The Evil History Of Pro Wrestling: Heroes Of Wrestling

Jake Roberts Heroes Of Wrestling
Heroes of Wrestling

Stone here set a blackly comedic scene of a wholesome nuclear family watching Jake Roberts pretend to molest himself with his reptilian proxy penis. Stone also said that “if the public doesn’t want anymore, we won’t do anymore. It’s that simple.” Incredibly, the initial plan was to run a second and third Heroes of Wrestling show, in the event that the first performed well against modest expectations.

Meltzer wrote in the November 15 WON that “while we don’t have exact numbers, apparently the Heroes of Wrestling as a PPV event financially bombed”. Cagematch.net lists 29,000 as the buy number; Stone required 41,000 to break even on his investment.

According to a 2009 PWInsider Q&A, the conduct of Jake Roberts angered Stone, prompting him to “think twice” about his future involvement with wrestling. In a 2019 interview with GV Wire, panned novice commentator Randy Rosenbloom - a stand-in for the ailing Gordon Solie - reflected on the show and echoed that sentiment. “[Jake’s condition] was the one thing that really bothered Billy Stone more than anything”.

Wrestling apocrypha has it that Stone was so unsettled by the untamed wildness of pro wrestling that he made plans to fly out of Mississippi before the show even finished.

The scenes during the main event have been memed, which allows Heroes of Wrestling to endure as some endearingly awful historical artefact. It wasn’t endearingly awful. It was horrible.

Does Heroes of Wrestling truly warrant the ‘Evil’ tag?

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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!