WWE/TNA: This Is Why I Am a Fan of Professional Wrestling

A few days ago, I wrote an article pertaining to a conversation I had with a friend who made his feelings quite clear about professional wrestling, and so I compared wrestling to Hollywood for the sake of proving that both industries are quite similar yet treated very differently.

This is a follow-up article of sorts. Everyone has their own reason(s) as to why they are a fan of professional wrestling, and here are my reasons.

Wrestling is not my life, I do not live and breathe wrestling, I typically don't buy products or memorabilia aside from a few PPV's, but I am a very big fan of this industry because of what it brings to the table and to its fans.

I became interested in wrestling in 1999 when I was nine years old. My mother and grandfather were fans of it during the Attitude Era and I would sit down with them on Saturday mornings to watch an old WWF show called "Live Wire" hosted by Michael Cole.

The show featured recaps of Raw from the previous week and sometimes had new interviews with wrestlers.

Two wrestlers who I really started to follow were Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick Foley.

Stone Cold to me represented someone who would never take crap from anyone and fought for what he believed in. Mick Foley impressed me with his ability to take a beating and get back up no matter what. I was able to connect with both of them.

I quickly learned that wrestling was not as real as I first believed it to be; however, that didn't phase me one bit. To me, it was like watching any other show, except this one I could go watch live in person.

As I grew up, I continued to enjoy wrestling, the characters I had watched as a young kid were still around which kept me hooked no matter how bad of a storyline they could have been in. However, these superstars would eventually begin to fade away, and newer stars began to emerge.

There was one person in particular who I had never really seen before and I considered a new character but he was actually returning; his name is Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels was not only someone who excelled at the entertainment side, but was immensely gifted as a performer.

Watching Michaels gave me a new appreciation for this product. For the first time, I began watching wrestling not just for the entertainment aspect, but also for the art side of it.

To me, wrestling is an art; it isn't a sport. It's much more than a sport because in wrestling you must perfect what you do, not only to stay healthy but also to keep your audience emotionally invested. 

With the creation of YouTube I started to causally watch older clips of wrestlers such as Randy Savage and Sting, and I started to notice how different the business was then compared to now, but that the art of entertaining had always been there. 

Wrestling is not just about beating other people up, it's about trying to be the best at what you do which is something everyone can relate to. To make it in this business, you have to have the biggest ego, and I don't mean ego as in "don't talk to me because I'm above you;" I mean you need to have the biggest ego so that every night you go out and steal the show.

As much as most people like to complain about how young kids are a major influence over the product and are watering it down. I don't believe they are responsible for watering it down, but I do believe they influence the product.

Just like how I idolized Stone Cold's "I do what I want" attitude, kids today look up to John Cena because of his character's ability to always get back up and defeat the villain. This is also why kids love Superman and Spiderman. 

On the flip side. Adults can relate to other characters such as CM Punk for his willingness to say exactly how he feels about any certain subject just because he wants to.

Watching wrestling to me is just like watching any other show; you have characters you love, characters you hate, main storylines, subplots and you get excited when old favorite characters make an appearance. 

Here's what some of you had to say on the previous article about the comparison between professional wrestling and Hollywood.

"What is the difference, really, between a Rocky film and an episode of WWE Raw? We know Rocky is scripted, we know the fights aren't real, but that isn't brought up by the general viewing public." -Brian Gomersall

"Anyone who even bothers to bring up the whole 'fake' thing, is met by one sentence: 'You should probably stop watching anything on TV then if you hate things that are fake'. And that's it." - Adrian King

"They do this day in and day out. They have no offseason and are constantly attacked by the media. I can't imagine what a wrestler must feel when people tell them that what they do is fake. Imagine if someone told Shawn Michaels during his back surgery or Triple H after he tore his quad that what he does is fake." - Catherine Rosario

"Sometimes I hope that football would out of the blue say that somehow it was predetermined and fake, or UFC. I just want to see the fans who bash wrestling's faces and then tease them a little for liking something 'so fake.'" - Logan Horton