioned above as I was in my junior year of High School. I came back to wrestling the smackdown after Wrestle Mania 20 & man did the company look different. I been keeping with from that point til now.
I took a break around the time John Cena started to become a thing. I didn’t really pay much attention during that time. Then I started up again when Lucha Underground started. I tried main roster WWE, but I just can’t.
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I took a break from 2003 to 2007. I was in university and was busy with other things. The writer’s strike got me back in (since tv was so boring with no new scripted tv). I’m enjoying the ruthless aggression series as it covers some of the time when I left.