Why I, in my late 20s, am still in love with pro-wrestling

Wrestling is the greatest performance on Earth… but I wouldn’t have always admitted that. Uni was an interesting time to be a wrestling fan. There’s a lot of pressure to make a first impression without any social red flags and being a wrestling fan felt like red flag central. There was a lingering shame in enjoying a scripted sport most people hadn’t watched since primary school. It sounds ridiculous looking back, but I always dreaded the inevitable conversation about it being fake so I’d pretend I lost my fandom as a kid.

Believe me, I get it. As kids we thought this stuff was real and then collectively found out it wasn’t. It’s like finding out (kids look away now*) Santa isn’t real at 10 but you start writing him letters again, for fun, at 15.

As I write this, I’ve turned 27. I get invested in sports teams and immersed in the plot of a good tv show. While they do elicit strong emotional reactions, for me there’s no more captivating viewing experience than the culmination of a well-booked pro-wrestling storyline. Now I’m gonna tell you why.

When they get it right, they get it so right

The big question is how does wrestling evoke such strong reactions from its fans when most aged 10+ know it’s pre-determined? While they’re scripted performances like films, as live events wrestling shows can’t fully utilise the same production techniques that go into editing a film. This introduces a whole host of challenges for shows, but despite this wrestling companies can still captivate their audience, me in particular through the following methods.

Long-term storytelling

I almost cried when Hangman beat Kenny Omega for the AEW Championship. The story of the anxious millennial cowboy’s rise to the top of AEW took over 2 years to play out and is regarded (by me) as one of the best long-term storylines in wrestling history. Absolutely no recenecy bias at all. Wrestling can sometimes fall foul of short-term reactive booking, so watching this slow burn unfurl despite Covid-related booking issues was refreshing at the least and masterful at the most. If you weren’t lucky enough to follow this story between 2019-2021, I strongly recommend the 5-part video series from Outside Interference, ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Elite’.

Using the crowd

Whether wrestling promotions like it or not, a live crowd can dictate the success of a show. I can admit that I’ve let a crowd’s reactions sway my opinion on shows before, so getting the crowd on side should be a top priority. If a crowd buys in to what they’re seeing then they’ll add to the show with organic cheers or boos, some reactions turning exciting spots into iconic wrestling moments. But just as easily as they can make a show, they can break it when showing their disapproval with irrelevant chants, beachballs or the dreaded silence.

Aside from just putting on a consistently high-quality wrestling shows, promotions can get the crowd to pop by manufacturing exciting moments. Nothing quite gets you hyped like hearing the theme of your favourite wrestler returning from injury or debuting in a new promotion. Shoutout to Dolph Ziggler’s Money in the Bank cash-in in 2013 and CM Punk’s AEW debut in 2021 as some of my favourite pops.

In 2020, the wrestling industry struggled when faced with putting on shows without crowds. Alongside the inevitable financial losses from not selling tickets, the product itself initially suffered with promos to empty arenas falling flat and in-ring action looking very fake and awkward with no loud crowd reactions. It highlighted the impact a crowd has on wrestling shows, with notable improvement coming when wrestlers filled in as crowd members and with the introduction of WWE’s Thunderdome.

Video packages

Believe it or not, some wrestling fans who follow multiple promotions watch 10+ hours of wrestling a week. With so many storylines to keep up with, video packages are an effective way to update the audience while hyping feuds before a PPV. Recapping feuds provide entertaining reminders of why we should care about the match, with the awesome music and visual effects having us ready to hand over all our money. Shoutout to the iconic Wrestlemania X7 ‘My Way’ promo, otherwise known as the greatest video package in wrestling history.

Suspending your disbelief

In case you couldn’t tell I’m a huge wrestling mark. Quick history lesson: the term ‘mark’ originally meant someone who believed that wrestling was a real sport. Before the disintegration of kayfabe, wrestling companies were committed to convincing fans that wrestling was legit, going as far as not allowing babyfaces and heels to travel together. With the weakening of kayfabe over time the term ‘mark’ has splintered to take on different meanings. The one I think best describes me is ‘someone who knows wrestling isn’t real but can appreciate the unique skill and suspend their disbelief enough to enjoy the show’.

In high school whenever I told anyone I liked wrestling they always replied with ‘you know that it’s fake right?’. Now I know what you’re thinking… and yes, they are technically right Jim. Wrestlers don’t try to legitimately hurt each other (for the most part). But should that really matter? Wrestling is a performance, like a TV show or film, with actors pretending to be characters. You know the actors in Game of Thrones aren’t killing each other, but you can still get immersed in the world and develop an emotional attachment to the characters.

Post-shame appreciation

Once I reached a certain age, I just didn’t care what anyone thought about me liking wrestling. It’s refreshing watching Dynamite on the living room TV and I’d happily request a Monday off work in January to stay up and watch the Rumble. I’m sure some of my friends think I’m a geek but it won’t stop me wearing my Chris Jericho t-shirt to the pub. My girlfriend even turned me into a wrestler with the illustration you see at the top.

And although you won’t find me sobbing in the stands shouting ‘it’s still real to me dammit’, you won’t find me laughing (much) at that guy either, because he’s just a wrestling mark, like me.