Can someone please explain Pro Wrestling to me?

Sleepkyng

Sleepkyng

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This is not flame bait - I honestly have been baffled by this all my life and i have friends who are hardcore wrestling fans.

Do people think it's real?
Is it real?
Are people into it just because it is funny as hell?
When the acrobats do their tricks, do people think that they are actually trying to hurt each other?

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm pretty sure that it is all fake. And if I'm right, doesn't it make that stuff really fucking boring?

I'd like to hear from people who are into this stuff just to explain the phenomenon to me. Likewise with the harry potter people.
 
Not this again.

I won't go into a lot of detail because I don't feel like it, but no, itis certainly not all fake. However, the planning is what makes it entertaining. Most of the moves couldn't be pulled off in a real fight.

The match outcomes are predetermined, and the wrestlers cooperate with each other to do moves in the ring, but that ring is madeof wood and metal, and that little bit of padding doesn't stop things from being very painful. I know from experience. Also, while punches are pulled, knife edge chops and clotheslines can be pretty uncomfortable.

Oh... some people think it's real, surely, but the rest of us know it's not a real fight but we enjoy it, just like some people will watch Law and Order, knowing that the actors aren't really what they portray, and still enjoy that.

Basically though, you either "get it" or you don't.
 
Well this is what I heard. It's from a friend who would always read wwf.com (or whatever the site is) to hear the storyline for that nights match, or a previous one if he missed it. He said that they essentially have to follow a certain plot. The guy who wins, key events, key moves etc. are predertemined, but exactly how fight itself unfolds is more improv. But anything of importance is predetermined.

I hate wrestling though.
 
"Do people think it's real?" "Is it real?"

Most people know that the outcomes are predetermined. Also, most people know that most of the time, a wrestler cuts his head with a razorblade to produce blood. Sometimes, you do get busted open the hard way, and those are generally the times when a wrestler is bleeding profusely. Also, there is a high risk of injury in wrestling. You definitely don't want to hurt the person that you are wrestling, but accidents do happen. Sometimes a wrestler will lift another person and they'll tear a muscle. Sometimes a wrestler will misjudge an aerial move and smash their elbow/knee into their opponent's head.

Also, these are trained professionals. They have studied their profession, and know how to minimize the risk of injury. They know how to take falls, how to make piledrivers look like they are really crushing their opponent's skull, how to protect their opponent during a high-risk aerial move (just look the next time you see a splash or a jump to the outside; the other wrestler 'catches' the flying wrestler a bit)...

The moves still hurt, but you get used to the pain.


"Are people into it because it's funny?"

Some people are. There is a definite comedy aspect to pro wrestling. A lot of people enjoy the absurd angles that are played out, like "Wrestler A just tossed Wrestler B into a car and set it on fire! Wrestler B comes back the next week for revenge!" A lot of characters are created just for comedic purposes.

Other people enjoy it for the athleticism and the "real" wrestling involved. I love watching puroresu (Japanese wrestling) and cruiserweight matches because there are a lot of technical moves, reversals, submission holds, etc. A lot of drawn-out and back-and-forth action in the wrestling match. Very exciting, and you can appreciate what these men and women have gone through to be at the top of their game. Kurt Angle, (the late) Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit... these are all men who are/were at the top of their game. Great athleticism, and a hell of a show from them.


"Do these acrobats think that they are hurting each other, and do the people think that?"

There are plenty of times that you can see that certain hits & slams are legit. Just watch Chris Benoit give someone a chop to the chest. You hear it loud & clear throughout the arena, and you see the opponent's chest become red & irritated. The people love watching wrestling, because even if the wrestlers aren't getting hurt... they are so good at "selling" moves that you enjoy it and applaud their perofmances.


"Isn't it boring, though, if it's not real?"

Not at all. Movies and TV shows aren't real, and we can still enjoy them. If we couldn't enjoy things that weren't real, we'd never be entertained.


