Well, as the original poster mentions elsewhere, it's pretty futile trying to convert someone into a wrestling fan, but there are definitely matches and moments I could show someone to say, "You may not LIKE this, but I think you'll respect these guys a bit more after watching it."

In terms of what it offers, I like to focus more on what happens in the ring than the extracurricular storylines that are used to build to the matches. But there are, on occasion, well-constructed plots which are more comparable to, say, the trajectory of an action film than a soap opera. I think it was Jim Cornette who has said there are only seven storylines (or "angles") in wrestling that are constantly recycled, and they are really just classic story arcs focusing on themes of betrayal, revenge, jealousy, etc. I could point out a few in detail, but don't really have the time.

In regards to the action act of wrestling, I don't liken the in-ring action to a soap opera; it's more like physical theater. These guys are telling a story with their bodies. And it is interesting to see how they build that story over the course of 20-30 minutes, choosing what holds to use, what moves to do at what point, to maximize crowd reaction and get the audience to suspend disbelief and start reacting as if these guys are actually locked in a real battle. There really is as much strategy as there is in any "sport," except it's not directed at beating an opponent, but rather two to however many guys working together to entertain a crowd. And a lot of it is improvised (some are plotted move-for-move -- see most of Hulk Hogan's matches -- but a lot of the better matches in history are made up as the match goes along, and if you've seen some of the complex sequences of moves more talented wrestlers can string together, that's pretty incredible).

And there are moments of genuine, unabashed human emotion. They don't happen often, but they are as powerful as any emotional moment in "real" sports, such as when Ric Flair -- a guy who has basically been the face of pro-wrestling for close to three decades, generally considered the greatest who ever did it and who did everything the "right" way -- recently retired. Or when Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero, two guys who worked their asses off for years and were always clearly the best wrestlers in whatever promotion they were involved with but were never allowed to advance to the next level because they were deemed "too small," embraced in the middle of the ring at the end of Wrestlemania XX, having both finally won World Titles on the biggest stage in the business. The tragedy of both those guys' lives -- two examples of everything that's WRONG with wrestling -- has spoiled the moment forever, but ignoring what happened afterward, it was every bit as emotional as, say, KG finally winning a ring this year. Granted, it's not the SAME thing -- Mick Foley compares winning the World Title more to winning an Oscar than a Super Bowl; the people who make those decisions are basically saying, "We have enough faith in you for you to be THE representative of this company" -- but in terms of the symbolism, it's just as important to a wrestler's career and legacy.