Wrestling IS Performance Art: Deal With It

Thank me, f*ck me, bye.

Orange Cassidy
AEW

“I’d like to watch Midsommar, but the mere existence of Scary Movie means I won’t get scared.”

That would be a literally absurd leap of logic for a horror movie fan to make—so why do certain pro wrestling fans? These fans—galvanised by the old guard on Twitter to such a sad extent that they borrow their language—have surfaced to aggressively thwart the discourse that professional wrestling is a “performance art”. These guys literally cosplay as Jim Cornette when bemoaning so-called ‘cosplay’ wrestlers. The hypocrisy is profoundly irritating.

Motherf*cker, it’s not art! It’s wrestling! Wrestlers should look like they could kill a guy in a real fight! Wrestling ain’t flips and goofy gimmicks—it’s a tough-looking good guy beating up a weasel of a heel!

This is obviously a residual feeling from how wrestling used to operate. The WWWF was considered cartoonish, as was Memphis, in comparison to the badass grit and advanced technique of Jim Crockett Promotions. But virtually every territory adhered strictly to kayfabe—the idea that wrestling must be presented as a legitimate enterprise in order to extract money from the marks who wished to believe in it. That’s how the money used to be made. And that’s what it was about. There was no honour to it, and if there was, the honourable went out of business. Multiple times.

Some members or supporters of the old guard reckon this new, niche generation is “scorching the earth” for their successors, who can never hope to be taken seriously in the wake of guys who touch c*cks with their hands, when those hands aren’t wedged firmly in their pockets.

This is hysterical, verifiable bullsh*t.

CONT'D...(1 of 5)

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!