I think you've both missed it.
When I was in high school, my buddies and I used to ride the bus downtown on Saturdays to the Sportatorium where they taped, with a live audience, "Championship Wrestling from Florida" ("With your host...Gordon Solie!"). Admission was free. It was the best show in town.
It was a hoot, and the crowd reminded me a lot of the participants of Trump rallies. The only difference was that audience was poor white trash, while the current audience is white trash with money--who are desperately afraid they might lose it.