Wrestling is a glorious sport, but if you’re new to it, then it can sometimes feel a little daunting. Within the WWE alone, there are so many wrestlers, storylines, and match types to keep track of that you can easily get overwhelmed, and that’s without even thinking about all the other promotions (amateur and professional!) that there are out there.
If you’ve seen a match on TV or you’ve checked out a clip montage on YouTube and you’re interested, then we’re here to help. Here’s our beginner’s guide on how to get into wrestling!
Watch as much wrestling as you can
It doesn’t necessarily pay to be a promo loyalist, especially early on in your wrestling fan journey. You should check out as many different promos as you can; whether it’s WWE, AEW, TNA, or any of the other major promotions out there, watching as much as you’re able to will give you an idea of what the wrestling landscape looks like and where your particular tastes might lie. You could even place a little bet or two with a site like www.novibet.ie if you’re feeling the need to get more interactive with your viewing experience.
Don’t worry about “fake” wrestling
Wrestling naysayers will often point to the fact that wrestling is “fake” when they’re trying to denigrate or decry the sport. While it’s certainly true that a lot of wrestling is played up for drama and that many of the bouts you’ll see in promos like WWE aren’t necessarily 100% organic, that doesn’t mean the physical feats being performed by the wrestlers are any less demanding. After all, it’s not like leaping from the turnbuckle isn’t dangerous, whether or not the stunt being performed is “actually real” (whatever that means!).
Get involved in the storylines
Professional wrestling is just as much about the drama as it is about the sportsmanship, and that element is very much baked into the sport’s history, too. If you find yourself being sniffy or dismissive about the storyline element of wrestling, then it’s time to check that notion; the storylines, gimmicks, and moment-to-moment interactions of the wrestlers in any wrestling promotion are what make the sport so special. When you get immersed in a particular storyline, you’ll know exactly what we mean, and it will be a matter of when, not if.
Try out some wrestling yourself
If you’re in a fit physical state to do so and you’ve exhaustively read up on safety rules, why not give some wrestling a try yourself? You’ll almost certainly be able to find a local promotion that will give you a chance, and even if you can’t, you could just ask around some friends or family to see if anybody else has been interested in the sport like you are. Many professional wrestlers are part of family dynasties, including stars like The Rock and the sadly-departed Eddie Guerrero, so there’s no reason you couldn’t start your own stable if you wanted to!
Look back through the archives
Major wrestling promotions have played host to some truly jaw-dropping, iconic moments. Whilst June is already a hot month for WWE RAW, how about the time the WWE (then the WWF) saw Shane McMahon leap from the ring’s scaffolding at Backlash 2001, knocking out himself and Big Show? What will you make of CM Punk’s return to professional wrestling in 2021, when he debuted at AEW after a bitter and acrimonious split from the world of pro wrestling in 2014? It’s important to stay up on wrestling’s past, because you’ll often find that gives you more information about its future as well.
Write about wrestling
If your talents lie more in the academic than in the physical, then why not write about wrestling? You could start a wrestling blog, for instance, or perhaps write for one that already exists, detailing your opinions about the sport and who your favourite wrestlers are. If you’re more into fiction, then you could even write a novel or a set of short stories about wrestling; it’s a dramatic sport, after all, so there’s no reason that you couldn’t translate that drama into a riveting and compelling story, just like pro wrestling writers do night after night.
Hang out with other wrestling fans
Building networks of like-minded people is pivotal if you want to understand the spirit of anything. That’s why you should seek out other professional wrestling fans and befriend them. Look for online forums where wrestling aficionados gather to discuss the most important events happening in the sport right now and take part in those discussions. When you go to live wrestling events, see if there’s anybody nearby who wants to strike up a conversation; you’d be surprised by just how willing many people are to talk to their fellow wrestling fans!
Don’t be toxic
This is a good rule for life in general, let alone being a professional wrestling fan, but it’s very important to make sure that no matter how strong your opinions might be, they don’t spill over into real-life toxicity. That heel wrestler you hate might be the worst thing imaginable to you, but they don’t deserve genuine hate mail telling them how worthless they are; they’re just playing a part, after all. Similarly, you shouldn’t let online discussions about wrestling devolve into mud-slinging, because everyone who watches pro wrestling deserves to enjoy the sport however they see fit.
