When did we forget wrestling is supposed to be fun? I know we’re not supposed to admit this as wrestling fans but I’m a huge mark for this business. It’s always been fun for me. Back in the early 90s when I became a huge wrestling fan we had WWF Superstars on Saturday mornings, Wrestling Challenge in Sundays, WCW Saturday Night at 6:05 on Saturday, and WCW Main Event In Sunday evenings. I couldn’t get enough.
As an adult I still can’t get enough. Even when I don’t love the storyline I still watch and still remain a loyal WWE fan. I go to independent shows, I listen to wrestling podcasts, I play wrestling video games, I read the dirtsheets, I write editorial pieces for wrestling a website. My friends are die hard wrestling fans. I am a wrestling fan through and through.
There has been a shift recently that seems to plague wrestling fans. Nothing ever seems to be good enough. When a fan favorite is rumored to sign with WWE the initial reaction is negativity. So many wrestling fans seem to think that working for WWE is somehow a negative. WWE is the big league of professional wrestling. Nobody ever gets mad when the minor league baseball player they’ve followed since his draft day gets called up to the big club. Why do we get so upset at independent wrestlers getting to accomplish their dream. I’m 100% sure there has never been a wrestler who made a goal of being an “indy darling” and never wanted to go to WWE. When wrestlers jumped from one company to another it was exciting. Ric Flair to WWF in 1991, Hulk Hogan to WCW in 1994, Kurt Angle to TNA in 2006 were epic moments.
Why did we stop letting it be fun. I can say that for me I’m over Brock Lesnar and I hated his title runs. Watching him win Money in the Bank made me sick but, damn it, that’s what makes it fun. The fact that I can let a scripted form of entertainment elicit that type of emotion is what’s missing in wrestling fans. The fun was taken at some point and no one can explain why. The in ring action is better than it has been in years. We have guys like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston, and so many other larger than life characters that we should love. Instead it’s rooting for AEW to put WWE out of business, it’s this very site’s Facebook page posing a question of if you’ll stop watching WWE in October when AEW premieres. Why does a choice have to be made? Why can’t we be happy that we have more of the sport, the entertainment, the business that we love and most of us have loved since we were kids?
We need to get back to having fun with wrestling. It’s purely entertainment. We have so many options available with WWE, Impact, MLW, Lucha Underground, ROH, and soon to be AEW. Let’s get back to suspending disbelief. Let’s fall back in love with wrestling like we did when we were kids.
