#PositiveWrestling Movement
Social media can be a pretty negative and toxic place. Specifically in the wrestling community, it's become cool to hate on the product and to constantly bitch about every little thing - and honestly, it makes me dislike wrestling. But it shouldn't. Pro Wrestling has been my favourite form of entertainment for the past 25 years.
Wrestling is escapism.
Wrestling is suspending belief.
Wrestling is real life super heroes and villains.
Wrestling is a spectacle that we have all loved at some point!
But it's now becoming impossible to join in with the wrestling community by actually enjoying wrestling!
Which is why I want to start a new movement. The #PositiveWrestling movement. Instead of using our energy and passion for negative, let's implore the positive! If you see someone enjoying an angle or a wrestler - ENCOURAGE IT. Now, I'm not saying you aren't allowed your criticisms. Of course you are. Everyone's opinion is valid. And the last thing anyone needs is an echo chamber. But what I do want to get across, is the difference between a critic and someone being toxic.
To help with turning the IWC more positive, here are my tips on becoming a more upbeat wrestling fan.
1) If you're not enjoying a product. Don't watch it.
I know this sounds pretty obvious, but the amount of people who continue to put themselves through watching something they obviously don't like is insane. We live in a fantastic age for wrestling, because there are a LOT of different promotions and streaming services all offering different types of product. If one show isn't doing it for you, please don't be afraid to stop or have a break from it. It can make a massive difference to how you view wrestling.
2) Remove the truly negative people
Like I said earlier, everyone is allowed an opinion. But if someone on your timeline is being constantly toxic and negative towards something you want to enjoy, mute or remove them and see if it makes a difference!
3) Kayfabe
This is one of the main reasons I've been wanting to make this post. I was reading a discussion on Reddit a couple of days ago that said something along the lines of "What does it matter about Kayfabe??" In regards to a booking decision. When did it become cool to disregard Kayfabe?? For instance, WWEs product is very story driven - so Kayfabe is a very important part of enjoying the product. We get it, you're a smart fan - but guess what, most people are! Watching shows from a Kayfabe point of view (the way they are INTENDED) will definitely be a positive to your experience.
4) Have realistic expectations
If you're watching WWE for attitude era style sex jokes and violence - you're going to be disappointed. WWE are a publicly traded company aimed at children. That doesn’t mean you have to be a child to enjoy it, but you must remember that you are not the target audience.
5) Don't take it so serious!
Finally, the most important point in my opinion. Professional Wrestling at its core is pretty much grown adults pretending to fight in their underwear. That's not to take away from the workers, every wrestler works incredibly hard and put a lot of passion into their craft. But at the end of the day, if you're putting a lot of energy into being toxic about fake underwear fighting - then you probably need to take a look at your decisions. Pro Wrestling is the greatest form of entertainment on this planet in my opinion, so take less notice of behind the scenes booking rumours and take more notice of the guys and gals in the ring every night putting on entreatment for you.
So please take these steps on board. And remember if you see someone enjoying wrestling - encourage it and tweet them with the #PositiveWrestling hashtag. Even put it on your own tweets, or in your bio!
Let's make it cool to enjoy wrestling again.