cSs 35-Day Challenge: Epilogue

Over the last five weeks, we asked you, the Cageside Galaxy, to answer a variety of wrestling questions. Standard wrestling fare like your favorite Wrestlemania moment or favorite wrestler (both male and female), and not-so-standard wrestling questions like what was meeting that wrestler like or your wrestling patronus, or the most famous wrestler born on your birthday. I’m surprised I didn’t do favorite match ever this time around (but feel free to post it in the comments. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.).

35 days of wrestling queries like these are bound to produce some interesting answers. So for the epilogue to this third edition of the Cageside Seats Community Challenge, I’ll present some of my favorite answers to each of the 35 questions in the series.

Also links and such.

1. Why do you like wrestling?

ljacone says it’s a combination of things.

Comic Books, Soap Opera, and Athletics all rolled into one

Got into wrestling as a kid, specifically with my brother, 2 years older than I. My father didn’t mind it either, but wrestling was always something my brother and I enjoyed together. We still do, even though we live 800+ miles apart.

When I was a kid, it was the same type of thing for me as it was when I got into superhero comics — learning this strange new world and the colorful characters who inhabited it. Especially since we watched WWF and NWA and WCCW and AWA… any wrestling available, we’d watch it. Since I was younger when I started following wrestling than comics, it became all the more magical and "real" to me as a boy of 5. It still, in a lot of ways, is like a comic, with characters changing and growing, getting new outfits and going back to old ones, feuding with enemies who then become allies, and so forth. Only difference is that wrestling has that aspect of reality that a superhero comic never can have. Whatever the outlandish story might be, these are real men in the ring doing real things.

Into high school and beyond, it was that weekly fix — every Monday it was Raw and Nitro, and flipping back and forth, or staying up to watch the Nitro replay. You had to see what the nWo or Steve Austin or DDP or Mr. McMahon or Eric Bishoff was going to do that week, who would show up on the "other" show, what new twist and turn. When I met my wife in college, she watched 2 daily soap operas, and she came to understand that wrestling is very similar in that long form story, simmering things along until the blowoff. (FWIW she doesn’t like wrestling because she dislikes 2 counts… that’s a shoot… but she did watch WM33 with me.) To this day it still bums me that I can’t flip over to Nitro.

As a theoretical grown up now — married, 3 kids, etc — I strongly appreciate the hard work on the inside of the business. One of my closest friends was trained by Afa at the Wild Samoans school, and I got to see him train — rough stuff, even just running the ropes is so much harder than it seems it should be. So I appreciate and applaud how hard these guys and gals work in the ring, and how much they put it out there just to entertain us.

Wrestling remains one of those things in life where I can just relax and mark out for a few hours, and not worry about whatever else is going on. It brings me back to Saturday mornings and evenings with my brother in our parent’s living room watching Superstars or Saturday night, getting up Sunday morning to watch our tape of ECW from 2AM, furiously burning up AIM on Mondays in college, and all of the accumulated mark outs over the years.

Wrestling is entertainment. Inside the ring is its own little world and it’s just plain fun to be even a small part of it.

Word.

2. Your favorite Wrestlemania moment

ZeroIndulgence’s favorite has a personal angle to it.

Wrestlemania 31...

My favorite Wrestlemania moment is a personal moment from WM31…which might miss the point slightly, but I’ll share it anyways. But first…there are many moments through the years that I remember from watching Wrestlemania PPVs: Shawn Michaels’ "sorry, I love you" before "ending" Ric Flair’s career… my two favorite of all time, Edge v Undertaker, main eventing… Daniel Bryan hoisting the two world titles at XXX… being blown away by TLC II at WM X-7… lots of memories to go around.

But for me, nothing will beat being at Wrestlemania 31 live, in person, with my best friend and his family. I’ve told the story before around here of my best friend’s brother who passed away when he was 20 from brain tumors. He was the biggest wrestling fan I’ve ever known…and was a gigantic Undertaker fan. Hell, before he passed, WWE was cool enough to set up a meeting for him and the family with Undertaker before a RAW supershow in LA. He talked about it for literally the rest of his life. Once he passed away, we’d make a point to watch Wrestlemania every year (he passed shortly before a Wrestlemania). And whenever I’d watch Wrestlemania with the family, they’d be super invested in the Undertaker match. So when WM31 was announced for my home town, I made sure to get tickets for all of us. Their reaction when Undertaker beat Bray Wyatt is something I will never forget. They are jumping out of their chairs cheering, tears streaming down their face. It was an amazing thing for them to be able to experience live, and is a memory that will never be topped.

