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We are kind of the worst. Armchair quarterbacking how things should have been and how wrestling could be better happens in every single era. All the celebrities who are wrestling in matches are “ruining the business” and fans rejecting who was pushed can be said today as much as I could be said in the Attitude Era, ’80s WWF era, and the days of the territories.
We always long for the “good old days” that weren’t always all that much better. Rose-colored lenses can help us admire what was great in a bygone era, with all of the memories of what we loved in younger days, but put on a lens of perspective and we can really look at history.
Dennis Rodman, Lawrence Taylor, Mr. T, and Andy Kaufman all were involved in wrestling matches, and that’s skipping over other many other ones and in other eras. Some of them were terrible and some brought a new audience while lending the “cool factor” a celebrity brought with them, saying that they endorse professional wrestling. What do we give many of them in return? Boos and rejection and reasons why *insert name here* was being robbed of TV time. Then we wonder why wrestling has problems being accepted by the mainstream and advertisers see the audience as low brow.
I took a break from wrestling news sites for a couple of years a while back. I stopped and still don’t interact in message boards or tweet back and forth about wrestling with fans I don’t know anymore and have zero plans to do that again. If you see me at a wrestling show, call into a PWTorch Aftershow I co-host, or stop by Nerdstalgia at a comic con or in our store (opening soon in the Citadel Mall of Colorado Springs – see more at http://nerdstalgia.shop), and we can talk wrestling.
I love to talk about wrestling, but I hate arguing, and there’s way too much of that about a TV show centered on character drama that leads to fake fights. I say that on no way to disrespect the art of wrestling, but to remind us that it’s art. The arguing was killing my love of wrestling.
With any work of art, whether it’s paintings, music, film, or professional wrestling, it’s very subjective. Art comes from the mind of the creator. The hope is that the audience will enjoy the art you’re creating. While wrestling is far from the only fandom with the toxic levels of criticism, maybe we can be better.
Wanting It Now
With phones in our pockets, streaming on demand, and upgrades that can get rid of ads on so many apps, it’s easy to have a short attention span. It’s why many people like me who had learned to cope with undiagnosed ADHD eventually had a breaking point where our brains became overwhelmed. It’s why people who don’t understand ADHD say things like, “I think I have ADHD.” Our attention spans have been ruined.
Apply that attention span to wrestling and we have a Queen song scenario where we want it all and we want it now! I heard many people that were disappointed by Cody Rhodes losing at WrestleMania 39, only to get what I would argue was a better reign a year later. The dragons he slayed and adversities he overcame had him sheered in the rematch we got, only to boo the man a year later because people were growing sick of him? People clamored for a John Cena heel turn, only to say how disappointing he is as a heel. Sometimes my kids want ice cream for dinner; that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.
I’m not saying that’s it’s not fun to “re-book” a territory, but we can spend so much time not liking something that it’s unhealthy. We can’t even enjoy what’s going well or the wrestlers who are giving their all for our attention.
So much chatter right now is to see Cody Rhodes turn heel. Would that be great? I think it could be, but I also think that Cody is one of the best babyfaces we’ve had in decades and we should be appreciative of that. There’s a feud with Drew McIntyre I still want to see. There are children that adore him. There are networks with expectations. Point is, what some want isn’t what all want. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that it’s okay to simply enjoy what’s presented, and that if we anticipate or want something, the anticipation is a big part of the fun.
They Suck
This goes for so many forms of entertainment. All too often people will hate something that the public enjoys in order to show that they have better taste than the masses. I know that personally all too well because I grew up a punk rock fan yelling “sellout” to many a band who signed onto a major label and their sound would evolve. We want to show that we are more than a consumer of what’s popular, we really love this art form. If you think Green Day is cool, you have got to hear Bad Religion! We want to show that fan of the shallower aspects to what we enjoy everything that makes this wonderful, without stopping to think about what it is that they like.
I never liked John Cena as a top guy. Wasn’t my era, and I found his humor mostly lowest common denominator. He didn’t wrestle like I wanted him to wrestle. His STF looked weak. Everyone kicked out of his finisher because it wasn’t a good one. I could sit and tell you a list of reasons why I didn’t like him. I stuck to enjoying other parts of the show and knew that eventually his era would pass and a new star would rise. Then my kids started watching with me. Their favorite wrestler was the guy in bright colors teaching them hustle, loyalty, and respect. I got it. I started to understand the appeal.
It’s not about me, it’s about the brand. Any brand has to make a decision of who they are and what they’re aspiring to be. I’d argue that without that, any brand will fail. WWE decided who they were, and knew what they aspired to be, and John Cena was the vehicle that was going to get them there. I saw this more after Cena left full-time wrestling for Hollywood. He’s the best brand ambassador the company can have. He’s handsome and charming. He’s witty and can get an audience to laugh and engage. Now mainstream audiences see this guy as the top guy from wrestling branching out to do more. Not a muscle head who can’t act. Not a man with a checkered past. Not Chris Benoit. Was he the best wrestler? No, but he’s the best wrestler for this role.
