Mat Memories...
- Dusty Fleischman
- Nov 25, 2025
- 4 min read
Professional wrestling was a big part of my life growing up. I guess in some ways it still is. My memories of pro wrestling date back to as far back as I can remember. My Father and I were never really what you would call close. We loved each other, I certainly had a great deal of respect for my father, but we never had the close relationship that most father and sons have. He was a war veteran and country boy; I was a nerd and never really understood him or his way of thinking. There was however one thing we both loved: pro wrestling.
My weekends were spent with him watching WWF Superstars of Wrestling on Saturday Morning, my favorite, and then watching WCW Main Event on Sunday nights. NWA/WCW was his favorite promotion. It was some of the best times of my life. There were some pretty big differences between the two promotions. WWF was more about the entertainment and often had some pretty over the top characters who weren't the best wrestlers in the world. Most of the time it was the mid-carders and tag teams that put on the best grappling performances.
NWA/WCW had the best wrestlers. They knew their craft and knew how to tell a story through the action in the ring. They treated their shows more like an actual sport and less of a show. It often didn't matter who was good or bad, loved or hated. It was about competing to see who the best in the business was. It wasn't until the early 90's that they started to change to a more storyline format, and once Hogan came over in 1994, wrestling went out the window. I didn't truly appreciate how great NWA/WCW was until I got older and went back and watched their matches. I can see why my dad loved it so much.
Watching wrestling with my dad was fun because back then, no one knew it was choreographed and pre-planned and that made it more fun. My dad took it very seriously; he hated the bad guys and loved the good guys.
Watching my dad was often more fun than watching the shows. He would really get into it. When Rick Rude would cheat, my dad would freak out. He hated Rick Rude. His favorite wrestler was Jake "the Snake" Roberts. A grizzled mountain man who had the famous and most feared finisher of the 80s, the DDT. He was rough, rugged, and when he came on TV my dad would sit on the edge of his seat and throw punches in the air with the action, and then my dad would throw tantrums when his opponent would cheat and win. It was great.
Often, especially in WCW, wrestlers would bounce back and forth between being a "good guy" and a "bad guy". Most famous for this constant shifting was Ric Flair. He would be good one month and bad the next, and my father fell for it every time.
"Ric Flair is a no-good cheatin' son of a..," he would yell one night. Then the next week Ric Flair would come to the rescue of Sting and suddenly be adored by all, including my father.
Then a month later, Flair would turn on Sting, and my father would scream, "I never trusted that no good son of a..."
Thinking back on it even today makes me laugh.
Looking back on it now, that was what wrestling was all about. It toyed with your emotions. It was a roller coaster of excitement that always kept you guessing, and my dad was the poster child for what wrestling promoters wanted as a fan. Someone who rode the wave of storylines that would need to be forgotten after a certain amount of time. Almost everyone forgot that Hulk Hogan was once a hated heal managed by Classie Freddie Blassie in 1980. He even had a run with Andre the Giant prior to their epic meeting at WrestleMania III seven- years later. Oh, and just for the record, he slammed Andre in just about every match. Commentators would never dare mention that when Hulkamania was running wild in 1985.
Then in the mid 90's, the news finally came to light that wrestling was indeed staged and that the matches were pre-determined. Most people realized it in the 80’s, but we were all about having fun back then, so we didn’t care. But when that became confirmed, it was like a big punch in the gut. The magic was gone. My father stopped watching it around that time because he no longer had any one to cheer for or hate. Anti-heroes like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock came on the scene and cheated just as much as the bad guys did. Plus, you knew who was going to win before the event happened. Sure, once in a while they would throw a curve ball, but nine times out of ten, you knew what was going to happen.
Maybe, it was like that back in the 80's, but I never knew. I was a kid and didn't care. It was quality time I got to spend with my dad. Wrestling was still more like a sport back then and not like the crazy reality show that it is now. There is more story than action now, and there is very little that resembles the wrestling I grew up with. Some say it was boring back in those days, but I will never be convinced of that. I still watch the old matches and storylines and love every minute of it. And I will always remember sitting on the couch every Saturday and Sunday watching my favorite wrestlers battle it out on screen with my dad, wrestling's realest fan.
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