Who’s cutting onions in here? Seriously. Stop that. I’m not crying, you guys. I’M NOT CRYING.

WWE.com

3. Your favorite male wrestler right now

TJ_UK loves him some Jack Gallagher.

I know that the likes of Styles are probably better but this is about my favourite, not who I think is the best.

Full disclosure, this is probably down to me having a massive bias towards British and Irish wrestlers because who doesn’t like to see people from their part of the world succeed (although in that case I should probably go for fellow countryman Killian Dain…) but I sincerely believe only people who hate fun can properly hate Jack.

He’s one tough son of a gun, has great mat skills, cuts a fun enjoyable promo, has a really easy to love babyface character. The whole feud with Daivari is exactly the sort of thing I love in wrestling in between the more heated and serious stories.

Plus for my money he has the best facial expressions since William Regal.

Hey. No argument from this corner. Jack’s pretty awesome.

WWE.com

4. Your favorite female wrestler right now

While there were many responses for the Four Horsewomen and Asuka and Alexa Bliss (and rightfully so), Boss Rock goes off the board with someone you probably should look up. Like right now.

Io Shirai.

One of the absolute best wrestlers in the world today. Works very fast and has a ton of cool moves, but they always make sense in the context of the match. Her match with Meiko Satomura was not only the best women’s match I’ve seen, but one of the best wrestling matches I’ve ever seen.

Io recently turned 27. Let’s hope she gets a shot at the big time.

Ad Council on YouTube

5. Your favorite male wrestler ever

DCFog81 knew he was gonna get some heat for his choice, but he does make a compelling argument.

John Cena.

There, I said it. I’m basing this on how, 20 years from now, I might view the wrestlers I’ve already seen to this day. I grew up with Hogan and then Austin and Rock. Those guys were great and really captivated a generation, but I think when I look at everything: how dedicated he has been to the business, how insanely hard he’s worked to get every ounce of ability out of himself despite him not being the best technically, how he’s branched out into the mainstream, how much he’s done for Make A Wish, all the other charities, and the young fans, what he’s done for the younger guys coming up, staying out of trouble outside the ring. He’s been at it for 15 years. When I think about where Hogan was in 2000, 15 years after Hulkamania was born, he was trying to hold on and keep the younger guys out of the spotlight in WCW. When I think about all of that, I just think that years from now, it’ll be really tough not to put Cena right there among the greatest if not the greatest of all time. I know it’s not a popular choice, but that’s just IMHO.

Plus Cena’s got none of the stink that’s plagued Hogan’s recent years.

6. Your favorite female wrestler ever

shaqstewart93’s favorite ever passed away recently, but she did make quite the mark in her short time in the business.

Chyna.

Seeing a woman so beautiful and yet could kick your ass was amazing. And I loved her entrance.

I loved the bazooka entrance too.

7. Your favorite promo package

While Ninja Without a Cause correctly points out that Austin Aries has the best package, Teckelmaster’s favorite is one that got him back into wrestling after being away for more than a decade.

Sasha Banks vs Bayley Takeover Brooklyn

That match got me back into wrestling after more than 10 years and that promo was just a great and emotional summary of their story. The tube men deflating and Bayley fading out of the Horsewomen picture is just perfect.

That promo package is the above video. It’s pretty awesome.

8. What would your custom wrestling T-shirt say?

Dance Owens Dance has a shirt in mind a la the Cena Sucks shirt of a few years back.

"The Empire doesn't need you"

with, "but thanks for buying a ticket" on the back.

I’ll probably buy that shirt.

9. One wrestler you do not want to be in a locked room with

I thought I had the correct answer with New Jack. Nope. Way more obvious. Take it away, SoMaxGoes.

A pissed off Meng.

When EVERYONE says the guy is the toughest SOB in wrestling, he’s gotta be a scary dude. Seriously, read the ‘Notoriety’ portion of his wikipedia.

