In defense of Dong Style

I knew it was coming and I was nervous. I am 33 and have been a wrestling fan on and off since I was 5 years old. The rest of my group of friends had left their interest in Wrestling back in the Attitude era and I frequently receive good natured ribbing about whatever wrestling t shirt I happened to have on. During a particularly heavy drinking session, 3 of my friends had impulsively agreed to go to the upcoming OTT show Wrestlerama, for no other reason than to have a few drinks, see “Mankind” and give me more abuse over an interest they no longer understood. The evening had started surprisingly well (the pre drinks didn’t hurt) after a few matches my friends were actually getting in the festivities. The intimacy of Dublin’s National Stadium means you can see and feel every bump and gives fans a renewed appreciation for the very real athleticism that is required to step into the ring. The topes of Jordan Devlin, the ungodly ability of Ricochet, everything that we are told is bad about modern wrestling had them hooked.

 Then The “Piña Colada Song” hit and Joey Ryan made his entrance, I knew the rest of the night was going to hinge on what happened next. We sang along to the intoxicatingly catchy tune(being slightly intoxicated didn’t hurt) the match was a fantastic comedy match with Angel Cruz, Candice LeRae & B Cool all doing their part to keep the crowd entertained. Foley came out and the moment I was looking forward to/dreading happened. I was sure this would be the moment that would be used to beat me over the head with any time wrestling was brought up in the future “you like watching a show where a guy flips people with his dong” Instead I looked across to see my friends, along with 2000 others in the building laughing like lunatics.

 The irony of the criticism from guys like Jim Cornette is that Joey Ryan and OTT for that matter are embracing the old school 3 ring circus mentality that was a big part of the territories. You don’t like the big guys, no problem the luchadors are on next, the mat wrestling doesn’t do it for you? here come the clowns. Guys like Joey Ryan, Will Osprey and Kenny Omega have done what every wrestler since time began has been encouraged to do. Get people to pay to see them.

Back in the more realistic days 

I recently attended a WWE show in Dublin with a friend who hadn’t watched the product in years and his take way was apart from the Hardy’s who he was previously aware of and Balor who was the hometown hero “every match kind of looked the same, nothing really stood out” For years we have been criticising WWE for not allowing their talent to take chances to the point we are left with a grey sludge of interchangeable characters and 50/50 booking where no one gets over.

The “Dick spot” may not be for you but that’s fine but let's not pretend it is any less ridiculous than a wrestler needing to endlessly run when thrown into the ropes. It also gets people in the building and exposes(poor choice of words) people to talent they would not have seen. My friends came away looking forward to seeing not only Ryan again but Session Moth Martina, a character that wouldn’t be given a chance in any other promotion, “the penguin guy” Marty Scrull (give them a break they are new) along with Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.

Wrestling fandom in of itself is a niche that’s small enough without being told you have to enjoy it in a specific way. No other avenue of entertainment is this prevalent. No one tells Game of Thrones fans to stop watching the scenes with Dragons and just enjoy the politics of Westeros. 2000 packed into an indie show in Dublin because there was something for all of them to enjoy. Creativity in Wrestling is always something that should be encouraged as it's these moments that push boundaries and create memorable moments like an Olympic gold medalist in a tiny cowboy hat, a disgruntled employee dropping a "pipebomb". This is why I believe Joey Ryan's penis is a good thing for wrestling.

Andy McCarroll
@andymc1983