Just because something isn’t our preference doesn’t mean it sucks. It means not everything is for you.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Assuming We Know What’s Going On
Wrestling podcasts have taught me so much when it comes to old wrestling stories. In the ’90s, there were fewer ways to get news out to the public. That goes for information on any medium. You had TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and if you wanted a historical perspective after all the news was complete around a topic, a book or encyclopedia.
Wrestling had similar ways to get the news out. There were segments on TV shows, but this news was obviously either kayfabe or steered the message to what the promotion wanted you to know. The promotions would also have their in-house magazines, but you get similar issues of controlled narratives. There were outside magazines, usually the “Apter Mags” like Pro Wrestling Illustrated or The Wrestler. These were also kayfabe magazines and even the interviews were often made up, a revelation that shattered a piece of my youth. There were radio shows, but always regionally. Also, wrestling books had not quite yet become as accessible as they’d become later. We wrestling fans who were truly dedicated though found our version of newspapers, the wrestling newsletter.
Much like the ‘Zines of the underground of rock and roll, the wrestling newsletter covered things that mainstream audiences didn’t care about. There was a market for information that no one was providing, but not enough of an audience to take time from other coverage. There were two major newsletters, the Wrestling Observer and the Pro Wrestling Torch. I was a Wade Keller guy, and read and listened to many takes. I appreciated the news they provided and a well-informed take on the product he had in his writing and never felt too mean-spirited. But Wade has to filter a lot of information from a lot of sources with their own agendas, and I hope he would admit, we all have our perspectives and will report to a certain extent in a way that serves a purpose.
Wade covers certain things in certain ways, and if he doesn’t want to talk about something or if he doesn’t want to endorse what other fans enjoy, that’s his right as a journalist. That’s not always malicious, but it can be when those powers are used in a self-serving way. I write for PWTorch comfortable with the wrestling takes that are reported. That doesn’t mean I agree with all of Wade’s takes or opinions. Even a story he heard from someone who witnessed a story or they themselves were the story, will always come with perspective potentially wanting to control some aspect of the story. When we miss that, we can be easily fooled.
What’s been fun is hearing from old wrestlers and behind the scenes creative minds alternate perspectives. That doesn’t mean I trust everything Bruce Prichard or JBL say on they’re podcasts, but it opens my eyes to the fact that they way wrestling lore tells a story, may not be the entire story. I wasn’t there. I don’t know. I shouldn’t act as if I really do.
Offensive Chants
I get it. We are in an arena with heightened emotions with anywhere from dozens to thousands of like-minded fans. We don’t often get to interact with other wrestling fans, as it is a niche product that not everyone understands. So when we get together behavior may change. The one we have to do better on is the NSFTV chants.
It was one thing in an ECW area to chant “She’s a crack whore!” where it was an all-adult crowd and it wasn’t really on TV at the time. But looking back, it really doesn’t age all that well. And if you want to say I’m woke for that, I’ll tell you that you probably need to learn how to respect women. The ones I’d like to see any chants with the F-word or the “bulls—!” chants that get all chopped up on TV and YouTube clips. It makes watching unenjoyable as networks do what’s expected of advertisers or FCC regulations. It also creates an additional barrier to kids watching the product.
While it’s not a children’s show, it’s important to keep in mind for the future. To people who want an R-rated Batman movie, I’ll often ask, “When did you become a Batman fan?” When they answer as a kid, I ask if their parents let them watch R-rated movies growing up. While some would answer yes, that isn’t true is the majority of households, creating an obstacle to growing the next generation of the fanbase.
Wanting Something to Fail
Another topic broader than just wrestling fandom, but the wanting or anticipating of companies to fail is a terrible attitude to have. I hate big box retail stores. They only carry main trends, hire staff that isn’t trained on all the products they carry, and they undercut prices by buying to supply a nation of stores instead of just the market their competitors are in.
While I’d like to see business practices change, I also hate seeing all the empty Sears stores nationwide. I didn’t really shop there much anymore, so I don’t care about the company, the store, or especially upper management that ran it into the ground without it affecting their way of life.
What I do care about is every employee who lost their job, while it’s harder to find a job in that field. I care about the local building owner that isn’t able to pay his bills when a business that leased from them goes bankrupt so now that affects their pay. I care about a community that used to be able to easy find and maybe even afford to buy from one store, and are left with fewer options once the store they went to closed. Why can’t we just not shop there? Why do we feel a need to celebrate it if they do close, or show how right we were if they’d have just done what I think they should have done.
For years people wanted WCW to close, hoping someone would magically make a better wrestling promotion. Then we got TNA and people didn’t like that and wanted TNA to close. While it never did, it went through many changes. Now I hear people wish for AEW to go under, but I see that as so short-sighted.
For one, there are many fans that enjoy the product. I have my irritations, but I enjoy it more than it frustrates me, so I keep watching. There is so much wrestling available to watch in 2025. I’m sure GCW or your local indie would LOVE your support. It’s not like another company would simply take the time slot that AEW would leave behind. It would make companies less likely to take a risk on wrestling content.
Become okay with not liking something. If you can’t be okay with that, let yourself take a break. You can come back anytime. Life is short and there’s a ton to experience. Don’t live to hate. Take a look around and enjoy.
Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to Nerdstalgia.com.
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