What role does wrestling play in your life?

[Uncle Sam]

Gay title I know. Quite a gay question too.

Anyway, the other day when I realised that I have wrestling posters. I'll be taking them down soon enough, don't worry. I then realised I have a lot of wrestling DVDs. I then realised that I watch more wrestling than I listen to music. That made me a little bit sad. I then remembered that I have tickets to go see TNA in Wembley Arena. That made me even sadder.

Do you feel you're a little too obsessed with wrestling? Personally, I find it odd that I have almost an even amount of wrestling DVDs as I do DVDs of TV shows or films. They have their own subcategory in my DVD collection. Now that is epic.

 

[Tim]

Sam, I think you've gone a bit overboard there.

I think I'm a little bit obsessed with wrestling, but really not that much when I think about it. I make sure I watch Raw, ECW and SmackDown each wek, taping it if I have to. I've got about 8 wrestling DVDs, but I only have about 14 DVDs and i've watched each of those wrestling DVDs at least 50 times each. And obviously, I talk about wrestling on this forum. But that's really about it. So no, I don't thnk i'm too obsessed with wrestling.

 

[Richard]

Wrestling plays a pretty big part, I'm pretty obsessed with it.

It's one of the few things my friend and I talk about all the time. We always talk about wrestling and my brother likes it aswell and we drive our sisters crazy talking about it because they hate it. We have a lot of DVD's which we watch quite often, we have lots of shirts, we have a couple of replica belts and I also buy wrestling books when I can, I have a trading card of Chris Jericho on display in my room and also I have joined this forum and talk about it more here. I can't wait until this thursday to get my RAW tickets

So yeah, it plays a big part.

 

[Rusty]

Wrestling plays a large role in my life. I have posters in my room, the WWE video games and a few WWE dvds. Thats about it. I don't really buy merchandise or any of that sort of stuff. You wont see me wearing a wrestling shirt. But I have been to a live event before and it was great. But wrestling is my escape from reality. I need to watch Raw, Smackdown and ECW every week just to take my mind off school and other things. It's like my 'alone' time. I watch iMPACT too, but I won't worry too much if I miss an episode of it.

Hardly any of my friends watch it, so I have nobody to discuss it with except for maybe one friend that sometimes watches it. Chatting about wrestling on WZ is great, and I enjoy it very much. To put it simple, Wrestling is my distraction from reality.

 

[jmt225]

From age 4 until I reached high school, if you walked in my room, all you would see is wrestling posters and pictures from wrestling magazines all over the room. You would see the uncountable amounts of action figures (which, today, I wish I would've taken more care of) and video tapes. Childhood, pro wrestling was everything. Then comes high school, along with that, came my huge infatuation for the opposite sex, and dedicating my time to football and basketball (church was also a big deal for me during this time). Pro wrestling meant nothing to me (keep in mind this happened when ECW and WCW went out of business, and the Invasion angle went on a downspin). All the posters, pictures, action figures, t-shirts, tapes, ect. were either thrown away or stored.

Then comes graduating high school and being bored as fuck. Job, then nothing. I don't like parties or clubs, and the only other thing I do outside of work is going to the movies or playing basketball every now and then. I hardly ever go to church anymore either. It's just been a boring few years these past couple while I figure out what the fuck I want to do with my life. And during this period, I refound my love for wrestling again around 2004 because of Cena, Lesnar and Raven in TNA. So, since 2004, I've gotten over 300 DVDs (about 100 from WWE, about 15 from TNA, about 50 from ROH, about 50 shoot interviews, and dozens and dozens of Japanese wrestling and various other classic stuff from shit like Mid-South, WCW, ECW, Portland wrestling, ect.), and about ten action figures that I thought were I must to hang in my apartment.

