October 26. 2021

By David Jay Morris

A lot has been written about the make-up of ex-president Trump’s cult-like base of support. Heading the list are white evangelicals who think of themselves as Christians, rural folks who resent the way they are viewed by the “coastal elites,” overt racists and neo-fascists and, of course, regular watchers of Fox News and other right-wing propaganda outlets.

One group that hasn’t been covered much, however, is lovers of professional wrestling.

This is something of a surprise since, with all its bullying, bluster and glorification of violence, the insurrectionist-in-chief’s schtick seems, in many ways, to be an exact copy of that found in the WWE or Impact Wrestling.

In fact, the parallels are so close that back in 2017, in the wake of a Trump-world tweet showing their boy body-slamming a man in suit with a CNN logo for a head outside a pro-wrestling ring, Jake Pearson wrote an excellent article for the AP outlining how Donald might have been quite deliberately lifting parts of his act from the WWE. 

To quote Mr. Pearson:

“Making bombastic boasts. Dropping signature catch phrases. Attaching insults to rivals’ names. Shouting down perceived enemies.

“If President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on television personalities, journalists and political rivals feel like something straight out of the pro wrestling circuit, it may not be a coincidence.

“Wrestling aficionados say the president, who has a long history with the game, has borrowed the time-tested tactics of the squared circle to cultivate the ultimate antihero character, a figure who wins at all costs, incites outrage and follows nobody’s rules but his own.”

It would be no surprise then, if people who enjoy the spectacle of professional wrestling – no matter how fake and manufactured it might actually be – would respond well to the bully-boy buffoonery of disgraced ex-president.

And make him their hero.

I, however, have quite a different take on the issue.

In pro-wrestling, the situation is fake.  Outcomes are predetermined, and the whole thing follows a carefully developed script for the specific purpose of creating a money-making form of popular entertainment.

Fake as the situation in which they act may be, however, the pro-wrestling performers are anything but. They are highly-trained, disciplined athletes who spend a lot of time practicing their moves and keeping fit.  They are paid to put on a good show, and they deliver.

Trump is the exact opposite.  

He himself is the fake.

A successful businessman?  More like he just plays one on TV. 

Heavily edited TV. 

In the real world, the tax documents leaked by Mary Trump show that he was, in fact, America’s biggest loser, at least in terms of business income.

Hard-working?  Please…

He spent a large part of his presidency playing golf or holed up in his private quarters watching TV.

Physically brave?

We didn’t see him follow through on his promise to lead his mob down to Capitol Hill on January 6th, now did we?  And BLM protests in front of the White House got a little heated, he headed straight for the sub-terranean bunker as if he was waiting for a nuclear strike.

Patriotic and committed to democracy and protection of the Constitution?

Yeah, right.

Unlike the athlete/performers of pro-wrestling, Trump himself is nothing but a pompous, narcissistic grifter and fraud.

What’s real, however, is the situation here on Earth One.

The damage he and his cronies are doing to the United States is all too real.

What’s worse, the Trumpian pro-wrestling ethos is spreading faster among his followers than the designated loser getting slammed to the mat. 

Been to a school board or public health commission meeting lately?

Bullying, bluster, ignorant self-certainty, threats of violence, shouting down anyone who tries to disagree with you…

Seen what’s happening at the state and local levels with massive voter-suppression and nullification laws? 

Been watching how honest and impartial election workers are being treated?

Welcome to Trump era Republicanism.

The pro-wrestling party has arrived.