Vendetta x Daily DDT: What do amateur wrestlers Think of pro wrestling?

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of professional wrestling within the IWC; everyone who watches and enjoys wrestling fundamentally understands it and finds enjoyment through the product.

However, if you take that interest outside of the wrestling fandom and throw the pro wrestling hat into the “legitimate” sports ring, then you will more than likely find yourself laughed out of the building.

There is an important distinction between sports entertainment and sports, but sometimes the lines can be blurred between amateur and professional wrestling and the perceptions that surround it.

That is why Daily DDT has partnered with Vendetta Sports Media and their group of amateur wrestlers to explain their opinions on professional wrestling, the parallels between amateur and pro wrestling, and whether pro wrestling has a positive or negative effect on amateur wrestling.

What is your general opinion of professional wrestling?

Trey Daubert (Vendetta CEO/That’s Some Cheese Host): I used to be really into it as a kid but my interest faded once I hit like 4th grade. Right now I couldn’t care less about it. Not sure I could name one guy that still does it.

Bryan Tann (Tanndemonium Sports Show Host): [The] thing is I love the business. I’m not a fan of the modern product, but I love the business.

Evan Kinsey (Writer): I was never a huge fan of professional wrestling, I watched it time from time in sixth grade because my teacher was a huge fan.

Chad Bauman (Lead Word Host):  I loved it as a kid pretty much don’t pay attention to it now. I’m indifferent on it unless I’m reminiscing about watching it as a kid.

Do you perceive amateur wrestling as a feeder sport for pro wrestling?

Trey: Not really. I wouldn’t consider it minor league baseball.

Bryan: Any slap nut that thinks that the business does something to amateur wrestling knows nothing. Getting into the ring is almost as grueling as training for amateur wrestling if not more so because you have to think while putting forth so much physical effort

Evan: To an extent definitely. I think a lot of professional wrestlers wrestled in their youth.

Chad: Maybe back in the day Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar were amateur studs. Nowadays I think those top NCAA guys and Olympians go the UFC route.

Do you think the expansion of professional wrestling has enhanced or impaired the growth and perception of amateur wrestling?

Trey: Has there been an expansion of wrestling? I wrestled basically my whole life. I don’t think pro wrestling has any impact on it.

Bryan: They aren’t remotely the same. The business is a work. But you also have to make your opponent look good as well as yourself and be careful that you do not harm your opponent which is difficult to do.

Evan: I think it would impair it if anything. They’re two totally different sports, aside from one being scripted and the other actually being a test between two people.

Chad: As far as growth I don’t think it hurts. You definitely have kids that see pro wrestling and it piques interest. A lot of kids I wrestled with were pro wrestling fans growing up. As far as perception the two are so radically different. To me, it feels like asking if ping pong affects how tennis is perceived.

Do you feel the scripted and theatric nature of pro wrestling has tarnished the legitimacy of amateur wrestling?

Trey: I would say they’re just two very different things. I can’t fathom that anyone would consider amateur wrestling being tarnished by pro.

Bryan: I’ll probably sit and enjoy professional wrestling more because two men in the ring are telling a story. Amateur wrestling is the same as watching UFC or Boxing. It’s a form of martial arts. But there’s no way the business has harmed amateur wrestling.

If anything, guys like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, or hell Dean Malenko has made it popular and has shown some of the newcomers that having an amateur background can help them. Hell, Bob Backlund was an amateur and he was beloved in his day. And you can’t tarnish a sport’s legacy if you’re not the same sport.

Evan: I don’t think it’s tarnished amateur wrestling, I think they have two different audiences. people watching amateur wrestling are usually pretty fond of wrestling itself, professional wrestling has a much younger crowd.

Chad: Not at all.

Would it be fair to say amateur wrestling and professional wrestling belong in the same category, or should there be a greater effort to distinguish the sports?

Trey: They couldn’t be [more] different in my opinion. Does anyone actually compare the two?

Bryan: There should definitely be a distinction between the two; Amateur wrestling is a martial art. The business is sports entertainment.

Evan: There should be a greater effort to distinguish the sports I think. I just thought about the south park episode where they believe professional wrestling is the real deal, and actual wrestling was not. Whether or not people across the world actually think that I’m not sure, but we certainly have to distinguish the two. I was a wrestler for 10 years, not an actor

Chad: I don’t think they belong in the same category. I don’t really consider pro wrestling a sport. And that’s not a knock. I know it’s pretty tough from some Kurt Angle interviews I’ve seen but for me, pro wrestling is more akin to watching a TV show like Friday Night Lights than it is a sporting competition.

What are you more likely to sit and enjoy, amateur or professional wrestling? Why do you believe this?

Trey: Amateur but honestly that’s not saying much. I hated my own sport. I never sit down to watch it.

Bryan: I’ll probably sit and enjoy professional wrestling more because two men in the ring are telling a story.

Evan: I’m more likely to sit and enjoy amateur wrestling for sure. I’m a big Rutgers wrestling fan, and I try to watch a lot of their matches. I always find time to watch the NCAA every year as well.

Chad: Amateur wrestling just because I’ve basically been in the sport for 13 years now.

Thanks to the amateur wrestlers at Vendetta for offering their unique perspective, make sure to check out their work and keep an eye out for Daily DDT’s offerings on the subject “What do wrestling fans think of amateur wrestling” very soon.

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