Resolution #187: Watch One Hundred Dollars Worth Of Wrestling... Five Dollars At A Time!!!

Date: 7-6-7014

Due Date: 7-6-2015

Resolution: I'm a fan of many things where I'm not all that fond of my fellow fans. I think wrestling may have started this trend of secret self-hating fandom. My step-father was into wrestling and would tune in whenever it was on.

I hated it at first because I hated him, but this was a time before our infinite options of antisocial technology that allows us to stream our very specific entertainment choices where ever we want, and wrestling was what was airing on our only color television, so I watched.

I'd complain and joke about the grown men fighting in their underwear but eventually became a genuine fan. I'd be willing to bet that this route to liking wrestling is very common.

I was young enough that it was acceptable to believe that everything was real. It was also acceptable to be an open fan around my friends who were also fans. Then high school hit and though I continued to watch wrestling, I kept that type of information to myself.

It's hard to stay a fan of somethings minus the shared experience. Once wrestling became a guilty pleasure I stopped watching it altogether.

Then several years later when I moved to Seattle, I ended up living in a party house where one of my roommates was really into WWE. The denial to acceptance process was the same.

Other than the one roommate I'm not sure if anyone was an actual fan of wresting, to begin with, but we had a lot of fun drinking and laughing while watching the matches, and once again I was won over.

The party house broke up and we all went our separate ways. I stopped watching wrestling again for about ten years until I made a couple of new friends who were into old school WWF wrestling. 

This rekindled my interest in the fictitious sport, but when I tuned in to try to get caught up on the WWE storylines, I just wasn't interested. That when I turned to the internet and discovered $5 Wrestling.

If you like Mystery Science Theater and high school auditorium level wrestling then this is the organization for you. I watched one match where they didn't even have a referee and the wrestlers had to do their own counting.

I've only seen a few clips on YouTube, but they currently have twenty specials at five dollars apiece and I plan to get through all twenty by this time next year.

Result #187: $30.00 Of Wrestling Down… $70.00 To Go!!!

Update #1: The Intro… And… The Live Show.

Date: 7-20-2014

Over the past couple of nights, I watched both the debut of $5 Wrestling and Part 2 and I'm happy to announce that I'm a big fan.

How could I not be?

It's bad wrestling, Mystery Science Theater-style, hosted by two funny guys who have a bit of a podcasting rapport going on between them.

The Debut is a fun collection of no-name wrestlers lazily battling it out in tiny auditoriums with low turnouts. If you've ever been to one of these low rent wrestling events live then you know there's something special about these amateurs that get to consider themselves "Pros."

The Debut captures this magic along with some fun color commentary.

Part 2 takes place in front of a live audience as part of some sort of Pre-Wrestlemania festivities. All the matches feature old school wrestlers that were legends of the squared circle back when I discovered wrestling as a child.

But this isn't a best-of compilation.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

This is a collection of former stars, who should be retired by now, duking it out in front of an audience of dozens. Watching this special leads to an amazing combination of nostalgia from seeing these former stars and getting the answer to "Where are they now?" This feeling is instantly followed up by the sorrow of having the answer to "Where are they now?"

I look forward to watching more of these specials. I can sense that it's going to get better once everyone involved finds their groove as they continue on.

I'm also looking forward to the introduction of Freight Train which I believe is how I stumble upon this organization, to begin with.

I'm probably going to end up watching at least one more tonight and will probably be disappointed when I'm all caught up.

Update #2: Event #3 - "This Many!!!"

Date: 8-22-2014

I'm not sure whether or not to consider $5 Wrestling a "Guilty Pleasure" or not?

It seems that the majority of these wrestlers are mentally challenged. That leads me to question whether I'm laughing with a person or at a person?

I kind of feel fine either way.

Whether or not any of the wrestlers are mentally challenged, none of them seem confused or forced into these fake fights. In fact, they seem to love it, and I feel it would be more heartbreaking if this chance to live a dream were taken away from any of them.

It also helps that the comedian commentators who watch these matches as if they were part of Mystery Science Theater focus on the bad wrestling and never even mention the potential mental disorders of the individuals.

I'm going to go ahead and admit, I see no guilt in watching $5 Wrestling and being entertained by it.

Update #3: Event #4 - “5 Dollar Wrestling's Tournament of Champions!!!”

Date: 8-24-2014

Alright, this episode of 5 Dollar Wrestling is my favorite to date. The actual wrestling is just as bad as any other event, but the gimmick of this show is that everyone involved has to be a current champion to compete in a literal tournament of champions to determine who is the best of the best.

What makes this so great is, as I watched the first three events it cracked me up that every match seemed to have at least one guy wearing a championship belt. Every championship belt had the initials of some other organization.  It's as if the only requirement to become a champion in 5 Dollar Wrestling is that you have to buy a belt.

That's it.

It turns out I was correct and that's what makes this show so amazing. Each wrestler looks completely caught off guard when asked the backstory of how they became champion. The stories they end up coming up with are pretty brilliant.

I can't wait to watch part five!

Update #4: "Road Trip to Cleveland!!!" And "Heroes of Burke County – The Reunion!!!" 

Date: 10-6-2014

This week I watched two $5 Wrestling events.

Though I'm still highly entertained by these events I don't really have any insights to share based on these two shows.

Just sharing the progress.

Update #5: The Conclusion…

Date: 7-6-2015

I really should have been able to finish this one. It's not like I had to watch all $100.00 at once. All I needed to do was spend $5.00 per paycheck back when I had my job and I would have gotten this resolution done with plenty of time to spare.

The problem is, as I've pointed out in the past, I find it really hard to set aside time to watch things on the television. Not that I find television to be a waste of time. I just prefer to waste my time on the internet listening to podcasts. That's how I found out about $5.00 Wrestling, to begin with.

I did find the six-event I did watch to be an entertaining blend of comedy and bad wrestling and fully intend to watch them all. It's just going to take a little more time than I was expecting.

As always, I'll keep you posted when I get around to completing this task.