re: When did the fans learn that pro wrestling was fake?

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I kinda grew out of wrestling but when I did watch, I'd say around the early teen years (early to mid 2000's) is when I really started to notice the punches and things of that nature weren't real. Maybe it was the rise of HD tv that really showed some of the fake stuff in a manner where your eyeballs could actually perceive it.

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It may just be wanting to remember the old days fondly but I recall wrestling looking a lot more real on the 13 inch cathode ray SD tv that I had in my room as a teenager than it does on my 60 inch LCD tv that I have now. The rise of HD tv was mixed blessing for wrestling. It made the obviously fake stuff easier to see which sucks. However, it also made the Divas better to see which was awesome.

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Maybe it was the rise of HD tv that really showed some of the fake stuff in a manner where your eyeballs could actually perceive it

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You didn't think the "bouncing" off the ropes and running into a predictable clothesline was a clue? What about just bending over so you could get pile drivered? Or just waiting on the mat for the guy to climb the ropes to give you the flying elbow? All that was pretty visible on rabbit ears televisions.

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Watching it occasionally as an adult has actually made me appreciate it more what those guys are doing out there. It’s incredibly athletic to be able to actually pull those moves in a generally “safe” way.

Wrestling is awesome. Fight me.

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I never watched wrestling growing up and don't really know much about it. I don't hate on it or begrudge its existence, it's just not my thing. But years ago I randomly came upon this clip of The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels performing a super kick on an unknown (to me) wrestler.

To this day it's one of the most physically impressive non-sports related clips I've ever seen. Everything about it is perfect. The camera angle, the height and distance the wrestler achieves bounding off the ropes, the sound that's made when the wrestler crashes to the mat, the ecstatic reaction of the crowd (especially the dude in the first row dressed like Hulk Hogan), the announcers' reaction ("Oh my God in heaven!), the crowd counting out the pin. It's about as perfect of a 15 second sequence as you'll ever find.

If you had asked me watching that the first time I would have bet my life that Michael's accidentally actually landed that kick and that your boy was taken out on a stretcher, but apparently it missed.

Like I said, I care nothing about wrestling one way or the other, but damn, everything about that clip is just *chef's kiss*

Ask Bret Hart what happens when someone who doesn’t know what he is doing tries the scenario you described.

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Getting rid of kayfabe didn’t stop people from watching

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Hell it’s made people embrace it more.

Kayfabe was alive and well through the 80s... in 89 Vince admitted that wrestling was in fact "sports entertainment" and things started getting more lax as far as heels and babyfaces traveling separately, never being seen together, etc. The May 96 Kliq Incident in MSG pretty much signaled that kayfabe was dead.

I was never into it but can't remember a time that I thought it was real. But I wasn't in the States and probably didn't see any of it until middle school. Just seemed like fun performative entertainment the first time I can recall seeing it.

I don't know if it's true or not but I love the story of the fan pulling a gun on Michael Hayes in the NOLA Civic Auditorium after him and the Freebirds "blinded" JYD. JYD had to sit there and pretend to be blind to keep kayfabe.

It is a miracle that Mick is still alive and is not a vegetable in a wheelchair given the bumps he took.