There’s a saying around these parts of SB Nation, as well as the wider sports media space, that goes like this:
Everything is pro wrestling.
Say what you want about WWE, AEW and Pro wrestling at any level, but you can draw comparisons between what happens in the squared circle and all aspects of public life. It means that the current President of the United States is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, but that’s a discussion best left for another time.
But Thursday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers gave us perhaps the best WWE-NFL comparison yet.
Packers wide receiver Christian Watson left the game and the stadium after catching a deep ball in the first half. Watson reportedly suffered a chest injury, and not only was he checked into the blue medical tent, but he was taken via ambulance to Lambeau Field for further evaluation.
Shortly after the break, Watson was cleared by medical staff at a nearby hospital and returned to Lambeau Field. He returned in the same ambulance, this time riding up front, and returned to the field to a loud “pop” from the Packers faithful:
The comparison to pro wrestling was immediate:
That prompted some to cover the video with audio from WWE matches, like this video here:
It’s worth noting that Watson suffered a broken rib and was bleeding, but returned to the game and caught two more passes in the Packers’ win over the Panthers. The wide receiver finished the game with a career-high eight catches for 113 yards, the most receiving yards by a Packers player this year.
But how much did this really compare to WWE?
Watson drew the comparison in his post-match comments:
“It was amazing,” Watson said after the game. As mentioned on the Packers website.. “When I was a kid, I used to watch WWE. When I got out of the ambulance, I looked at the cameras and felt like I was watching WWE Smackdown vs. Raw or something. That was a little crazy.”
And so close that another WWE Hall of Fame member made the comparison:
Complete with a show plug and more.
It’s all pro wrestling, of course.
