WWE and WCW: An Awesome Story on the Evolution of a Pro Wrestling Fan

"From Little Rock, Arkansas! Weighing in at 310 pounds! Jeff Awesome!," WWE announcer Justin Roberts said as he introduces me entering the arena. 

"He's fat!" my tag team partner Scott Steiner responds. 

"Hey! I'm not fat! I weigh 160 pounds!" Jeff Awesome yells at Steiner.

Big Poppa Pump and I went on to team up against the English Language and Samoa Joe in a tag team match. 

Unfortunately, we lost in a great match. 

But there was one quantum of solace. Rock was happy for my promotion from correspondent to analyst on Bleacher Report. 

Rock: "That's awesome Jeff! You're a contributor?"

Jeff: "I'm actually an analyst!"

Rock: "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR RANK IS!!!"

Back to Reality

On an awesome laptop, I was suffering from a disease known as writer's block. Symptoms of writer's block include laziness, fatigue and having an actual life.

At least I don't suffer from the third symptom.

I always wanted to share my story as a wrestling fan. There just hasn't been a good time to write about my story. 

Now is the time.

I am not your stereotypical wrestling fan. Most wrestling fans don't even know what stereotypes mean.

Early Life

In a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, little baby Jeff Awesome was watching USWA.

As noted before, Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler were my favorites. I even wrote a tribute to them.

Professional wrestling has been a part of my family for many generations. My great-grandfather watched wrestling every Saturday morning. 

USWA was the wrestling company of my birth. It was broadcast throughout the mid-South.  

Eventually, I left Memphis for a brief stop in Cajun Country. Then, my family and I left Louisiana for this place.   

Every Monday, I watched Nitro. Nitro was one of my favorite shows along with Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

I knew who some of the top WWF stars were, but rarely watched it. I had this preconceived notion that wrestlers with long hair were old. For example, I thought Diamond Dallas Page was 400-years-old, and Kevin Nash was 300-years-old.

That's the youth movement in TNA.

Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg were my two favorite WCW wrestlers. But my favorite stable was the nWo Wolfpac. I even bought a Wolfpac shirt at a live event.

At a live event, I repeatedly flashed DDP's trademark diamond hand signal even though he wasn't there.

I was a fan. 

It was all fun and games; until Bill Goldberg's streak came to an end. I was devastated when I heard about Goldberg's streak coming to an end.

Then this happened.

Eventually, I stopped watching WCW as the product became more adult-oriented. Maybe I was a IWC member all along.

Also infuriating me was the "incident" surrounding Paul Wight. When Wight left WCW for the WWF, The Giant was renamed the Big Show.

"Are you serious bro?" I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't an IWC member after all.

It was a long time before I started watching wrestling again. It took many years for my love of wrestling to rekindle.

August 31, 2007

At this point, I was no longer watching wrestling. I didn't give two pieces of monkey crap about WWE. 

I did hear about John Cena, though. On Smackdown, this tag team match rekindled my interest in pro wrestling.

The drama between Matt Hardy and MVP fascinated me. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to root for them.

I was overjoyed when MVP and Matt Hardy won the tag team titles from Deuce and Domino.

This transformation of sorts did not suddenly make me a hardcore wrestling fan again. But it was a gradual step towards becoming a fan again. 

2009

This was around the time I started watching WWE programming on a regular basis. 

My initial memory in 2009 was Triple H's feud with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25. Then I remembered Orton's feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship. 

Batista's heel turn on SmackDown was intriguing to me. DX and Jerishow feuding over the tag team titles on Raw was also interesting.

I despised Chris Jericho at the time. He annoyed me greatly. Remember, I was not an IWC member at the time. 

I was shocked when Sheamus won the WWE Championship from John Cena at TLC. I hoped Cena would regain the WWE Championship from Ronald McDonald's evil twin. 

Again, I was not a IWC member at the time. Yet I did have one endearing quality to the IWC. I hated Randy Orton with a passion.

Around this time, TNA caught my attention. In particular, Desmond Wolfe cutting a tremendous promo on Kurt Angle made me aware of TNA. Unfortunately, Wolfe's TNA career didn't take off due to health issues. But I remember him standing out amongst the TNA wrestlers.

I guess I would be somewhat welcome in the IWC thanks to my respect for Desmond Wolfe's skills.

The six-sided ring also stood out to me as unique.  

When Edge won the Royal Rumble in 2010, I wondered who this guy was. I was instantly drawn to Edge's charisma and mic skills. He now became my favorite wrestler. 

I continued to watch Raw and SmackDown leading up to WrestleMania. 

Around this time, I stumbled upon a site known as Bleacher Report. 

WrestleMania 26

My dad, my brother and I bought tickets several months in advance for WrestleMania 26.

We arrived University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, just outside of Phoenix, AZ. In the parking lot, I saw a bunch of Sonora license plates. 

Rey Mysterio received the loudest reaction for anyone not named HBK or Undertaker. Signs might as well have said, "If Punk wins, we riot!" 

I was fairly familiar with the stadium; I went to a Cardinals game in 2008. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fans. 

WrestleMania 26 was an incredible experience I would never forget.

The emotion behind Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker was tangible. Fans were genuinely torn over who to cheer for. HBK and Undertaker proved to me why they are pro wrestling legends. 

Not only did WrestleMania 26 cement my status as a wrestling fan, it made my brother a wrestling fan as well. 

Over time, I started to dislike John Cena because he always won. Perhaps the IWC has been influencing me. 

2010

For some strange reason, I woke up in the middle of the night. 

I felt compelled to read Revelation 2:4. "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first." 

Wrestling was most definitely my first love, as I was born watching USWA wrestling.

The genesis of Jeff Awesome started once this Bible verse inspired me. I created the "Jeff Awesome" account to express my views as a wrestling fan on B/R. 

The rest is history. 

Conclusion 

This was my actual story as a wrestling fan. Thanks to my peeps for inspiring me to write.  

Become a fan and follow me on twitter @jeffawesome1

Thanks for reading!