If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Stop by the wrestling thread, if you'd like. :)
 
Jack, that post made me like you so much more that you should be allowed to have Steven Regal's "Real Man's Man" theme play every time you enter a room.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Jack, that post made me like you so much more that you should be allowed to have Steven Regal's "Real Man's Man" theme play every time you enter a room.[/QUOTE]

:rofl:

Thanks. Also, for some reason when you mentioned Regal, I thought about when he used to be in WCW. For his entrance, he would flex his muscles, and then use his other hand to push his bicep up to make it look bigger. :lol:

Also, I thought about Paul Orndorff. Remember how he'd come out to a song called "Mr. Wonderful," and then that angle he had where he broke a mirror and had bad luck? He would smile into a mirror, and then it would crack, and he'd start crying? :lol:
 
Are you serious? Maybe this will explain it:

Star Man?
Fighter Hayabusa?
King Slender?
Kin Corn Karn?
Giant Panther?
Great Puma?
The Amazon?

Pro Wrestling RULES!!!!!
 
Yup, Saucy Jack pretty much nailed it.

I used to watch a ton of WWF back in Junior High, but I fell out of it when Shawn Michaels (my fav at the time) stepped out for awhile (I forget why, but I'm pretty sure it was an injury of some sort.) My sister's BF is a big fan tho', so I'm very slowly getting 'up to speed' again. (Loved the whole Kane/Lita/baby thing... wonderfully cheesy stuff...)
 
i used to love WCW, then i loved WWF then the story plot got gay after teh stephanie wedding thing so i stopped watching after that.
 
I don't know of anyone who actually thinks it is totally real. It was pretty well defined in earlier posts, but I must re-iterate a bit. Of course there are storylines and predetermined outcomes. It's just like a soap opera or television drama or a movie in that aspect. Nobody thinks those are real, but people still enjoy watching 'em.

Unlike those, the action is athletic action. The performers put their bodies through Hell for the entertainment of fans. A lot of people think that no one gets hurts. But the ring is not a puffy pad on springs. It is wood being held together by metal with a canvas covering on top. And there is pain involved in taking a lot of certain opponent's attacks.

There are more injuries, surgeries, even career or life-threatening injuries in wrestling than in any "real" sport. Practically every wrestler has had some major surgery. Sure Mixed Martial Art athetes or boxers get the crap beat out of them for real, but they don't put there bodies on the line as much. A WWE wrestler works about 300 days a year with several televised and non-televised shows a week.

I enjoy pro-wrestling. I don't think of it as real in all aspects, but I still enjoy it. I also respect the Hell out of those that go out there and entertain for me and every other fan.
 
I will add a little here myself I'm typing this from memory so please excuse me if I forget something. My mother's family owned a local wrestling business for about 15 year before I was born though. Wrestling on my mom's side of the family is just something that every person in the family does or did. My grandfather was a ref my grandmother was The Women Champion, My two uncles were a tag team. My aunt help sit up the ring and dated wrestler's :D

Anyway wrestling started as a scam so to speak in the 20th century. The carnival would come into town and they would have this huge guy 6'5" 240-320lbs. He would say I can beat any man here. The local townsfolk would bet on who would win. The carnival wrestler would lose to the local man. The very next night they would set up a match again. People thinking that the carnie is just a big dumb hunk of show. People would bet on the local guy thinking he could win again. Then the carnie would win and the townsfolk would lose all the money and then the carnie would pick up and go, and do this over and over again into the next town.

Skip a few years and TV was invented. One of the most popular things was this new stuff called wrestling. Not new at all in fact the Romans wrestled naked and covered in oil (no joke)
However this was different this wrestling was in a ring just like the Romans. However there were a lot of differences. It became mainly about showmanship to the crowd. But for the Wrestler's it was about toughness. In the early days their was no thing as safety, some wrestlers would go blind from hitting the mat. Why you ask because it was changed once a year or so and all of the bacteria and other things would pop up into the eye of the wrestler. Back then some of the stuff was predetermined. But most of it was real mainly the stuff in the 40's and so was real. A transition happened when TV rolled around. Now you have the "whole" country seeing you. What was once local wrestlers are now known nation-wide.

