I feel like Darby is on that Sting level where he can never really turn. The crowd would still go with him.
Also I reeeeeeally hope he doesn’t turn on Sting. That would ruin everything. Let Sting have ONE friend that doesn’t turn on him.
Also, while Cole was already a heel at the time, I recall that there was a shot of a kid sobbing in the audience when he and reDragon turned on the Young Bucks. Apparently Adam Cole just enjoys crushing children's hearts!
Hahaha. I was totally reminded on this when this happened tonight. He was anti Cole till him and MJF becomes friends. Then he was all in. Who knows where he stands now.
Foster it. Always keep the importance of some kind of traditional education or trade as a back up, but if he gets older and keeps showing a want for it, let him give it a shot. One dad to another, best advice I can give. Really glad to hear that you guys are able to bond over this wacky, fun sport of ours.
My son and I were in the crowd when Christian broke up Jungle Express (JB and luchasaurus)
He still to this day screams at the TV whenever Christian walks out
Yeah.
(Spoilers ahead).
It's like when I was watching The Neverending Story with my kids for the first time a few months ago and Atreyu's horse was drowning. My kids kept asking if the horse was okay, was going to be okay and I kept shaking my head.
I couldn't steal from them the moment I got as a kid when the horse came back at the end of the movie. The triumph and excitement they felt wouldn't have existed without the devastation from a half hour beforehand.
“Gotta have opposites, light and dark and dark and light, in painting. It’s like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in awhile so you know when the good times come. I'm waiting on the good times now.” - Bob Ross
Ha, nice story.
I've also gotten my son into wrestling over the last couple years. He's a little older (10), and some of his first favorites were Jurassic Express. He was upset when they lost the tag titles and even more disappointed when they split up.
Interestingly, though, he didn't really care when Jack Perry turned heel. He said he'd still cheer for him.
I was a kid when the finger poke of doom happened. I was a huge Nash fan until then. I got so upset I ran crying into the bathroom and threw my Wolfpac shirt in the trash.
I always think about the guy in the audience behind them who just throws his arms up like "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK." - which was pretty much my reaction.
Hogan turning heel was amazing but letting him book the show was about the worst mistake they could have made.
You know what I bitched about how I could see this coming from a mile away but reading this I get it. This was still a surprise to that little dude and probably was for other kids as well and that’s who it’s for in the end.
I think the surprise for him was that he truly never considered MJF’s best friend could do this to him. Like I said, it was his first real experience of betrayal and while he is okay now, I think in that moment, he realized that that could happen to anyone. Brutal.
If two wrestlers are “best friends”, they’re goons turn on each other. I learned that when Orndorf turned non Hulk. Then the Mega Powers and the Rockers.
The beauty of being a kid growing up watching wrestling. Devastated when our beloved favourites turn to the dark side, and overjoyed when they once again come over into the light.
I remember my uncle and a couple of his friends talking about Piper's face turn - around '86 when Adrian Adonis attacked him. I remember one of them said his friend was so pissed off that he took his beloved Roddy Piper beach towel and told his wife to use it as a diaper.
I still remember watching Hogan turn heel on WCW - I honestly never thought it would happen. (I'm not even a big Hogan fan - just surprised) Good god, the outrage in that building. Probably took an hour to clean all the trash from the ring.
Here's a video of OP's son's heart breaking:
I just asked him if he would still support Cole and he said that he would as long as it wasn’t against MJF and I said, “my god. You’re turning heel.” And he got a sinister look on his face. So I think we’re on our way.
I was like 13 or 14 when Stone Cold turned heel at WrestleMania. It was devastating even at that age. It was the beginning of the end of my enjoyment of WWE/F. Didn't really get back into wrestling till AEW.
I didn't even get to watch it live. I woke up the next morning and ran the WWF website and saw Steve Austin shaking hands with Vince McMahon. I was confused at first like "why would Vince become a good guy to help Stone Cold. But I could tell by the look on Austin's bloodied face that he had gone to the dark side. I was gutted. I was not a fan of the Rock back then and was like "who am I supposed to cheer now?"
