Taken from ‘The Host’s Soap Box’

Pro Wrestling IS For Everyone

I’ll repeat: pro wrestling IS for everyone.

One more time for the people in the back: pro wrestling IS for EVERYONE.

It’s 2018 and it’s easier than ever to watch as much pro wrestling from around the world. WWE, NXT, NJPW, NOAH, ROH, Impact, companies in Canada, Mexico, the UK, and on & on & on. Whether you like entertainment, comedy, strong style, hardcore, death matches, women’s matches, battle royals, barbed wire…you get my point.

I grew up on WWF. Born in 1985 and growing up in central PA I admittedly wasn’t even really aware of any other company outside of them until WCW started making some waves in the mid-90’s. I was also 10 or younger and there wasn’t the social media and internet world we have today. Throughout the Monday Night Wars I broadened my spectrum and started watching Nitro & RAW on Monday nights. However, once the WWE put “billionaire Ted” out of the wrestling game it was back to an all-McMahon world of wrestling for me. TNA then came on the scene and even though I enjoyed a good bit of that product I remained a WWE guy.

It really wasn’t until a few years ago, after the creation of 3 Count Thursday, that I really began to realize the wrestling world beyond the Stamford city limits. I began going to local Indy shows when we started working for Lancaster Championship Wrestling. We then branched out to Atomic Championship Wrestling in Stevens, PA, Legacy Wrestling in Central PA, Pro Wrestling Empire in Harrisburg, and more in the northeast/mid-atlantic region. Beyond that I started watching more ROH, TNA/Impact, etc. NXT helped me as well given that it’s a different style than the “typical WWE.” Beyond companies in the US, I’ve enjoyed the (admittedly) limited amount of NJPW I’ve watched.

One of the best parts about trying new wrestling, much like trying different types of food (hey, I’m a big guy…I can always bring it back to food), is learning to pick the things that I like and avoid the things that I don’t. Finding what wrestling fits your own personal style….what a novel concept, right?!

Truthfully one of my favorite parts about hosting 3 Count Thursday and interacting with pro wrestling fans on our show and social media accounts is seeing the varying opinions of fans on what shows/styles/matches they enjoy and why they enjoy them. I personally, still hold WWE as my #1 and I probably always will. But I love going to Indy shows. I love watching NXT, ROH, and I subscribed to New Japan World for WK12 and will likely keep it at least for the next 2 months because it appears that one of my all time favorites, Chris Jericho, is going to have a little more of a presence there at least in the short term.

The bottom line here is this….we are inundated with negative bullshit all the time. On the news, on social media, etc. we are just plain overloaded with negativity. So what is the point in continuing that with pro wrestling, something that is something that in all forms is really meant for entertainment, just because you don’t like a particular style?

It’s 2018, let’s just be better and smarter.

My final thought on this, I quote one of my favorite sound bites I’ve used on 3 Count Thursday…”if you don’t like it…don’t fucking watch it”