Fans of professional wrestling tend to be fiercely loyal to their beloved sport, sticking with it even though the most creatively dismal doldrums, but even these die-hards confess that it is becoming increasingly difficult to enjoy their once-favorite distraction.

“I have a WWE logo tattooed on my right buttcheek, so you know I’m a serious fan, but good lord have you seen the shit on TV lately?” said longtime wrestling fan Bruce Fraser. 

“I flipped to Raw one night and saw the Viking Raider Experience bowling, and I was like, nope.”

Wrestling fans have struggled with admirable aplomb to adapt to enjoying live WWE events performed for no one — or, arguably worse, to an audience full of paid lackeys banging on plexiglass. Fans have accepted preposterous storylines, impossible camera angles, cartoonish buffoonery and the usual thigh-slapping, chest-chopping sexy affair. 

Making it even more difficult for fans to enjoy wrestling are the recent revelations on social that far too many wrestlers that we once enjoyed are actually morally repugnant turdpersons. 

Even the world’s most noticeable die-hard fans — the “ringside regulars” who, in pre-pandemic times, sat in the same front-row seats opposite the “hard camera” at every WWE event — seem listless about the sport. 

“Mom and I used to love sitting in the front row, knowing we were on camera,” said a long-haired man identified only as Simon. “Now we just stay home and watch old Sunday Night Heat episodes while dad points a camera at us we we can still feel like we’re being seen by a lot of people.” 

According to a recent poll, only 1.3 percent of Americans think professional wrestling is the most important topic of the 2020 presidential election, which is down from 49 percent in 2016.