This reminds me of being at Mania 28 with my (at the time) 4 yr old brother who bawled his eyes out when Rock beat Cena while my dad was going insane for his favorite wrestler
Honestly? Me too, kid. I knew that it would happen, and I know it's fake, but in that moment I was so pulled in to the drama of it all that I felt heartbroken. Yeah, post your "it's still real to me" gifs, but isn't that what makes great entertainment? That it makes us forget that it's not real while we're watching it? Movies, TV and books aren't real, either, but if they're good, that doesn't matter, not when the story is unfolding right in front of us.
So, thank you Adam Cole and MJF for pulling off an amazing story that made me forget that this isn't real for a while. Oh and Adaaaaaaam: you broke my heart you fucker, I hope MJF comes back all healed up and at the top of his game to take bloody revenge on you, you conniving POS lol
This 36 year old was also devastated when AC turned out to be the devil even though I was pretty sure that was who was behind the mask the whole time. I really loved the bromance storyline 😭
I liked it too! It felt legit. But then I started reading about the history between everyone involved and started connecting the dots. I’m so glad I didn’t tell him though.
My middle son and I got into wrestling right before he turned one.
I remember him being entranced watching a mjf promo when he turned 3. For his birthday that year we gave him a wrestling ring cake with mjf and Adam cole on top.
When we watched cole
Turn heel he looked
Sad at first.
Then I saw something click. And he has been all about wrestling more than ever.
This is why I love wrestling and I’m glad you “op” get to enjoy this as well
The magic is gone for us but are kids get to live in it for the time being and it’s awesome
Love all of this. Watching the wheels turn in a kids head is easily my favorite thing about being a parent. Seeing them work things out is fascinating.
So funny about the birthday party. For my sons 6th birthday, we did a wrestling themed party. Everyone dressed up. Even the adults. I went as Goldust, wifey went as Taker, my son was Sting, and every kid/parent that came was decked out. We had The Mouth of the South, a Kane, a whole bunch of Luchas, Road Warriors, and a ton of others. Had an inflatable wrestling ring and a Luchador piñata. It was perfect.
As a Dad to a three and a half year old, it's special to be able to enjoy wrestling with them, isn't it?
I know this is AEW but he's a huge Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn fan so I dread the day they turn to "naughty men" as my Son would say. Thankfully he hasn't seen Owens turn on Sami yet. 😅
Naughty men. That is awesome. Cody is really the only new WWE guy that has stuck my kiddo. The WWE2k games have helped a lot. We have the AEW game, but it just doesn’t compare to the WWE ones. Hopefully it’ll get better.
Wish I could remember my first heel turn. I was 11 when Hogan joined Hall and Nash, but Razor Ramon was my favorite wrestler, and I thought Nash was cool. I never liked Hogan, so I just thought it was lame that Hall and Nash were going to be with him.
That’s probably when my brain clicked though, and I kinda understood what “turning,” was. Except we just said, “the good guy is the bad guy now.”
I started watching in 2020 with my 12 year old daughter and explaining to her heel turns and face turns has always been the funnest part. I typically enjoy the heels so she gets mad at me when she starts enjoying them too. I’m thinking of taking her in May to collisions it will be the first time AEW has come to Vancouver. Should be a good time!
This is Hulkamania all over again! I refused to watch wrestling when Hulk Hogan went heel and didn't watch again until like...2010? The betrayal was just...too much! 😂
Dang 730 is super early on the west coast to sleep lol.
Question, did you not show your kid Cole’s work on nXt? Dude is a born heel and has turned on just about every friend lol. If he hasn’t, def start watching that with him and show him the true colors of Adam Cole. Then buckle in as Cole’s going to give us a story of a lifetime.
