My father didn't have time for wrassling or soap operas. Both were mainstays of "downtime" t.v. in a one television home of the mid-1970s. Downtime being when both parents were doing something else or older siblings were doing their own thing.
In a home where emotion wasn't clearly expressed or encouraged, these type of programs had great appeal to me. The exaggerated gestures on a good wrestling show could be understood by anyone whether you spoke the language or not.
I've been enjoying New Japan Pro Wrestling lately because WWE has run dry for me. WWE's all soap opera style vignettes without any emotional payoff are insulting even to 7-year-olds. NJPW is easy to get into, The story is told in the ring. The announcers give you all the history You need. Though it's fixed, it's a combat sports story with athletic moves. If you've ever been in a real fight, those are usually over in about a minute anyway. I think all combat sports are fixed.
Typical of my dad, while he did his own thing, he kept tabs on my interests, When I got lured back into watching Wrestling during the Monday night wars of the 1990s, he would bring me Wrestling magazines from his co-workers at TOPY Japan. I was in my 30's! I will always cherish the letters and packages he sent while I was recovering from my first ankle surgery.
He wasn't perfect. Sometimes the need for perfection is projected from the kid in my case. I try to model his doing his own thing while working to find some common ground to share with my kids. Though I'd have preferred watching just about anything else, my younger daughter and I watched two hours of "Paranormal caught on film" last night.
Though we never discussed the art of wrestling, he taught me all the moves I need to get over as a babyface dad!