Wrestling. Socially awkward?

I was at a local shopping centre yesterday, when my wife pointed out I was blocking the way of a lady pushing a shopping trolley. Moving out of the way, I heard my wife exclaim “wow, what a large trophy’. The two women started to chat, so I took the chance to look at the trophy, in the trolley and no, it wasn’t a wrestling trophy, but one for Irish dancing. I noticed the name of the trophy was Donlevy and I remarked to the lady that it had an appropriate name and she started to chat about the Irish (unsurprisingly she was Irish). After a couple of minutes, the time seemed to be right for me to tell my tale of my dad and I following the Donlevy brothers around Brighton a few hours before they were to appear that evening at the Brightest stadium. (Early 60s).

This made me recall, how at social gatherings in my 30s and beyond, talking to strangers:and with the conversation drying up between a group of men, I would casually say something like “ I’m taking / I took, my son to see the the wrestling at….” Without fail, the men gathering would take turns regaling all with stories about seeing particular wrestlers on the television, or attending wrestling at venues such as Working men’s clubs or different arenas. I don’t remember any dissenting voices or disparaging comments and usually the subject was discussed longer than an other was.

So, how did Heritage members bring up the subject, particularly with strangers, what sort of reaction did you receive? I’m hoping that some members will recall conversations long forgotten.