For about a year-and-a-half now, I’ve been enrolled at a professional wrestling camp. Now I know you’re either laughing or asking yourselves “What’s wrong with this guy?” Well, you’ll find out.

Now I do well in school, I’ve got a good social life, and my least, and yet most favorite accolade is my love for the “sports entertainment” you guys know as pro wrestling. It’s very alien, very controversial, but also very rewarding. I understand that pro wrestlers are seen as “actors,” or words too foul to be used in this article. But here’s the question, even though pro wrestling isn’t real, does that mean that the wrestlers aren’t putting themselves in harm’s way? The answer is Hell to the no.

I play football, hockey, and rugby. I’m a very physical person, I like physicality. But I’ve never been seriously hurt playing any of those sports. Sure, I leave winded with black and blue marks, but I consider those a sign that I’ve done a good job. With pro wrestling, I’ve been cut, I’ve sprained my ankle, and I’ve even had to go to the hospital for internal bleeding.

So you guys are probably asking yourselves, “Wait, I thought this was fake.” “Fake.” That’s an ugly word used only by ignoramuses to describe pro wrestling, in my opinion. The word “scripted” is more fitting. It’s true, when I step in the ring with a guy; I’m not really trying to tear his head off, neither is he. We’re trying to keep each other safe. But what we are doing is getting into character; we need to act the part. And just a head’s up, 90% of the moves we do hurt. When I get into the ring, and pardon my French, but I need to act badass. That’s my character. Our job is to try and tell a story, whether it turns into a bad movie like in the WWE or a nice little short film, like in smaller wrestling companies.

Yet I always walk out of the ring busted up. I’m not going to give you my laundry-list of injuries again, but I always walk out more hurt after a short match than in a one and a half hour of rugby. I like to fly from the ropes; I land on a hard, wooden mat. A lot. When I go up against big guys, I get thrown around. I am one of the few people who can say they’ve dressed up in their underwear and jumped around for 30 minutes for $50 a night (because I’m still a student I don’t get paid in full).

So why do I put myself in these perilous situations, get hurt very badly, and for such little money? The answer is what you’d hear from a lot of young actors. I’m in it for the fame and fortune. I love pro wrestling, not just because of the fact that the people in that ring are like superheroes almost, but because there are many who are adored by millions, and there are many who make millions.

So my question is simple; why are there so many haters? Why do people hate a field that’s not shrinking, but growing and can provide employment for a lot of physically fit people. Football, soccer lacrosse, amateur wrestling, baseball, they’re all great ways of making money. But that’s only if they pick you. You have to be the best of the best of the best. It’s not that easy, and neither is pro wrestling. But the difference is that in pro wrestling, once you graduate from a camp, there are companies with their eyes on you. There are even magazines that are willing to review your matches and even do a story on you.

So now you know my feelings on pro wrestling, I hope you left learning something. If you still hate it, fine, it’s not my job to convert you. But if you have a different view, just as well. I just don’t want you to hate something you don’t understand.