It's probably fair to say that Fox Sports analyst Rob Parker is the kind of person who sees a diehard pro wrestling fan and says "You know, wrestling is fake." If not, he's doing a really good job pretending that he is.
Appearing on The Odd Couple Podcast, Parker addressed the criticism and discourse over the recent WrestleMania 42 event. He admitted that he was "shocked" to see ESPN put so much effort into giving it legitimate coverage and making it feel big.
“I’m just shocked to see ESPN, and I know McAfee was involved, and I get it. He’s one of their personal Stephen A. was there so that they could boo Stephen A., you know, and all that. And that goes with the territory. It just tells you’re a big guy when they’re booing you at an event like that.”
“But it was a big ordeal, and I just saw stuff online where social media people were ripping it, that it wasn’t good. You know what I mean? And then there were a lot of commercials, and then four hours, and they only wrestled for an hour and a half out of those four hours. So there were a lot of people disgruntled.”
Then Parker admonished adults - specifically "grown men" - for still being interested in pro wrestling. He compared it to going to the zoo or the circus and said that people should have grown out of it by now.
“But my point is this. I can’t understand how people are still grown men are still into wrestling. I can’t. We all went to the zoo. We all went to, the circus as kids, right? And at some point, Kelvin, you grow out of it.”
Backlash
If there's one thing pro wrestling fans hate more than seeing bad matches, it's being talked down to like Parker did there. Fans flooded the Fox Sports Radio comments section with angry remarks admonishing Parker for not respecting their preferred form of entertainment.
"It’s fairly simple. You watched as a kid. As an adult it becomes more about the process and execution. The presentation isn’t as great as it was and it’s not meant to be paired with sports or ESPN but it’s not fair to criticize those who enjoy it because it’s not far off from any scripted TV. All scripted shows are art imitating life and that’s exactly what WWE has always been. It’s a silly product in nature and never meant to be sport. It’s stunt show with some of the best athletes you’ve ever seen. You have a great case against the ESPN+WWE partnership because even I hate that but the wrestling fan is not different than the Golden Girls fan that you are," one user explained at length.
"You can hate pro wrestling and that's cool, I completely get that because it's like anime , it's not for everyone. But don't cheer when your favorite athlete does a dance or talks shit for the camera because they all got their influence from pro wrestling. Floyd Mayweather credits Ric Flair all the time for his antics and trash talking, NFL players do WWE moves and taunts all the time, UFC and boxing fighters literally rip their whole personas out of pro wrestling. And it's not exclusive to sports, politics , on the left and right, are the same way. Your favorite politician literally cuts promos like a Babyface they all do. You can hate pro wrestling, I totally understand it being childish... But Pro Wrestling has an influence on real life sports, movies, and politics more than you think lol. Even radio personalities are an extension of themselves which is literally what pro wrestlers do," wrote another.
© Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images.
"I mean older folks still watch old westerns and they know what happens," a third argued.
"Think of it like this Bro, movies are fake but we love them. Only the writer knows the outcome."
"How boring would the world be if everyone was the same? Let people enjoy what they enjoy lmfao."
"Yeah, I’m a grown man that likes wrestling. I actually share this bond with my daughter, so what’s the problem?"
Ultimately, the message is simple: Don't yuck someone else's yum.
