Are You Too Old for This?

Pro Wrestling Is the Perfectly Ridiculous Antidote to Everything

Even if you never got into it, the self-aware parody makes for perfect escapism

David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL
Published in
5 min readApr 1, 2020

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Illustration: Moya Garrison-Msingwana

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

I’m 33 years old. It’s a weird age, teetering between being in touch and stuck in my ways. And I know I’m not the only one standing at the intersection of Young Buck and Old Head. Every time something comes along, whether it’s slang or pop culture or a new tech platform, you confront the same question: Am I too old for this? That’s why I’m here — to work through these conundrums on your behalf, on a weekly basis. Together, hopefully, we can face some harsh truths about our own washedness.

WWhen my daddy was a kid, his stepdaddy used to take him to barn houses in Shreveport, Louisiana, where they’d watch live wrestling — a couple guys probably named Cotton Boy Jim and Overalls Griff having choreographed matches that the crowd thought were 100% authentic. My dad never stopped watching wrestling, and he made sure he passed that hobby down the line to me.

When I was a kid, my dad regaled me with the story of how Ric Flair survived a plane crash and came…

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David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL

Level Sr. Writer covering Race, Culture, Politics, TV, Music. Previously: The Undefeated, The Atlantic, Washington Post. Forthcoming book: The Movement Made Us