Really though, today, pro wrestling doesn't play that huge of a role in my life. I watch wrestling DVDs when I bored and that's about it. I have no friends in 'real life' that like the sport like I did when I was a kid, and I don't ever think about wrestling unless I'm watching it or on the internet discussing it. Whereas when I was a child, it was on my mind all day, every day.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I dont get what the big deal is. Its something we all enjoy, so go ahead and enjoy it. I dont seewhy people think its odd to have posters and all that. so fucking what.

I love wrestling. watch all the WWE I can. if I can manage it, all three weekly shows, and all the PPVs. No posters, but I have a shit ton of DVDs (all three anthologies, not to mention the roughly 12 of them I lost while flying from what country to another), I wear my kennedy shirt regularly, and my seat from the floor of Backlash is proudly displayed. I dont give a shit, its something I like. If someone who comes around doesnt like it, then they can fuck off. No different than enjoying any other sport or medium of entertainment.

Although I can say that if im not on here, or watching it, I dont really think about it very much. As in on football saturdays and sundays, it doesnt really pass thru my brain, if im not on here talking with you guys. I would say its a big part of my life, but not much more so than any other interests, such as working out, vagina, and football. Not in any particular order there.

 

[a0161613]

I'm going to the Wembley TNA show too Sam with a couple of mates, I gotta book the tickets but it is not sold out so it will be all good, as soon as I get paid in 11 days time! I am well up for it as have never been to a live show before.

I am the biggest wrestling fan that I know. A few guys I know watch it but do nothing beyond that. I am on here a few times a day and I really enjoy it. It almost makes up for the fact that I don't have Sky so can't watch anything on there.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I guess it plays a big part in my life. But about half of my life is made up of doing nothing, and wrestling falls into that half. I can honestly say that I don't need to see Armageddon 2004 ever again, but because I'm obsessive and weird I buy all the nondescript wrestling shows. Which takes up a lot of money, and money is a big part of my life. I buy DVDs for federations I've never heard of before, and once I buy one I have to buy the set.

I'll also watch almost any wrestling that comes to the UK, even if I'm not intrested. I've been to America & Japan to watch the stuff. So it certainly plays a bigger part of my life than it should. But really it's just easier to watch wrestling. It's trash TV, and If I'm tired it's easier to watch a match than it is to try and stay awake and watch a film.

 

[justinsayne]

It doesn't play as big of role in my life as it used to, right now I really only watch about an hour a week, and that's useally just the second half of RAW, I don't really give a shit about ECW or TNA so I don't bother watching them all that much, and rarely get home in time to see more than the last 10 mins. of SD! on Fridays, I used to buy every wrestling DVD as soon as it came out, but don't really do that anymore, if I buy any then they're usually a used copy, I still have a massive collection of wrestling DVDs and videos, but I have a feeling I'll be boxing most of them up and throwing them into storage here soon, as I don't watch a majority of them anymore anyways (I can't remember the last time I watch and of the VHS shit), wrestling for me is one of those interests I get, where I get really into it for awhile then eventually my interests tends to fade slowly, I've had the same kind of thing happen with my comic book collecting and with video games, both those interests have all but faded into nothingness for me, though I'll always have a small interest in them, they don't comsume as much of my life as they used to

 

[JasonSensation]

I grew up with the posters and the wwe video games/dvds. i would watch raw and smackdown, usually having friends over on smackdown nights and getting 3 for 5 deals at dominos, lol. then i joined the Marine Corps and got stationed in southern california where i found a wrestling school and got trained. now i work 2 to 3 shows a month and train every weekend. wrestling has definitely always been a part of my life.

 

[Harthan]

I have to be honest with myself and say that I'm pretty far obsessed with it. A large percentage of my brain cells are dedicated to thinking about wrestling. I can't help myself. I didn't make a conscious decision to become obsessed. I was hooked from the first time I saw Raw. I frequently run down situations in my head, good promos that could be cut, good feuds that could happen...whenever we get close to draft time my brain is constantly shifting wrestlers about.

