The 6’5’ bodybuilder crashed through a table when another wrestler splashed on top of him from the top rope of a professional wrestling ring nearly 15 feet in the air, causing the table to break into many pieces. The bodybuilder then rolled around moaning, acting as if he was in severe pain. That scene might make an onlooker upset and feel badly for that person.
Not in Philadelphia on April 7, 2024.
WrestleMania brought over 72,000 people to their feet. On a chilly Sunday night over 72,000 people packed in to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for the second night of WWE’s largest event of the year WrestleMania. People from all over the world came to witness the biggest night in professional wrestling for the entire year, and if you weren’t in attendance, you streamed it live on Peacock. Millions of eyes, mine included, were on a stadium with a twenty-by-twenty foot professional wrestling ring as the eye of the storm.
An argument I hear from people who do not watch wrestling is that “it’s fake.” My simple response to that is “you are wrong.” Professional wrestling is scripted entertainment for consumption just like movies, TV shows, and books. The things that they are doing in the ring are not fake. You may see a clip online in which someone misses a punch, and the opponent reacts like they were punched. That is called a “botch” where the scripted move did not go as planned, but the opponent reacted as if it happened perfectly.
Injuries are a very common occurrence in professional wrestling, and in rare cases they even result in death. A misconception is that the ring is like a big trampoline. The ring is constructed of steel poles on each corner, connected by long wooden planks, which are covered with a very thin layer of foam. Finally, the ring canvas covers all those things except the steel posts. Due to this construction, injuries happen quite frequently. Common injuries include torn shoulders, concussions, broken necks, and various knee injuries.
Professional wrestling grabbed the attention of the world outside of wrestling when one of the most well-known actors in the world Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his return to WWE early on in 2024. The return was not a one-time thing. The Rock would be a prominent character on WWE television for several months. I had many people who do not watch wrestling ask me “Did I see that The Rock came back to wrestling? I may have to watch the show this week!” This return caused everyday conversations about wrestling and caused many people who didn’t consider themselves wrestling fans to check out the product.
Another reason that professional wrestling became very popular again was simply media exposure. Wrestlers were interviewed on talk shows and sports shows discussing upcoming events. The large media markets that played host to WWE also led to a large increase in viewership. A few of those larger markets include Philadelphia, London, Los Angeles, and New York City. Over the past year the WWE, has held events in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The exposure of the product throughout the world has had a positive affect on viewership and popularity as well.
People who were wrestling fans but did not watch the product anymore were enticed back in by hearing the rise in popularity of “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes is the son of WWE Hall of Famer “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, who was one of the most popular wrestlers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Dusty was also a beloved trainer in WWE’s developmental system NXT up until his death in June, 2015.
The reason many people care about Cody Rhodes was because of the story that he was trying to finish. His father never won the WWE world championship during his wrestling years. This was a motivating factor for Cody to try and win the WWE championship and submit his legacy as one of the best to ever compete in a wrestling ring.
In any story there is typically a pull between good and evil. It is the same way in professional wrestling. There is a wrestler who stands for the good of the fans or standing for a more effective company. Then there are wrestlers who stand on the opposite side of that belief. They have no respect for the fans, or the company and they will do anything necessary to fix their problem or win their match.
I discussed the rise in popularity of wrestling recently, and I have some numbers that can back up this claim. WrestleMania 40 was the most streamed event in the history of the streaming service Peacock with over 1.3 billion minutes viewed according to Variety. The April 1st, 2024, edition of Monday Night Raw was the largest GROSS in WWE television history according to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque. Compared to the end of March 2024 “Smackdown” is up 15% in the adults 18-49 demographic to an average of 892,000 viewers per episode and up 3% in total viewers with 2.4 million viewers per episode according to Variety. Royal Rumble 2024 was the largest gate for an event that isn’t WrestleMania in WWE History according to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque.
It can’t be denied that the WWE has been breaking company records in the past few years. With all these records being broken I feel that it is breaking the stigma around people who are wrestling fans. For a long time if you were a professional wrestling fan you kept it to yourself. You did not want other people to know that you watched wrestling because you feared that they would have a negative opinion of you.
I recently experienced firsthand how the WWE stigma is no longer true. I was working out in the Andersen center on a Thursday afternoon when another student walked into the gym wearing a wrestling shirt. I made sure to go up to him and say “Hey man, love the shirt!” This small interaction led to about three or four people talking about who planned on going to WrestleMania in Philadelphia.
That interaction proves that wrestling is bringing people together now more than ever. People bond over an event they are going to, or they talk about their favorite wrestlers and why they are such huge fans of them. Sports have a similar effect in bringing people together. I wouldn’t call professional wrestling a sport, but the wrestlers are, without a doubt, athletes. They are on the road over traveling over 300 days a year. They also need to keep their physique in top shape to maintain the look of a professional wrestler.
This is something that I am very passionate about. I have devoted time and energy to the world of professional wrestling. I work for a local wrestling promotion known as Pennsylvania Premier Wrestling. I can’t begin to describe the love, commitment, and passion the wrestlers have for the business. They may not perform in front of large arenas or on the large TV networks, but they still perform to the best of their abilities for the fans that are watching. There is even an alumnus that is a wrestler on our roster.
Hopefully, I have given you something to consider as your next form of entertainment or fandom. If you have a friend that you know watches wrestling, I encourage you to ask them to watch the next show with you and explain what is going on as well as the stories that are going on. I can guarantee that you will be entertained like you’ve never been entertained before.