What makes a real wrestling fan?

[Ryukuma]

Alright well ive seen various threads throughout different areas, and I would like to know if their is some special criteria im missing that makes you a real wrestling fan.

I've read that if you didn't like wrestlemania 24 then your not a real fan, and if you weren't sad about flair being gone then your not a fan.

Personally I was very happy flair was gone because I find him dull, and even back then I didn't like him, He always bored me whenever he stepped in the ring. And yet some people will tell me im not a fan because I don't enjoy flair and am happy hes gone. I don't care if you like him or hate him, or you liked or hated WM24. Its all opinion. So please tell me your thoughts.

 

[Shadowmancer]

A real Wrestling Fan is one that doesn't just look at the Business side of Pro Wrestling but as the art form that it can be and is. They look at the History of Pro Wrestling and Old Matches and watch them to better understand the place Wrestling has in Culture today, and for enjoyment. has an open mind when it comes to new Wrestlers and a closed one when it comes to their personal favourites.

 

[Hillman]

I don't think there is criteria to be a real wrestling fan. If you enjoy watching wrestling and you're really into it, you're a real fan. I disagree with Shadowmancer that you need to watch old matches to understand the business in order to be a real fan.

My six year old brother knows everything about wrestling today (WWE and TNA). He knows all the wrestlers, storylines, moves, and finishers, but he has no idea who Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bruno Sammartino are. My kid bro knows more about today's wrestling than my friends who claim to be "real fans."

Doesn't that make my lil bro more of a real wrestling fan than my friends?

 

[HBK-aholic]

There shouldn't be criteria, or a list, or someone saying you aren't a true wrestling fan. If you enjoy the product, then you're a fan of wrestling. End of.

 

[S92]

A real Wrestling Fan is one that doesn't look at the Business side of Pro Wrestling but as the art form that it can be and is. They look at the History of Pro Wrestling and Old Matches and watch them to better understand the place Wrestling has in Culture today, and for enjoyment. has an open mind when it comes to new Wrestlers and a closed one when it comes to their personal favourites.

I totally disagree. I look at the Business side of Pro Wrestling, I even based my Business Modelling class project around a wrestling company. I care little to none for the History of Pro wrestling. I wasn't around to experience the passion and emotion that those men brought to the ring, but I'm here now to experience the passion and emotion that our generation brings to the ring, and that's more than enough. A closed mind for our favorites? I'm confused. How can something be our favorite and yet we are closed-minded toward it? A real fan is one who turns on the TV whenever he or she can, and sits back and enjoys the athletic (or dramatic) spectacle in front of us. You don't need to go out and buy a 700$ ticket to be a fan, and that's the beauty of it.

 

[Shadowmancer]

I forgot the word Just in there.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Close minded in the case of say someone that is closeminded to the bad stuff about the Wrestler.

 

[Ryukuma]

Im glad to see many people agree that being a true wrestling fan, has to do with what you enjoy. I dont really understand why a person who just wants to watch something to entertain them should understand the history behind them. If he wants to then its his choice, but to be a true fan of something, I believe the only thing you need to do is enjoy watching it

 

[Shadowmancer]

Well Technically everyone here is a fan of Sports Entertainment. Rather than Wrestling. Old School matches are Wrestling. The Modern stuff is now pretty much all sports entertainment now.

 

[Ryukuma]

Well Technically everyone here is a fan of Sports Entertainment. Rather than Wrestling. Old School matches are Wrestling. The Modern stuff is now pretty much all sports entertainment now.

But then shadow if your going to debate it like that, then you might as well say that your an old school wrestling fan, and that real wrestling fan is someone who knew of kurt angle before the olympics, and someone who loves to watch all the amateur pro wrestling. I mean honestly whats the point into breaking it down. If we keep analyzing the way you are then by logic none of us are real wrestling fans, and that we all get broken down into different sections of wrestling fans which becomes rapidly confusing

 

[Slyfox696]

There is no such thing as a "real" wrestling fan. That's just a term some people like to throw around in order to feel important, in my opinion.

A wrestling fan is a wrestling fan, no matter what kind of wrestling they enjoy, who they enjoy, or why they enjoy it. To make a distinction is silly, and in my mind, reeks of arrogance.

Professional wrestling holds so many different possibilities for so many different viewers, who is to say why one avenue of wrestling is better than another? In the end, wrestling is about entertainment, and if a fan is interested in one aspect of the entertainment, then he/she is no less of a fan than another.

HOWEVER, I will say this. If there were such a distinction, many people who call themselves "real" wrestling fans would never be so. If there were a distinction, a "real" wrestling fan would be one who pays for the product and enjoys it the way it was meant to be enjoyed, not someone who downloads all the pay-per-view shows, pirates all the merchandise, and then comes online to talk about how bad the quality was.

Well Technically everyone here is a fan of Sports Entertainment. Rather than Wrestling. Old School matches are Wrestling. The Modern stuff is now pretty much all sports entertainment now.

Any match that is scripted, no matter how long ago it may have been, is "Sports Entertainment"/Professional Wrestling.

Wrestling is what you see in the Olympics or in the NCAA. Professional wrestling/sports entertainment is what happens when two or more guys work together for the purpose of entertaining fans to the point they are willing to give money over to watch.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Wrestling in the sense of the WWE, TNA, and so forth, the only criteria I can see in being called a "real wrestling fan" is someone who not only watches the product but is willing to suspend their disbelief enough to enjoy it. If you don't watch it, you're not a fan, obviously, and if you watch it just to criticize it, then why bother? But I think most of us want to be entertained, and to do so, you have to have a certain level of suspension of disbelief, or you're just gullible enough to think that the Undertaker really has powers and such lol.

A true wrestling fan doesn't need to read spoilers and such, but they don't have to stay away from the insider knowledge either. A true wrestling fan doesn't need to spend a certain $ amount per year on merchandise and so forth. A true wrestling fan doesn't need to do research from eons ago, as we all started watching wrestling at whatever the current time it was (for me, 96) and became a fan through that time frame, not by just going back and watching the previous decades to catch up to the present. Little kids can be hardcore wrestling fans and might not have even been born to see the Iron Man Match at WrestleMania 12, and they don't need to see it to appreciate the current product, just to enhance it. All a true wrestling fan needs to do is watch on a regular basis, enjoy what they're watching, and form their own opinions - whether it be something like the boo/cheer ratio for Cena, or just getting the goosebumps while the opening pyro goes on.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Id call myself a real wrestling fan. I pretty much agree with what Sly says. I pay money to watch, go to live events, and dont look at spoilers. I am positive most of the time about whats going on, and enjoy it, instead of picking apart every last thing that is wrong with it. While I admit that there are things that could probably be done better, I dont let it ruin things for me. If there was a live wrestling show on every night, id watch it every night. Becuase I love pro wrestling.