I'm that guy that constantly wears wrestling shirts. Out of the last 7 days, I've worn a wrestling shirt 6 of them. I wish I had more DVDs. My heart lusts for them day in and day out. If I had the money to crank out, my house would be flooded with wrestling DVDs. They would be insulating my home in the winters.

I watch every show, every week, entirely. Even when the matches or promos are terrible. I just keep watching. I want someone to start a show on Wednesdays, so I have something to watch.

Wrestling's a big part of my life. When I'm not thinking about something serious, I'm thinking about wrestling. The only thing that distracts me from it are video games or other sports. I'll enjoy myself a good MMA fight, and then promptly think about who's going to win this match or that match. Wrestling is a big form of entertainment to me, and if it was gone from my life I have to say I'd be pretty depressed about it.

I am, in short, completely obsessed.

Don't judge me.

 

[JackAttack]

I understand your passion for wrestling. I myself have just bought the WM 24 dvd last month, and have already watched it about ten times! It doesn't matter how much I watch this stuff, good matches and feuds never cease to bore me, despite the repetive nature that the WWE undertakes.

When I'm not watching it, I often imagine to myself what path a particular superstar will take. For instance, I will imagine a guy lke Jericho, and in my mind book him for the rest of the year. I determine gimmick changes, who he will feud with, and the scenerio's that partake during big PPV's.

As for your obsession, its not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn't get in the way of every day needs and responsibilites.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Idk how big you'd constitute it in comparison to my life.

Around late 94 is when I started to get into wrestling, but I'm not too sure when I REALLY became a fan. All I know is that I was a big enough fan to have been involved in it by WrestleMania XII because I found and old note I had written to someone back then that stated how glad I was that Michaels won the title "yesterday" but how I still thought Bret was in my top five favorites. Back in 5th grade (which would be around 97-98) I was introduced to someone who eventually became one of my 3 best friends - and the reason our mutual friend introduced us to each other was due to the fact that we were both Undertaker fans lol. So for years (94 onward) I was going to every event I had a chance to go to, including NWA and small promotion things. I got my share of signatures, posters, had a subscription to the magazine, dressed up as Dude Love for Halloween one year, etc. I had my Stone Cold wallet with the chain on it...I had my tons and tons of shirts...damn near every action figure they'd sell (even freaking Savio Vega haha).

Then, things went downhill. The product started to become more about Austin and the Rock and nobody else. Things became stale. Wrestlers started to change their gimmicks. I started to tune out. Middle school has its distractions and WWE wasn't doing its job keeping me interested. I stopped paying attention on a frequent basis and then I heard out of the blue that the Undertaker was a BIKER. That sealed it for me. I was not going to even give it a second shot. So for years, I heard of ridiculous gimmicks being played out. I heard of wrestlers that had died. I heard of retirements, the WCW purchase, etc. I paid no attention to it. Once in a while, I'd turn on a rare episode of Raw and just shake my head and turn it off within 5 minutes.

Then a friend of mine that I had gained in high school, who's a big wrestling fan and is actually training now at the Monster Factory in...well, somewhere in NJ, I forget lol...mentioned to me that "DX is back". Well shit, I was excited. I haven't seen DX since the good old days of the Montreal Screwjob, the tank raid on Nitro, etc. So I decided to check it out. Some of the new guys captured my interest and I decided to slowly wean myself back onto it if it would keep my interest "next week too". Well, after a few weeks, I found myself continuing to watch it. By WrestleMania 23, I was fully back into it. Since then, I've joined WrestleZone, watched many ppvs, read up on events that have happened, done all my research, and tried to fill the gap. I no longer own a single WWE magazine...no posters...I watch all the ppvs on streams because I'm not wasting 40-50 bucks on a 2 hour show with subpar matches thrown in there...and I haven't been to a single event, but that's not out of want, its out of me not feeling like driving over to Philly + nobody can commit to wanting to go + not knowing that there's an event until it'd pretty much be nosebleed seats. But hell, I'm on WrestleZone all the time now, I watch every single episode of Raw, Smackdown, and ECW even if I have to DVR it, I watch every PPV unless the streams are down, and so forth.

