10 Things Only '90s Wrestling Fans Will Understand

4. Wrestling Was Appointment Television

Stone Cold Steve Austin Mankind
WWE.com

And, because wrestling was so big, it was unmissable.

Embarrassing personal anecdote: your writer went on holiday with his family in 1998. The length of the trip forced him to miss one episode of RAW. This was unbearable. The WWF was an obsession. The second I landed, I used a payphone to ring my friend. That friend eagerly asked how the holiday was, which was a polite thing to say from somebody who turned out to be an ar*ehole, but that might have something to do with the fact that I told him to shut up, more or less, before demanding a full rundown of the episode.

There was no choice in the matter. Mondays, or Fridays in the UK, were appointment television. You watched RAW on Sky Sports, or Nitro on TNT. The thrill of the Cartoon Network finally f*cking off, and it seemed to take an eternity, is something that cannot be replicated in adulthood.

Other wrestling is better now than an Attitude Era that has aged horrendously. Between AEW and NJPW, the ring work and long-term storytelling has aced virtually all of what has come before.

But if nothing else, and WWE is ritually incapable of doing this now, they knew how to drop an episodic hook deep into the inside of your cheek.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!