Have you ever thought about what the rest of the world thinks about wrestling? It’s a pretty polarizing form of entertainment if you think about it.
You’ll get a lot of “that looks gay” from people who just look at it like sweaty guys hugging each other. It’s a hard argument to defend outside of saying something just as immature back to them. I mean, to someone who doesn’t like wrestling, Batista looks like a homosexual on ‘roids. He’s a cool guy and all, but the first time I saw his tattoo around his navel I was a little puzzled.
Not that I’d tell him to his face or nothing.
Next you’ll get “It’s all fake anyway, why do you care?”
If you’ve got time, you show them Benoit’s dive into the announcer’s table from this week, TLC from Wrestlemania X7, Foley’s cage dive or Benoit vs. Jericho Rumble ’01. Or you simply say, “It’s like a soap opera that I enjoy” or something along those lines. But it’s also a hard argument to fight as well, because let’s face it. Who in the world would just stand there as the Big Show is about to slap you in the chest? And who’s gonna believe that Ric Flair’s chop is really gonna hurt HHH? Go ahead, tell about how he’s the best there is at that and I’ll tell you he still looks like a wrinkly old man.
Ric Flair brings me to my next point. My father will walk by the television and tell me that Ric flair looked old when he used to watch wrestling 20 years ago. He was only a few years younger than Batista is now, but still looked much older. However, to this you can say, “he’s still good at what he does.” But perhaps you didn’t have to explain to your father why Ric Flair was bleeding from the mouth and giving knee drops to his jacket, or why he was handcuffed to the ring in his boxer shorts.
The point here is that wrestling draws a lot of criticism from a lot of people, but it doesn’t phase us. We’ve heard it all before. As a matter of fact, if someone could give me a reason why I shouldn’t be watching wrestling I’d be surprised. Because for the past 20 years, I think I’ve heard it all. It never matters if I’ve read a spoiler days in advance, or if I could tell you everything that happens in the 2000 Royal Rumble street fight before it does, I still love watching certain matches. I’ll always want to throw my hands in the air and give the double middle finger each time I hear glass break, on TV or just walking through life.
I love wrestling and I’ve heard all the criticism before. So if someone wants to throw some more at me, go right ahead. Each Monday night I know where I’ll be.
Happy Halloween