At that time every area of the country had a few small promotions that made up a region which was called a territory(sp). A region could be lets say all of New England however inside of that their would be 25 wrestling companies. As time progressed these companies joined together in the later years 60' and 70's to form one big region.

Then when TV hit wrestling turned for show in a sense. This is what I think you OP are not getting wrestling is about showmanship more then anything else. It's about being mad at the bad wrestler {heel} who hurt you favorite good guy wrestler (face). Or hating that guy that comes out and says your town sucks. Wrestling was wrestling for the next 40 years nothing much changed, A few things however I don't feel like typing it all. I'm hurting right now. So in the early 80's you go from having a local wrestling show. These people your local wrestlers who worked for the 8 promotions were celebrity's in their day. Then wrestling started losing its fan base you go from having 3 things on TV, News, cowboys and Indians and wrestling to more and more shows.

Wrestling was still huge just put it like this every year it was around it lost more and more fans. Then when Vince Jr bought the WWF from his dad. He wanted to try to bring back wrestling to the nation level. So he went around and destroyed what makes America great local wrestling. He took all the top guys from all of the top promotions. Places like the AWA, NWA, MCW and too many to name. With all of the great wrestlers in his company he began to do something unheard of putting on shows in other companies’ territory. Other companies tried to fight back but they could not. My Grand-Parents Company shut down around this time. It was the 80's not many people cared about wrestling anymore. It was the time of cocaine and music videos. However Vince in a good way even though he is somewhat an evil person. Tried to bring back wrestling. And fate took over that is when Hulk Hogan came around and wrestling had its biggest resurgence since TV was introduced.

Then all was good and after about 1994 it happened again. Wrestling started to lose fans. Ted turner wanted to start a company because he saw how well Vince was doing. That started the Monday night wars. That is when wrestling got popular again. All of these people who were childhood favorites of GEN X were back again instead of being stale and doing the same stuff again.They were back in what seemed as almost a whole new person. Some people like Hulk Hogan were given 25 million dollar's. Bret Hart was given I think 18 million. On the other side Stone cold Steve Austin was popular he was everyone's working mans' man. He made about 12 million in one year. He was doing what everyone wants to do kick their boss’s ass.

Anyway here we are now. WCW popular died an old wrestler can only stay fresh for so long. WWF bought WCW and now we have this steaming pile of crap called the WWE.

So to answer you questions yes the winners of the matches are predetermined and that does not make it fake. I want you to jump off of you bed, or sofa and land on you back onto a hard surface and till me that does not hurt. No do that about 100 times a night for 260 nights a year and also do that will traveling everynight and sleep about 4-6 hours a day. Plus follow a strict diet and hardly talk to your family. Wrestling is not fake in the sense that when they get thrown around it does not feel like a big air pillow. A wrestling ring is one piece of canvas, 2 inches of gym padding, 4 inches of plywood and the rest is steel.

My point is it's like any other form of entertainment. You like videogames and don't really know what's going to happen however they are fake, you like books and TV they are fake. Again Like I said early it's more about showmanship. It's about you getting behind you favorite wrestler and wanting him to win. It's about the emotion you feel. It's about the experience. It's about the history. Now if you excuse me I'm going to go ice down my wrist. :lol:
 
damn, thanks for the information!

I never really thought it was real, but I have met some people that thought honest to god it was "real" - Jack and others - what you say makes sense in that it is a lot of stunts that are dangerous unto themselves and so in a sense it is very "real."

thanks all!

with this said, i still can't and probably wont' get into it, but at least now I've got a better idea about the whole phenomenon.
 