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed by far. I'm an avid fan now, sure, but I have no memorabilia that I haven't just kept from 10 years ago and I don't post pictures of myself doing Orton's pose on MySpace or something lol. WWE to me has been relegated to just another one of the things that I'm a big fan of. Everything that I'm a big fan of, I try to learn as much as possible about it. This goes for Terminator, James Bond, Heroes, DC/Marvel, and the rest of it all. WWE has its own little niche there as well.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

Wrestling lately has been a big meh? for me just like any other TV show lately. I go to school now so I don't get to watch it as much. As a child I was soo in love with wrestling. I didn't have cable or satelite so I could only see it when I went to my grandparents. I was so obsessed as a youngin, I had the action figures, the posters, and I used to pretend fight also. As a grew older I watched it on and off. Then about 2 years ago I finally got satelitte and began to watch Raw, Smackdown, TNA, & ECW. I hadn;t watched it in a while. I never saw Cena become a huge face or Lita become a huge ****e. About this year I slowly got bored of wrestling and haven't been as focused. But I guess wrestling helped shape some of my childhood since it was the #1 thing I was obsessed about.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Wrestling is pretty much my life. Sounds sad when you write it down like that. I'll try and explain. Wrestling has been in my life pretty much all my life. It's something I got from my family, and pretty much the only time I spend proper time with them is during Raw, or when there's a PPV on. Wrestling is also the only thing that hasn't changed. Well, the product has. But it's still been there every day of my life. I've always been able to watch wrestling at any time I wanted. And I generally do. I spend half my life wtching it, and the other half on here talking about it.

I pay for the T-shirts, DVDs, I pay to go see the shows when they're here. And it all comes down to loving the product, which despite all the bitching, most people still do. I love being at WWE live. You're sharing something you love with thousands of other people. And seeing the people you love at work feet away.

Now, one of the most important things in my life came from the WWE, that being Shawn Michaels. He really is an amazing role model, and someone I look up to constantly. My life really does revolve around him. In my room I have thousands of posters of him, I have every T-shirt he's ever released, all the merchandise you can get, I have. The most important of them would easily be Heartbreak and Triumph, which is the best book I have ever read. Amazing.

 

[RVDgurl]

Wrestling always has a special little spot in my humble world, but the magnitude fluctuates. I will admit that there is a life size wall cling of AJ Styles and a 6 foot cardboard stand up of the Undertaker desplayed in my garage. And I do have a few dozen DVD's/VHS tapes. And I try to watch Impact each week. And I attend every ROH show in Philly and Edison. And I have a picture of me and RVD on my desk at work and made into a magnet for my fridge. But in the scheme of things, it doesn't play a huge role in my life. It's fun- I love it- and I enjoy it when my other responsibilities let me.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I have been watching wrestling since I was 8 year old. So that means that I have been watching wrestling for over 25 years now. And to me, it is the male equivalent of a soap opera. You have the drams, the action, the love affair, the heart ache, and the shocking moments that make wrestling one of the most entertaining mediums every to be created. And people who watch wrestling are connected in a way that you just don't get in other entertainment forums. When someone from Dawson's Creek dies, sure people wonder what happened, but they never mourn for that character like we did for Owen, Eddie, or Chris. You never hear of anybody reaching out to the families of these people to send their condolences as if they were family members who we had lost.

