I'm gonna be showcasing my love of Professional Wrestling from back in the day with a recurring Wednesday post ! It may be toys, old school tidbits, the stream of texts Jim and I have during the day that usually gravitate towards wrestling, like King Kong Bundy ordering "FIVE" for "FIVE" at Arbys. (Lets see who gets that ) We'll just see where this takes us......
This weeks Wrassling Tribute is to the Greatest Wrestling Kayfabe Magazine ever produced :
PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED !!
.JPG)
This magazine is the gateway to my love of wrestling. My brother had a pile of these and I'd rifle through em like mad ! Thanks to this magazine I knew that the world did not revolve around the WWF and there were many, greater federations out there !!
I remember getting the newest issue every month and flying straight to the Champion listings. Back when the Top Ten was meaningful and the Tag Team listings were a Who's Who of greatness !! The Most Popular and Most Hated listings were always a favorite !!
Hoping that the centerfold was a wrestler I would put up on my Wall of Wrestling (my mother wouldn't let pin up Playboys). This was where the information was dolled out to the Marks. There was no available Internet, so word of mouth and the Wrestling Rags were where you could learn about The Von Erich's, Florida Championship Wrestling or Reports from other Arenas.
What about the Yearly awards, The PWI 500 and of course, the ADS !!
YES ! Back in the day this was it. The 5 Bajillion Wrestling Blogs and Insiders just didn't exist yet.
THEY WERE READING PWI !!!
I used to read it too. Loved it. I have that 1997 issue!
ReplyDeleteIt was a must read for Wrestling fans of the day !
DeleteUsed to read this one too Mike and loved the year end "500" it was a great way to find out about lesser know wrestlers from overseas and the indies.
ReplyDeleteThe awards were a big deal then. It was great to see the names of up and comers before they hit the big time !
Delete