It's me. The Patriot.

I have always been a wrestling fan, but after my brother Phil gave me a Duggan-style knee drop in during a match in 1995 that knocked three braces and their connecting wire into my cheek, I was understandably turned off to the whole spectacle and spent years generally looking down at wrestling in general. It wasn't until my American Government teacher, the smug hippie punk that he was, was so sure of Jesse Ventura's impending defeat in 1998 that he offered to give everyone in our class 100 points on their grade if he won. After he won, all the hoopla surrounding his background prompted me to check out the state of the WWF (note: even when I was younger, whenever someone talked about wrestling, it was always WWF, never WCW, because the general consensus, even then, was that WCW was bad, I mean Cop Rock kind of bad). I turned on Raw to see the beginning of the Ministry/Corporation angle, and its efforts to destroy Austin. I saw the formation of the Union. I saw that sugarcoated aw-shucks announcer from my youth, Vince McMahon; acting as the very personification of evil I was, once again, marking out. I've fully embraced the Attitude era, but find it hard to abandon my mark roots. (For instance, my all time favorite wrestling moment is when during the 1993 Survivor Series build-up the Undertaker came to the ring and opened his trench coat to reveal an US flag and announced he was joining the Steiners and Lex Luger against the Foreign Fanatics. I swear to God).

Every time I've told someone I watch wrestling, I always see the same look. A slight frown, a look that says "Oh that's too bad, I thought he was smart or sophisticated or etc." This look really pisses me off. The argument that the entire world falls back on when it comes to the pros and cons of sports entertainment is that "its all fake." And I have come to start replying "In what way exactly?" and usually they are at a loss to explain themselves. Or they try "What do you watch this crap?" I got that this year from a girl on my dorm floor (who, truth be told, has no right to tell anyone how to live their lives). I replied with what might be the most truthful answer that fans can give. "It's the only show on T.V where I can get emotionally involved by what is transpiring on the screen." And that's how I see it. It's the marking out that I love. I love watching the left side of the screen during the main event during a heel beat down to see who's coming to make the save. I love the hot tag. I love the look on the faces of McMahon, Trips, and now Austin when entrance music interrupts their ranting. I love Mick Foley, who has always portrayed himself as nothing more than a fan that got lucky. That's what it is all about.

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