Just Some Fun

Thinking about how wrestling changes so much in four years made me realize how much life in general changes every four years.

1993 – Lex Luger was the All American Hero, fighting the evil Yokozuna, who was the champion. Yokozuna had just defeated Hulk Hogan, the most famous hero of wrestling, for the championship and Hogan vanished from the industry. Bret Hart shared the spotlight as the top guy in the WWF. There was some little company called WCW also on the map, but barely. I was 11 years old, between grade school and middle school. I had my first crush on a girl. My parents owned a ski shop in Windham, NY.

1997 – The number one wrestling company was WCW, Lex Luger was their champion for a brief title reign, but it was lost to Hulk Hogan, the leader of the nWo and top villain. In the WWF, Yokozuna had also vanished. Bret Hart was a despised villain, feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin, a beer-drinking foul mouthed redneck. Steve Austin was the top guy in the company. I was a sophomore in high school. I was now 15 and living in New York City, coming off the heels of my parents divorcing. I was listening to a lot of Spice Girls and thrilled because Thundercats had returned to TV on the Cartoon Network.

2001 – WCW completely fell, the company was absorbed by the triumphant WWF. Bret Hart suffered a career-ending concussion a few month before and no longer could wrestle. Steve Austin lost some of his momentum, sharing the stage with The Rock, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. The two seemed to feud on and off for years. After a long battle back and forth between the members of WCW and the WWF, the championships are all merged and Chris Jericho becomes the undisputed champion. I had just completed my first year in college and dealt with my first bout of heartbreak, boo hoo. I also worked my first 9-5er.

2005 – The WWF was now WWE. There was also a WWE Hall of Fame, which Hulk Hogan was inducted into. He had returned to the WWF briefly and had an electrifying match with The Rock. Meanwhile, the titles had been split once again, and the two big names in the industry were Batista and John Cena, each a champion. I was now working at J&R, top salesman, as far as I am concerned. I stopped going to school and worked, while now living by myself.

2009 – John Cena is still the man on top, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are the veterans who have the show-stealing match. Steve Austin is inducted into the Hall of Fame. I find myself in Texas, at WrestleMania, seeing all of this go down. I managed to find myself unemployed, but returning to school. My cat Beeky, whom I had for 18 years died. I wonder what 2013 is going to be like?

What’s funny is, skipping spaces of four years, I managed to miss Bill Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar.