Thoughts on the Federales

A few days ago, I posted my thoughts on WWE's baffling creative ahead of WrestleMania 42, particularly the inclusion of Pat McAfee as a focal point of one of their Mania main events. This particular post is easily the most-viewed on this little shitty blog, and I greatly appreciate all the kind words and feedback I've received since then. 

I did receive some pushback, which is always to be expected when anyone criticizes the Epstein Class's favorite sports-entertainment promotion. This particular tweet caught my attention: 

Late to the party but, from one new blogger to another (plug!) I'm curious as to your logic here specifically. I get disliking WWE as a company/product but outright hating it's fans, or fans of anything you don't personally like, strikes me as outright misanthropy tbqh. pic.twitter.com/SGMETUkUFY

— OhhhNoItsJames (@OhhhNoItsJames1) April 12, 2026

The line that caused pause for OhhNoItsJames:

"And there are some of you who are defending them because…I’m not even sure anymore. I think I’ll write more about the Federales in the future, but I’ll say this: you all deserve this. You deserve worse, actually, and I hope you get it. "

I believe OhhhNoItsJames offered fair criticism, and it deserves a thoughtful response, so let's get to the nitty-gritty: 

First and foremost: I do not dislike WWE. I fucking loathe WWE, and I genuinely believe my reasoning is justified. The leadership structure - from being under the command of Vince McMahon for multiple decades, to its current crop - has been filled with awful human beings. The usual pushback to that statement is something like, "Well, that was mostly Vince and his old cronies! WWE isn't that way any longer!" That simply is untrue.

This company brought back Brock Lesnar, who was named over 40 times in the Janel Grant lawsuit that ultimately forced McMahon out of power. I do not understand how one can read the accusations levied at Lesnar and still feel comfortable watching him perform; hell, I don't get how you can hand over your hard-earned cash to see a nearly 50-year-old man do the same, dull things. 

But what really grinds my gears is whenever something like this happens:

It's performative outrage. This person likely spent hundreds, if not thousands, on those tickets, and they think their sign is enough admonishment of WWE. It isn't. You are literally supporting them financially whenever you attend or watch their programming. You're uncomfortable with the presence of Lesnar, yet you have one of the best seats in the house to see him "wrestle." Here's what you should have done instead: Sign Person: do not go to their events, even if the tickets are free or discounted. Do not give them ratings or social media views. You must make the effort to eliminate their presence from your life, and I promise you that you'll live. 

I remember what it was like being a Federale. I grew up during the over-celebrated "Attitude Era," and my adolescent mind genuinely believed no other period of wrestling was worth watching. The Attitude Era was, after all, one of the more prosperous times for the company. It featured the greatest American wrestling TV star, Stone Cold Steve Austin, with a strong supporting cast of The Rock, Mankind, D-Generation X, The Hardy Boys, and so on. 

But I changed, and for the better.

I grew up. I realized that WWE was offering some truly dogshit "sports entertainment" in the mid-00s, enough to make me consider branching out. Ironically, TNA Wrestling on FSN was one of the first non-WWE promotions I began to regularly follow. I was amazed by their six-sided ring, the timer that ticked down during matches, and it was great to see new blood like Abyss, Monty Brown, AJ Styles, and America's Most Wanted. 

It was really an online friend, though, that changed how I fundamentally approached wrestling. He was a bit older than me, and he wrote a fantasy booking series that featured that generation's top talent, talent I was wholly unfamiliar with. It was my first time being exposed to names like Eddie Kingston, Chris Hero, Tommy End, PAC, The Backseat Boyz, etc., and his series made me want to see these people in the flesh. I purchased PWG: Sells Out and a few ROH compilation DVDs at Suncoast (RIP), and was hellbent on exploring this new world. 

It was uncomfortable, at least at first. Something is jarring about watching talent do their dance in stadiums or arenas, as opposed to watching that same dance in bingo halls or high school gymnastics. It was weird watching wrestling without the fanfare. No pyro, no titantron videos, grainy footage, and horrid announcing. I can understand why someone who has been exposed to WWE for their entire life can't make it past all of those things.

And here's the truth about those fans, at least from my view: they aren't fans of professional wrestling. They do not respect the art of professional wrestling, the struggle of professional wrestling. They are the Disney Adults of the sports-entertainment/professional wrestling realm. They enjoy what Bryan Danielson calls a "parody" of pro wrestling. 

It's obviously "okay" to prefer this style of wrestling, but I certainly do not respect anyone with that opinion. Professional wrestling exists on a gigantic spectrum, and these people would rather watch the same thing over and over again than make any effort to try something new.

And whenever I try to get beneath the surface level, "I just like what I like" bullshit, I always get the same responses: I've been watching it forever, it's the biggest wrestling company in the world, so they're obviously doing something right, I don't have the time to watch multiple promotions, etc. 

Their willful ignorance would not bother me nearly as much if they weren't so damn proud of it. They flaunt it like it's something to be proud of. They totally disregard any history other than WWE, and often recite WWE talking points from their library of bullshit documentaries that always paint them as the gritty underdogs that ruthlessly claimed an empire, unopposed for nearly 20 years 

They can't be bothered seeing matches like Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, yet they desperately want both of them to sign with WWE. They show zero interest in what talent like that has done in the past for other promotions; instead, they're envisioning them making their Royal Rumble or WrestleMania debuts. Then, whenever a talent of that caliber makes the jump to WWE, their fans swear up and down that they are doing the best work of their careers. I've seen this argument regarding AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn more times than I can count. "This is the best run of their career," they'll say with utter confidence, despite never seeing them outside of WWE.

I even take issue with fans who stopped watching WWE, tried and liked AEW or another promotion, but then immediately went crawling back to WWE after McMahon's ousting. The modern WWE fan was flat-out in love with Paul Levesque, the avatar for change! 

Except Levesque is a soulless, empty vessel that was always going to fail as head of creative on the main roster. He got his ass handed to him by AEW when he was running NXT, and I genuinely believe the higher-ups at TKO will eventually shitcan him. There is simply not a fundamental difference between him and McMahon, at least when it comes to booking. 

It's a company filled with contemptuous people, like Bruce Prichard, Nick Khan, and Chris Legentil, people who want to dismantle the professional wrestling industry in exchange for WWE superiority. They are actively interfering with AEW business, not because they feel threatened, but because they want to regain total control. It's why they purchased AAA, and have some fugazzi partnership with TNA Wrestling. Simply you: you cannot be a fan of professional wrestling and still support this company. It's not possible in my book, anyway. 

And so, yes, I feel their fanbase deserves all of the brain rot they have asked for. They deserve WWE being sold to another soulless entity in TKO, and they would deserve an eventual sale to the Saudis. They deserve the Mania build revolving around McAfee and Jelly Roll.

But most of all, they deserve it for the irreparable damage they have caused to the industry. You are the reason they feel comfortable charging thousands of dollars for tickets. You are the reason for the inclusion of celebrities on their cards. 

You have the power to stop them. Do not buy their merch, attend their shows, NOTHING. Boycott their asses, write their sponsors, SOMETHING. 

This would, of course, not only require some backbone but also a genuine desire to learn and explore. We need you to stop focusing on one promotion's history when there are hundreds of other promotions to learn about. 

But I sincerely doubt that passion exists. It would be like asking Disney Adults to watch a Rated R flick, or go to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun over another trip to the Magic Kingdom. You guys are total frauds. You don't know ball, and I do not respect your opinions on a sport you do not wish to be part of. In an ideal world, we'd take all of you and your precious WWE and let you exist on some other plane, far away from the rest of us, but that's not going to happen. 

So, I will continue to express my disgust and ire toward WWE and their fanbase. I mean this from the very bottom of my heart:

Go fuck yourselves.