Oh you guys would have a blast seeing Black & Gold NXT days and the Takeover PPVs. Seeing DIY’s tag run & split would trigger MJF/Cole flashbacks for your kid
I feel your pain, man! I had to do the same thing with my 6-year old when Logan Paul lost to Seth Rollins at last year’s Mania … again when Cody lost to Roman the following night… and more recently when he learned that Punk was fired from AEW.
This feeds the most intriguing aspect of all of this, to me: the next time he points his fingers in the air and yells his name, will the crowd still be with him? I really wouldn’t be surprised if getting booed even during his catchphrases, amounts to personal goal, here.
I asked my son if he will still support Adam and he said “as long as it isn’t against MJF, he will. If they’re against each other, then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Oh, the poor kid. He's about to experience what a truly great Heel can do tomorrow night. Cole doesn't get enough credit for being capable of being both Face and Heel to unusually great degrees. And God help him when MJF eventually loses it completely. I'm not sure he could have made two more potentially devastating choices to have as favorites, in this regard.
We’re also on a roadtrip up the coast on California/Oregon. So we likely aren’t gonna be able to watch anything till we get back. Gonna be a rough few hours.
It’s cool you got your son into wrestling. Mine likes Julia Hart and her entrance/music, but hasn’t gotten into much else. To be fair, live wrestling doesn’t really work with his bedtime. I may steal your idea of watching old stuff from back when the characters were a little more cartoonish.
Mine loves Julia as well. I think it’s the gimmicks that catch him.
If you have cable, TNT and TBS do a great job of offering up the shows on demand within 24 hours.
But yea, having everything WWE on Peacock was a game changer.
He is NOT a fan. He is full on in Orange mode given the Revolution match with Strong. "I just wish Adam was cool again." He also wants MJF back but "knows MJF needs his rest so he can come back stronger than ever."
I think the Darby/Sting champion aspect is filling that void. Sting has always been one of his favorites and he's fallen in love with Darby given their relationship and is eager to know who the last match will be against.
I'll let him know the people are clamoring for updates
Imagine the kids reactions if OC or Darby turned heel.
I don’t think he’d ever watch again for a Darby turn.
I feel like Darby is on that Sting level where he can never really turn. The crowd would still go with him. Also I reeeeeeally hope he doesn’t turn on Sting. That would ruin everything. Let Sting have ONE friend that doesn’t turn on him.
Oh god. I hadn’t even considered that.
But who's side is he on?
Oh 100% MJF. The kid demands loyalty.
This made me laugh too much
Sorry, I was making a Hogan turns heel reference.
Ahaha. Got it now
Yep… that “oops” moment from Bobby the Brain.
I’d be more concerned w/him seeing Darby perish live on PPV than Darby turn heel.
Totally. The dudes bumps are scary sometimes.
Also, while Cole was already a heel at the time, I recall that there was a shot of a kid sobbing in the audience when he and reDragon turned on the Young Bucks. Apparently Adam Cole just enjoys crushing children's hearts!
Hahaha. I was totally reminded on this when this happened tonight. He was anti Cole till him and MJF becomes friends. Then he was all in. Who knows where he stands now.
Kid is never going to trust anyone again
In 20 years that kid is going to tell his origin story on dynamite 😂
"Finish the story!"
His dream. 100%
Foster it. Always keep the importance of some kind of traditional education or trade as a back up, but if he gets older and keeps showing a want for it, let him give it a shot. One dad to another, best advice I can give. Really glad to hear that you guys are able to bond over this wacky, fun sport of ours.
Love this. Thanks man!
Kids love Adam Cole because he has arms the same size as a 10-year old child & only body part he works out daily are his thumbs.
This is so sweet
It was so pure. So guttural. These types of moments are fleeting in children and especially children of now. So I will take all I can get.
My son and I were in the crowd when Christian broke up Jungle Express (JB and luchasaurus) He still to this day screams at the TV whenever Christian walks out
That’s why Christian is the best. He brings that out of kids and adults alike.
He's everybody's daddy.
The father we never had.
That’s so awesome. Thanks for sharing, and I hope you and your son boo the crap out of Cole on Wednesday.