I think that the best way to sum up the pure emotion that wrestling brings forth would be to pop over to youtube and look up the footage of the young man who cried while thanking Jeff Jarrett and others for the job that they do and then exclaiming "It's still real to me", before breaking down. And to be honest, no matter how scripted, fake, or over the top it looks or becomes that is the truest statement every made because at the end of the day...... It's still real to me.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

The whole world and his wife has something that they love and adore, that they feel kind of ashamed about. I don't shout to the world that i watch wrestling, when i was single i didn't let girls know about it, but my current gf accepts it as a part of who i am, but yeah i wear the t-shirts i have. I've got the grey Triple H shirt with the Latin written on it, and people have said 'Hey cool t-shirt'. I've had every WWE game, a load of DVDs, mostly 'Life of' and 'Behind the Scenes' DVDs. I love 'Monday Night Wars' and 'Rise and Fall of ECW' and even 'Hardcore Forever'. Hell, i even use wrestling terminology in day to day conversation. But hell, i read comic books as well. I have more graphic novels than actual books. So what? That's me. There's plenty of other layers to me, lots of other things that i do and would want to do, and if you're gonna shun me for having 2 geeky hobbies then fuck you budd-eh!

I'm going to Raw in London after WM, it'll be my 2nd Raw, and i hope to be at WM25 as well regardless of how much it costs. When it comes to TV, most of it sucks. There is only one TV show i watch other than wrestling and that's Lost. That's getting worse, and i'll probably give up on that too. Most of the bands i listen to are also getting worse, but i don't give up on them, and as bad as WWE is getting i won't give up on them yet either. When Taker is gone, i've still got Orton to focus on as my favourite, and maybe TBK or Santino will get to the level those guys are at now, and i'll always have a reason to watch.

If you feel you spend too much time watching wrestling, maybe you should run with it. If you think you could handle wrestling, do it! I can see myself as a commentator or a maybe even a booker. I've no idea how i'd get a job like that but i feel i could do well at either of them. If Michael Cole, who reportedly doesn't give two shits about wrestling, can be an announcer on the biggest promotions flagship show, then i think i could do well, being a passionate fan.

Everyone has a guilty pleasure, you don't need to advertise it because you're likely to get your head kicked in, but at the same time, don't be ashamed of it. It's only sad if you think it's sad, and then only you can change it.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Wrestling has expanded my vocabulary by a lot over the past 5 years I've been watcing wrestling full-time. Thanks to good 'ol J.R., I learned various words such as impromptu, profusely, unintentionally, and much, much more.

 

[klunderbunker]

Wrestling will always have a part in my life. First thing i do in the morning is come here and check the headlines and the discussion that is going on. It has no off season and there's always something going on. Its larger than life and is the exact reason that I watch the shows I watch and read my comic books: They are an escape from reality. Real life is nothing short of crazy. Wrestling offers an escape from it. School, work, family etc. can be in trouble, but I can put all that on hold and see if Punk can beat Jericho. That's one of the most important things it can do. It gives me an escape from reality.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Oh god. Wrestling has been my best friend. Let me explain...

Wrestling is my life. It consumes me. I have all the magazines, all the dvd's, I have some shirts but thats only because I hate ordering things. I would have more if there was a store that sold them. I have my favorite wrestlers and I have my wrestlers that I hate. But that is what it is. I'm a fan. I've been to a few shows, but only because I never have the money to go to anymore.

As a child wrestling was my life. Me and my older brothers would play wrestle, and when they werent around it was me and my stuffed animals on my bed. God...I used to get in so much trouble for that. The tears I shed when Hogan defended old glory, the tears I shed when Hogan turned his back on the fans. The tears I cried when Sting fought for what was right and when Triple H returned from his first quad injury. All those tears could fill an ocean. I believed EVERYTHING.

The thing about wrestling to me is this. It's always there for me, when my friends are out doing things I dont want to do, wrestling is there. When my family is doing something and I dont really feel like going, its still there. When I stayed home sick from school, wrestling is what cheered me up and made me feel better. I cried through all the deaths, the childhood dreams. I screamed at my TV during the evil chairman and the NWO. I cheered when Sting would repel from the rafters and when Goldberg plowed through the competition. Even though I knew it was fake, but as Spawn said, no matter how bad the shows are, no matter whats going on, Its always there for me, and to me....It's STILL REAL.

