Why I love pro-wrestling, and why I think every fan should too

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk

Greetings, Reader.

I don’t know if you’ve read any of my articles before or even recognise my name, but this is my twentieth article. I’ve done six list articles, six opinion-based articles, two articles about wrestling rumours, and five kayfabe articles, but I would like to use this landmark to speak to you directly about an opinion of mine, and for the first time, use first person. I’m going to pour my heart out about why I love wrestling, and why I think every fan should too, in the best way I know how to: a long, four page piece.

To start, I would like to point out that the very concept of wrestling is stupid. A number of men or women grappling in front of an audience, wearing what can pretty much be called underwear and covering themselves in oil to make themselves look shiny.

That’s what a normal person would see. To me, wrestling is an art. It’s a craft that is beautiful in its own way. It’s not just a random sequence of people trying to kill each other, it’s a lot more than that.

An amazing classic: Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat

It’s literature, it’s drama, it’s combat, it’s sport, it’s inspiration, it’s comedy, it’s horror, it’s gore, it’s beauty, it’s shock, it’s madness. Wrestling isn’t really like anything else.

But how? In obviousness, wrestling is combat, sport, gore, horror and madness. But what about the rest?

Literature doesn’t have to be restricted to screenplays, novels, and poetry. Wrestling is a form of literature too. Every outcome that takes place, every promo that’s cut, every big spot that takes place, all of it for a reason. It’s doesn’t just happen for the sake of it.

Take Daniel Bryan’s story leading to WrestleMania XXX for example.

Daniel Bryan was the babyface underdog everyone wanted to see succeed, just because everyone who mattered told him he couldn’t. But it did. And it was an exceptional moment. At SummerSlam 2013, Daniel Bryan pinned John Cena, the top dog, clean, with no nonsense, and won the WWE Championship.

But within minutes it all came crashing down. Triple H, who everyone thought was on Daniel Bryan’s side, turned on him and allowed Randy Orton to walk away with the gold, and why? Because Daniel Bryan was “too small, too ugly, and not the right man to lead a global corporation”. This was something that made everyone sympathise with Bryan for. It was unfair, cruel, and we all wanted redemption.

After months of struggle, Bryan clawed his way to the top, at WrestleMania XXX, defeating the legendary Triple H in one match, and the sure-to-be Hall Of Famers Batista and Randy Orton in another, all with an injured shoulder.

The feeling of joy when Bryan held up his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in victory was one of the best WrestleMania moments of all time, and it was masterful storytelling.

An amazing payoff for such a magnificent struggle

That is how wrestling is a form of literature, and also drama and inspiration. And when Bryan was stripped of his title due to an injury, we were all heart-broken. Then he came back, won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31, and all seemed well again. But then the same thing happened. And this time we don’t know if he’ll ever wrestle again. I really hope that this isn’t the end of Daniel Bryan.

But what I truly love about this sport is its shock value. Take, for example, WrestleMania XXX again.

Everybody in the world expected The Undertaker to win that night. After winning twenty-one times at WrestleMania, who would have thought otherwise? He had defeated Edge, Batista, CM Punk, Triple H, Mark Henry, Kane and even ended Shawn Michaels’ career with the Streak, among many other opponents. But that night I was proven wrong.

The match itself, with Brock Lesnar, was putting me to sleep. After all, Taker was getting old, and the man has given everything to the wrestling industry, truly a legend in every form of the word. But that night he gave back even more than we ever thought he would. I was lying down on my couch watching the match, expecting The Undertaker to eventually hit a Tombstone Piledriver that would put Lesnar away, but WWE made me nearly fall off the couch. After a third F-5, Brock Lesnar pinned Taker, and in my head I counted to two, expecting that to be Taker’s kick-out. But there was a third count which I didn’t count along to.

Like everyone in the crowd, after yelling “What?”, I was as silent as a lamb. All I did was glue my eyes to the television screen and try to process in my head if what I saw actually happened. After realising I wasn’t dreaming, the shock inside me turned to anger towards WWE for letting a part-timer end the seemingly immortal Streak, but after a few days I understood that it was the right thing to do. Nobody expected it, making it one of the best moments ever, and Brock Lesnar was elevated to a level of domination like no other. Even though he was barely around, every time he was, it was always deadly, and still is.

And that, in my opinion, is what makes wrestling. It’s the moments. Good, bad, scary, funny, it’s all in the moments.

