popular thinking

Can you hear all of the Hulkamaniacs? This was my view of the Hulkster, putting his hand to his ear, just like the old days, only this was Sunday night at WWE's SummerSlam at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden.


A full house, featuring lots of young men but also hundreds of families -- yes, moms, dads and their little kids, too -- packed the Garden last night for SummerSlam, the WWE event that for everyone else, was pay-per-view. My first time watching pro rasslin' in person. Couldn't help but think, over and over again, that it would've meant a lot more to me at 14 than it did at 34. Twenty years ago, my junior-high friends loved watching what then was a Saturday morning TV novelty act, then recreating our favorite moments after school during the week. For me, it was Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. His high-flying antics off the top rope made me feel I could fly if I willed myself to it. But I digress.

Back to Boston. So many fans wear T-shirts for their current faves, and there are thousands of hand-made, hand-drawn signs. One mother and her young daughter (by young, I mean about 6 years old) walk past me down the steps with signs for D Generation X and their, ahem, catchphrase: "Suck It!" How nice that this mother-daughter combo has taken to it, eh? The ring, on the other hand, looks so much smaller than in person (which I know is odder still, considering I've also attended a live boxing event).

Match #1: Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero
8:08-8:19 p.m., I wrote about Chavo's brother, Eddie, when he died. Chavo wins, with help from his lady friend.

Match #2: ECW title match, Sabu vs. The Big Show
8:28-8:37 p.m., Sabu enters with a chair, later pulls tables from underneath the ring (how'd he know it was there?). But all of this is for naught, as Big Show smothers him. Seemed like a lot of silly work for very little payoff.

Match #3: Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan
8:50-9:02 p.m., As if you couldn't have written the script already. This match played out even more predictably than Snakes on a Plane, mostly because the WWE and the Hulkster have this down to a science. Every thing that happens here has happened in 98 percent of Hogan's previous matches. Orton looks like he has the upper hand on the old, bald-topped Hogan. Fans chant for Hogan. Looks like Orton wins. But no, Hogan had his foot on the rope! The Hulkster shakes his head violently, which tells everyone that he found his second wind, and boom, just like that, Hulkamania runs wild again.

Match #4: The "I Quit" Match, Mick Foley vs. Ric "Nature Boy" Flair
9:11-9:24 p.m., I met Mick Foley last year at a pop culture/sci-fi convention at Bayside Expo Center. Really nice, humble guy. He talked with me for a while between signing copies of his novels and other books and wrestling photos. Watching him back in the ring, harder to believe he'd have a giant piece of plywood with barbed wire on it as a weapon, let alone barbed wire on a a baseball bat. But there Mick was, out of shape but bloodying up Ric Flair (how old is he?). Didn't matter in the end, because Flair gets Mick to quit.

Match #5: World heavyweight match, King Booker vs. Batista
9:33-9:44 p.m., They're both athletic enough. But who cares? Really. Just reminds you why the WWE still relies on the old stars from the 1980s and 1990s. The fans root for Batista. He wins, but on a DQ due to Booker's "queen," so Booker keeps his belt. Booooooooo.

Match #6: D-Generation X vs. Vince and Shane McMahon
9:57-10:15 p.m., Sometime during the past several years, Vince McMahon decided it'd be a good idea to make himself part of the action. I liked it better when he sat behind his desk and acted like he didn't know anything about any steroids. But looks as though he now knows more than a little something, as he's gotten strangely large and in charge over the years. Anyhoo. Vince and his heel of a son apparently want to pretend they're a tag-team, and they send out a bunch of guys to beat up D-Generation X for them. Blah blah blah. D-Generation X eventually wins. Fans go nuts. Suck it! (Really? That's their catchphrase? And parents think this is good for the kids? Really?)

Match #7: WWE title match, John Cena vs. Edge
10:27-10:43 p.m., Even though Cena is a hometown boy, the fans here in Boston seem split on him. Some openly holler at him. And the WWE shows it doesn't want to be too predictable by having Edge win and keep his title. Or is that in itself being too predictable?

Parting thought: What's more dangerous for children...exposing them to cartoon violence, or exposing them to real-life men engaged in cartoon-like violence?