Once you start talking to people, you find out there's a lot more wrestling fans than you think there are.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I feel like there are a lot of closet wrestling fans out there.
First of all, I was a wrestling fan when I was young. Even when I figured out what wrestling was, I was still a fan.
We, as a wrestling community, better remember it is more than one individual that makes a winner.
Wrestlers are a little more dedicated than, and are different from, the other people, which may be strange.
Wrestling in Japan, obviously, the fans are a little bit different - very quiet, very respectful in New Japan - but here in the WWE, these fans are going nuts.
I've worked my entire career to try to broaden the perception of the WWE. A lot of folks think because we're so entertaining and oftentimes have such wild and well-defined characters that it's all we are. It has kind of been my life's work to tell the public that's not true.
The wrestling world is unique. There are things that happened, and there are things that didn't happen, but in wrestling, you just say they all happened. Some of it's fun to let stay out there - it adds to the mystique and wrestling lore.
I get a lot of influence from pro wrestling. People are like, 'Oh, it's fake.' But it's not about whether the guy wins or loses, it's about how he entertains you the whole time you're watching.
In Hollywood, there really is a stigma against wrestling. I think that's why people think wrestlers are Neanderthals who can't string two words together.
One thing I was proud of when I did the college talks was that, although stories revolved around experiences that I had in wrestling, one did not need to be a wrestling fan to enjoy them.
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