10 Things Nobody Has Told You About Wrestling Yet
1. These People Are Not Your Friends
Pro wrestling functions as an escape from a world that grows increasingly exhausting and harrowing by the day.
The performers intrigue and thrill you, and in return, you are grateful for or perhaps even inspired by them. You want to see your favourites succeed, and you might even reward them with your financial support. You might even go further in this fandom.
You might try to meet them at the merch table. You might get a retweet out of them, in exchange for some praise or in some cases, a tattoo. You might, under the impression that they are as sweet or cool as they appear on television, become convinced that the human being underneath the performer's skin is a stand-up human being, and defend them with a biased zeal whenever they encounter a dispute with another wrestler. They have to be in the right, even if the situation is more complex and nuanced than you might be prepared to acknowledge, because - and this is a relatively minor portion of the wrestling consumer base - by this point, you have developed a parasocial relationship with what is ultimately a fictional character.
The other side of the extreme is too ironic and detached to take seriously as well - they aren't all n*nces and carnies and workers - but they're not your friends. Buy a t-shirt, chant their name, but don't think they are perfect.
They aren't, and it's weird.