What is Wrestling?
“Professional wrestling is a sport which combines elements of theater and mock combat with catch wrestling”... is probably the textbook-like definition that you would come across if you were to search this question on google. To many who don’t indulge in the sport, wrestling seems like this goofy, fake, scripted nonsense; however, professional wrestling is so much more than how it appears on the surface. Going along with its definition, wrestling (at its best) is like watching theater. Filled with the highs-and-lows of our heroes, the villains fighting to reach the top by any means necessary, and how these two (or more) characters come together to form a story. There are many great examples of storytelling, some of which I’ll talk about later on, but wrestling is also enjoyable when it is just nonsense. For every MJF or Roman Reigns you need stars like Orange Cassidy who can bring drama and passion when necessary, but mostly display a different character dynamic that appeals to more casual watchers and those that don’t always want things to be “serious”.
I’m not going to spend the length of this article explaining “why wrestling isn’t fake” or anything like that because I would be talking to a brick wall. If you’re reading this you most likely actively watch wrestling, so instead I plan on spending this article talking a bit about why I enjoy wrestling and how it has helped me in the best (and worst) of times. Maybe you can find some similarities in our experiences, or maybe this will look like a rambling pile of nonsense; but, either way, if you are reading this your support is much appreciated.
Memory Lane
WWE Smackdown vs Raw, the original and 2006 on Playstation 2. Though I had already been introduced to wrestling at the time, one of my earliest memories of the sport was receiving these two games as a gift from my older brother on Christmas. I couldn’t have been any older than maybe 4 or 5 at the time, so of course getting two brand new video games (wrestling games at that) had me ecstatic. Although, because I was so young I don’t remember the games very vividly… nonetheless, I always refer to this as my introduction to pro wrestling and over the next 15+ years it has been a part of my life. From my brother putting me in the Walls of Jericho, to countless live events attended, wrestling seems to be this recurring thing in my life.
I had watched wrestling (pretty much strictly WWE at this point) with my brother relatively consistently up until he left for school around 2016, and from then I started watching it a little less frequently but enough to keep up with the product. There’s a lot of moments and wrestlers that really stuck out to me during this time period, but none more than Daniel Bryan and The Shield. As a kid it was awe-inspiring seeing Daniel Bryan fight against The Authority and reach the top of the mountain at Wrestlemania 30, and now 9 years later I’m an even bigger fan of him and his career’s work as Bryan Danielson. The Shield, on the other hand, introduced me to two of some of my favorite wrestlers… and Roman Reigns (this is no diss, I think Roman is great but he’s not exactly one of my favorites).
As I said before, wrestling seems to be this recurring thing in my life. I had stopped watching wrestling around 2016 as I started to get more invested in other sports and things, but it came knocking on my door again during the Royal Rumble 2018. Quite honestly, there probably wasn’t much better of a way I could’ve been reintroduced to wrestling, seeing as it was the night Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura won their respective Rumbles. Then, just a few months later I watched one of my favorite pay-per-views ever, NXT Takeover: New Orleans. This Wrestlemania 34 season completely revived my love for wrestling, and to top it off I began diving into other companies like NJPW.
The same thing would happen again around the time that the pandemic hit, which I seemed to just get completely turned off from wrestling. It’s not that it was bad, it was actually quite fun looking back at it, but I just couldn’t seem to get invested in it anymore. This swiftly changed in January 2022 when my brother found out AEW was having its first edition of Battle of the Belts in Charlotte, which wasn’t very far from us at the time. All it seemed to take was a few hours for me to come back around to the spectacle I loved most.
Wrestling With My Thoughts
Around this time that my brother and I went to Battle of the Belts, life was… not so swell. A load of mixed emotions, relationship problems, and burnout from school left me in a pretty bad spot mentally. I had dropped out of school and decided it would be best to work until the fall semester came back around. This is the time period in which I truly began to fall in love with pro wrestling. Over the next 7 months, pretty much the only things I would do is: workout, go to work, and watch wrestling. During this time I was introduced to so much new stuff as well. I had finally gotten back into watching NJPW, I had fully caught up on everything going on in AEW and WWE, and now I was watching new promotions like Stardom and TJPW. To top it all off, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Revolution and Fyter Fest week 1. Wrestling was an escape of sorts. In the many months it took for me to readjust mentally, wrestling was always there to take my mind off of things.
Suspension of Disbelief
I think this is why I have always loved pro wrestling, it was an escape from everything around me. For just 1-3 hours a night, I was able to put my life on hold and invest in whatever was happening on my screen. Using it as a means of escaping has started to have less of a negative connotation on it over the last year, as now it’s more of a means of curing boredom or just entertaining myself. Like I said earlier, from the outside looking in, wrestling looks… strange. For those that aren’t able to enjoy it without uttering “well that looked fake” after every move, they would never be able to enjoy the beauty of the stories told in and out of the ring.
During my foray into new wrestling territory during 2022, I found whom I would consider one of my current favorite wrestlers, Tam Nakano. Not only is her appearance striking with her purple-dyed hair, and purple and white gear, but she's arguably one of the most captivating wrestlers I’ve ever watched. She’s one of the best in-ring workers in the world, male or female, but what she does with her storytelling is nearly unmatched. The level of emotion that she brings in her promos as well as her actions during matches tells a tale that hooks viewers in and leaves them in awe. I don’t really know how to fully explain what I’m trying to say, but if you haven’t watched Tam Nakano before, do yourself a favor and go watch her (I plan to do an article in the future focusing on Tam vs Natsupoi, one of my favorite stories of 2022).
Beyond this, there are a plethora of other scintillating stories that are told in wrestling whether over the span of weeks, months, or even years. I love a good match for the sake of a match (think the entirety of the Danielson trials leading to the MJF match, or tournaments like the NJ Cup or Cinderella Tournament), but more than that I love a good story. Like any form of media, there’s a beauty that can only be expressed in wrestling, whether that’s through deep-cutting promos or hard-hitting matches.
Curtain Call
Wrestling isn’t perfect. For every Bloodline/Sami or MJF/Punk feud, there’s quite a few stinkers. For every Ospreay/Omega or Danielson/MJF match, there’s a lot of stinkers. But it’s bound to happen, and that’s ok. The beauty of pro wrestling is not just watching stories unfold in front of you, but also watching wrestlers grow and develop over time into a next level talent. Some are able to realize their talent and hit the heights they were always touted to reach, others may not come so close and fade away into obscurity. It’s scary, but the uncertainty brings a sort of appeal as well. Wondering if your favorite young talent will become world champion in the next few years, or if they’ll be stuck in the midcard for life. It’s a gamble that every wrestler takes when they sign up, and for that I commend every single one of them.
I love pro wrestling for the things it has done to cheer me up in times that I desperately needed it. For every good storyline, bad gimmick, engaging promo, funny moment, etc. wrestling has always been my escape. Will I be watching wrestling my entire life? I’m not entirely sure, however, only time will tell. For now, though, wrestling is a source of joy for me and I can only hope things remain that way for quite some time to come.
The (rest of the) Spectacle Series: