You’re Watching Wrong

Every year since 2021 during the Road to WrestleMania, and shortly after, Tonya has contributed some thoughts about WWE. (To sample some of her previous work, check here.) You can find her at @TheWitchMilitia on Twitter.

Yes, you! The fan that logs onto your preferred social media platform, be it Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, every single day to participate or start discourse about professional wrestling; the fan that trolls comments of wrestling accounts; the fans that count the amount a moves a wrestler does; the fans that are way too invested in the personal lives of wrestlers or what goes on backstage; the fans that track ratings, merchandise sales, and attendance stats … YOU ARE WATCHING WRESTLING WRONG!!!!

Wrestling is an art form, a form of entertainment. Professional wrestlers are people who are hired by the promotions with specific roles to fill. Wrestling is not a higher calling. It does not take a certain level of morality or passion to be successful in the business. The only job any of the men and women who work in the business is to entertain you. You watch the show and it’s either entertaining to you or it isn’t. 

Some wrestlers can choose to be role models but that is not required of the job description. Surely, it is appreciated when certain wrestlers choose to carry roles where they uplift their fellow workers but it is not a requirement. It is a job and, like any other job, performances and attitudes will vary. You as a fan have absolutely zero way to police their working environment. That is out of your control. Way too much discourse online in the internet wrestling community revolves around unfounded gossip, especially when the women are concerned.

I will give a clear example of what I am talking about. Earlier this year, Jaida Parker came under fire for transphobic statements, which is fair. What was not fair is for a group of fans who had a parasocial relationship with Jey Uso to use that as an opportunity to spread baseless rumors about an affair between Parker and Uso. This was just one example of several where fans will take pictures between the men and women wrestlers and assume sexual relationships between them. 

Some people will argue that it’s just social media and it is not that deep. But these are real people living real lives and you as a fan have no way to determine if your rumors are affecting the wrestlers or not. Since wrestling is such a fan interactive medium, most wrestlers have to be on social media in order to know important aspects of entertaining us. Fans with this mindset can make those interactions miserable.

But it is not just rumors. Recently, independent wrestler Kylie Rae expressed frustration over fans being hypercritical over another performing botching a move. Most fans who enjoy calling out botches took offense, stating that they are offering constructive criticism. This is a lie. First of all, taking a clip of a wrestler botching to declare that they are a bad worker or that the environment they are in is ill suited to train them is not constructive. YOU don’t know how to wrestle so how in the HELL are you going to criticize your way into making someone else a better one?

Wrestling is not a competition. I know certain wrestlers and promotions want you to believe that it is but that is a part of their gimmick. They are working you. Wrestling is a performance. Just like The Walking Dead or a Kendrick Lamar concert. You gain nothing if The Walking Dead wins an Emmy or if Kendrick Lamar sells out a show. It would be weird to act like it was a personal victory. It is ALSO weird when you FANS tout WWE and AEW ratings and attendance stats. You don’t work for them! You are not on the team, no matter how much you want to be! You would actually have to go outside and socialize to accomplish that. Stop trying to live vicariously through a wrestler or promotion!

I am an old timer so I can still remember the days when kayfabe existed. This is not nostalgia speaking: the wrestling fandom was much better when most people just took what they saw at face value and did not try to pretend to be wrestling insiders. Fans now try so hard to not get worked that they have no clue how to be fans anymore. It is miserable to discuss wrestling as a fan because all the wannabe insiders ruin it. 

I have felt this way for a while now. I struggled to articulate what my issue was with the fandom for a while because WWE was the only big game in town and Vince very clearly was out of touch with his presentation. So the overall misery could be attributed to his toxic way of booking. Now that he has no effect on any promotion, I can confidently say that the biggest issue with wrestling is the fandom.

Yall do not respect the wrestlers as people. You do not respect their health, their privacy, or their mental well being. You will ignore red flags in certain talents and then make others seem like pariahs because of where they decided to work or because they are able to get better contracts than other talents. You relentlessly use social justice issues, serious issues, to score tribal points for the promotion you decided to root for. You cannot appreciate the work being presented to you because you are too busy fantasy booking what you think should happen. 

You are a fan but you have decided that you want, no, you NEED to be something more than a fan. And you are killing the community of fans who just want to watch the silly fake fighting show. STOP IT. YOU ARE WATCHING IT ALL WRONG! BE A FAN AGAIN! I PROMISE IT’S NOT HARD!!!

I still love you, though! Just relax and trust that the wrestlers you love are capable enough to manage their lives and careers on their own. You’re not their manager or life coach. You’re not going to magically end up on a creative team and turn everything around. You are a fan. Have confidence that none of this works without you and know that your interaction with the work presented is enough.