What Do Pro Wrestling Fans Really Need to Know?

Professional wrestling is meant to be enjoyed, but many fans are making it harder and harder for themselves, and others, to do so. In this day in age – where glancing at a headline often takes the place of reading the accompanying article, and citing sources seems to be a lost art – it’s become increasingly common for fiction to be able to masquerade as fact. Pair that with a steady influx of wrestling enthusiasts who are chomping at the bit to drive hits to their blogs and channels by peddling hot takes on sub-par or just plain lazy “reporting,” and you have yourself a hotbed of misinformation.

The logical solution is to take everything that you read with a grain of salt, but not everyone does that. The amount of people who accept what they read at face value and then proceed to spread it to others who’ll do the same can be a bit unsettling. What’s even more unsettling is the culture that this frantic, trivial pursuit of inside scoops is creating. I believe that fans’ unquenchable thirst to know as much about what goes on behind the scenes as possible does nothing but hinder their ability to achieve a significant level of satisfaction. To put it simply, wrestling fans know too much and, as a result, expect too much. High expectations lead to disappointment. Disappointment leads to complaining online. It’s the vicious cycle that we know all too well, but it’s not unbreakable.

If you’re someone who’s looking to begin making waves by sharing your views with fellow fans, take a moment to consider what you want your voice to lend itself to. Why not draw attention to a great match, or an uplifting story about how fans at a live event experienced something truly memorable? Why not make an effort to take the dirt out of the dirt sheets? If you choose not to go this route, it surely won’t be due to a lack of available material, because there’s more than enough good in pro wrestling to go around. Don’t make the choice to propagate negative stories. Don’t help make falsities and fluff the face of wrestling journalism. We all started as enamored fans, and the only thing holding us back from continuing to be just that, if you really think about, is ourselves.