From Grief to Awe, the Emotions of Pro Wrestling

Emotion is one's state of mind at a given time. Usually, a series of events lead us to that emotion.

Today, this slideshow will attempt to run through many emotions that both fans and wrestlers alike go through in the roller coaster ride that is pro wrestling.

Without further delay; I present you The Emotions of Pro Wrestling. 

Passion: The Powerful Connection Between Pro Wrestling and It's Fans

Often, pro wrestling fans describe their love for wrestling as addiction, like a powerful drug. Once you watch it, your hooked for life. 

Many wrestlers shared this addiction as a kid, until it slowly transforms into something else. This is more powerful than any drug, a powerful or compelling emotion to something. This is otherwise known as passion.

This will drive either a lifelong fan, or a wrestler him/her self. This often can describe one's willingness to sacrifice their time, body and life just to get a chance to live their childhood dream.

Adam "Edge" Copeland grew up in Ontario, Canada, and quickly fell in love with wrestling. Along with his friend William Reso, a man we know as Christian, the two would go to wrestling shows together. 

They would climb up the independent scene, and debut in the WWE at roughly at the same time.

These two became one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history, E&C. After breaking up, Edge became the thirteen time world champion we recognize him as today.

Recently, he abruptly retired after several neck surgeries. Copeland was told by doctors that he could never wrestle again, or he would be at risk of being paralyzed. 

Edge, went for his first love. Not only did he make it, but became one of the most successful WWE Superstars ever. However, this did not come without sacrifice, that Copeland was willing to make. 

John Cena began training in 2000, and his drive now has placed him firmly as the face of a company he loved as a kid; the WWE.

As noted in a recent article by Iam D Real Deal Yo, Cena walked up to Vince McMahon to tell him that he was his guy.

McMahon loved this, and realized Cena's love for the WWE overcame his fear.

You can question lots of things about John Cena, but he eats, breaths and sleeps the WWE. That's what got him this far, and farther than one with wrestling skills alone.

A passion isn't a feeling you can go looking for, rather it hits you like a ton of bricks. And pro wrestling isn't a business you can go into without a passion for, because of all the sacrifice I have mentioned throughout this article.

Without passion, pro wrestling would have been long laughed out of Hollywood, and denied by mainstream America. Yet the people with a passion for it have kept it alive, and even in it's down days, well.

Awe: Being Amazed

Awe is simply being amazed at what just happened. 

Awe is a feeling that we crave as a pro wrestling fan, and the reason many of us love highflyers so very much. 

It happens after a wrestler performs an unbelievable stunt, like John Morrison does in this video. He jumps from the ring to the barricade, back to the ring steps.  As you can hear Josh Matthews say, this trended on Twitter for 24 hours!

That should tell us something.

This isn't the first time (nor last) Morrison has amazed us, he would perform a stunt a month later at the Elimination Chamber, absolutely incredible.

Others known for awing us are Kofi Kingston, Sin Cara, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin (Now in Ring Of Honor) and previously Rey Mysterio. 

Mark this as just another case for the revival of the cruiserweight division in the WWE.    

Embarrassment: Finding out Wrestling Is Scripted

When you start watching wrestling as a kid, the majority believe it is real. 

As you grow older, you get more curious about things. And eventually, you will learn wrestling is scripted. 

Some don't care. Some are embarrassed about it, but are too hooked to stop watching. The others, stop watching altogether, although they may crawl back sooner than later. 

The embarrassment makes you afraid to reveal that you are a fan, and some will deny it. 

Wrestling is a misunderstood thing. It is a theatrical play, mixed with sport. However, is mistaked for a bunch of dumb country hicks who believe that it's real.

This just goes to show you, that perception isn't always reality.

Happiness: When a Fairy Tale Story Has the Right Ending

Happiness could symbolize many things in the pro wrestling business, but I am using it for a fairy tale-like happy ending.

At WWE Extreme Rules, Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship with his friend Edge watching. I mentioned Edge in an earlier slide, and the circumstances that led to his retirement.

If you were their live, or watching at home, you could feel the moment of him and Edge celebrating. It was simply magic.

