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In wrestling, there are always those moments that give fans an uncontrollable smile on their faces, make them tense up in excitement, and give them a moment they will never forget. These moments are referred to as “Mark-Out Moments”. I have been a wrestling fan since only the beginning of 2010, and I have had my fair share of mark-out moments. First, let me tell you how I got into wrestling.
I first got into wrestling when I played Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 at my friend’s house. I enjoyed the game and I thought it deserved a rental. So, I went on over to Blockbuster (you know, when it existed), and rented the newer version of the game, Smackdown vs. Raw 2010. I played the game half-heartedly, mostly spending my time creating characters with a somewhat racist gimmick (a native american called Johnny Riverwalker). But one day (on a Friday of course), I noticed that Smackdown was on. Now, I didn’t originally watch it to see wrestling, but to see how the characters in my video game looked like in real life. Well, ever since then I have been hooked.
Now there are a few things you need to know. When I get into something, I REALLY get into it. From the first episode of Smackdown I saw to last night’s RAW, I have exposed myself to the history of wrestling as much as I can. I have watched as many old Monday Night Nitro’s and as many WrestleMania‘s as there are. I can confidently say that I know as much as the average smark. Second thing you need to know is that I was basically a smark since day one, just without the knowledge. I already hated John Cena, I already liked CM Punk, and I already knew that I was more entertained by the heels. Now let’s move on to my personal mark-out moments. And remember, I have only been watching since 2010.
November 22nd, 2010: The Miz wins the WWE Championship
At first, I wasn’t a fan of the Miz. Maybe it was because my first impressions of him were from a video game, maybe I thought he was douchy. Either way, for the most part of 2010, I was not a fan of the Miz. It was the RAW after Money In The Bank when I learned that he had won the match (I had not discovered how to see pay-per-view’s, you know, for free) that I started to like the Miz. For months, The Miz had started to grow on me, up until the point that he was my favorite heel in the WWE. It was on November 22nd, 2010, that I had my first mark-out moment when the Miz cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase on Randy Orton to become the new WWE Champion. From the moment his music hit to the 3 count of the ref, I had a huge smile plastered on my face.
February 14th, 2011: The Rock returns to the WWE
I may have not been around for the Rock when he was in the WWE, but I sure as hell knew who he was. I knew that he was one of the key players in the Attitude Era, I knew he had a legendary feud with Steve Austin, and I knew that his match at WrestleMania 17 was one of the greatest main events of al time. So when the lights came on after hearing “Do you smell what the Rock is cooking?”, I (including most of the world) went nuts.
July 17th, 2011: CM Punk wins the WWE Championship
I always liked CM Punk, but it was when he started his feud with Randy Orton that he became one of my favorites. With his awesome mic skills and his amazing in-ring work, CM Punk was the guy that I could always count on to entertain me. When he became number one contender to the WWE Championship, I was excited. I never actually thought he was going to beat Cena, I just expected a good match. It was when CM Punk cut his famous shoot promo that I didn’t know who was going to win. After a grueling five star match at Money In The Bank, CM Punk walked out as the WWE Champion, and I was the most excited I had ever been as a wrestling fan.
November 25th, 2011: Daniel Bryan (unsuccessfully) cashes in on Mark Henry
I’m going to be honest, I was never really a Daniel Bryan fan until he grew his beard. I’m not citing his beard as the reason for me liking him, just as the moment when I started to get into him. When Bryan won Money In The Bank, I wasn’t disappointed, but I was somewhat neutral on it. Going into the match, I was rooting for Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes. Bryan was a nice surprise, but I didn’t really get into it. Obviously this changed, because anyone who reads my blog will know that I am a huge Daniel Bryan fan. Anyways, I became a big fan of Bryan in November/December, and when he tried to cash-in on Mark Henry on Smackdown, I marked out. The main reason I marked out over his unsuccessful Smackdown cash-in and not his actual cash-in at TLC is because it was so unexpected. I didn’t hear any thing from the internet spoilers about a title changing hands, I never expected it to happen on a Smackdown. All these things made me mark-out for the false cash-in, and even though he didn’t actually win the title that night, it was still an awesome moment, because for a good five minutes I believed that Daniel Bryan was the World Heavyweight Champion.
April 2nd, 2012: Brock Lesnar returns
I knew who Brock Lesnar was, not so much as a wrestler, but as a UFC star. Even though I have gone back and watched as many hours of wrestling as I could, I never really came across anything with Brock Lesnar. So I continued to recognize him as a UFC fighter, and not a wrestler. So when his music hit, I marked-out. I honestly don’t know why. Like I said, I was not familiar with Brock Lesnar the wrestler, I only knew the UFC Lesnar. If Chael Sonnen made his debut, I wouldn’t care at all. Whether it was the excitement in the air, or the fact that I would get to experience Brock Lesnar when I never got to, I marked-out.