 

[LadyFranchise]

Wrestling is pretty huge in my life. I'm a sophomore in college and stuff in the real world can really stress me out. Wrestling is my escape. When I want to get away from all the madness in the real world, I'd just pop in a dvd and unwind. It almost helps me spend quality time with my brother. There is nothing really that I enjoy more than staying up at night and watching WWE 24/7 on demand with the person who got me to fall in love with wrestling 14 years ago. One thing I think is great about being a wrestling fan is that you could be standing at a boss stop with someone who looks like you have nothing in common with, but as soon as wrestling is mentioned both of you act like you've been friends since birth.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

It plays a little role but not as much as it used to. Back when I was a kid and even up till I was around 20 years old it was pretty much everything to me. When I was in grade school and all my other friends were playing with GI Joes or getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons I would be playing with those classic LJN wrestling figurines(I dont know if anybody else remembers those but they were badass)and watching Superstars on Saturday morning. Speaking of Saturdays, I remember every Sunday we would get the TV Guide in the mail for the upcoming week and the first thing I would go check would be the following Saturday night to see if Saturday Nights Main Event was coming on or if Saturday Night Live was going to be shown. For some reason though even when I was a kid I never rooted for the faces with the exception of Hogan then when Bret became a singles wrestler I rooted for him. Other then them two I always found myself rooting for the likes of Million Dollar Man, Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper and other heels of that generation. Even to this day I always root for the heels and there have only been a handful of exceptions to that rule.

Then as I got a little older(like 15 or so)I still was a die hard but I wasnt as open about it as I was when I was a kid because quite frankly I was kinda ashamed of it since I was in high school and still watching wrestling. But then the NWO came out and suddenly kids from all over my school started sporting the gear. I was shocked at how many wrestling fans there were at my school because you would have never known that before then. I was a freshman or sophomore at the time and it was refreshing to see even the so called "cool" seniors sporting NWO gear and later on the Austin 3:16 gear. It made me feel better about still being a wrestling fan at that age, little did I know that I would still be a fan 10 or so years later.

I stopped watching though between 04-06 only checking in periodically because I just stopped caring about it. Then I heard Wrestlemania was coming back to Detroit and suddenly I was like a kid all over again. I started getting back into as soon as I heard that news because I knew no matter how much it cost or what it took I was going to go since it was my dream as a kid to attend one and fortunately I did. Even now though I dont watch it religously, I havent watched Smackdown in months because Im usually out on Friday nights(I need to get a DVR) and Raw Ill only check out every other week or so. So as of now it doesnt play that big of role in my life but up until I was about 20 years old it was probably one of my biggest past times or hobbies if you want to call it that. I still do find myself usually spending a couple hours or so a week on the internet watching old wrestling matches or highlights.

 

[Fizzy]

I will admit I am obsessed with wrestling. I have wrestling posters on my wall, at least 10 wrestling dvd's not counting the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania anthology, WWE 24/7 which I watch every single day, and I haven't missed a Raw in 3 years.

Yes I am obsessed, but I really see nothing wrong like Norcal said. If you really enjoy something then why not show it? Wrestling to us is like football to other people. Other people have football dvd's, and football posters, so it's really no difference. I really see nothing wrong with being obsessed with it and I will admit to anybody that i am.

 

[Pimpin]

Wrestling has always been a huge part of my life & still is 2 this day. I graduated high skool a few months back & things are even more stressful now than when I was in skool. Wrestling is sumthin that helps me relax & get away from all da drama in da real world. I have bout 5 wrestling t-shirts, alot of DVD's, every WWE game that has eva been release, all da magazines bout wrestling & I go 2 every event that is in Dallas. Da greatest thing bout wrestling is when sum random person comes up & starts talkin bout wrestling it feels like I have known da random person my entire life.