Graduating From Watching Wrestling

With today's wrestling product not as controversial or edgy as it once was, it's common to find people quickly lose interest in watching each week. Of course, there'll always be those group of people who will declare that the Attitude Era was the greatest thing to ever happen to wrestling, and I'm not saying it isn't, but they have to face the facts: it's not coming back. Any attempt to recreate something will not be as good as the original, I can promise you that. A lot of fans today were probably watching back then and are comparing today's product to back then. That's all fine and dandy, but you just have to appreciate wrestling for what it is today. It could be ten times worse. We all complain about what certain companies are doing wrong, but more than likely, there's probably a lot more things they're doing right. What I'm trying to get at is that because wrestling evolved so drastically in the last decade, many fans start to see themselves distance themselves from the product. 

Whether it be because they're no longer interested or just can't allow themselves to watch it, they essentially graduate from being a wrestling fan. I, for one, started watching wrestling back in early 2008 when I was still 12 years old, much later than most fans, so I'll probably be a wrestling fan for longer since I wasn't a fan at the times when it was so different. I once had a good friend (who've I've mentioned countless times before) who had been watching since she was a toddler. She never missed an episode of Raw until 2011 came around, where she only watched a few episodes from time to time. That's another thing. Once you reach your teenage years and beyond, you might not even have time to watch wrestling. Luckily, I do have the time (I know, call me a loser) so I'm able to watch, write, and talk about wrestling. What made me somewhat sad about the whole scenario was that when I first met her, the only thing she ever talked about was one day becoming a WWE Diva. Hell, she even got insulted when I made a crack about the Divas division and she automatically hated me for a week. That's how determined she was on one day working for WWE. 

As time went on, she found herself interested in other things, and eventually found that dream staying just a dream and not pursuing it. However, that's not even the sad part. That's just reality. She never went through this phase, but plenty of other fans I once knew do. There will always be those former fans that will distance themselves so much from the product that they'll start to think they're better than it. You know those people who constantly look down on wrestling and see no positive in it at all? Yeah, they become those people. Mocking people who still do watch and love wrestling. It's truly sad, as they gradually transform into what they once hated. Some fans are even ashamed of watching wrestling, feeling the need to cover up the fact that they watch it often in front of their friends so that they don't feel embarrassed or different from everyone else. I'm not saying you should walk into school/work wearing the full John Cena attire or anything, but what's the shame in being a wrestling fan? 

These days, we're the minority, so sometimes it's good to like things that others might not be interested in. It makes you unique, different, and an exotic person. I hope those reading this blog won't undergo the same phase, as it's truly disheartening to others and certainly a slap in the face to anyone who's ever watched wrestling. As I previously said, I've been a wrestling fan for only a few years, but I find myself falling in love with it more and more each day. Will that change at some point? Possibly, but for now, I'm proud to say I'm an avid pro wrestling fan.