What Got You Into Wrestling: George Poole
The wonderful and peculiar world of wrestling; we all have our own stories of how we got hooked. So here's mine...
Unlike in Caleb's story (which can be found on the site), I don't have a clear distinct moment I found wrestling. Instead, I have a childhood friend who got me into the wacky world. I was 8 years old and had a friend on my street called Robert. He was a couple of years older than me and when I went around to his house, he showed me WWE on the television. However, it wasn't that that grasped me. One time, we went to our friend Fergus' house as he had a trampoline and we began wrestling on the trampoline. I remember I always used to attempt the Walls of Jericho. As I was two years younger than Robert, he beat me every time. However, one day I managed to get him in the walls when I was 9 years old, and he tapped out! I was hooked; the feeling of excitement was immense and I couldn't believe I'd finally done it. At the time for me, it was the equivalent of Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30! From there, I bought WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 for my PlayStation 3. The amount of hours I spent on that game!
I began recording every episode of Raw and Smackdown (I live in the UK so I couldn't/wasn't allowed to watch live). I remember my first real love for a superstar was Rey Mysterio. I was captivated by his feud against CM Punk, who at the time was leading the Straight Edge Society (one of my favourite ever stables). Having been a short child my whole life I was mesmerised by Rey Mysterio and I naturally gravitated towards him.
I could write all day about my favourite feuds watching wrestling. But they will save for another day.
After I started watching in late 2008, I continued watching until summer 2012. At that point, I moved to High School and drifted away from the business. However, in February last year, on Twitter I saw Shane McMahon had returned to Monday Night Raw and I was somehow just drawn back in. I started watching Raw again weekly and I was asked if I wanted to watch WrestleMania 32 by Caleb. I gladly accepted and he gave me his WWE Network details. It is surreal to think about now, but at the time I was new back to the product and had no real idea what was going on. I remember I cheered Roman Reigns in the main event against Triple H... good god. Ever since Mania I have been gripped and I feel I am as big a fan of not just WWE, but wrestling in general as anyone. Before I go, I must say, if it wasn't for the guys from WhatCulture I may not be watching today. After Mania I found their Youtube channel and subsequently, their website. Having that much entertaining content out there really interested me in wrestling and gave me the passion to watch. In October I went to my first ever live show; watching WCPW True Legacy where Kurt Angle vs Cody Rhodes was the main event!
That show was one of the best experiences of my life and to top it off, I even got to meet Bret Hart! So I must say a huge thanks to all the guys at WhatCulture.
So, that's my story. Wrestling is frowned upon and laughed at amongst the people I know. But that doesn't put me off, wrestling is truly one of the best forms of entertainment in the world and I wouldn't miss it for the world. As Caleb said, it may be 'childish' and 'fake'; but it is captivating. That's why we love wrestling.