On professional wrestling.

I love professional wrestling. Love it. Specifically the WWE, of course, but I enjoy it in pretty much all of its forms. This probably is no secret to many of the people reading this, but I feel like it's something I have to write about to kind of set the scene for a significant part of what I'll write about in the future.



"Ah, but isn't it just oily men-in-pants hugging and acting out a soap opera?" Well, yes, I suppose it is, you massive philistine. I do apologise for trying to forget the humdrum reality of life for a few hours a week. And, let's be honest; it's a little bit more than that, isn't it? Professional wrestlers, in order to be successful, have to be an athlete, a stuntman, an actor, a public speaker, and, to a certain extent, either be good looking, or somewhat of a physical novelty. You have to take a gimmick that someone in a suit decided was right for you, and you have to make people believe it, no matter how ridiculous it is. One that always comes up in this case, is The Undertaker. "He's not undead, don't be stupid." Of course he isn't, you moron. He's Mark Calaway, a bloke from Texas, who someone decided back in 1993, should be given that character. The fact that he still to this day plays the same character, is testament to his ability to make the audience suspend disbelief. For the time that Undertaker holds a microphone, or wrestles a match, I am fully invested in his character. Just as when one watches a film, you aren't watching Leonardo DiCaprio doing stuff on a film set, you are invested in what's in front of you.


Professional wrestling is one of the only forms of entertainment where almost every fan at some point has to justify his interest to others. What I fail to understand, is why people who do not share my interest, is why they feel some kind of responsibility to try and make me change my mind, to pick apart something I enjoy doing. Why, when I say to people that I skateboard, do they go, "Oh, cool," but with wrestling, they go, "You know it's fake right?/Aren't you a bit old for that?/Fucking hell, really?"? What enjoyment do people get from pointing out the blatantly obvious, under the false pretence of intellectual superiority, to try and reduce people's enjoyment in something, whatever it is? This is an argument beyond wrestling, really, but it is relevant, I suppose. Knowing the unreality of it; immersing yourself in both sides of the wrestling world (one being "Kayfabe", the make-believe, story-based parts of wrestling, which is presented as reality, the other being the real world, "backstage" element of wrestling), trying to figure out who's going to win what matches for what reasons, etc. is a huge part of the fun.

If you're willing to put some time in, here are some videos. If you're willing to put some time in, and still declare you don't enjoy it afterwards, fine, I respect your opinion, and would be interested in hearing the reasoning, at least so I can try and understand. If you don't watch them on the grounds that you think it's below you, then fuck you. Seriously, though, I'm interested in opinions here.




This is a promo from last night's Raw, with the currently on fire Daniel Bryan facing up to the oft-maligned no. 1 in the WWE, John Cena. These guys spend almost every moment of every day being best buds, touring on the road together, as they both are romantically involved with Brie and Nikki Bella (wrestling twins who are also employed by WWE). See how real the emotion between the two is, and how they hold the crowd in the palms of their hands.

Now, this match won't win any awards as a technical classic, but it's a great example of how two people can look like they're beating the shite out of each other, and taking some pretty serious bumps, but at the same time protecting eachother AND playing their psychological parts. Note how Chris Jericho reeks of bastard; taunting Punk's family and the like. The home crowd being behind Punk, and the personal nature of the rivalry gave such a weight to this match from the Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View in 2012.






This match is for those of you who made it through the previous match and the promo before it. This is 4 young guys, most likely that you'll have never heard of (Although, the two Uso twins are Rikishi's sons, and Roman Reigns, also in  the match, is their cousin. As is The Rock, and I'm sure you've heard of him.) just throwing everything out there to put on a show, just as a 'pre-show' to the full Pay-Per-View.

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this post, got another in the pipeline defending another sport that gets demonised by people who don't give it the time of day. I promise it'll be sooner coming!