For the last 20 years I've heard one question more than any other, yes even more than "why don't you drink?". That question is "Why do you watch that crap (wrestling)?". I hear it from my friends, students, coworkers, and family (except my dad, he loves that I watch). My mom will tell me that I'm "too smart to watch that crap", my students say "you know it's fake right?", and my friends just say, "you know how gay that is right?". It's right a the top for "Most Frustrating Conversations I've Ever Had", because no matter how much I say, no one ever listens. So here is the explanation for why I watch wrestling, please don't ever ask again.
This all started when I was 3 years old watching television. I just so happened to be flipping through the channels and was captivated by one of the programs. There, in front of me on the television, was a man with bright colored face-paint, bright colored tassels around his biceps and boots, and he was sprinting as fast as possible to the ring. When he got there he shook the ropes like a crazy man and proceeded to dominate the pasty white guy with the beer belly who he was wrestling. This man's name was the Ultimate Warrior, (Watch the whole video and tell me that's not exciting) and he is the reason that I started watching wrestling. From that day forward, I watched as much as I could even begging my dad to bring me to the Civic Center when they came to Portland. In that building I was lucky enough to see all the big stars: Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, Jake the Snake Roberts, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, and so many more.
As I grew up, middle school came and with it came a time where pro wrestling was mainstream. I didn't have to hide the fact that I watched wrestling anymore. All the popular kids in school watched it and wore the t-shirts to school, it was great. Well unfortunately, like Beanie Babies, Pokemon cards, and MySpace, wrestling didn't stay in the mainstream for long and I was back in the minority again soon. This was okay with me though, I'm not the kind of person who needs to follow the crowd, marching to the beat of my own drum is something that I take pride in. Just because it wasn't popular anymore, wasn't a good enough reason for me to stop watching it, so I continued. I mean can you really blame me when they had people like Trish Stratus and Stacy Kiebler wrestling in bra and panties matches?
As I got older, into my late teens and early twenties, I grew to respect the performers that put on the show. These men and women travel and perform over 250 days a year in every part of the world. They do a special show called Tribute to the Troops every year, which entails going overseas to Iraq/Afghanistan to do a special show for the military. Can you name another sport or entertainment group that does that? Though it may be "fake", they still get hurt and work through injuries. These men and women are committed to what they do, and when they become great it is a beautiful art, like a great dance between two experts. If you're interested try Youtubing something with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, or Ric Flair, probably the three best ever.
Today I still watch for one reason. It entertains me! Some people call it "low brow" or "white trash" entertainment, and if that's true then I'm fine with that, I don't mind being called "low brow" or "white trash". In the same way people watch a movie or television show because they are entertained, I watch wrestling. The idea of not knowing that it's fake is one that I always get a good laugh at. I would like to ask the same "you know it's fake right?" question to all the people who cried when Leonardo DiCaprio died in Titanic or cheered when Voldemort was killed in Harry Potter. Television shows and movies are MEANT for the viewer to get lost in and believe in for that 2 hours or so. You can pick apart any movie, pointing out things that are "fake" but no normal person does that, they allow themselves to get absorbed in the entertainment.
In my life, I have had two dream jobs. The first was to be the point guard for the Boston Celtics.....and that dream died when I stopped growing at 5'10". I suppose Rajon Rondo is doing alright too. The other dream I had was to step into a wrestling ring, not to be a champion or even wrestle a match, but just to climb in a ring and bounce around. I will never get the opportunity to suit up for the Celtics in the Boston Garden, but I did get the opportunity to bounce around a wrestling ring last year. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and one that I fully intend to try again (Hopefully no concussion this time). It brought my level of appreciation for what they do, to a whole new level.
To finish this off, I'm 23 years old and I watch professional wrestling. I choose not to drink alcohol, do drugs, or smoke, I'm a teacher and love being a positive influence on teenagers, but for some people the fact that I watch wrestling overshadows all of that. It doesn't bother me other than the fact that I feel bad that some people can be so closed minded. My drum is going to keep beating, and I'm going to keep marching to it. Thanks for reading.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Thoughts of Sports Addict. The next entry will be back to the usual stuff, probably about the end of free agency in the NBA and Tebowmania running wild after he beats the Patriots. Remember, leave a comment, subscribe to this page, follow me on twitter @joshviola19, and have a good one.
-Josh
Amen to that! I don't have the same history of watching wrestling when I was younger; all I really remember is tuning in and playing the video games when it was cool. That means I'm in the position of becoming a big wrestling fan at like 18 years old, which is even more difficult to defend. I've had many a conversation like the ones you described above that are frustrating, especially when I toss in the very legitimate points about movies and TV shows being (even more) fake that wrestling and people still don't buy it. However, I was redeemed in the sense that I got one of my good friends back into it to the point where he is a full fledged fan. I would always have it on at college and while it took awhile, most of my roommates over the years ended up watching it too. Another great moment was when one roommate (who was initially very skeptical) texted me out of the blue over the summer to make a comment about Randy Orton.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just wanted to chime in as another grown up, intelligent, non-white trash wrestling fan!
- Will
Ya, freshman year I had the whole dorm floor watching it. Summer killed it though.
ReplyDelete