i am a pro wrestling dork

i should've probably wrote this a long time ago.

i am a pro wrestling dork. i watch wwe events on television. i have for most of my life (except for that period of time when i first moved out from my mom's place and couldn't afford cable. then once i got cable, i had sorta forgotten about wrestling... but sure enough, with enough channel surfing on a bored monday night, there it was like it's always been. and it sucked me right back in).

so why write about this now? i just need to just get it out there. i'm not ashamed or embarrassed but i do realize that not a whole lot of people out there are watching wrestling (they're probably watching quality programming like, 'jersey shore,' honey boo boo,' or anything with a kardashian in it). pro wrestling doesn't exactly make for common water cooler talk at work the next day. plus, i can never escape the fact that it is pretty much dudes pretending to kick the shit out of each other in their underwear. and when you put it in that context, it sounds absolutely ridiculous.

and it is absolutely ridiculous. it's as ridiculous as comic books and reality television. in fact, it's almost a combo of the two.... if you combined them in this odd world of soap opera-esque bad acting. once you get past the idea that it's all staged, you're left with the story. and most of the time it's as simple as them telling you, "this is the good guy. you root for him. he fights the bad guy," classic good vs. evil type stuff. though as of late, they have done a decent job of blurring the lines a bit. i, like many wrestling fans in my age group, tend to gravitate towards rooting for bad guys (we wrestling dorks call them heels).

and ok, so the fights are staged and the decisions are predetermined. but what these dudes are doing is pretty real. there's injuries, a shitload of injuries. there's wear and tear and bumps, bruises and lacerations. they're touring all around the world all year round, wrestling doesn't have an off season. it's high pressure... performing your craft in front of thousands of people at a time and millions watching at home... knowing there's thousands of wrestling wannabes that wanna be you... and if you slip up and start to suck, they just might get the chance. so better make it look good in the squared circle (and yes, by 'it' i mean, better make two guys fighting in their underwear look good... good enough to make thousands of fans scream and holler. you try doing anything in your underwear in front of thousands of people).

i went to see monday night raw  last night, live at the izod center. and what i realized is there's a shitload of people who are fans like me. wrestling has it's own odd, not-so-mainstream audience. the fanaticism makes the atmosphere feel like an odd mix of sporting events and star trek conventions. there's posters and shirts and a crowd divided by who to root for. there's people dressed up like hulk hogan and the macho man randy savage... and those dudes came to throw on a show of their own (seriously, the two of them were in the middle of an aisle showboating and receiving a legit amount of cheers and chants from the fans around them).

before last night, i was all alone on mondays. just me and monday night raw on the tv, like it was some odd secret life i was leading. but no more. now i realize not only am i not alone, but  i have a common interest with a crowd of unique, fun loving maniacs. and if you don't get it, i get that you don't get it. it's not for everyone. we're all guilty of liking something that's not liked by others. pro wrestling happens to be my odd thing.

wrestlemania is coming around to metlife stadium (15 minutes away from me) in april. tickets go on sale november 10th. i fully intend to be at wrestlemania, with a poster in hand, screaming my head off and beholding one of the greatest spectacles there is to behold in the world of staged underwear fighting soap operas. and i can't fucking wait!