If even half of the stories about Meng are true (and I have no reason to believe they’re not), he is one of the scariest people ever. True story: WCW wanted to release Meng several times, but didn’t because they were afraid of him. When Meng left with WCW as hardcore champion (with their belt), Bischoff didn’t say a bad word about him. It’s like he knew.

10. What wrestler would you want to be for a day?

GrandGomez15 wants to be WWE’s queen for a day.

I want to be Charlotte.

Being Becky best friend is a dream of mine. Also I envy her athletic Ability. I also would like all her accolades. And did I mention I get to hang out with Becky.

Hanging out with Becky is a pretty nice perk.

11. Your favorite thing in wrestling right now

Markoleptic is digging the resurgence of European wrestling.

How much the European scene is absolutely thriving.

Progress is my favourite promotion by a decent stretch these days, and to see the opportunities that some of the UK/Irish guys are getting on a broader stage is brilliant. Almost anything British Strong Style does is gold, Jimmy Havoc being turned into Progress’ biggest babyface is incredible, I’m falling deeply in love with Ringkampf, I’m a giant South Pacific Power Trip mark… The long-playing storylines are exactly what I want out of wrestling and Progress do it better than anyone, for my money. Hopefully be able to hop over from Ireland to catch a show in Camden this year.

Oh, and Session Moth Martina. That girl is a fucking howl.

Session Moth Martina seems like a lot of fun at parties.

12. Your wrestling catchphrase

Suplex Power looks to some inspiration for his catchphrase.

"Takin' over Earth and still kickin' in Uranus"

Yes i’m stealing this line but i’m from space so that’s ok.

Word life. I mean, it’s okay for this experiment, but I’m pretty sure WWE wouldn’t be ok with it.

13. If you could bring back one dead wrestler...

A lot of convincing cases for a lot of wrestlers, but tkatt00 has the best choice.

El Generico.

He died a hero, trying to save all of those kids at the orphanage. If he could come back, I think WWE would give him the call for sure.

He could totally be in WWE right now. I mean, I’d sign up for a Steenerico reunion.

14. Your favorite wrestling video game

RedArrow42 echoes the sentiments of many wrestling gamers.

WWF No Mercy.

And for the most part, it’s not even close. I’ve spent more hours playing No Mercy than any other wrestling game, hands down. Something about the way the game plays, along with the great roster and Create a Wrestler all come together make it a near perfect experience.

That being said, I’d also like to give mention to Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for PS2. The level of depth in that game is insane, and the fact you can program the behaviors of created wrestlers, the fact that there are different refs with different tendencies, the amount of match types is just staggering.

I fell victim to the glitch that erased No Mercy saves (they only plagued early shipments of the game), but it’s a very enjoyable game beyond that. Still being modded through emulators nearly two decades later.

WWE.com

15. Your favorite tag team right now

A lot of votes for The Revival, and it’s hard to disagree. Michael makes the case for the “top guys”.

The Revival.

Ever since their final 4 run in the first Dusty Classic, I have been all in on The Mechanics Dash & Dawson the Top Guys and they’ve only gotten better. They beat the Vaudevillians in a good match and then went through match of the night after match of the night with American Alpha, DIY, Authors of Pain, and everyone else. The 2 out of 3 falls match with DIY was my 2016 MoTY.

And that’s just their in ring talent. Dawson especially is a top promo but Wilder isn’t too shabby either. They get heat, sell a match, and remind everyone it’s always about being champion.

Not to mention the Shatter Machine looks awesome and is a really cool name for a move. Top Guys: out.

Let’s hope Scott heals up so the Revival can get back to being top guys soon.

16. Your favorite tag team ever

Lots of great teams including the Rock ‘n Roll Express, the Outsiders, the Hart Foundation, the Steiners, the Brainbusters, and the Dudley Boyz to name a few. The Skinnyfatass’ favorite is the most successful duo in TNA history.

Beer Money Inc.

This team was something special. Roode and Storm were dead in the water when they formed Beer Money, and then went on to become one of the most over acts in TNA. The matches these guys put on against LAX, Dudley Boys and especially the best of 5 against Motor City Machine Guns were superb.

