Dear WWE – Thank You For Making Me Proud to Be a Wrestling Fan

Dear WWE,

My name is Jack McGee and besides being in the import/export business, I am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I am nearing the age of 40, and in my lifetime I have seen a lot in the wrestling business from mid-south and WCCW to WCW, ECW, AWA, Global, TNA, ROH, LUCHA and Japan, I love to watch it all. But growing up in the northeast, the WWF was what I first fell in love with. The WWF is what I followed, and the WWF is what I loved. It hasn’t always been easy to be a fan, but for the better part of 35 years, I have been and likely always will be.

The WWF and now E has produced moments that I will never forget: Savage and Liz at WM 7, Austin’s beer bath, Hogan slams Andre, Flair and HBK’s retirements, Austin vs. Hart, the ways you paid tribute to Eddie and Owen, Warrior beating Honky Tong Man, the rise of the Rock, my guy Cactus Jack winning a WWF Title as Mankind, the ending of WM 20, Steamboat vs. Savage, Triple H’s 2002 return in MSG and many more.

Those were a few and all in your company.

I have also watched a lot of bad from you over the years: Linda McMahon be sedated, Triple H having sex with a fake corpse, Mae Young giving birth to a hand, God “wrestling” on a PPV, the exploitation of Eddie Guerrero’s death, Road Warrior Hawk’s “suicide” attempt on Raw, Heidenreich forcing himself on Michael Cole, going forward with the Muhammad Hassan terrorist angle during the London Bombings, Vince saying “keep it up my n***a” to Booker T, Jillian Hall’s mole and the Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior DVD and many more.

Those were a few, and those were all just in your company. Don’t make me think about all of the other stuff.

I was never Hulk Hogan’s biggest fan, Randy Savage was my guy to be honest, but I also loved the Ultimate Warrior. Yes looking back he was insane and most of his promos were odd. At times post wrestling he didn’t seem like a great person due to the things he would say about his fellow wrestlers, and homosexuals, but I thought that the Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior was a dick move and should never have been done.

Warrior has passed on (in what is some of the oddest timing I have ever witnessed) but had by all reports mended the fences with you. You made good on this deal with the Warrior Week, and the documentary you did that aired on Thursday that week was outstanding. Not only was it some of the finest work you have ever done, but you made the situation right, and it made me happy.

I still have problems with your product, and I will continue to voice them. I had another column prepared for today, I was going to do what I do well and rip into the company and a certain performer, all with legitimate issues and points…

And then, then you produced this.

That was one of the most powerful and emotional videos I have ever seen. If you are a parent, you’ll especially be moved by this video. Excuse me a minute; it got dusty in here while I was cutting some onions…

Let me be honest with you. I can be as jaded as they come, I complain with the best of them but I try to do it with a purpose, as an analyst, but I always remember I am a fan and love the sport of pro wrestling. I know the good when I see it, and today WWE, today you get nothing but my thanks. I will not claim like some that you’re simply doing this for “PR” and stuff like that. You get the benefit of the doubt today, because it felt sincere.

Dear WWE,

I have been a fan for over 35 years and will continue to be a wrestling fan until I die. Many times during my life it has been hard to be a wrestling fan. It can be embarrassing, that list of bad stuff above, that is the stuff you cannot explain to your non-fan friends, because they will laugh at you, they will call you stupid; they don’t understand. It is so hard to be a fan of wrestling and to let people know, because you do a lot of embarrassing things.

But then you produce a video like that. A video made with love, care, respect and appreciation. You paid tribute to the (way too short) life of a wrestling young fan, a fan named Connor Michalek. You did it with class, you did it with admiration for that little boy, and you did it to show your love; the same love he showed you and the performers of the WWE.

Some times it has been hard to be a wrestling fan, but I have never been ashamed of it. I, like many, want to dwell on the negatives way too often, even if I have the best of intentions when doing so.

But today WWE I need to tell you something.

You made me proud to be a wrestling fan…

Jack McGee is an aspiring investigative journalist with interests covering TV, Movies, Wrestling, MMA and Sports. When not hunting the Incredible Hulk, Jack works on his surfing, his Johnny Utah like throwing motion and origami.