Everybody remembers Hogan slamming Andre, not the whole match. And that’s just one example. It’s all about the small things that make the largest of impacts.

How iconic was it when Warrior pinned Hogan clean? Just like when Bryan, Punk or Owens did to Cena. It wasn’t the match that defined them, it was the sheer brilliance of the moments. Who would ever forget JR’s echoing words: “The Austin Era has begun!”? Ask yourself: Was the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven so popular for the match, or for the aftermath? Surely, it’s the aftermath. It was the end of arguably the biggest rivalry of all time between Steve Austin and Vince McMahon.

What do we all cherish more? Chris Benoit’s victory at WrestleMania XX, or his celebration with Eddie Guerrero after it? The same could be said about Eddie, do we all look back on the match with Brock Lesnar, or do we look back at the moment where he held his championship up in victory? Do we all remember the main event of WrestleMania XXX or the final celebration more fondly? The same can be said about WrestleMania 31.

We all remember this moment more than the match

The building blocks of wrestling is all in the moments. And moments aren’t just aftermaths or celebrations. They’re big spots too.

Of course, the one that springs to mind instantly is Mankind’s two falls at King Of The Ring 1998, and also his fall at No Way Out 2000, or even his fall through a flaming table at WrestleMania 22. But of course it doesn’t need to be so huge, just like Austin stunning McMahon for the first time.

I’ve been watching since September 2011. Sure, I haven’t lived through as many moments as many other fans, but I’ve lived through some pretty great ones.

The first one that I can remember feeling big came at Survivor Series that year, and it wasn’t The Rock delivering a Rock Bottom to John Cena after their victory that night. It was the night when CM Punk’s legendary WWE Championship reign began, when he made Alberto Del Rio tap out. It will always feel like a significant night for me. The same kind of scenario came at WrestleMania XXVIII, when The Rock beat John Cena, but I was more concerned about the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho, which is one of my favourite matches of all time. The next night when Brock Lesnar returned, I was genuinely shocked when he attacked John Cena, because back then I wasn’t an internet fan like I am now.

Around the time I was introduced to the internet wrestling fandom, Daniel Bryan’s redemption story was taking place, and I’ve already described how WrestleMania XXX was.

The time I ‘marked out’ more than ever was at Survivor Series last year. Not only was Dolph Ziggler the sole survivor, but Sting finally debuted in a WWE ring. It was a moment for the ages, bigger than anything I had ever lived through. Sure, I might’ve been happier when Seth Rollins cashed in at WrestleMania 31, but this was a much bigger spectacle.

Of course, wrestling wouldn’t be wrestling without the actual wrestling, and I truly believe that this generation of wrestling fans are lucky in this aspect. The in-ring beauty is better than ever in my opinion, not just in WWE, but the independent circuit is larger than ever. And of course, there is NXT. Classics include The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels, PAC vs Prince Devitt, CM Punk vs John Cena, Daniel Bryan vs John Cena, CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan, Cesaro vs Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho vs CM Punk, and many, many more. For a technical and high-flying fan like me, it makes for some highly entertaining classics.

For the most part, I’ve covered the first part of the headline, but what about the second part?

Well, wrestling fans, in all honesty, aren’t always happy. This could be because they simply want the Attitude Era to ‘return’, aren’t content with the talent being used, and numerous other reasons. Some say that WWE has too many childish angles, but to me, those just add to the fun. of course there will always be serious feuds, but some comedic ones are fun additions.

I believe that the best way to enjoy wrestling is to just allow anything to happen. By this I mean leave the booking to the bookers and don’t try to make everything the way you want it. I’m not saying you can’t want things to happen, but the way some fans react when things don’t go their way is, in my opinion, disgraceful. Sure, I have outcomes that Iwant too, but I’m open to anything. I wanted Roman Reigns to win at Money In The Bank, but I was really happy when Bray Wyatt interrupted as well. But there were a lot of people that were unhappy that Sheamus won, without even knowing what would happen next. That’s why I said the booking should be left to the bookers, and the fans should just have one role: enjoy themselves.

Wrestling seems to be heading in the right direction. With NXT there appears to be a certain roster of amazing talent in the WWE, and with the independent circuit growing even more, there will certainly be more choice.

Wrestling is an art. And it always will be. It’s more of an aquired taste, but I for one, love wrestling. And I hope everyone else who does, enjoyed reading this.