As I was mindlessly scrolling Twitter the other day in search of something to smile about, I came across a post from Mike Bailey. Mike’s nerd brain and overall humor routinely make his timeline one of the best on social media, so it’s no surprise that I found my smile after reading one of his posts, but fleeting happiness wasn’t the only thing I felt as I read his words and laughed at the bucket on his head.
Mike wrote about what people thought pro wrestling was – generalizations I’ve often heard from new and casual fans alike. Then, pivoting on a dime, he described pro wrestling in reality, with the sensational humor and sarcasm that only he could. It made me laugh so hard that my tummy hurt. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and while I’m far from being “in the business,” what he described created vivid pictures in my mind and sent me over the edge into uncontrollable hilarity.
I appreciated his humor, don’t get me wrong, but I sensed a deeper meaning. Through the hysterics, I felt my heart surge a few sizes. It’s clear that Speedball loves wrestling. I’ve never once doubted that. But what I felt was a monumental dedication and appreciation for his chosen profession, which just happens to be this amazing thing that we all love so much.
I’m sure there are many new fans who may see his post and laugh without feeling anything more, and that’s fine. If you’re reading this though, you are me. Fans don’t read wrestling features online without being absolutely and completely in it. Right? Please seek out Mike’s post and feel what I felt. It’s worth your time, as is he. Follow him and board the Bailey train as it powers toward the top. Make no mistake, that’s where he is headed, and soon.
Anyway, the point of this feature. I thought it would be fun to take Mike’s post and write it from the point of view of a lifelong fan. Me. Now, I’m nowhere near as funny as Speedball, so don’t expect laughs, but I can absolutely convey how dearly I hold being a fan of professional wrestling for 25 years. That I can do. So, let’s do it.
Thank you for the inspiration, Mike. You have no idea how much a random silly Twitter post impacted my day. I needed it.
People think that pro wrestling is for children.
People think that pro wrestling is lame and corny.
People think that pro wrestling is fake.
But in reality…
Pro wrestling is about being the glue that holds my life together when everything around me is falling apart. You’d think that would be a rare occurrence, but anxiety and trauma are relentless hags. When I fall, it catches me. It grounds me. It tucks me in at night and keeps me company in my dreams.
Pro wrestling is about taking a little girl who didn’t belong anywhere and showing her a fairytale land that was violent and beautiful and magical and REAL. I wasn’t the only kid that felt out of place – for a multitude of reasons. I know because I personally know many of them now. They’re fans, just like me, all these years later still.
Pro wrestling is about rebuilding my heart when all that remained was a black tattered mess. For a long period of time, I lost my smile. Being able to watch wrestling allowed me to smile again. It allowed me to hope again. It allowed me to have dreams again.
Pro wrestling is about watching human beings living the dreams of hopeful and optimistic children. It’s about getting to play and pretend and create every day. It’s about part of a childhood never truly ending and seeing those last sparks in the eyes of those lucky and determined enough to do it for a career.
Pro wrestling is about a lonely girl with no friends, who works too hard, cries too much, and wishes for more. Because of the larger pro wrestling community, that girl has the closest friends she has ever had, those who can be talked to about anything and everything. That girl still works hard, but she doesn’t let it consume her very soul any longer. She finds time for rest and for fun. She finds time to laugh and be happy. That girl still cries too much, but she’s figured out that’s just who she is, and that’s ok. As for wishing for more, she still does, but because of pro wrestling she knows she can and that more exists and is attainable.
Pro wrestling is about bonding with my grandfather. It’s about the memories I will always have of him and the pride he took in teaching me about its glorious history. It’s about his arm wrapped around me as we watched any number of people absolutely wallop Ric Flair only for him to wiggle out of trouble for another agonizing victory. It’s about his smile anytime Dusty Rhodes talked on screen. It’s about how much he admired Terry Funk for the courage and grit he showed in the ring. I have those memories, as real as they were when he was still alive, because of pro wrestling.
Pro wrestling is about not being perfect. No one is. Try telling that to a teenage girl and see if she understands.. I was a very sad teenager. A very broken one. I still struggle with many things, but I look back at that girl and my heart still breaks for her. That girl was dead set on not healing. For a long time, she had no love in her heart for anything. Do you know what was there when she thought she had no one else? Pro wrestling. She counted on it. Every week. And it was there. Every week. It gave her something to look forward to, something she couldn’t miss. It was a life jacket to someone who was drowning, one she didn’t have to be thrown because it was already there for her.
Pro wrestling is about a community of people – the craziest, nerdiest, wildest, sweetest, most genuine and sincere human beings there are on the planet. I firmly believe that while no one argues and digs in as much as we do, that no one loves like we do either. No one protects our own like we do. No one flocks to help a brother or sister in need like we do. No on uplifts and supports someone struggling or someone succeeding like we do. We are a family. And this thing we love is ours.
Pro wrestling is about feeling unworthy of a whisper but finding a voice that’s respected and desired. I never thought that anyone would care what I had to say or want to employ me to write for them. I was wrong. Without pro wrestling, I never would have known the joy that writing for others gives me. It has changed my life. It has allowed me the opportunity to nurture my own smile but also pass along smiles to others, and now I can’t imagine ever not doing that. It is the greatest honor of my life, being depended on for a slice of joy during an otherwise bad day.
Pro wrestling is about never growing up, not all the way. People laugh at us. They mock us. They explain the many ways we’re wrong for enjoying what we do. It used to bother me. Now? I feel pity for them. Because what we have is a direct connection to the child within our soul who wanted nothing more than to chop Chris Jericho as hard as we could, or to gorilla press slam the Undertaker, or to do a moonsault onto a nearly beaten Trish Stratus. They are still in there and we get to hang out with them every time we turn the television on, to whichever wrestling is our favorite. For that inner child, anything is still possible. And for us, tell me you still don’t want to do any of those things and more. I dare you!
Pro wrestling is about both escaping and living in the moment. It’s about having a bad day and being able to forget about it for a couple hours. It’s about feeling sick but being symptom free during your favorite’s match. It’s about going through an awful break up and not feeling like your world is burning for just a second. It’s about catching your breath and losing it again watching Darby Allin simply exist. It’s about feeling empty inside and The Elite filling you with more feelings that you thought existed. It’s about feeling lonely and Jamie Hayter reminding you that you don’t want to be alone forever.
Do you see yet? Do you get it?
Pro wrestling is about EVERYTHING.
It’s the good and the bad, the big and the small, the significant and insignificant. Dreams and reality. Life and death. Successes and failures.. Love.
It’s all of that and so much more.
When someone asks me what pro wrestling means to me, it’s always such a difficult thing to answer. Not because I don’t know, but because I do. It’s not a quick answer. It’s layered. It’s emotional. It’s my life story.
And if you’re reading this, I bet it’s yours too.
