Opinions

There Is More To Life Than Wrestling

Josh Mansfield

So. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Well, let me just say that life has been absolutely crazy the past few months. Some things happened over the past few months and I’ve had to slow down in some places and pick it up in others. Life has been nuts. And because of that, I haven’t kept up with my Mansfield’s Matchups for Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber. In fact, I haven’t written really much of anything, wrestling-wise, since Survivor Series in November. Yes, I know that’s a long time. But again, that’s because I’ve had a lot going on. And so, I wanted to take this time, in a little bit of a different kind of column, to just talk straight with all of you about something, and that is this:

There Is More To Life Than Wrestling.

Yes, you read that right. A wrestling columnist on a wrestling website is telling you that there is more to life than pro-wrestling.

Now let me tell you why.

The other day, I had my six year anniversary of being on Twitter. I honestly couldn’t believe that it had been that long. It truly is astounding to me. As the day came and went I also started realizing that we are now less than two weeks away from WrestleMania. Even though it’s WrestleMania season, I honestly haven’t been in the “WrestleMania spirit”. Let me preface my next part by stating it has nothing to do with Triple H’s creative or booking. I’ve been loving the storylines, I’ve been loving the matches. Even AEW has had me tuning in lately. But, the fact of the matter is, life’s just been so busy, that even though I’ve been watching, I’ve had so much going on, that for me, WrestleMania, WWE, and wrestling itself, has been somewhat of an afterthought apart from those few hours a week when it’s on TV. And even then, I find myself busy with everything else. Today as I was sitting on my couch, I realized something: I haven’t started my traditional watchback of my favorite WrestleMania matches yet. Truthfully, I haven’t watched *any* wrestling, outside of TV and the PLE’s on Peacock in *months*. And for me, that’s not typical. But I also then came to realize: I’m okay with that.

Just recently, a WWE House Show came to town. I decided not to go. I had other plans that day with some of my close friends. And for me, they took top priority over a few hours of wrestling. I’ve learned in the past few years, especially during the time of the pandemic and being on Twitter more, that so many of us IWC Twitter marks need to take a break, step back, breathe, and actually live life. Now, for some, covering wrestling is a job. It’s their life’s work and what pays their bills. But, for many of us, it isn’t. And while we may love wrestling, we also have to be aware to not let it control our entire lives. I’ve seen many times fans on Twitter and YouTube get upset at some of my friends and colleagues for when they have not been able to do shows due to things that come up unexpectedly or for whatever reason, or they get upset over the literal stupidest things. And to see that happen over something as silly as a wrestling show on YouTube or something is just not okay. Now, you may be asking at this point, “Josh, where is all this coming from?” Honestly? This has been something that’s been building up for years due to what I’ve seen on wrestling Twitter and YouTube that’s just depressing. Now, I can’t claim to not be guilty of doing/saying stupid things on wrestling Twitter myself, none of us can. But I’m trying to learn from that past to better myself. And I hope that everyone who reads this decides to work on that too.

I love wrestling. I always will. But there is a lot more to life. And every once in a while you need to get off your screens, get off your phones, get off the couch, go outside, breathe in some fresh air, smile, and go and talk to real people. Trust me. It might just well do us all some good. And think then of how much better a place the IWC and Wrestling Twitter would be because of it?