Why I love pro wrestling
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Photo: Courtesy of Ashley M. Mack
I've been watching professional wrestling for more than 30 years, and one thing that comes with the territory is a look of confusion on the faces of non-fans when I tell them how much I love it.
Why it matters: The WWE hitting the Circle City in a big way this weekend means a lot of people who don't quite get it may finally start to, and scores of new wrestling fans will get their origin story.
Flashback: My passion for pro graps was born in the early 1990s by way of video games.
- In the same Cleveland arcade where I discovered Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, I was introduced to wrestling via the WWF WrestleFest arcade game.
- I wasn't sure what I was looking at because no one in my family watched wrestling, but I was captivated by larger-than-life characters like Big Boss Man, Sgt. Slaughter and Mr. Perfect duking it out.
- I just thought they were video game characters. But my dad blew my mind when he told me that my favorite game character, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, was a real guy who I could watch terrorize wrestling babyfaces on TV.
Zoom in: As I grew older and learned more about how the production on screen came to be, my fandom and appreciation shifted.
- I developed great respect for the extreme risk taken and the otherworldly athleticism required for these performers to do what they do with no off-season.
- I also expanded my viewing, stepping outside of the WWF and WCW to fall in love with independent and international wrestling.
Fun fact: My favorite wrestling promotion today is actually New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and I regularly wake up as early as 3am to catch NJPW matches live.
Yes, but: The WWE's Attitude Era was the movement that cemented my love for pro wrestling, thanks in part to some great childhood friends who shared that love with me.
- You can see one of those BFFs pictured above as we pose in (very bad) Dolph Ziggler and Stone Cold Steve Austin cosplay during his wrestling themed birthday party a couple summers ago.
The bottom line: Give pro wrestling a chance. It may end up giving back more than you bargained for.