8 Things You Learn Reading A Wrestling Magazine From 1990

7. The Price Of Owning Content Was Insane

We definitely take it for granted just how cheap digital media is today. You€™re probably as likely to use a DVD or a CD as a coaster, as you would for its intended purposes. Yet in 1990, those kinds of technologies would have been in the realm of science fiction - and as for the idea that you could wirelessly watch the entire WWE back catalogue on your phone on the toilet€well, that would have quite simply melted brains. But wrestling fans were still as nuts for merchandise in 1990 as they are today, and they still wanted to build collections. So enter the imaginatively titled €˜TV Sports Video Inc' mail order service, to meet the demands of needy fans. There are at least three ads for this company promoting different video offers, and what is clear immediately is that building a wrestling collection was not for the thrifty or faint of heart in 1990. For example, if you wanted to watch €˜Monsters of the Mat Volume 1', which was a one-hour long compilation tape of matches, you'd pay an eye-watering $39.95 €“ which in today's money is roughly $73.00 (USD). Or if you were particularly crazy, you could order 12 videos, and you could get them for the discounted rate of only $399.95 €“ or rather just a paltry $730.00! That total running time of those 12 videos would have been just under 22 hours as well. So that means in 1990 you get less than one day of programming for what it would cost for SIX YEARS of WWE Network. Or to put it another way, you would pay $33.00 PER HOUR of programming. You damn kids and your computers will never understand the struggle.