Shouldn't Wrestling Fans Always Want and Expect the Best?

Professional wrestling thrives on passion. The energy of the fans, their cheers, their chants, their outrage, is the heartbeat of the industry. Without a loyal audience, no amount of athleticism, storytelling, or charisma could sustain the spectacle that fills arenas and dominates social media. Yet in recent years, the wrestling community has divided into camps: those who accept whatever product their favorite promotion delivers, and those who demand more. This raises an essential question: Shouldn't wrestling fans always want and expect the best?

The Culture of Complacency

Many fans grew up loyal to the WWE brand and feel a sense of identity tied to that choice. Loyalty can be admirable, but when it turns into complacency, it hurts the art form. When audiences defend poor creative decisions or excuse uninspired storytelling simply because they like the company or product, it stagnates. Consider the WWE's late 2010s era, when repetitive main events and part-time champions frustrated fans. Despite the backlash, many viewers continued to tune in uncritically, allowing the company to coast creatively. Only when the audience revolted through social media campaigns, such as #GiveDivasAChance, and live crowd protests, chanting "We want better!" did WWE shift toward a more competitive women's division and a stronger emphasis on storytelling.

The Standard of Excellence

Expecting the best doesn't mean tearing down every match or performer. It means holding promotions to a professional standard that matches the fans' passion. AEW's emergence in 2019 revived this expectation. The company's commitment to in-ring storytelling and athletic competition pushed WWE to evolve. The "Wednesday Night War" between AEW Dynamite and NXT wasn't just about ratings; it was about philosophy. AEW presented long-term feuds and fresh matchups, while NXT responded with innovative storytelling and fan-focused programming. Fans who demanded more helped create that competition, and competition, as history shows, breeds quality.

Celebrating Craft Over Hype

Wrestling at its best combines theater, sport, and improvisation. Fans who expect excellence recognize that every match should serve a purpose advancing a story, building a character, or delivering an athletic spectacle. When promotions rely too heavily on nostalgia or celebrity cameos, it cheapens the craft. The backlash to WWE's overuse of returning legends, such as Goldberg, in championship scenes illustrates this. By contrast, when companies elevate talent like Will Ospreay, Bryan Danielson, or Iyo Sky —performers who redefine the art form —the industry moves forward.

Fans as Partners, Not Consumers

Promoters often describe wrestling as a "conversation" with the audience. That conversation only works when fans respond honestly. Apathy or unquestioning loyalty ends it. WrestleMania crowds chanting "This is awesome!" during lackluster matches, or fans ignoring smaller promotions offering better wrestling, signal that the conversation is broken. Expecting the best doesn't mean rejecting fun; it means valuing quality enough to insist on it. When fans demand layered storytelling, like Sami Zayn's Bloodline arc, or technical brilliance, like FTR versus The Briscoes, they act as partners in wrestling's evolution.

The Future Depends on Standards

Wrestling’s greatest eras, the 1980s boom, the Attitude Era, and the modern independent explosion thrived because fans demanded more. They wanted new stars, new ideas, and emotional investment. The contemporary fan has more access than ever to world-class wrestling across the globe. To settle for mediocrity when excellence is one click away betrays the art itself.

So, shouldn't wrestling fans always want and expect the best? Absolutely. Not out of entitlement, but out of respect for the performers who risk their bodies, for the promoters who shape the stories, and for the audience who invests its passion. Wrestling fans are not passive spectators; they are the lifeblood of the business. The day they stop expecting greatness is the day wrestling stops being great.