Busted Open Radio host Dave LaGreca used the top of his show to respond directly to comments made by FS1 sports personality Rob Parker, who questioned why grown men are still wrestling fans and compared watching wrestling to going to the circus or the zoo as a kid.
Parker’s comments came during a segment in which he said he was surprised to see ESPN air WrestleMania 42 and that he could not understand why older men who follow the NFL, MLB, and NBA still have “a soft spot for wrestling.”
“I can’t understand how grown men are still into wrestling,” Parker said on his show. “We all went to the zoo. We all went to the circus as kids, right? And at some point, Kelvin, you grow out of it. I just cannot get over how these older guys who are sports fans live and die for that stuff, but they have this soft spot for wrestling, and they’re walking around with the belts, and they’re going to a watch party at a sports bar. I need somebody to explain it to me, because I don’t understand it.”
LaGreca challenged Parker to come on Busted Open Radio for a conversation, and Parker responded on X with “let’s get it on.” LaGreca said he was hoping Parker would come on the show the same morning to have what he called an adult conversation about the topic.
LaGreca’s Response
LaGreca, who turns 55 in July, opened his response by identifying himself as part of the exact demographic Parker said he did not understand.
“I’m an older man. I’m going to be 55 in July. I am a lifelong pro wrestling fan. I never grew out of it. I’ve always loved it since the day I first saw it in 1982 to right now, in 2026. There are so many levels to being a pro wrestling fan.”
LaGreca’s main argument centered on Parker’s own line of work.
“The last I checked, football is a kid’s game. Baseball is a kid’s game, basketball is a kid’s game. How do I know? Because when I was eight years old on the playground, I would play basketball, I would play football, and I was also a baseball player in Little League. So it’s a kid’s game, but because of your love and passion for a child’s game that you have been covering for 40 years, baseball is a child’s game. You have made a living and a career writing and talking about a children’s game for four decades.”
LaGreca then made the case for what separates wrestling from the sports Parker covers for a living.
“When it comes to baseball and when it comes to wrestling, yes, baseball is a child’s game, but your love and passion carries you through to adulthood, and there is a league where adults play a child’s game. In wrestling, there is no bigger and better athletic endeavor where men and women put their bodies, their health and their lives on the line for people’s enjoyment, not for five months of the year, but 12 months of the year, where they’re wrestling several days a week.”
LaGreca also pointed out that Parker’s dismissal extended to people like him who have built careers around wrestling.
“I’ve made a career, bought a home and raised a family talking about professional wrestling like you’ve made a career talking about a children’s game. Hopefully you hear this, and maybe even by the end of today’s show, we could sit down and have an adult conversation about the childish things that you said about professional wrestling.”
Tommy Dreamer Weighs In
Tommy Dreamer, who has spent more than three decades in the ring, added his own response to Parker’s comments.
“I love it when people say ‘yeah, it’s fake,'” Dreamer said. “I’d be like, ‘oof, if you only knew.’ Or ‘well, you’re not really hitting each other.’ Well, if you only knew. Listen, I get it. Wrestling isn’t for everybody. Baseball is not for everybody. Football is not for everybody. Hockey is not for everybody.”
Dreamer also invited Parker to physically try what wrestlers do every night.
“Step into the ring and we’ll show you. Touch the ring, or touch the ropes, try to run the ropes. This is what we do every day. Now jump off. Jump off without getting hurt. Look at the match from last night, climb to 15, 20 feet and fall backwards onto a table.”
Dreamer referenced a recent conversation with One Man Gang, who showed him the scars he had accumulated from decades in the business and called them “badges of honor.”
“Trust me, I get it. There’s a whole other generation that don’t.”
The Business Argument
Dreamer closed his response by pointing to WWE’s current business position relative to real sports.
“How many places bid for big games, Super Bowl, WrestleMania, now SummerSlam, Royal Rumbles? It’s as big of a business. And please correct me if I’m wrong. WWE did better business than UFC this quarter.”
LaGreca said that WWE has done better business than UFC in recent quarters as a publicly traded company and pointed to WrestleMania 42 drawing over 100,000 fans across two nights at Allegiant Stadium.
"I can't understand how people and grown men specifically are still into wrestling."
📺@robparkerMLBbro discusses with @Kdubblive why people haven't grown out of watching wrestling after all the backlash from Wrestlemania this weekend.
via @OddCoupleFSR pic.twitter.com/acb0SDvgsS
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) April 21, 2026
