Art Imitating Life: How Wrestling Is a Reflection on Our Everyday World

I've been on here now for about a month, and everyday, I usually see at least one article on why wrestling doesn't deserve to be here and why wrestling is a waste of television and how the people who watch it are throwing their lives away for entertainment.

It was after reading one of these articles that I sat down in my spare time and thought to myself: Why did I start watching wrestling in the first place?

Why am I still watching it now?

It took me ages to think of my answer, and even then it didn't make sense to begin with.

It was because wrestling was a reflection of what my dreams were, what my life was like every time I closed my eyes and let my mind roam free.

That's when it really hit me.

The more you look at wrestling, the more it resembles someone's world, someone's life. That someone could be anyone in the world.

You may think that is a little far-fetched, but think about it for a few minutes. In wrestling, you get families, love, betrayal, comedy, memories, justice, darkest hours, and shining glory.

How does that link with the real world, you may ask. Easily.

How many people have had these experiences happen to them or someone they know at some point in their long lives?

Almost everybody in the world.

Think of it in the WWE and TNA.

Family

Every person in the world has a family, whether they know who they are or not. They could be conventional families, extended families, adopted families or just friends that give the feeling. In wrestling, you get the same.

In WWE for example, look at Legacy. You have Randy Orton, who is like a father figure to Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. He tells them what to do, when to do it and how to sort it out if it goes wrong.

Isn't that what most dads do?

You have all the divas, preening their way towards a life lived out in front of the silver screen.

Sound like any sisters, cousins, nieces or aunts that you have? It sounds like mine all over.

In TNA, you have the Main Event Mafia.

Sure, on the surface, they look like they have nothing in common, but if you scratch below, you find that bond which is as strong as family. They all have their roles too. Kurt as the know-it-all dad, Sting, the time worn grandfather, trying to get his voice heard.

Then you have the brothers—in—arms known as Booker, Steiner, and Nash. Throw into that a few long lost relatives like Joe and Morgan and you have a family. It may not look like one, but it's there.

Then There Is Love

Such a strong word that can almost mean nothing if used too much. Look around you, what sort of love is there?

You have marriages, you have children, you have pets, and you have friends. Their is love that is felt for them on a daily basis.

You might not think it, but it is there. It can be tested to its limits, but it will always find its way through.

You get the same in wrestling.

A love for the friends and companions that people make on a weekly basis, lasting, for most guys, right through their entire lives, well after the ring and gold has gone.

Wrestlers have a love for the fans.

No matter what they say or how they try to hide it, they feel that everyday they are in front of us. It's what helps to draw us close to them and look upon them as heroes.

A love for the sport that they do, the words that they say, and gold that they wear. That is powerful love, even if it is unconventional.

Love is what keeps many wrestlers or promotions going from week to week, year to year.

Betrayal

At some point in every life, you get betrayed. You may wish for that to never be the case, but it will always happen, no matter how you prepare for it.

Your partner leaves you? That's betrayal.

Someone turns their back on you for an enemy?

That's betrayal.

Someone lies to you, and steers you in the wrong direction?

That's betrayal; it's everywhere.

Betrayal is the lining for almost everything that happens in the sport of wrestling.

At the Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy cost his younger brother the title. That is family turning its back on family. That's jealousy testing love to its limits and it is betrayal, and it hurts like hell.

At Slammiversary, Samoa Joe turned his back on all his friends, on all his family, and all his fans to join the Mafia.

Why did he do that, though? You never know for sure. That's what the power of betrayal does to the people it affects.

Betrayal is in everyone's life. It also is in wrestling, no matter where you go.

Comedy

As once said by Jeff Hardy: "If you're laughing, it shows that you're enjoying life."

Think about it.

How many times have you gone out with your friends on a Saturday night and laughed as you watch them make complete asses out of themselves?

How many times have you giggled at a bad joke, or at a funny story?

Laughter and comedy are powerful tools. They can make the worst experience in the world seem a bit brighter.

It goes back to family, too. How many people can claim that they have at least one clown in their family? I know I certainly do!

Look at Raw.

You may sit there and roll your eyes at Goldust and Hornswoggle's annoying shenanigans, but how many of you are actually thinking that it is slightly funny?

Santina Marella?

That made me wet myself laughing! I even watched a load of "her" promos on YouTube after.

That's enough to brighten up anyone's day!

As for TNA, there is only one true guy that is King of Comedy: Jeremy Borash.

He is just like that irritating little brother who tells you one thing and then says something totally different to someone else.

He is always entertaining people in his own way, because that's his style.

The world of wrestling needs these valuable comedic moments as much as the world of reality needs them too.

Memories

Memories mean different things to different people, but they all tend to mark something important, no matter how trivial they seem to others.

Some of my greatest memories of life mean nothing to others, but for me, they are special.

Getting my first GCSE, representing the UK in Kickboxing, my first boyfriend, they are all memories for me that shape my life.

Wrestling has memories too. They might not be normal memories, but they are created every second in every day.

You watch a quality match like Taker/Michaels at Wrestlemania and that is a memory. It etches itself into your mind for the rest of your days.

You see acts of pure gold from legends like Jericho, and people 20 years later are still using lines that they said on the television.

I mean, how many people have tried to repeat The Rocks "Know your role", Eddie Guerrero's "Lie, Cheat, Steal" or even lines like Jeff Jarrett's "Slap nuts!"

Not all memories are good ones though. Some haunt you for the rest of your life. Owen Harts death, Chris Benoit's suicide; all examples of what you see sticking in your brain for years.

The Darkness and the Light

How many poor people have had to deal with the rougher side of life, had to deal with the pain and sadness that afflicts them?

Deaths, divorces, losses. All dark hours in a person's life. It is how they deal with them that makes them great.

Think in WWE. Think of wrestlers who have had major injuries and clawed their way back to the top, regardless of how long it took.

Shawn Michaels? Supposed to be paralyzed from a back injury. Instead, he is still going out their and working his ass off for what he loves.

Look at Jeff Jarrett. He got fired from WCW/WWE by Mr. McMahon. That could have destroyed him. Instead, we now have TNA. That is an example of clawing your way back to the top from the bottom rung of the ladder.

The darkest times in peoples lives are supposed to also be times of realisation. The same goes for wrestlers.

Look at Jeff Hardy. He almost screwed up his life because of a drug addiction that could have cost him everything. He turned that around, and now he has world title to show for it.

None of this may seem like real life to you, but for some people, it is a representation of what they have to put up with. The dream scenarios always seem to play out on the television in soaps and reality shows.

This may not be reality, but it's almost certainly a hell of a lot closer to real life than other things.

Think about it for a second.

These are all aspects of real life playing out on a screen in front of our eyes for our entertainment.

For all those haters out there, this is a chance for some of us to see what life could be like from a different angle.

It may not be picture perfect, but that is what I see every time I close my eyes.

It may be a weird life in my dreams, but when I watch this sport, I don't dwell on this fact for too long.

This is a life.

We just happen to be a part of it.