The Real Deal: Taking Pride In What You Love
By Wrestling Truth Columnist Roxanne Springer: ravenbrooks_2000@yahoo.com
“Oh my God, you actually watch that stuff?”
“That’s for ignorant kids.”
“I thought you were smarter than to like that kind trash.”
“You can’t be serious; it’s so violent!”
“Talk about low-brow television!”
All of those phrases probably sound very familiar to anyone who has ever professed their love of pro wrestling. It is looked down upon and scoffed at so heavily to some fans it has become almost a guilty pleasure. Outsiders, if you will, see it as notoriously fake and the performers all lowly charlatans out to separate foolish people from their hard earned money.
As it is human nature to dwell on the bad side of things we often hear much more about the tragedies and mistakes made by the people in the business. I have heard all kinds of wild claims about things like cocaine usage, sloppy sex orgies, illegal gambling, and etc. within the business. Now I am not declaring everyone involved to be lily-white; but doesn’t anyone else find it peculiar that these things are only said by former (do I hear disgruntled) employees? And of course it is almost ludicrous to think these things would be printed just to sell books. (C’mon now—they don’t really make up things that could literally ruin people’s lives just to make a buck, do they??) Another tidbit I noticed is virtually none of these “sources” will give their names. Why not? What are they afraid of? If they have evidence about these happenings then bring the guilty parties to justice! Someone please come forward and lead the crusade against all this apparently rampant debauchery, corruption, and crimes against humanity! Yeah right, I bet the cowards who wouldn’t state their names are lining up right this minute.
Though they all seem to be larger than life, everyone needs to remember that the wrestlers and everyone who works for any and all the promotions are above all human beings. Therefore, they are entitled to make errors, have inner demons, and fall prey to wicked temptations just like the rest of us. Being famous and talented is not by any means a magic shield against fallibility.
Pro wrestling is a wonderful thing to people who can truly appreciate all it has to offer. It has excitement, pageantry, amusement, and a plethora of brilliant and dedicated stars. One of the best things about it is the superior showmanship of the performers. It is always a great pleasure to see people who are truly gifted do what they do best. They entertain in so many ways, from witty and often astute mic work to the uncompromising matches themselves. So many of them do things nightly many viewers (and I suspect many, many nay-sayers) only wish they could do. Whenever I hear someone putting down pro wrestling I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a tiny bit of the green-eyed monster fueling their hateful and often ill-mannered remarks.
The next time someone puts pro wrestling down ask them when was the last time they actually watched a match. Inquire as to what it is they base their grim opinions on. I have done this and I usually get lame answers along the lines of “Well, my Dad used to watch it,” or the ever-popular “I stopped watching when I was a kid.” Well then, seems to me anyone coming up with those kinds of lame replies has absolutely no foundation whatsoever. It’s just a typical case of what I like to call the notorious Expert Syndrome: It’s always the people who know the least about something that try to tell you how you should be doing it, or what you should be watching, or how in some way to live your life.
I am a proud pro wrestling fan and have been for over 25 years. I encourage everyone out there to not hide their affinity, to advertise it to the point of garishness. Get yourself some bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts, or whatever makes you happy to spread the word. As I am always so fond of saying—“Don’t let the small minded people get you down”. Well here’s another addition to put in your keepsake of life’s little rules—“Don’t let people afflicted with the dreaded Expert Syndrome get you down and ruin something you love”.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Contact me at ravenbrooks_2000@yahoo.com
Keelan’s Call:
Thanks Roxanne, agreat topic to bring up.
It’s a life long problem that wrestling fans face, many of them being “closet fans” who just don’t tell anybody and it’s sad. The problem is, on the face of it, all the casual person knows about wrestling is that its called WWE (they have no concept of Japan, Mexico, the Indy scene and often TNA), that it is aimed towards kids and that it’s fake. In some ways WWE was the downfall of wrestling.
They don’t know the grueling history, the REAL pain wrestlers feel, literally how hard it is to learn the art of wrestling and the inhumane schedules these guys have.
If you are not a wrestling fan you’ll never truly understand so I don’t even enter in to it anymore. What’s harder for me is to explain that I make part of my living writing about wrestling. They think I write about how cool John Cena is all day and can’t grasp all the backstage stuff. Plus it’s damn hard to explain!
