10 Stages Of Life As A Wrestling Fan
6. “The Dirt Sheets”
What the f*ck happened at the close of Survivor Series ’97?
To the untrained eye, it was an indecipherable and chaotic mess. You knew something had happened that wasn’t…right. What was Vince McMahon doing out there? Why didn’t Vince McMahon do commentary any more, for that matter? Why did Bret Hart spit at him? This “screwing” explanation was screwy in itself. We knew wrestling wasn’t on the level, but sensed that it had to presented as such to convince the children otherwise. So what happened? Did poor Earl Hebner just make a mistake? One that didn't involve counterfeiting merch?
Taught the impossibly fascinating backstage politics of wrestling through our introductions to the Wrestling Observer, Power Slam Magazine and the like, we began to see wrestling for what it was: an often abhorrent industry in which the crooked were far more likely to prosper than the gifted. It was on the dirt sheets that we discovered that wrestling, in sad reality, wasn’t really a reflection of sport at all. Well, maybe Italian football.
It was also on the dirt sheets that we realised wrestling is p*ss funny, to such an extent that those who barely watch the onscreen product still keep up with the relentless intrigue of it all. How much were WCW paying Lanny Poffo to stay at home? Sid stabbed Arn Anderson where?
Bob Holly was going to do what when he won the belt?