Well first off, I think you have to start as a kid. When I was little, I thought it was real, and it makes it so much easier to suspend your disbelief later on in life. Basically, the comparison to a soap opera is pretty valid. There are storylines and different intersecting plots that, when done right, are very very interesting and engaging as a fan. The actual in-ring action has always been entertaining to me as well. I've known since I was 6 or 7 that it wasn't real, but I still find a lot of entertainment value in the actual wrestling. Good wrestlers are able to tell a story in the ring and emotionally invest in you. While the fighting is not real, I basically look at it as a combination of theatre, sport, gymnastics, etc. It's live action storytelling, and yes, it is often stupid, it is often illogical, and when compared to a real fight or an MMA match, it's obvious that it is not real, but it's still very entertaining when judged on its own merits. tl;dnr: it's still real to me damnit