I am a 32 year old, college educated, forward thinking professional.... and guess what? I am a professional wrestling fan.... laugh, go ahead.... get it out of your system... spit out your coffee as you giggle at how ridiculous I sound making that proud statement...you done? Ok, so let me elaborate
You see I have a connection to wrestling on a few levels... First it appeals to my and (most men's) cavemen instincts... we are wired for violence, let's accept it... men enjoy on some level, watching or participating in violence... the thud of chair making contact with someone's skull, is on the surface a hideous act to be involved in or at the least take joy in watching, but deep down inside we are drawn to it...
Secondly, it's in my life, literally ALL MY LIFE... I had this conversation with my folks about it... I was literally a couple weeks old when I went to my first wrestling event at the International Ampitheatere watching the likes of Dick the Bruiser and Bruno Sammartino get it on.... as a kid I grew up in the Golden era watching the dominance of Hulkamania and the early WWF days... when I was a teenager, I remember getting together at some freinds house watching the monday night wars with WWF and WCW trying to up each other, I attended Wrestlamania 13, and even as I accepted the fact that wrestling was "fake" I still kept the interest
Third, it's a guilty pleasure... my parents have their "novelas", my girlfriend has "gossip girl", and you my silly freinds have some sort of "reality show" you're affixed to... it's OK to admit it... you and I have a guilty pleasure that you are afraid to admit... mine happens to be men in tights smacking each other upside the head...
Lastly.... from one entertainer to another, cheers my pro wrestlers... you are the creme of the creme.... why? well while wrestling may not be a legit sport, it combines elements or choreohraphy, strength, endurance, pure physicallity and above all, cheesy B-Movie like acting all in one feel swoop... yeah being teh Intercontinental Champion may not be as prestigious as winning the NFL's MVP award, but I'll be damned if falling 30 feet from a steel cage door onto a table won't hurt the next morning, or being body slammed onto a mat full of thumbtacks or get beaten with a baseball bat lined with barb-wire.... the outcome may be fake but not the physicality...
So here's to you my new Glow-in-the-dark skinned, Celtic Champion, Sheamus... May your run as WWE Champion be long and prosperous....
