Wrestling

Wrestling is uncool. This is the cry that you hear in most locations these days but there was a time, in the mid 90s, when it was the best thing since sliced bread, where the Monday night wars had pushed two larger-than-life brands, the WWE and WCW trip competing for supremacy.

This created the money night wars and growing up during this time I was able to buy a small offset of this and that was through my friends.

We did not have Sky and we're therefore unable to join in with everyone else but to seem cool, I would pretend. Wait for others to speak first and then jump on the back of what they had said, which didn't work as well as it does these days, where anyone with internet access can learn about a subject quickly and easily.

In this era, we were forced to rely on what we could read in a magazine/newspaper, saw on TV or heard from our friends, it was in many ways seen era of trust.

We had a greater level of faith in our surroundings and this was where despite the consideration that we could see that what we were witnessing on TV was not real, as being hit by barbed wire would truly hurt in real life, we were invested in the story.

Kids would chant Y2J randomly and the Hardy Boyz could still wrestle with Lita. It was an era that I missed, yet through the means of the internet and having disposable income myself, have been able to catch up, yet do have to admit that even my enduring love has now faded and in all honesty, I rarely watch wrestling anymore.

WWE NXT

The initial NXT era, before it went to two hours was great, the perfect transition from TNA. Something gripping that felt unique and new with established stars from outside the wee warning their stripes before being permitted to join the main roster.

At an hour long, with quarterly pay per views, it was perfect for someone with a growing schedule of work and social. Easy to digest and then it went to two hours and the heart and soul seemed to fall out of the bottom of the show. It went from must see to struggle almost overnight, which was such a shame as that was the one tempting thread in my wrestling arsenal.

Then COVID came along and ever since then I've not felt the desire to re-subscribe, yet there is a part of me that will always remember, especially the social connection with some of my friends. One of the closest still regularly dabbles into the foray, with watching WWE but for me, it feels as though the time has expired and my own wrestling bubble has burst.

AEW All In

WWE's main competitor has drawn me out of retirement, yet despite dabbling and watching on the night before my wedding, I have not been drawn back to a full-time schedule

It did, however, draw me back to the fold with their headline show at Wembley Stadium. I booked tickets for me and a friend. The close friend that I used to attend all of the TNA events with, who got me into TNA and that I watched an NXT Takeover at Wembley Arena.

Now given what I have said above, I do have to ask myself if I went because I wanted to see wrestling, or to have an excuse to see my friend or was it simply, nostalgia? I don't really have the answer to this question and drop down I think that it's a mix of nostalgia and the social as I feel that I have moved on from wrestling.

I never considered that it would happen but the fact is my wife and I will be looking to start a family soon, the job I have requires more attention than any before and the reality is that the free time I have reduces every year and therefore if I am not regularly drawn in today, would a one-off show draw me back? Most likely it will not but it will be great to catch up with my friend, for whom I struggle to see as much as I used to.

Wrestlemania 40

For a long time I wanted to go to Wrestlemania 40 but writing this after tickets have been released and seeing the prices, I can no longer justify this decision, especially with the consideration that my interest is no longer at the height of where it used to be, yet I do have that lingering question of would I regret not going?

I am waiting to see if my wife and I have children, to see if they become interested in the subject, which would then draw me back in to the world and I would have a need to watch again? Would this then be a more appropriate use of money? I am unsure and half of me would worry if our children enjoyed wrestling as it is by no means popular anymore.

I would want our children to follow their hearts and secretly I am waiting for that potential moment where they get drawn in, which in turn then draws me into that world again, potentially heading to Wrestlemania in the future for not only our children but for me also.

A Final Thought

I will always have a place in my heart for wrestling, as I spent many nights in my secondary school isolation watching the uncut version of Raw, setting the VCR to record late in the evening and then trading tapes with other kids at school, which then translated into university and then growing to a much larger love.

In many ways, the only reason I do not watch anymore is time-related. For the consideration that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done and other priorities have taken over my life, which I am a little sad about but everything has its time.