[quote name='Quillion']I don't really get it either. But, not everyone gets Star Trek. Different strokes for different folks.[/QUOTE]

I get them both. :cool:
 
I used to be into WWF in college -- back when Stone Cold Steve Austin was rebelling against Vince McMahon and The Rock was still laying the smacketh down. Then I got busy and missed out for awhile and when I came back to it, the WWF had become the WWE and everyone I liked was either gone or had their character changed. :whistle2:s
 
[quote name='rabbitt']Wrestling is like breast implants. Some guys know they're fake, but still appreciate it.[/QUOTE]

:lol: Agreed.
 
[quote name='rabbitt']Wrestling is like breast implants. Some guys know they're fake, but still appreciate it.[/QUOTE]

hey thats a pretty good statement right zere
 
Yes. Turn off your TV and attend a live wrestling event. When sitting up close, it's an incredible experience, especially when you know all the wrestlers so they can acknowledge/berate you before, during, and after matches depending on their character's heel/face alignment. :)
 
[quote name='s1eepinglionhart']I used to be into WWF in college -- back when Stone Cold Steve Austin was rebelling against Vince McMahon and The Rock was still laying the smacketh down. [/QUOTE]

:bouncy: I remember when 'The Rock' was Rocky Maiavia (sp?), The First 3rd Generation Wrestler. And all-around dorky good guy. Ah, the memories...
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']:bouncy: I remember when 'The Rock' was Rocky Maiavia (sp?), The First 3rd Generation Wrestler. And all-around dorky good guy. Ah, the memories...[/QUOTE]

Yep... and remember Steve Austin, "The Ringmaster?" :lol:
 
[quote name='Saucy Jack']Yep... and remember Steve Austin, "The Ringmaster?" :lol:[/QUOTE]

:whistle2:k ... Oh YEAH!!! 'Million Dollar Man' or something, right? That'd totally slipped my mind...
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']:whistle2:k ... Oh YEAH!!! 'Million Dollar Man' or something, right? That'd totally slipped my mind...[/QUOTE]

Hehehe.

You're thinking of Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man.
 
[quote name='Brak']Hehehe.

You're thinking of Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man.[/QUOTE]

No, no! I double-checked with my sis's BF- the Million Dollar Man (I forget his actual name) was Steve Austin's manager then. Made him carry an ugly-ass belt around with a big cash sign on it. :bouncy:

He also remembers before that, when Steve Austin was Stunning Steve of The Hollywood Blonds tag team in the WCW. (The very idea of Austin with hair made me laugh out loud.)
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']No, no! I double-checked with my sis's BF- the Million Dollar Man (I forget his actual name) was Steve Austin's manager then. Made him carry an ugly-ass belt around with a big cash sign on it. :bouncy:

He also remembers before that, when Steve Austin was Stunning Steve of The Hollywood Blonds tag team in the WCW. (The very idea of Austin with hair made me laugh out loud.)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, Ted DiBiase (MDM) was his manager.

And the Hollywood Blondes were a great tag team. It is kinda weird to see Steve with long hair, though. :lol:
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']No, no! I double-checked with my sis's BF- the Million Dollar Man (I forget his actual name) was Steve Austin's manager then. Made him carry an ugly-ass belt around with a big cash sign on it. :bouncy:

He also remembers before that, when Steve Austin was Stunning Steve of The Hollywood Blonds tag team in the WCW. (The very idea of Austin with hair made me laugh out loud.)[/QUOTE]

I didn't know that... :O
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']No, no! I double-checked with my sis's BF- the Million Dollar Man (I forget his actual name) was Steve Austin's manager then. Made him carry an ugly-ass belt around with a big cash sign on it.[/QUOTE]

That belt is not ugly.

MILBELT.jpg
 
Jack, you're first post in this thread was probably the most well-written post I've ever seen from you. Color me impressed.:applause:
 
[quote name='javeryh']Are you serious? Maybe this will explain it:

Star Man?
Fighter Hayabusa?
King Slender?
Kin Corn Karn?
Giant Panther?
Great Puma?
The Amazon?

Pro Wrestling RULES!!!!![/QUOTE]

couldnt have said it any better myself.
 
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