I remember the moment like it was yesterday, but that could be the acid talking. (Hours later) OK that wore off, I remember it like it was over 23 years ago. Four-year-old me was playing wrestling with my cousin with multiple wrestling figures, those kind that were like 10 inches tall, made of rubber and didn't move in any way, shape,or form. We even had a ring that grandpa made us, it was actually cooler than the official ring you could buy from WWF at the time. These "matches" generally led to bruised and scraped knuckles, because there isn't much you can do with those toys besides smash them into each other.

My cousin was executing Koko B. Ware's patented headlock on my Nikolai Volkoff (this part can't be confirmed) when who should walk up but our sisters. My cousin's sister and my sister both had the personality of the Rugrats' "Angelica" so it surprised me that hadn't managed to ruin this secret sooner. They both came up to us revealing that wrestling, was indeed, fake.

It really didn't shake us, they had been known to say mean things to us to throw us off. It was my mom's validation that really made it sink in for me. She didn't exactly say it was fake, but she didn't confirm the violence either. I was crushed, for a little while. It was like finding out that Santa wasn't real, only worse. Santa wasn't my hero, Santa didn't bodyslam Andre the Giant, Santa didn't DDT any reindeer or elves, he was just a guy who gave me presents, I used him if you will. But Hulk Hogan? Randy Savage? Jake the Snake? These people were my legit heroes and to be told the actions and stances they were taking weren't true, was crushing to me. How could it be? Why would they even fight then? What was I going to look at as my hero now? These questions ran through my head for a long time, and are too much for a 4 year old to comprehend.

Fortunately I must have either forget or refused to further believe the allegiations, because I was back to liking wrestling shortly after. Perhaps I knew and denied it, or maybe I just thought my sister's mean words were a terrible nightmare. It wasn't until Undertaker became a regular character that I began to think to myself "maybe this isn't one hundred percent legit" and after getting over being "fooled" as a kid, I was enjoying wrestling for what it was.


So Cagesiders, do you remember the first time you were told wrestling was fake or did you know it was fake from the start of your wrestling-watching career?