They were excellent as bad guys, and great as faces, and the styles of the two guys (Roode as a dude with a style similar to Arn Anderson and Storm as a cross between Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels) meshed wonderfully. It’s a shame the split was mishandled (Roode should have won the TNA World Title at BfG over Kurt Angle, turned heel then a blood feud lasting to BfG 2012), but the team was wonderful.

And they had an awesome theme song that summed the team up wonderfully.

That is an awesome theme, though I’m partial to their original.

17. Your favorite era in wrestling

While many echoed my sentiments about the embarrassment of riches that come with this era, The Hammster misses a time when we were a little more innocent as wrestling fans.

The Cable TV / Pre-Internet Era

Serious – you could have WCW, WWF, WCCW and even some local wrestling shows to watch every week. There were no spoilers. There were no smarks. You liked what you liked and you weren’t influenced by anyone except your friends.

You knew it was fake, but you weren’t 100% certain that Dusty’s arm wasn’t broken or if Steamboat’s throat was destroyed or if Randy Savage was going to die from a snake bite.

I think smarks very much existed in the pre-Internet days (case in point: Wrestling Observer Newsletter was born in 1980); they just weren’t out in the open like now. But yeah, I kinda miss those days a bit too.

18. Your wrestling patronus

Ebertaker’s got a couple in mind.

Anyway, for my general mood, it would have to be Becky Lynch. She’s filled with energy, and due to her accent, feels quite awkward in conversations, which is how I feel when I take part in conversations.

When I’m in something resembling a grumpy mood, I’d go with Baron Corbin. When I’m pissed off, I feel like everyone’s against me and I lash out at anyone who even slightly annoys me. That’s why when I’m mad I tend to wanna be alone.

However, there are times when I feel it should be Alexa Bliss, because sometimes I like to act like a smart-ass.

Overall, I think Becky Lynch would be my best pick for my Patronus. She’s smart, colorful (figuratively AND literally), and is delightfully awkward.

A patronus for every mood. Nice.

19. Your favorite wrestling promo

A lot of great promos, but ThingsandStuff has a great one that was probably lost to the dustbin of history by the next week, and it’s sad. Because it’s a great promo.

Dean destroys Seth after the Shield breakup.

For those that have never heard or seen it, here’s a transcript of that promo.

"The Shield was untouchable. And we will go down in the history books as one of the greatest groups in sports entertainment ever! We dominated WWE, we beat everybody. Even Evolution.

But we were healthy and a cancer inside of us, little did we know, and that cancer's name— the cancer's name is Seth Rollins.

History is full of people like you, Seth. Everybody in this building knows somebody like you, Seth. Kind of guy that would stab his brother in the back. Suckup, who sell out to The Authority.

Now when I get the opportunity to rearrange your face, which I will, your nose isn't gonna be here anymore, it's gonna be over here by your ear. I say ear 'cause you only gonna have one left. I'm gonna rip your dirty stinking hair out by the roots. I'm gonna stuff it in your mouth, there will be a room where your teeth used to be.

Seth Rollins, my brother— you're scum! We all are looking forward to what that scum has to say tonight. We want you to stand out here in this ring in front of the whole world and lie through your teeth. We want you to stand in the middle of this ring in front of the whole world and we want them to hear Triple H's words coming out of your mouth. We're gonna listen every word of it. And then we're gonna beat the living hell out of you!"

That promo’s fire.

WWE

20. One current wrestler you’re totally over

Easily the most commented post in the series. Curtain Jerker’s over a pretty popular wrestler, but not for the reasons you may think.

Roman Reigns.

NOT because of him per se (although he is partially to blame), but most because I’m so damn exhausted of the "Roman Sucks!/No Roman’s Awesome!/He’s not The Guy!/Yes he is The Guy!" arguments going on all over the place.

I’m just tired of all of it.

Me too. But it’s not going away. Ever. In fact, I reckon every “face of the WWE” going forward will face the same backlash. And likely through no fault of their own.

WWE.com

21. The most famous wrestler born on your birthday

Tempest116 hit the jackpot when it comes to famous wrestler birthdays.

December 18.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, RVD, Trish Stratus

If you have a better trio than these three on your birthday, I’d like to hear about it.

22. Your favorite signature move

wonderzimms’ favorite is one that divides the wrestling community.

