PRO WRESTLING IS REAL.PEOPLE ARE FAKE

Story by Peter Vuono   (title by Kenny Anderson)

     I live in the Boston area. As I speak, a very festive parade is being given in Boston for the newly crowned NBA champs, the Celtics. so many of my friends live and die with the Boston sports teams and good for them for as their teams succeed, so too does the feeling of well being that it gives to the devoted fans.
     One thing, however that is somewhat germane to all this celebration is the fact that I rarely so much as dare tell people that I am not a fan of most conventional pro sports. People look askance at me when I tell them that the last time I was at Fenway was about 20 years ago when I was paid to make balloon animals for a charity softball game. They look at me as if I have two heads when I tell them that I was last at Gillette Stadium when it was Sullivan Stadium and I was watching Hulk Hogan wrestle the Iron Shiek. Because I have always been a wrestling fan, people look at me as if I were a low brow or someone who is completely factually unencumbered  when wrestling was, in fact, THE catalyst which caused me to lift weights and procure a career in teaching Special Children.
     Football, baseball and basket ball fans pay hundreds of dollars for tickets and nearly the same for parking. If their team doesn't win, they go away feeling like they lost a family member . A feeling that will linger for days. My son and I go to wrestling as "smarks", which is someone who is in tune to what is really happening  in the ring. We see the most unique bonding of entertainment, comedy and breath taking athleticism that anyone could possibly pay to see and we walk to the car with a feeling of great joy which caused us to forget our problems, but for only a few hours.
     The last big league I went to see(TNA) had the biggest names and yet, I paid only $35.00 per ticket and nothing for parking. People go to the movies in droves and pay millions to see a film based on pure fantasy, but I've never left a theater after a movie while listening to a patron complain that what he or she saw was"fake".
     Also, extreme violence often takes place after an important soccer, baseball or basketball game. We've seen cars burned and overturned, people trampled and in 2004 the very tragic demise of a 21 year old bystander at a Boston Sports celebration who was killed when a misplaced pepper ball hit her in the eye.
     I've not seen this type of violence after a wrestling match because it is perfectly constructed to allow the fans to vent while they are watching the events in the ring. Again, I DO hope that your team wins and that you savor the victory but do not besmirch those of us who love the only sport mentioned in the bible which told of Eve wrestling with her conscience in the book of Genesis and the story of Jacob who wrestled with an angel.
     Like the patrons of the ancient Roman arena, we too need our diversions; our bread and circus.
I am happy to hear about yours. Allow me to enjoy mine.


" I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones . For the common folks are like leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed".- The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz