My Obsession

            I’m attending Drexel to study Game Art & Production, so it wouldn’t be that far off to think that my obsession is video games, and while they have been and still are a huge part of my life, my true passion revolves around the world of professional wrestling. When most people hear the words pro wrestling, they will usually think of it as some big fake soap opera, and honestly, they’re not entirely wrong.

Wrestling is fake, but not in the sense that most people think. It’s fake as in it’s predetermined. The winners and losers are known before the start of the match, the champions are picked by the bookers, and the wrestlers “fighting” in the ring are actually working together to put on a show. The athletes in the ring do get hurt and injured, though. In an Interview with Men’s Fitness, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan was quoted in saying, “I don’t care how perfectly straight I lay you out, or how perfectly you’ve practiced landing in a way that breaks your fall, if I pick you up and body slam you to the canvas, I guarantee you it’s gonna hurt like hell” (Hogan 78).

Wrestling is a soap opera, too. There’s intricate storylines with rivalries, love interests, betrayals, and basically anything you’d find in your average soap opera, even the more outlandish things like evil twins. Personally, pro wrestling would be pretty boring if it wasn’t a soap opera, and I think the majority of fans would agree. Don’t get me wrong, the wrestlers are incredible athletes and put on some great matches in the ring, but without the story surrounding the match, why should I care that these two guys or girls are fighting? At that point, I might as well go watch something like UFC because while there usually isn’t any story behind the fights, at least they’re legitimate.

            When people see me wearing a wrestling shirt or find out I’m a fan, I actually do get asked a lot why I don’t watch something real like UFC, and the main reason is the storylines. I’m not in it to watch two guys just beat the life out of each other, I’m in it for the journey up to, during, and after the match. One of my favorite matches of all time is Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, and while it is easily one of the best pro wrestling matches in history, the story surrounding it adds so much to it. Michaels was fighting for his career and The Undertaker was fighting to keep his WrestleMania winning streak alive. Their feud was actually going on for over a year as they fought a year prior at the same event, which ended with Undertaker extending his streak to 17-0. Michaels believed he could beat the streak once and for all if he was given another shot, but Taker felt he had nothing to prove after beating him once already. Shawn went to great lengths just to get Taker to agree to the match, even screwing Taker out of the World Heavyweight Championship, and it eventually culminated in Michael’s putting his career on the line. Once the bell rung, they told a story in the middle of that ring. Neither man was going to give up, but as the match was winding down, Undertaker had the upper hand and was reading to finish off Michaels. Ever resilient, Michaels stood up, performed Taker’s signature cutthroat taunt, and slapped him across the face. After that, Undertaker hit his finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver, and the ref counted the 1, 2, 3. Shawn Michael’s professional wrestling career was over. Undertaker’s character was basically that of the devil and he very rarely broke that, but when all was said and done, he shook Michael’s hand and hugged him out of respect.

            Stories, characters, and matches like that are the reason my obsession is wrestling. If all those components and factors never change, neither will my obsession.

Works Cited

Hogan, Hulk. "As Real as It Gets." Men's Fitness. Weider Publications, Nov. 2009: 78. Print.