I Believe In Showmanship!

Today I got the first Wrestlemania from Netflix. I'll be getting all the subsequent Wrestlemanias for the next month or so. Watching the first one today made me nostalgic for early WWF along with a lot of other stuff from my childhood.
I remember going to a WWF match at Williamsport High School around 1980 or so. Going to a WWF match then and going to one now are two wildly different things. Now you have to get your $50 nosebleed tickets weeks in advance, if you're lucky enough to get them at all. Back then, all you had to do was show up to the local high school an hour in advance with $6 and enough footspeed to haul ass down to the ringside seats the second they open the door.
My neighbor Eric and I showed up and got our ringside seats. There were a lot of forgettable preliminary bouts, but the main event is something I'll never forget. It was the WWF champ, Bob Backlund, vs. The Iron Sheik. Keep in mind this is around the time of the hostage crisis in Iran, the Russians were stockpiling weapons, (along with the US), and international tensions were running EXTREMELY high. For an Iranian wrestler come to Williamsport PA and spit on the American flag in front of 300 rabid flag waving wrestling fans was an act of bravery in and of itself. All he had to do was show up, and it would have gotten the crowd yelling for his head. But he did more than that.

Showmanship.

Bob Backlund was introduced first, to an earsplitting standing ovation. Not because he was the personification of the American spirit, but because we knew he was going to kick the living SHIT out of the hated Iron Sheik.
The Sheik was introduced next. He came out of the tunnel waving the Iranian flag. He was yelling at each individual spectator within arm's reach (including me) all the way to the ring. The crowd was SCREAMING for blood! I remember looking around thinking "Wow. This guy is able to get this kind of reaction from these people just by showing his face."
He put a knee up on the ring to pull himself up, and Bob Backlund took a step towards him. He jumped back down and walked around the ring again, waving the flag, yelling anti-American slogans in everyone's face. People were screaming, throwing cups, obscenities, popcorn, whatever they could. He walked back out, shouting a final "Irrran Numbair Vun! USA-PTOOEY!!" before disappearing back into the tunnel.

Showmanship.

The crowd got even LOUDER as he disappeared. I didn't think that was possible. You could hear the tone of the crowd growing more hoarse. After a few minutes, which seemed like an hour, he reappeared from the tunnel and made his way through the increasingly maddened crowd. Waving the flag, more cursing America. There was almost a mob mentality that you couldn't help but get caught up in. Eric and I were screaming "Get in the ring, you coward!!" along with everyone else. He made a few more laps around the ring waving the flag before finally getting in the ring.
I don't remember who won the match. Probably Backlund. If the Sheik won, I'm sure he cheated. It didn't really matter. I saw first hand how a true performer can put a crowd in the palm of his hand without even breaking a sweat, literally and figuratively.
We all know what the WWF has evolved (devolved?) into. Explosions. Weak, hackneyed storylines. Half human/half silicon girls with no self-esteem parading around the ring. Lame characters. There's only one thing missing.

Showmanship.