There's almost no worse feeling than having to play catch up. I was kind of a slow kid when it came to getting work done, or "obeying rules." But sometimes, catching up can be a profound joy. It's like unlocking a door into a world with seemingly boundless content waiting for you. This joy of discovery could turn into something that could define a section of your life. That is me with professional wrestling.

I didn't actually fully get into wrestling until I was 18, in 2014. I was always cognizant of it, and my friend had a Steve Austin poster on his wall. The only thing I really knew about it was that South Park episode, and that it was fake. But on a whim, after a lot of buzz from people online, I decided to check out WrestleMania 30. It was that show, and the following Raw, that hooked me. I fell in love immediately; I instantly "got it." It was a cross section of lifelong passions - sports, and cool guy shit. I would have loved wrestling as a kid. As I continued to watch WWE weekly with my dad (a lapsed fan from the early WrestleMania days), I realized I missed out on a part of my childhood I could have had.

I became obsessed. I started to branch out quickly, spending almost all my free time for the next coming year soaking in all the wrestling lore I could. I watched everything I found online that even resembled a wrestling match. I read books and resources that seemed legit. I’m still learning - I spent many nights last year reading old Wrestling Observers, trying to get context for this new medium I've been sleeping on my whole life. I just need more. It went from being a thing where I could only name a few big cross media stars, to something I've attended live thrice, and something I'm constantly breaking my sleep schedule for. At this point, with all the preordained athletics I've digested in the past half decade, it almost feels like I've been watching all my life.

Thus I urge you: if you're an adult, and think wrestling isn't for you, or you feel like you could never get it, give it a try. Watch Raw or AEW one week. It's not like sports or video games where it feels like there are all these language barriers and walls to hurdle around. Its fun. You'll just feel it, and know immediately if you want more.