WWF. Especially during the attitude era. It was like 1998 through 2000 that nearly everyone was into wrestling, especially with what the WWF was doing and some of what WCW was doing with NWO. But, as the years piled on, it seemed like the flaws became more apparent. I look back at that period now and was like “…why did we like this again? and what from it did people want?”. Because some people want swearing back, they want buckets of blood back, they want sex appeal back .etc
That was just car-crash television and I learned later that what both promotions were doing back then, were doing whats called hot-shotting. It’s a wrestling term where you’re booking things in a seemingly appealing matter that audiences want to see. That’s what they were doing and it did honestly work for a long time.
If there was anything I’d want out of wrestling anymore these days, is competent booking and for matches to feel like and be big-fight moments. The cat is out of the bag for what wrestling really is, it’s just about characters, smoke and mirrors and highly choreographed moves that when they look routine, stand out.
At least some of the video games were still fun.
A friend won tickets to a local one and it was a lot of fun. It was like a huge group of LARPers and everyone got to participate in the spectacle in their own way. Definitely not a gender thing, either.
I guess it was like one of those themed restaurants with actors and events through the evening, where the whole point is everyone can get into it and have fun on a pirate ship or in Dracula’s castle or whatever the theme is.
But, I struggle to see how it could go to the scale and detail of what’s in the US. Watching it on TV seems more concerning than entertaining too. I had a housemate that played a White Mage in FFXI, and Pineapple Juice was how the class restored mana points. Dude started drinking nothing but pineapple juice IRL. That’s probably the only way I can explain “Pro Wrestling” in the US. It must be targeted at that guy.