Canadian Destroyer.

The only move to make me go "holy shit I hope he’s not dead" every single time.

Yeah, it may look unrealistic, but damnit, if done right, it looks gorgeous.

23. Your funniest wrestling moment

So many funny moments in the thread, but torquesmackey brings us one that may have slipped under your radar recently.

I will never get sick of this:

DDT match interrupted by multiple friendship montages

For context, from the same organization that first brought you Joey Ryan flipping a guy with his penis, a best-of-three falls tag team match has the tide turned by... THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

WWE.com

24. One lower-carder to push as a one-off main eventer

A lot of love for Heath Slater and Zack Ryder and Tyler Breeze and Luke Harper, but TheManWhomGravityForgot makes a case for someone with a longer main-roster teunre than all four of them put together.

Goldust.

He is one of those guys you just know is willing to do what is asked of him. He’s been through so damn much, and has taken an IMPOSSIBLE to get over character, and ran with it for ~12 years. The man is clearly there to entertain, and I’d love to see him – for just a month or two – be put in a big main event angle.

If Hardcore Holly and Jinder Mahal can be in the main event, why not Goldust?

25. Your dream Table for 3

A lot of good suggestions, but Kyle Decker may have one that a lot of people want.

The Shield.

Just the three of them shooting the shit about the early days of the Shield and their journey.

(There may be something out there similar but I’m unaware of it.)

There is not, Kyle. But I’d be all in on this.

26. Your favorite wrestling event

A lot of good wrestling events were your favorites, but one I hated with a passion (and still do to this day) is actually DeltaRott’s favorite for a personal reason.

WrestleMania 27.

I don’t care who you are; objectively, this was a bad show with the only saving grace being Triple H vs. Undertaker and the hindsight bias of this being Edge’s last match.

However, I was just on the cusp of being a teenager who had just had his last few friends grow out of wrestling entirely. I kept along with it only because of one reason – my favorite wrestler of all time in Edge and my childhood hero in Mike Mizanin were both holding the top titles in WWE. My parents knew how special these two wrestlers were to me, and so they bought me tickets to WrestleMania. My uncle had a place in Atlanta, so it worked out really, really well.

I’m naturally a quiet, shy person, and I don’t like making a scene of anything. But when I met Edge, I cried tears of joy. I told him about how he was the reason I had gotten into wrestling(and it was true – No Way Out 2009 was the first WWE programming I had ever watched), and how I was so mad when Jeff Hardy eliminated "the cool guy" from the match in, like, 30 seconds. I was lousy that whole night until the cool guy showed up and cheated his way into the other Chamber match that night, winning the World Heavyweight Championship in a match that stole my heart. The great John Cena, who my cousin loved, lost in a matter of two minutes to a 3 finisher combo. That Rey Mysterio guy, who I had played on SVR 2008 all the time as, put on a classic finishing sequence with the cool guy. And the cool guy won the title that to this very day will always be my favorite. He smiled, signed a replica World Heavyweight Championship belt I brought with me, and if I had missed WrestleMania that Sunday I would have still had the perfect day. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I got to see him beat a wrestler I despised for the World Heavyweight Championship in his last match, especially considering I would’ve bet my house on Del Rio winning.

But then I met my childhood idol, The Miz.

He was switching in and out of his kayfabe self, being a(lovably) douchebag heel to the kids and speaking like a consummate professional to the adults/insiders. So when I walked up to him, he gave me this little smirk and asked me if I was a John Cena fan who wanted him to take "this"(the WWE Championship) at WrestleMania. Considering, I was wearing his hat, it made sense to me in hindsight. And I said, without any of the fear or trepidation I had while meeting Edge, that I was on Team Miz.

He seemed legitimately surprised. I remember two key parts of the conversation after that. Other than telling him that I knew how hard he worked to get to WWE and win the title, and that my face was the opposite of "Miz girl"(he laughed at that). I remember saying that I was sad that "John Cena always wins at WrestleMania"(keep in mind this was, A, when he usually did, and B, coming from a fan that started in 2009). Then he gave me this little wink and said "this year, he doesn’t."