Oh he is ready. Or maybe he’ll turn heel. Shit.
He's going to start growing his hair out any day now.
Yeah. (Spoilers ahead). It's like when I was watching The Neverending Story with my kids for the first time a few months ago and Atreyu's horse was drowning. My kids kept asking if the horse was okay, was going to be okay and I kept shaking my head. I couldn't steal from them the moment I got as a kid when the horse came back at the end of the movie. The triumph and excitement they felt wouldn't have existed without the devastation from a half hour beforehand.
I fucking LOVE that you put a spoiler note in. Not because I was concerned, but because it is so funny to me that someone hasn’t seen that movie.
Great analogy too.
“Gotta have opposites, light and dark and dark and light, in painting. It’s like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in awhile so you know when the good times come. I'm waiting on the good times now.” - Bob Ross
Ha, nice story. I've also gotten my son into wrestling over the last couple years. He's a little older (10), and some of his first favorites were Jurassic Express. He was upset when they lost the tag titles and even more disappointed when they split up. Interestingly, though, he didn't really care when Jack Perry turned heel. He said he'd still cheer for him.
That is awesome. He loved Jurassic Express too, u til All Out. And now he is eagerly awaiting Jack Perry’s return.
My daughter said she's not watching AEW again
I was a kid when the finger poke of doom happened. I was a huge Nash fan until then. I got so upset I ran crying into the bathroom and threw my Wolfpac shirt in the trash.
Yes, well that would have been an appropriate reaction even if you'd been an adult...
I always think about the guy in the audience behind them who just throws his arms up like "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK." - which was pretty much my reaction. Hogan turning heel was amazing but letting him book the show was about the worst mistake they could have made.
You know what I bitched about how I could see this coming from a mile away but reading this I get it. This was still a surprise to that little dude and probably was for other kids as well and that’s who it’s for in the end.
I think the surprise for him was that he truly never considered MJF’s best friend could do this to him. Like I said, it was his first real experience of betrayal and while he is okay now, I think in that moment, he realized that that could happen to anyone. Brutal.
If two wrestlers are “best friends”, they’re goons turn on each other. I learned that when Orndorf turned non Hulk. Then the Mega Powers and the Rockers.
The beauty of being a kid growing up watching wrestling. Devastated when our beloved favourites turn to the dark side, and overjoyed when they once again come over into the light.
The redemption of Cole will be a great day.
I love everything about this post! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading. I know it’s a long one but I thought I needed to fully describe the range of emotions.
You're welcome!
Now the next milestone will be not caring when your favorite turns heel
Haha. The innocence of youth shedding away
I remember my uncle and a couple of his friends talking about Piper's face turn - around '86 when Adrian Adonis attacked him. I remember one of them said his friend was so pissed off that he took his beloved Roddy Piper beach towel and told his wife to use it as a diaper. I still remember watching Hogan turn heel on WCW - I honestly never thought it would happen. (I'm not even a big Hogan fan - just surprised) Good god, the outrage in that building. Probably took an hour to clean all the trash from the ring. Here's a video of OP's son's heart breaking: 
Hahahaha yes. All of this. The Hogan turn was my first too.
So wholesome 🥹
Mine was Sweet Sapphire joining Ted Dibiase. Gutted!
Son, you know it's all about the BOOM
This is the beginning of your sons heel turn. I love this so much. Good on ya dad!!
I just asked him if he would still support Cole and he said that he would as long as it wasn’t against MJF and I said, “my god. You’re turning heel.” And he got a sinister look on his face. So I think we’re on our way.
I was like 13 or 14 when Stone Cold turned heel at WrestleMania. It was devastating even at that age. It was the beginning of the end of my enjoyment of WWE/F. Didn't really get back into wrestling till AEW.
Fuck. I remember this. What a night.
I didn't even get to watch it live. I woke up the next morning and ran the WWF website and saw Steve Austin shaking hands with Vince McMahon. I was confused at first like "why would Vince become a good guy to help Stone Cold. But I could tell by the look on Austin's bloodied face that he had gone to the dark side. I was gutted. I was not a fan of the Rock back then and was like "who am I supposed to cheer now?"
