WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts recently wrote an editorial piece for Medium, discussing why he still loves the professional wrestling business.
Roberts mentions he didn’t ask permission from WWE to write the article, and talks about the WWE roster being so accessible, how fans look up to them, some of the memories from the road and much more.
You can read a few excerpts from the article below:
It’s 2014 and I’m finally sick of people knocking professional wrestling/sports entertainment, wrestlers and most of all, the fans. I just read another story as I have over the years that bashed all of the above.
Roberts On Meeting Superstars, And Them Being Better Than Superheroes:
Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc are superheroes. There’s something about them that capture kids to believe in them as they fight evil. John Cena, Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Steve Austin, The Rock, HHH, and so many others are wrestlers who have portrayed the hero role of WWE set out to destroy the villains. Just like other heroes on TV and in the movies, they are working to overcome evil and prevail against the despised bad guys. Nobody questions how “realistic” cartoon superheroes are because it’s entertainment. I am personally insulted when that’s mentioned while discussing pro wrestling. You can’t bump into Batman at the airport. If you bump into an actor who portrayed Batman in a film, you will probably be extremely disappointed as that actor dropped his character once he left the set.
You can however meet John Cena, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, The Miz and every other WWE superstar at an airport, restaurant or even movie theater. When you meet them, you meet that superhero you see on TV. The John Cena you meet is the same John Cena you see on TV. These are extremely hard working, highly-educated athletes that make what they do on TV look easy, but by no means is any part of what they do, easy. They go hard in the ring, hard in the gym and travel the world for shows so all of their fans get the chance to see them live.
Roberts On Meeting WWE Fan Connor “The Crusher”:
There was a little boy that caught my attention in the crowd at the Royal Rumble this year. After talking to him for 2 minutes, he captured my heart. I brought him backstage so he could meet a few of his heroes and couldn’t leave it at him having just one good night. We became friends and through that, 8-year-old Connor became friends with all of his wrestling heroes. Connor was battling brain and spinal cancer. His Father told me that he didn’t have much time on the night we met and I wanted to change that by using the power of WWE to extend his time and make his time extra special. Through FaceTime on Monday afternoons he would chat with various wrestling personalities. He would ask Vickie Guerrero not to say her trademark “Excuse Me” and of course she would and he would put her in her place. He would perform the New Age Outlaws promo for the New Age Outlaws duo. He would talk to the “monster” Kane and threaten to break his finger if he harmed his favorite performer Daniel Bryan in the ring.
To read the entire article, including his stories about meeting a disabled fan and his inspirational message for watching wrestling, Roberts’ own stories of being a fan, and more, click here.