I thought he was trying to keep my hopes up. During the entrances, I screamed my heart out for Miz and was ready to burst into tears every time it appeared John Cena was going to win. When The Rock restarted the match, I was horrified. I knew wrestling wasn’t real, but I usually knew that "restarted" matches(especially when a heel escapes a bad situation) usually led to the opposite result. So when The Rock hit Cena with a Rock Bottom and Miz’s music played several seconds later, I lost it. Sure, in recent times I’ve grown to resent The Rock for stealing Miz’s moment at the end of Mania, but in that moment all that mattered to me was that my hero promised me he would walk into WrestleMania, John Cena’s stomping grounds, and beat him.

No win has ever surprised me more in the WWE. Not Brock over Taker(although that’s #2), not Goldberg vs. Lesnar, or anything else. They say to never meet your heroes, but I have never felt more inspired by meeting mine.

By the way, I failed to mention what he signed for me. I didn’t have a WWE Championship replica belt at the time, but I had an Intercontinental Championship one. The fact that he signed that(unfortunately, the older version – not the white-leather strap we know now) and then went on to be one of the best IC champs of all time(#1 in my heart, obviously) felt like a divine presence predicting the future for me.

I’ll conclude by saying this(and bear with me, it does have relevance to the topic): Wrestling is ultimately very subjective to me, even as a mark. I like particular wrestlers that people like online and happen to hate others. Roman Reigns is my #1 favorite wrestler after The Miz, and is in my top ten of all time. I’m a huge Dolph Ziggler mark who nearly lost his voice when Ziggler won that Six-Pack challenge on the opening SDL out of NOWHERE and who thought Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam was the match of the night, simply because I was on the edge of my seat to see the match in place. I knew Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz was going to be such a great feud the minute it started, because I knew both performers had the capability of bringing something magical.

As a result, when Miz and Maryse vs. Cena and Nikki was rumored, my inner child rose back to the surface. It didn’t matter to me that the Miz lost this time; my smark heart knew that was going to happen deep down. But what mattered to me was that Miz could’ve been FLOUNDERING in the ATGMBR, or in a pre-show match, and here he was with JOHN FREAKIN CENA, having his name linked to one of the most newsworthy moments after the show.

WrestleMania 27 is the reason I still consider myself a wrestling fan today, because despite the rest of the card essentially sucking(other than Triple H vs. Undertaker, which I loved), it set so many things in place for me to continue being a wrestling fan.

WrestleMania 25 was my first WrestleMania, and it had my objectively favorite match of all time in Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker. WrestleMania 31 was the "best" WrestleMania of all time to me considering the in-ring action, and gave me my subjectively favorite match in Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. WrestleMania 33 was, to me, the "ultimate thrill ride" – Even though I was rooting for Roman Reigns since the minute the Rumble elimination occurred(both because I love Roman Reigns and because it’s an unspoken tradition to root against Taker at Mania for me since he retired Shawn, even though he’s in my top ten).

But WrestleMania 27 is the only reason that I was even able to appreciate the latter two, and for that I will never thank it enough.

Sometimes even the worst shows can make the best wrestling fans. Also, you’re crying. I’m not crying.

FloSlam

27. What bothers you most in wrestling right now?

A lot of pet peeves in wrestling right now, like Stephanie McMahon, all things Roman Reigns, long RAWs, branding, fans getting themselves over, overscripting of promos and lack of stars. ReverendKain’s bothered by something else: the confusing state of indy wrestling.

The increasingly confusing lines in the sand across indie wrestling.

Like WWE’s seeming unwillingness to let Matt Riddle vs. Pete Dunne happen on tape ever. There’s one happening today for IPW:UK, and not even on one of their FloSlam shows. But nope, no broadcast. Ditto for the one that’s running at Lucha Forever next month, which, granted, that show is on FloSlam. But there was no problem letting Evolve run Dunne/ACH on FloSlam at Mercury Rising, and RevPro has done, like, Dunne/YOSHI-HASHI and Dunne/Penta, all on their streaming service, no problem.

It’d be one thing if it was just a flat no, or even a straightforward conditional one like how ROH exclusive deals only cover North America (and make an exception for PWG in the process), but the landscape still has these weird bubbles in it and it sucks to get excited over a match announcement only to have that moment of "shit, are WWE gonna let this make tape?"