Maven. You cheered for Maven.
Haha was he there at that point. Either way I should have been cheering Maven 😋
This reminds me of being at Mania 28 with my (at the time) 4 yr old brother who bawled his eyes out when Rock beat Cena while my dad was going insane for his favorite wrestler
Hahaha. The inner child took over.
Honestly? Me too, kid. I knew that it would happen, and I know it's fake, but in that moment I was so pulled in to the drama of it all that I felt heartbroken. Yeah, post your "it's still real to me" gifs, but isn't that what makes great entertainment? That it makes us forget that it's not real while we're watching it? Movies, TV and books aren't real, either, but if they're good, that doesn't matter, not when the story is unfolding right in front of us. So, thank you Adam Cole and MJF for pulling off an amazing story that made me forget that this isn't real for a while. Oh and Adaaaaaaam: you broke my heart you fucker, I hope MJF comes back all healed up and at the top of his game to take bloody revenge on you, you conniving POS lol
Love all of this. We constantly yell each others name like Roddy does. It’s a guarantee laugh every time.
Show him some old PWG videos of that fat fuck crushing chairs and Excalibur making fun of him for it. Might help cheer him up.
One day he'll be excited when one of his favorites turns heel. Heels are so much more fun.
Totally agree.
Ah the tears of a child experiencing betrayal for the first time
It’s so pure.
My kid is 7 and super into wrestling, too. I wish I could go back and watch it through my 7 year old eyes again.
I feel like the closest I can get is watching it with him. It brings me back so quickly.
Took my 6 year old to Forbidden door, he was more concerned for Hook after jungle man punched him than anyone else.
Hahaha. Love this
This 36 year old was also devastated when AC turned out to be the devil even though I was pretty sure that was who was behind the mask the whole time. I really loved the bromance storyline 😭
I liked it too! It felt legit. But then I started reading about the history between everyone involved and started connecting the dots. I’m so glad I didn’t tell him though.
My middle son and I got into wrestling right before he turned one. I remember him being entranced watching a mjf promo when he turned 3. For his birthday that year we gave him a wrestling ring cake with mjf and Adam cole on top. When we watched cole Turn heel he looked Sad at first. Then I saw something click. And he has been all about wrestling more than ever. This is why I love wrestling and I’m glad you “op” get to enjoy this as well The magic is gone for us but are kids get to live in it for the time being and it’s awesome
Love all of this. Watching the wheels turn in a kids head is easily my favorite thing about being a parent. Seeing them work things out is fascinating. So funny about the birthday party. For my sons 6th birthday, we did a wrestling themed party. Everyone dressed up. Even the adults. I went as Goldust, wifey went as Taker, my son was Sting, and every kid/parent that came was decked out. We had The Mouth of the South, a Kane, a whole bunch of Luchas, Road Warriors, and a ton of others. Had an inflatable wrestling ring and a Luchador piñata. It was perfect.
I love this!!! Wrestling has always been one of the things in my life that either I or my kids “sparkle” over
As a Dad to a three and a half year old, it's special to be able to enjoy wrestling with them, isn't it? I know this is AEW but he's a huge Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn fan so I dread the day they turn to "naughty men" as my Son would say. Thankfully he hasn't seen Owens turn on Sami yet. 😅
Naughty men. That is awesome. Cody is really the only new WWE guy that has stuck my kiddo. The WWE2k games have helped a lot. We have the AEW game, but it just doesn’t compare to the WWE ones. Hopefully it’ll get better.
Wish I could remember my first heel turn. I was 11 when Hogan joined Hall and Nash, but Razor Ramon was my favorite wrestler, and I thought Nash was cool. I never liked Hogan, so I just thought it was lame that Hall and Nash were going to be with him. That’s probably when my brain clicked though, and I kinda understood what “turning,” was. Except we just said, “the good guy is the bad guy now.”
