Wrestling with Popularity

Professional wrestling has long been the “red headed stepchild” of sports, you either loved it or hated it, if you hated it you’d call it “fake” and “phony” and if you loved it you didn’t dare tell your friends for fear of becoming a social leper.
However in this day and age, with the advent of cable television and the internet, it has become popular with the mainstream public. Another reason is the transition that wrestling made from the “family entertainment” of the 1980’s to a more edgy, adult orientated, storyline driven sports soap opera. “..In the old days of wrestling, there used to be good guys and bad guys. It was black-and-white. Now it’s all shades of gray, and that’s definitely a reflection on society.” Says wwe representative Jay Andronaco. It could be argued that if wrestling reflects society then it must be real because we (society) are real.
In addition to the edgier plots and attitude is the crossover appeal. Many wwe stars have gone on to excel in other areas of entertainment and indeed politics. Former wwe star Jesse Ventura served a term as Governor of Minnesota. Stars such as The Rock (Walking Tall, Doom), Steve Austin (The Condemned, The Longest Yard), Roddy Piper (They Live) and Bill Goldberg (Universal Soldier: The Return, The Longest Yard) have starred in blockbuster movies and many stars, such as John Cena and Chris Jericho draw their personas from the music they listen to.
According to Niall Hogan, a lifelong wrestling fan and proprietor of Wrestlingmania, a shop in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre that sells wrestling merchandise, wrestling goes through “cycles of popularity” and at the moment we’re at “the peak of a cycle”.
Mr. Hogan also attributes the popularity of wrestling, and wwe in particular, in this country to the “over saturation” of the US market and wwe’s “development of the European market” As it stands wwe now runs about two shows a year in this country.
The popularity of wwe has lead to the opening of several wrestling promotions in the country, Irish Whip Wrestling, NWA: Ireland, Celtic Pro Wrestling, No Limits Wrestling and Ulster Championship Wrestling who all offer star struck Irish youngsters the chance to fulfill their dreams and become professional wrestlers.
The evidence is undeniable wwe has sold out the point every time it’s played there in the last three years and attracted over 25,000 people to the RDS in 2005. Recently wwe has introduced an Irish character to their Smackdown roster, Dave Finlay from Belfast, a stalwart of the old British circuit, carrying a shillelagh and decked out in a green and black outfit with Shamrocks and Celtic symbols on it, his addition is proof of wrestling’s popularity in Ireland. The last time wwe played the point I bore witness to a roof blowing ovation when Finlay was introduced.
For further proof one can point to the fact that several IWW wrestlers have received wwe tryouts over the last few years, most notably Seamus O’Shaunessy who appeared on wwe TV last year and was subsequently offered a job starting in developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling, Seamus also appears in the film, the escapist, and has appeared on “Podge and Rodge”, he appears to be Ireland’s best candidate for a wwe career.
In summation it is my conclusion without a doubt that wrestling is on the rise, no longer will we cower in shame or hide our hobby from a harsh society, the “red headed stepchild” just got a bleach job.