Come on, wrestling. Get it together.

28. Has the Internet affected your wrestling enjoyment?

For a lot of respondents, wrestling as it relates to the Internet is a double-edged sword. caitlynah12, who got her wrestling fandom through Total Divas, gives her take.

Oh the Internetz.

Positive- I learn more and have a place to ask questions. I learn from other posters things to look for. I have no friends who also watch WWE (just Total Divas!) so this is a really nice outlet where I can chat with people who "get it", feel as deeply as I do about it, will help me learn and even meet up with IRL :). There are really great people right hurrr on Cageside Seats who all help and don’t laugh when I’m like ‘whats the difference between steel cage and Hell in a Cell???’ I have a co-worker who used to kind of watch and now he doesn’t… probably because I overloaded him since I was just SO.EXCITED as I never get to talk about WWE aloud, haha. So I love the Internet for this.

Negative because how people experience and live THEIR fandom can sometimes bring me down and ruin my enjoyment. I try to stay away or click out if I see a thread devolving. I also don’t like the ‘what I enjoy is better than what you enjoy’ or ’you’re not as evolved a fan as I am if you don’t see how amazing XYZ is’ mentality the Internet/social media can bring about. One of the biggest perks of wrestling in the year of 2017 is there is literally something for everyone and it’s very easily accessible most likely. You don’t need to apologize or explain if you prefer the storytelling in WWE over what they’re doing in Japan or if you genuinely think Impact is brilliant, etc.

She nails it near the end. There’s wrestling that hits the spot for everyone. You just have to find it. I feel like I’ve heard that before somewhere...

29. Your dream match

A lot of dream matches across all eras. WWORDuke has what he calls a weird one, but it’s not that weird if you think about it. In fact, it was actually pitched once.

DDP vs. The Rock. The overnight success and the hardest working man. Two people’s champs.

How did we not get this? Seriously. HOW DID THIS NOT HAPPEN? NOT EVEN ONCE IN SOME SORT OF WEIRD MATCH THAT’S THIRD ON THE CARD ON A RANDOM SMACKDOWN DURING THE INVASION ERA. SERIOUSLY.

WWE.com

30. Meeting a wrestler

A lot of good stories, but one chance meeting saved this Cagesider’s life. Presenting the story of twiphys’ meeting with Diamond Dallas Page.

DDP, Heroes and Legends of Wrestling 2013

I was in the severest state of depression in my life. I was just months away from coming out of the closet and I didn’t know it. I was extremely suicidal. However, I found out that the city about an hour away from my old home, Fort Wayne, Indiana, did a semi yearly Heroes and Legends of Wrestling. Wrestling always brought me joy as a kid so I thought I’d give it a go before I killed myself. I was unemployed and so this was a big gamble for me. I bought the tickets anyway. I found out that lots of big names were going to be there. I met Victoria, Shark Boy (who filled in for Ahmed Johnson), Sunny, Colt Cabana, Shane Douglas (whom I spoke at length with about his amazing promo), and more. However, the main star for me was Diamond Dallas Page. This was when he was helping Jake (who was also there) and Scott. I felt like if I had a few moments with him, he might help change my mind. So I bought the voucher to get my picture taken with him. In front of me was a man who told DDP that he lost 150 pounds due to DDP Yoga which brought him to tears. Then it was my turn…

I walk up there to him meekly and I told him.. "I don’t have an amazing story like that guy, but I’m going through a really tough time. I just want to know if you have any positive words to help me get through it." He points to Jake Roberts talking to someone next to him, "You know his story right?" I told him that I did. "He’s been through the ringer and look at him now. He’s better than ever." And I thanked him for helping him. He said, "I might have had a hand in helping him, but he took control of his life. He owns it now!" I agreed and then he said, "You too, can own your life. Your story will be amazing too!" I thanked him for saying so. He then puts his giant hand on my shoulder and says, "Look at yourself and say, what do I want? Dig down and feel it and it will answer." I told him I would do so. He smiled. "I believe in you." Then he placed the giant WCW World Title on my shoulder and took the picture together. It was so heavy. As I was about to leave, the lady who took the picture explained that it was way too dark. So I had to stand there and wait as he talked with another person. Then we retook the picture and he didn’t have to. When he was done, he signed a DDP Yoga pamphlet and gave it to me. (Even if I didn’t pay for it.) When he handed it to me, he said, "Stay positive. I know you can do it." I thanked him again graciously and walked away with a brighter outlook.