Although he dropped the title three days later, it was still a very touching moment between the lifelong friends.

In a way, I could also use the example of WrestleMania retirements, say Shawn Michaels.

Michaels is often considered the best WWE Superstar ever. He challenged The Undertaker for the second year in row, at WrestleMania 26. Only this time, he put his career on the line.

He lost, and the emotion of both sadness and happiness fled the area. Either way, their wasn't a dry eye in the arena.

Hysteria: The Emotion of the IWC

Hysteria describes unmanageable emotions. It ranges from anger, to fear.

Hysteria fits the IWC. This small group of wrestling fans go into hysteria if the slightest wrong move is made.

For example, when Christian lost his world title, we went into hysteria. We believed that he deserves much better, and a much longer reign. We immediately pointed the finger at Randy Orton, although in this instance, it's hypocritical as he is not to blame.

Yes, take a snapshot, I don't defend Orton often.

Back to hysteria. When Christian lost his world title, Twitter and Bleacher Report went into a rage. Reportedly, Orton even received death threats.

A bit much, huh? Well, that speaks to the passion I talked about earlier. 

Shock: The Factor the WWE Is Going for

Shock is when someone feels surprised or upset. It is a cornerstone of pro wrestling, in that, it's what many companies strive for. Thus, we hear "It's the WWE, anything can happen."

A perfect example is the video here, of The Miz winning the WWE Championship. The WWE had eliminated the idea from your mind all night long.

It was the same night as King of the Ring, and  Alex Riley took Miz's spot in his match against Ezekiel Jackson due to "injury."

Later that night, Randy Orton was attacked by the Nexus. When Orton retained, Miz smelled blood in the water, and cashed in his briefcase.

In my opinion, beautifully scripted. This is what the WWE was going for, and they suceeded.

Just ask The Miz girl how shocked and angry she was. 

Grief: Saying Goodbye

Unfortunately, grief is a feeling that we all must suffer through at some point in time. Normally, it happens when somebody close to you dies, or even your hero growing up. Which, would be the instance of a pro wrestler dying.

A few weeks ago, "Macho Man" Randy Savage died in a car accident, he was 58. Savage is often considered one of the top five WWE Superstars ever.

Immediately after the news broke, we saw an unbelievable outpouring of support.

Even Vince McMahon, who was said to have banned Savage's name from WWE TV at one point, wrote this tribute:

"It's important in sports and it's important in entertainment to stand out. Randy knew that. Right away, he wanted to leave his mark, and to do that he was aware he had to make himself different from everyone else. One way he did this was concentrating on his outfits, those brightly colored costumes with foot-long fringe that became his trademark. He brought to wrestling a unique look and style.

"Randy, who died in a car crash May 20 at age 58, was one of the building blocks of what is now WWE (previously known as the World Wrestling Federation). He had a very unusual voice --remember his "Snap into a Slim Jim. Oh, yeah!" commercials?--and was extremely charismatic. Perception is very important in this business, and he also had a very high opinion of himself, something he needed in a locker room full of performers who had been around for a while and had big personalities and followings--like Hulk Hogan, Today, Randy is remembered as one of wrestling's all time greats. No question about it--he certainly was."

-Time Magazine

Another instance of this would be Owen Hart.

On May 23, 1999 at Over The Edge, Hart was going to make a zip-line entrance down to the ring. However, his equipment malfunctioned, and he fell 78 feet from the raftors of Kempter Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. 

To this day, we often see Owen Hart tributes.

Grief is difficult, but it does bring people together to remember (in this case) legends of the pro wrestling business.

Thanks for Reading, the Enigmatic Generation Continues!

When you take a step back, the average person doesn't understand pro wrestling. It's simply something you have had to watch or be a part of, to fully understand the wrath of the 'sport.'

The emotional roller-coaster it takes you on seems silly at the surface, but is genuine inside.

To read my article on Enigmatic Generation of Wrestling entitled; John Morrison & The Miz: Why We Should Appreciate Them For What They Are, And Not What They Aren't, click here.

Thanks for reading.