My dad and I have always had a great relationship. It’s often been said in my family that I’m his “mini me,” partially because we used to look nearly identical, but also because he passed so many of his interests down to me.
Almost all my taste in entertainment comes from him – my love of science fiction and fantasy stemmed from him showing me “Star Wars” for the first time at a young age. My love of rock and metal music began when he played Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” for me. And while my love of sports came from several different members of my family, watching Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox and Providence Bruins games with my dad made me fall in love with sports and are some of my favorite childhood memories.
As I grew up, these opportunities became less and less frequent. The PawSox moved from Rhode Island to Massachusetts in 2021, so we stopped attending games. I also became more and more busy and spending nights with my dad often got pushed to the back burner.
They were replaced by band rehearsals, baseball practices or time with my entire family. We weren’t drifting at all, we still went to concerts occasionally, and I could always count on him, along with my mom and other family members. Unfortunately, the days of watching something together, whether it be a Red Sox game or a science-fiction show like “The Expanse,” seemed to be in the past.
Last summer, though, that changed. While I was getting acclimated to my freshman year at a college about 180 miles from home, my dad rediscovered an old passion of his: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
After 20 years of disinterest due to a combination of a poor product and the limited free time that comes with starting a family, my dad returned to one of the hallmarks of his young adulthood. He fell in love with the rejuvenated storylines of a post-Vince McMahon company and the new crop of wrestlers.
I was happy he’d reconnected with an old interest. Growing up, I’d always heard stories from him about the glory days of the legendary “Attitude Era,” the late ‘90s and early 2000s era of WWE which saw some of the greatest wrestlers of all time: The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho and the Undertaker.
I’d never even watched a match, much less a full episode of one of WWE’s weekly shows. He asked me to join him a couple of times while I was on winter break; however, I didn’t really have much interest and always politely declined.
Over the summer, my interest started to grow slightly. Wrestlemania 40 was critically acclaimed, and I’d heard from some friends and my dad that this era of WWE was among the best. This eventually culminated into getting tickets for me and my dad to attend a taping of Friday Night Smackdown as a birthday gift. I was expecting to enjoy the experience, but I didn’t think that I’d become a genuine fan. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I watched a few episodes with my dad, including the fantastic premium live event “Clash At the Castle” and enjoyed them. I was starting to become invested in the world of professional wrestling. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I was genuinely interested or if I was just enjoying sitting down twice a week with my dad to watch the shows together. In reality, it was both.
We went to Smackdown and had a blast; I was completely and utterly hooked. After that, we began watching nearly every episode of Monday Night Raw, NXT and Smackdown together when I’m home. I watch all the episodes I can when I’m at school, too. Not only have I found a new interest that I absolutely love, but I have something that I either watch with my dad or talk to him about every week.
It’s been a gift to have WWE in my life, not only because it has led me to making new friends at school who share the same interest, but also because it’s made me feel like a kid again, sitting down for a Saturday afternoon baseball game with my best friend in the world: my dad.
