Professional wrestling isn’t just uneducated fans and sweaty men in their underwear pretending to hit each other.

Those who enjoy it, such as the members of the Iowa State Pro Wrestling Club, realize the hard work and dedication it takes to be a professional wrestler.

“When you fall on the mat, it hurts. I think people who say wrestling is fake should have to take a bump in the ring,” said Jason Foley, senior in psychology and club president.

For Foley, wrestling is less about the product and more about the camaraderie found when watching it with friends. It was this group element that attracted him to wrestling in the first place.

“My friends were into it and got me hooked. It wasn’t watching [pro wrestling], it was feeding off of my friends’ enthusiasm,” Foley said. “But they grew out of it and soon I was on the bandwagon by myself.”

Foley felt a club, as opposed to a steel chair to the back of the head, could combat the lack of understanding of professional wrestling – and help him rediscover the social aspect of watching gargantuan humans hurt each other.

In 2004, Foley started the club. He combed Facebook and set up a booth at the winter ClubFest to attract attention to the club, but said members have been slow in coming.

“It was kind of a chore finding people, as not everyone will list it on Facebook, for one reason or another,” he said. “The people who want to be in the club will be in it if they know it exists.”

Students who don’t follow professional wrestling, however, will be more difficult to convince to join.

“Isn’t it like a male soap opera?” said David Leonardi, senior in psychology. “It’s kind of funny if you don’t take it too seriously.”

Inconsistent meeting times also affected the number of members.

“Direction has been a problem because we’re in our infancy. We don’t always have projects or events to go to,” Foley said.

Leonardi agrees that this is a downfall to a student club.

“I’d look for organization – not just sitting on our hands,” he said.

Lately, however, consistency has been found in 3XW, an Iowa-based wrestling organization.

The club members carpool to 3XW events, which are held at the end of every month at 1 Dollar Fitness in Des Moines.

The club members are big – and vocal – fans of these events.

“I will shout in the middle of complete silence. Sometimes I’d rather watch that than the WWE. They don’t get enough credit,” Foley said.

Although they enjoy the opportunity to shout at their favorite and least favorite wrestlers at live events, Foley said the club members are average wrestling fans.

“Some people take it too far and actually hate the wrestlers,” he said.

Club members, however, feel as if they are a part of the event.

“Being a fan is a kind of gimmick. You’ve got to boo the bad guys and cheer the good guys,” he said.

The group will also occasionally purchase a pay-per-view event, such as WrestleMania 21, dubbed “WrestleMania Goes Hollywood.”

“It was the first time we ever really clicked. It was fun introducing everyone,” Foley said. “We’ll probably get more pay-per-views in the future.”

This sense of group euphoria is important to other students when they look at clubs to join.

“I’d want friendly people. How I click with people in those groups is important,” said Chareunsavan Thammavongsa, junior in sociology.

Thammavongsa said, however, he wasn’t interested in joining a club similar to the Iowa State Pro Wrestling Club.

“It’s just not my thing,” he said.

The club is hoping to make changes for those who are interested. Future plans include continuing to watch WWE’s Monday Night Raw, attending more 3XW shows and a weekend of wrestling appreciation, during which members will bring their favorite tapes and DVDs from past pay-per-views to watch with the group. The club will also continue to look through Facebook for new members and set up another booth at ClubFest.

Foley hopes the club will grow next year.

“I’ve always wanted a big turnout,” he said. “I’d encourage anyone who is at all interested to look us up. Just creating more interest in professional wrestling is probably the underlying goal of what we do.”

As for professional wrestling itself, Foley maintains faith in the product, despite what he said has been a recent down period.

“I always have hope. When something doesn’t work they’re going to find out about it,” he said. “Wrestling is a living thing, it’s going to change with the times.”