#i was gonna tag more promotions but christ i’ll be here all night 😂

[mint-midnight]

So I can’t believe that in this day and age that wrestling fans STILL have to defend our love of wrestling to idiots who won’t rest with the “wrestling isn’t real” comments. So I’ve made a compilation of many views from different wrestling fans and summarised them so that I don’t have to constantly explain myself year after year. Putting this under the cut because it’s LONG.

The problem with non wrestling fans is they see and judge wrestling as they would see and judge a SPORT. They try to see it like they’d see football or chess or boxing. Non wrestling fans refuse to look at wrestling for what it is, that is the key problem. They see it as a fake fight and can’t comprehend why you’d watch a fake fight unless you didn’t know it was real. They are looking through a sports lens as if we watch wrestling for an actual fight, to genuinely see people hurt each other for a “real” win. I’ve had people ask why I don’t just watch MMA and like? Listen I don’t care about real fighting, to me that is boring. And imo it’s on the lacking end talent-wise, hitting someone hard/knocking them out with no story behind it and no showcase of skill doesn’t get me going. Wrestling on the other hand is INSANE. Do you know the skill behind trying to perfect a move so well that it doesn’t injure someone? It’s easier to injure someone, it takes talent to execute something and not hurt someone. Real fight competitions just aren’t for me.

Pro wrestling is live action stunt work combined with theatre, soap opera, athletics etc. It’s practically like watching an action movie with theatrical dramatics and acrobatics.

So step back and stop looking at wrestling as a sport and maybe you’ll understand how humans appreciate entertainment in different forms.

Asking how wrestling fans enjoy wrestling knowing it’s scripted is like asking how the world watches movies or dramas or theatre. You know Godzilla doesn’t exist, Tom Cruise didn’t really jump from up there! The hulk isn’t real! It’s universally known that Game of Thrones is fantasy etc. It’s entertainment and storytelling and that’s why we love wrestling. I am not watching wrestling for the same reasons I watch a football match. Fans watch wrestling with the same understanding that it is as real as The Avengers.

Wrestling is an art form. I’ve not found anything else in this world that can invoke stronger emotions in masses of people. And wrestling fans all watch for different reasons. Some of us deeply connect to storytelling, for the same reason we enjoy television, we immerse ourselves into the characters in wrestling and follow their journeys. Some of us watch it for the spectacle, the excitement, the pyro, the massive crowds, the music. Some of us watch it for the athleticism, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of watching a beautiful moonsault from the top of a steel cage! Where else are you gonna experience that? Others watch it for the creativity and different wrestling styles. Unless you’re a wrestling fan, you won’t be able to appreciate a true technical wrestling match or look into the intricacies of what goes into incredible ring psychology and the ability to tell a story. For me, I love it for all the above and beyond.

“Regardless of how you start though, eventually you'll love it all. Every fucking second. You'll be spending countless hours absorbing every bit of it you can because of the way it can make you feel. It's utterly unique in just how baffling it is to outsiders, and how beloved it is to insiders.”

Scripted doesn’t mean not real. Bumps are VERY real and if you wanna debate that then step into the ring.

To be able to do what wrestlers do and not kill themselves in the process is amazing. Think about an action movie happening live, right before your eyes WITHOUT stunt doubles, that’s wrestling! The risk is INSANE. Yet for some wild reason people never think of it that way. Boxers have one fight every now and then but wrestlers put their bodies on the line every week. For being some of the most resilient people in the world they don’t get half the respect they should. You will not find live action stunt work anywhere else in the world like you do in wrestling and a lot of wrestling is freestyled (minus huge spots etc). Wrestlers are constantly thinking on the go of what they can do next to entertain the crowd whilst getting thrown through tables.

“If anyone ever tries to tell you our sport is fake, I want you to tell them, "Next time you find a freestyle live action stuntwork and television drama style entertainment event all in one place, you let me know."

Honestly I don’t get why the use of the term “fake” is even used simply bc it’s not an actual competition. I dare you to go up to a wrestler and call what they do “fake” how about you step into the ring, get powerbombed, thrown from the top rope and kicked and punched in the gut and then come back and call that fake. That word is an insult towards performers who put their body at risk and lose their lives and careers for our entertainment.

Imagine being a grown ass man and losing your shit over a scripted GoT fight scene and then having the audacity to turn around and call wrestling fake 🤣🤣🤣

You do not have to understand or enjoy wrestling but please, have some genuine human decency and respect for this incredible art form.