I am a social media reject; you know someone who just doesn’t get it. One day while I was lost in a sea of political memes and cat photos on facebook, I decided to tap out. While I don’t judge those who use and love social platforms I admittedly don’t understand the overabundance of negativity (and cats for that matter) on all types of social media. Whether its facebook, twitter, snap chat, instagram, yik yak or tumblr, they all seem to lean heavily on the side of anger, frustration, hopelessness and the occasional overtly hostile rant. No where does this seem more apparent to me then viewing social media posts, and there are lots of them, about wrestling.
Being a fan of multiple sports I can honestly say I have never read a baseball or hockey fan state that they are just giving up on the whole sport because of a bad game, injury to their favorite player or questionable coaching move. Yet I read just this thing anytime I bother to look at a blog site, twitter feed or facebook post on wrestling. I see desperation, sadness, frustration and at times unbridled hate being posted and re-posted in an endless echo chamber of negative like minds. And all of this makes no sense to me. If you don’t like what you are seeing, why not try something different? If the WWE is driving you crazy then switch the channel. There is literally a plethora of alternatives that will likely remind you that wrestling is supposed to be fun.
In fact, it’s supposed to be stupid, crazy fun. I mean where else can you see women and men in their underwear and/or modified tankinis slapping each other silly. At the last Full Impact Pro, “Everything Burns,” I literally saw a dildo, suction cupped to a chair, used quite creatively throughout one match. Thank you Johnny Vandal and Maxwell Chicago! Now I can die happy knowing 30 ways to inflict pain on others with gross sex toys.
Seriously before sending that next angry tweet , stop and breathe. Beyond the valley of the divas, there is some really amazing and dare I say groundbreaking things happening in the world of wrestling. Simply sit through one episode of Lucha Underground, Chikara and/or Ring of Honor and tell me you are not amazed, impressed or hooked. There is a whole universe of fascinating and wonderful characters, athletes and story lines that will likely make you smile, feel invested or just give you a welcome distraction from real life. The day to day grind is all the negativity we need, why waste time finding more.
WRESTLING IN FLORIDA: An Insider Look at Professional Wrestling 