I did as he said. I dug deep. Found myself. Moved to New York and working hard to be the best I can be. I’m so much happier now. All thanks to him. When he went into the Hall, I was so happy to say that I bought that ticket. I’m glad that I survived. And he deserved to be placed among the greatest of all time. Because I’m alive today because of him. He could have just brushed me off but he didn’t. Thank you DDP for everything!

Wanted to post the picture but I can’t seem to get it to work. Oh well.

twiphys, if you’re reading this, hope you’re well. I still wanna see the pic if you can get it to work.

31. One storyline do-over

While quite a few people agreed with my sentiment on an Invasion redo, others felt they would undo the Shield breaking up or the end of the New World Order. OurLadyJustice would undo the most shocking upset in WWE history.

Brock does not break The Streak.

Going with this one because others have already mentioned a couple I might’ve gone with instead, like how the breakup of The Shield was handled. Brock should not have broken The Streak. I would undo that and have had Undertaker vs Sting for WM 31 with Undertaker winning, then had Bray Wyatt to have defeated the Undertaker at WM32 for his retirement match, passing the torch to Wyatt.

Personally, I would have gone with Undertaker retiring with an undefeated record at Mania, even if wrestling tradition dictates that one must go out on their back at the end.

32. Earliest memory of wrestling

A lot of memories spanning all sorts of eras and all sorts of federations. CrazyChris576 has a unique early memory.

My earliest memory is of my dad and I going to a WWF show with a bunch of my friends from elementary school and their dads

I don’t remember how old I was, and I’m entirely unsure of the location. It may have been the old Providence Civic Center in RI, but I’m honestly not sure.

Anyway, I literally have only one memory of the event. The Undertaker was placed into a match where opponents would come out to the ring at regular intervals, and he had to defeat them as they came out or risk being overwhelmed. Eventually, the opponents stopped observing the regular intervals and all just rushed to the ring and dogpiled Undertaker, leaving him "for dead". But after the match, his body (or something that was shaped like his body) was lifted into the rafters while a voiceover from The Undertaker promised revenge against those that had tried to end him.

It was cool, but my young mind couldn’t get into it, so that was the last of WWF/WWE that I saw until probably 2013. If anyone has any knowledge about what event this might have been, I would love to know so that I could see it again from a current-day perspective.

Well, as TheHellmouth pointed out less than ten minutes later, that event was the 1994 Royal Rumble. And that match was Yokozuna versus The Undertaker in a casket match for the WWF Championship. That show ended with the only co-Rumble winners in the event’s history, Bret Hart and Lex Luger.

33. Your favorite entrance theme

A lot of great and classic themes, and Chitown78’s favorite isn’t a bad choice either.

Randy Savage "Pomp and Circumstance"

This song made very match Savage was in, no matter how far down the card, seem like a big deal.

Plus it makes you feel like you graduated college. There’s... there’s that.

34. Your entrance theme

Plenty of good tunes as it seems I’m not the only one that has thought this through. MainManDetroit’s got a pretty epic one in mind.

Welcome to the Jungle.

GNR. Lights dim, you hear Axl slowly screeching, building in volume, then right when you the drums hit, strobe lights every where and the place goes nuts.

And for big shows, add fireworks when the song kicks in.

35. One thing in wrestling in the next year

If nothing else, we are dreamers and fantasy bookers. I mean, not all of us. I suck at fantasy booking. But I can dream. A lot of wishes, including a Wrestlemania main event with the women (and without Roman Reigns), the return of War Games, their favorites winning a title (or the world title), and permanent end to the Authority. But Mama Cardinal knows what we all want.

Lethal Leap Year.

2018 isn’t a leap year, but hey, if there can be a PPV called Great Balls of Fire in 2017, Lethal Leap Year in 2018 isn’t too much of a stretch.

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2018 is also when we’ll be doing the cSs 35-Day Challenge again. Hope you enjoyed the 2017 edition, and we hope you enjoy your stay with Cageside Seats, the best wrestling community in the galaxy.