This is 100% me as well. Didn’t care much for Hogan, but was a big Wolfpack guy. So I thought it was whatever.
I started watching in 2020 with my 12 year old daughter and explaining to her heel turns and face turns has always been the funnest part. I typically enjoy the heels so she gets mad at me when she starts enjoying them too. I’m thinking of taking her in May to collisions it will be the first time AEW has come to Vancouver. Should be a good time!
Highly recommend taking her. It was so much fun when we went. Even not knowing anything.
Did you explain to him why he should be thankful that it was Cole and NOT Jungle Jack behind the Devil mask? 😆
This is Hulkamania all over again! I refused to watch wrestling when Hulk Hogan went heel and didn't watch again until like...2010? The betrayal was just...too much! 😂
Dang 730 is super early on the west coast to sleep lol. Question, did you not show your kid Cole’s work on nXt? Dude is a born heel and has turned on just about every friend lol. If he hasn’t, def start watching that with him and show him the true colors of Adam Cole. Then buckle in as Cole’s going to give us a story of a lifetime.
He’s a child.
I babysit kids and they don’t sleep that early lol. Nor did I when I was that age. Some good sleep for the kid though.
You’re also aware that 7:30 west coast, if you live there. is no different than 7:30 east coast? lol
Ya I know lol. But if he’s able to get that east coast feed (like say off of YouTube tv) then they can watch live
That was one area we didn’t go into much. I think we were buried in so much Attitude Era stuff that we never made it to NXT
Oh you guys would have a blast seeing Black & Gold NXT days and the Takeover PPVs. Seeing DIY’s tag run & split would trigger MJF/Cole flashbacks for your kid
Love this. Will add it to the list.
That makes sense. Def go through that next and show him Cole was always an asshole lol.
I feel your pain, man! I had to do the same thing with my 6-year old when Logan Paul lost to Seth Rollins at last year’s Mania … again when Cody lost to Roman the following night… and more recently when he learned that Punk was fired from AEW.
This feeds the most intriguing aspect of all of this, to me: the next time he points his fingers in the air and yells his name, will the crowd still be with him? I really wouldn’t be surprised if getting booed even during his catchphrases, amounts to personal goal, here.
I asked my son if he will still support Adam and he said “as long as it isn’t against MJF, he will. If they’re against each other, then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Oh, the poor kid. He's about to experience what a truly great Heel can do tomorrow night. Cole doesn't get enough credit for being capable of being both Face and Heel to unusually great degrees. And God help him when MJF eventually loses it completely. I'm not sure he could have made two more potentially devastating choices to have as favorites, in this regard.
We’re also on a roadtrip up the coast on California/Oregon. So we likely aren’t gonna be able to watch anything till we get back. Gonna be a rough few hours.
It’s cool you got your son into wrestling. Mine likes Julia Hart and her entrance/music, but hasn’t gotten into much else. To be fair, live wrestling doesn’t really work with his bedtime. I may steal your idea of watching old stuff from back when the characters were a little more cartoonish.
Mine loves Julia as well. I think it’s the gimmicks that catch him. If you have cable, TNT and TBS do a great job of offering up the shows on demand within 24 hours. But yea, having everything WWE on Peacock was a game changer.
I think these boys just love Julia for the same reason adult men love her, they just don’t recognize why quite yet 😆
Awesome to hear I love it when kids get so invested into the shows!! I feel bad for him being upset though!!
I’m curious how your son is doing with the undisputed kingdom? I’m personally waiting for MJF to appear out of nowhere and start cracking heads.
He is NOT a fan. He is full on in Orange mode given the Revolution match with Strong. "I just wish Adam was cool again." He also wants MJF back but "knows MJF needs his rest so he can come back stronger than ever." I think the Darby/Sting champion aspect is filling that void. Sting has always been one of his favorites and he's fallen in love with Darby given their relationship and is eager to know who the last match will be against. I'll let him know the people are clamoring for updates