Do current WWE stars know Wrestling History?

[Deleted]

I was reading recently how a majority of current New York Yankees wouldn't know Joe DiMaggio from Joe Piscopo. Partly due to where they are from, an indifference to anyone but themselves and their own success, and because players today are just buisnessmen and no longer have a love for the game.

Can the same be true for current WWE stars? DO they know a history beyond the era they are in? DO you think their knowledge of wrestling history only dates back to what they may have watched growing up? Or do you think they have taken the time and effort to immerse themselves in the business and perhaps read or watched some of the older docs on the network? Does WWE educate their stars about the predecessors during new hire orientation?

If I had to guess, a majority can recite some Attitude era moments and are familiar with names such has Hogan, Andre, Macho, and Warrior. That's it. 

[greenjack1992]

Looking down the roster, I'm sure it would be fair to assume most of them are life-long fans - especially those who came up through the indies as opposed to former American "Football" Players and the like.

I imagine someone like Braun Strowman is totally clueless. Brock Lesnar takes pride in not remembering anything. Baron Corbyn seems a bit uninitiated as well.

Another thing to consider is that they have wrestlers from all over the world now, so they might have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Mexican, Japanese, or European wrestling history but not have been exposed to WWF growing up.

Finally, if the majority of the roster is my age bracket (I'm 28, so let's say anywhere between 25 and 35) they won't have grown up on 80s, New Gen or Attitude; they'll have grown up on RA and PG, because that's the last 15-20 years.

I would ask if a fan or wrestler of 90s wrestling could reel off a load of iconic wrestling from the 60s and 70s, because that's the equivalent.

[Mandalorian]

Not like the neckbeards that spend most of their day on the internet, talking about how workrate is more important than looks.

[ICW]

They likely know the misrepresented/manipulated history that WWE seems to indoctrinate on their roster *and* fans.

[TheSystem 1.5]

Who cares?

[Nivro™]

Im sure some of them do. Those that were wrestling fans growing up likely know a bit. The problem likely lies in a cutoff era. Whereas someone like myself in their late 30s watched wrestling in the early 80s, a lot of todays stars probably didnt grow up on Hogan, Macho, Warrior etc and were fans because of the Attitude era.

Respect the hell outta Dream when he went off on the others during Tough Enough because people didnt know/respect the business.

[LA Times]

I think the Ruthless Aggression Era was the first era where the majority of the wrestlers grew up being fans of the business, but even then, I dont think they really knew much before Hulkamania or when Bob Backlund was champion.

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2020 14:23:04 GMT -5 TheSystem 1.5 said:

Who cares?

Someone has been touched by the holiday spirit!

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2020 14:27:30 GMT -5 Nivro™ said:

Im sure some of them do. Those that were wrestling fans growing up likely know a bit. The problem likely lies in a cutoff era. Whereas someone like myself in their late 30s watched wrestling in the early 80s, a lot of todays stars probably didnt grow up on Hogan, Macho, Warrior etc and were fans because of the Attitude era.

Respect the hell outta Dream when he went off on the others during Tough Enough because people didnt know/respect the business.

I've watched exactly one episode of tough enough ever and it was that one.  I pretty much died inside when Ogre said knowledge doesn't matter. Maybe one of the stupidest sentences ever spoken. 

[rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield]

WWE Network show premise if I've ever heard one...

[cordless2016]

Brock - “I don’t give a damn about any Barry Horowitz.”

[theoutlaw1999]

A lot of them were fans when they were young and you also have the second generation stars who grew up in the business.

[Yambag Jones]

Dec 14, 2020 18:07:55 GMT -5 rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield said:

WWE Network show premise if I've ever heard one...

Who'd be the Steve Harvey-like host who stares in disbelief when Braun doesn't remember who the Big Show is?

[rowdy1971]

I'm sure at least 95% of the women's roster has no idea about wrestling's past and I would not be surprised if more than half the men's roster couldn't tell you who main evented WrestleMania 3. I don't think it matters, at least not anymore. Like it was said, "who cares"?? It's not like we have actual wrestling shows anymore across all the organizations and if they don't care, why should we?

[rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield]

Dec 15, 2020 14:07:49 GMT -5 Yambag Jones said:

Dec 14, 2020 18:07:55 GMT -5 rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield said:

WWE Network show premise if I've ever heard one...

Who'd be the Steve Harvey-like host who stares in disbelief when Braun doesn't remember who the Big Show is?

Easy answer, but New Day?

[Wato Stan Account]

They probably know WWE's version of it.

[Thunder Chunky]

I don't care if they know who George Hackenschmit is or not. It's a job for these people, and I would bet a majority of them don't really care. Some of the biggest stars in wrestling didn't grow up watching it and wanting to become a wrestler, and alot of them only came into wrestling because they fell into it. Lesnar, Nash, Angle, the Big Show, even the Rock went into it because they couldn't go any further into their prior careers.

I wouldn't expect a Walmart store manager to be able to name the first store manager at store #212 or an accountant to be able to name the guy that did their parents taxes in 1984. It's a job for these people, and I don't care if they know the history or not.

[TheHitmanKid]

Just like every generation, there not gonna care about everything when it comes to history. Do people know the history of Gorgeous George or Buddy Rogers and the matches they had; no. Do people know all the history of WCW or ECW matches and their rivalry; no. People will remember the wrestling history they care more about, especially the wrestling generation they grew up with.

[JOEJOEJOEJOE]

Former Diva Cameron’s knowledge about the industry is impeccable.

[Back to the Codyverse]

I don’t know but I know when Conrad, Bruce, Eric etc are wrong on a date or show or whatever.

I have so much wrestling knowledge, mainly WWE and WCW but it’s stupid how I’m a walking encyclopedia and no one I know cares.