It's a very politically charged time in the United States right now. The left and right seem farther apart than ever before, and the divide between both sides seems to get wider with each passing day.
The saddest part of this situation is most people don't agree with one side or the other on every single issue. Most of us think both sides are right about some things and wrong about others.
It's hard to find anything liberals and conservatives agree on these days, but one thing everyone can enjoy without an argument breaking out is professional wrestling, and more specifically, WWE.
Vince McMahon's political affiliations are well known, and so are his wife's, but he never brings it into the product. His main focus is delivering a show he and his performers can be proud of while entertaining families across the world. It's not easy to put on a program that doesn't take a stance, but McMahon has found a few ways to do it.
The main reason both sides of the aisle like WWE is because the storylines have almost nothing to do with the hot-button issues plaguing the US. It sounds like it would be simple, but you would be hard-pressed to find a TV show that doesn't take a hard position on an important issue.
On the rare occasion that WWE does touch on a sensitive subject, it does so in a way that doesn't offend republicans or democrats. A good example of this is Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger's Real Americans gimmick.
They took a position on immigration, but they did it in such a way that never made it seem like they were speaking for the majority of Americans. They were xenophobic villains, so people understood what they were doing was never meant to be seen as positive.
Even JBL's over-the-top transformation from cowboy to wannabe politician was done with care. Those few exceptions aside, WWE mainly focuses on telling stories about jealousy, betrayal, underdogs succeeding, and even the occasional romance angle.
These are universal themes that appeal to everyone because we have all gone through the same emotions at one point in our lives. We can all relate to the struggles of WWE Superstars, even if we don't solve out problems with suplexes and sleeper holds.
Another way WWE appeals to both parties is by not discussing politics during its programming. The announcers will occasionally make a passing reference to someone in Washington, but it's never an endorsement or insult. If anything, it's usually just a joke.
You can't even watch ESPN without hearing someone talk about what is going on in the world of politics. You would think a channel dedicated entirely to sports would be the one place where you could avoid the negativity that goes along with discussing political issues, but it's no longer the case.
If McMahon wanted to, he could use his company to push his own agenda and promote whatever candidate he likes the most, but he chooses to leave that to the news shows and focus on entertainment. It's kind of admirable if you think about it.
Big institutions like Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and late night talk shows are supposed to be entertainment programs, but they have turned into year-round endorsements for certain political candidates. Even America's news shows, which are supposed to be bipartisan, lean to one side or the other.
But for three hours on Monday, two hours on Tuesday and a couple of Sundays a month, we can all set our differences aside while we watch the men and women of WWE do the fighting for us.
It's a break from the negativity we hear from the left and right on a daily basis, and there is never a shortage of negativity to escape. All you have to do is look at any news site and you will see multiple headlines talking about the divide between Americans.
We are constantly fighting about immigration, abortion, gay marriage, the military, taxes, foreign policy and countless other issues. It gets exhausting just trying to figure out who believes in what cause and why, and it's even harder trying to argue with someone who has the opposite belief.
In WWE, the biggest problems we have to worry about are whether the right person is being pushed, if the non-wrestling segments made sense or if a match lived up to its potential. Everything else falls by the wayside.
WWE's ability to transcend these issues extends beyond the United States. Every country with elected officials can relate to wanting a way to escape the never-ending political arguments.
Whether you're a republican, democrat, libertarian, independent or anything in between, pro wrestling gives you a way to be entertained without having to hear about everything going on in the world of politics. In this day and age, that is priceless.
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