Since my daughter was barely a week old, she’s been watching professional wrestling with me.
She doesn’t remember this, but three days after she was born, I bounced a crying baby around while watching old episodes of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on the WWE Network. Yes, I was trying to stay awake. Yes, I was desperately trying to get her to sleep. No, I didn’t succeed at either. Such is life with a newborn.
Since then, wrestling has been around her in all kinds of ways. Dad’s office has wrestling pictures on the wall, wrestling shows are on in the background because of Dad’s job, and Dad leaves the house every now and again to attend a Chicago wrestling event of some kind. She’s exposed to the pro wrestling madness and understands it’s a pretty big deal.
The real question
I’m not sure if my daughter genuinely likes pro wrestling yet. She only kind of understands what’s going on, but there are parts that I know she absolutely loves.
Hysterically, one of the parts she loves is Hook. Yep, THAT Hook. AEW Hook. She’s six years old and has loved Hook since the moment he walked out on television for his first match ever. Granted, it’s one of the first wrestling entrances she ever saw, but still … Hook? Add this to the list of many things I don’t understand about being a Dad.
She loves tag teams. I do understand that one. But yeah, loves tag teams. The teamwork idea is big for her right now and of course, the moment where they both “slap hands at the same time” — as she’d say — is a moment that grabs her attention.
She loves the colors on a pro wrestling show. So, Mercedes Mone’s hair always gets a big pop. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill get cheers because of their weekly attire, too. When Dustin Rhodes paints half his face blue? Yep, that plays.
I think my daughter is a fan of the pageantry that pro wrestling brings to the table. Cheers, boos, and engagement. She seems to enjoy that when it’s on. She likes participating in her living room, even if it’s just a little smile, grin, or laugh.
Who needs the stinking fighting?
All that fighting? Yeah, she could care less. What fighting? She gets that there are good guys and bad guys and enjoys seeing some of the reckless high-flying the wrestlers do, but the wrestling itself is probably the least special part of the entire art form to her.
So, I was really curious as to how she’d do and what she’d be drawn into at her first live and in-person wrestling event. I was also excited. Tremendously excited. Pro wrestling is what I do, so bringing her along with me was a dream come true.
We attended the WWE live event on December 29 at the Allstate Arena just outside Chicago. It’s a smooth 20 minute drive from the house and a perfect venue for a wrestling show — especially one with a six-year old. It’s an intimate venue and when you’re there, you feel like you’re on top of the action. It’s also loud.
After a stop for some pizza at Giordano’s we parked the car in my secret Allstate Arena parking lot and hiked over to the venue. My daughter took issue with the line that we waited in, but that can fully be blamed on the impatience of a six-year old and not the length of the line. We waited five minutes … maybe.
The next part of this story is still fascinating to me. What’s the first thing you do when you go to a wrestling show? You want to see the ring right? The stage? That’s me. To this day I like to soak that in before purchasing a beer, food, or merchandise. My daughter was the exact same way.
Look, I had the credit card out for food and desserts right as we walked through the door thinking that would be the direction she’s want to go, but nope. “Dad, let’s go see the ring!”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t proud.
The sno-cone
The food came next. It was 30 degrees outside, so naturally we had to purchase a sno-cone. We also snagged some M&M’s and water. You know … essentials.
Then we headed down to our seats. We had a 45 minute wait from the second our butts touched down in our chairs to when the first bell would ring. That’s an eternity for a six-year old. Thankfully, people watching at wrestling shows in Chicago is pretty damn fun.
My daughter enjoyed seeing all the belt replicas. She loved hearing and then asking about all of the chants that would pop up ahead of the show. The Ric Flair “Woo” chants were a favorite and she asked “Dad, who is Ric Flair?” I saved that answer for another day.
When the show started, she was mesmerized. WWE was sharp with production as always. The lowering of the lights and utilization of a cold open was effective in hyping up the crowd. When the lights came up, Seth Rollins hit the ring to a raucous reaction and my daughter’s face lit up. She was a little taken aback by the noise, but instantly engaged. The questions rolled in like a crashing wave.
“Who is that guy? Why is everyone cheering? What’s he wearing? Is he gonna fight? Who’s he gonna fight?” It was non-stop and I loved it. Pure, authentic, curiosity and I was happy to answer everything.
Being in the building, the actual matches were much more interesting to her. The sound helped, the live crowd reaction helped, and her reacting helped too. It’s right there in front of you, so it’s nearly impossible to miss it or be distracted by something else. Rollins defeated Chad Gable. The crowd cheered and she cheered too.“Is there another one,” she said worryingly? Little does she know. It’s WWE, so for better or worse, there is always another one.
Iyo Sky
The next match was her favorite match of the night. Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan for the WWE Women’s World Championship. I haven’t asked, but Sky may have supplanted Hook as her number one favorite. Everything about Iyo Sky enthralled her when watching her live and in-person. The music, the strobe lights, and Sky’s entrance attire all hooked her in different ways. She was bummed when Sky lost.
Other thumbs up from the six-year old was Sami Zayn, the t-shirt launching guy, Bron Breakker, fans barking like a dog for Bron Breakker, and the M&M’s — because they are different at the Allstate Arena, I guess? (they aren’t)
My daughter asked a thoughtful and poignant question about an hour into the show and soon after the Iyo Sky match. “Is there going to be another women’s match?” Well, there wasn’t going to be one and to that answer she said, “There needs to be more girl wrestling on the show.” It’s interesting that she saw the discrepancy between time given to men and women on the show. It was staggering, especially if you haven’t watched pro wrestling for the last 30 years. She noticed and is right. They need to step up their game in this regard because fans notice and care.
I watch a lot of wrestling. Part of the joy for me is writing about it, analyzing it, and dissecting it to tiny pieces. That’s fun. It’s also fun to watch someone watch it without any of that involved. For that reason, and of course just the camaraderie and night out with my kid, going to the show with her was such a pleasure.
Tick tock
Now, WWE, listen up. Your house shows are too long! We left at 9:45 central time — more than two hours after the event started — and intermission had just ended. CM Punk was in the main event, who my daughter was excited to see, but was so tired by this time it didn’t even matter. Her night was done.
And what a night it was. It’s always fun doing things you love with people you love, but this was different. A generational night in the Heydorn house. Who knows if she’ll ever want to watch another wrestling match in her life, but on this night, it was special to watch one with her.
In the car on the way home from the show I asked her what her favorite part of the show was. Her answer? The sno-cone.
Tell us about your first pro wrestling show in the comments!
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