“I don’t know why I like it, I just always have”, these are the words used by director Barry W. Blaustein to introduce his 2000 documentary “Beyond the Mat”.
Very few phenomenons over the years have produced so much controversy like professional wrestling has, and for good reasons if we’re being honest (right Katie Vick?), but it obviously depends on who you ask, from older people who started watching when it first first broke out and coloured TV still wasn’t a thing, to teenagers looking for some fun and edgy television in the evening, wrestling represents something different for everybody, and different people have different opinions about it.
Personally, I stepped into it at 4 years old, sitting on the couch with my dad, watching these big men with their colorful outfits jumping from one end of a squared stage to the other.
Almost 15 years later, I’m a student that’s about to graduate high school. I still watch wrestling, I just don’t tell a lot of people about it, can you blame me?
I like the showmanship, the athleticism, the gimmicks (characters), the storylines, even the incredibly cheesy acting. I tend to consider wrestling as theater, at its most basic form.
Now, let’s be nitpicky, I know wrestling is a show, the violence is mostly choreographed, matches outcomes are predetermined and on screen rivalries are confined within the context of the show, but it just doesn’t end there for us fans.
Usually, you’ll hear people say: “I don’t like it because it’s fake” or “How can I be entertained by some guys pretending to hit each other?”. Fair enough, not everyone likes the same type of movies, but that’s what critics need to understand, wrestling isn’t about fights, it’s about the spectacle and the entertainment value of it.
Wrestling has been around for close to 70 years at this point, WWE (undoubtedly the biggest and most famous wrestling company in the world) was actually born in 1953 with “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers becoming its first World Champion in 1963, and just like anything else on this world, it’s changed and evolved dramatically over the years.
What has changed is not only the perception of it by the media, but also the product itself, the presentation of it, in a few decades we went from classic wrestlers in boots and tights with nothing differentiating one from the other and little to no special effects, to larger than life, flamboyant characters who make their personalities a crucial part of their performances.
You can just see it in entrances and attires, if you take great champions of the past like Bruno Sammartino and Killer Kowalski, you can instantly notice a difference between them and some more recent performers like “Macho Man” Randy Savage or Ultimate Warrior.
The uniqueness of these athletes has led to many of the top stars becoming pop culture icons and appearing on tv shows and movies. Hulk Hogan was a common guest on MTV in the 80s and 90s, Steve Austin made rebels and misfits look cool in the late 90s and John Cena left an indelible mark on most of the 00s kids during their childhood.
And obviously, the style of the matches has also changed, what were once fist fights, are now a combination of technically sounded, high-flying, hard hitting, weight lifting moves and taunts, done in cooperation by some world class athletes and entertainers and because of this, there’s a variety of different wrestlers doing different things:
The exciting high flyers such as Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam.
The blood spilling hardcore legends like Mick Foley and Terry Funk.
The mighty ring technicians like Bret Hart and Kurt Angle (a former olympic gold medalist).
The hard hitting brawlers like The Undertaker and Dean Ambrose.
The sky scraping powerful giants like Big Show and Andrè The Giant.
And the awe inspiring figures that can captivate an audience with their immense charisma like The Rock or “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, just to name a few.
There’s really an option for anyone, whatever you like, you will most likely find it.
Wrestling has become a worldwide phenomenon over the years, and for us fans, finding a fellow addicted is a big event. Hopefully after reading this, you will have enough motivation to give it a chance and maybe find interest in something that you have ignored prior to this, until then…thanks for the attention.
Before you go, I’ll leave you with an interview I made with a long time fan, where he explains the reasons he became one in the first place, and what kept him going through the years:
“How and when did you start watching wrestling?”
“I started about 20 years ago, watching the first episodes on Italia 1 when Dan Peterson was doing commentary, though I didn’t really like him as a broadcaster”
“Who were some of the most influential names for you?”
“The first names that come to mind are Undertaker, Bret Hart, British Bulldog and The Road Warriors, guys with some grit, you know”
“I notice that all of the people you mentioned come from the 80s and 90s, is that because you prefer those years rather than modern days?”
“Undoubtedly wrestling from the 80s, 90s and early 00s is my favorite, both storyline and character wise, it’s turned into a joke since 2010, at least that’s my opinion.”
“The pivotal question, exactly why do you like professional wrestling?”
“At the end of the day, it’s mainly entertainment, so I like the incredible work behind it, the creation of gimmicks, the interactions between the characters, the alliances and the rivalries”
