Yes, Wrestling Is Fake... And That's Why It's Fun!
- Thomas Hall
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
So here in the United States, we’re about to (or by the time you read this we probably already have) celebrate Labor Day, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a holiday to celebrate the workers.
That can mean a lot of things, but if you’re already here, a worker probably has a bit of a different meaning. It’s wordplay week around here and we’ll be talking about how wrestling is indeed still a work, and one of the most important things that can mean.
Wrestling Is Fake, But The Emotion Is Very Real
We’ll get the important part out of the way: as you probably already know, wrestling is a work. In other words, it’s planned out in advance. Yes the wrestlers know what is going to happen, but the fans don’t know either. It’s no different than any other form of entertainment and that can make it very exciting. That’s where we’re going today, as I’m going to ramble about the magic of wrestling for a little while.
There are all kinds of things to love about wrestling but the thing that might top the list is you don’t know what is going to happen next. One of the major appeals of the sport is that it can be taken in any direction imaginable. If you’ve been watching wrestling for any length of time, you know this is true and have seen it in action. There are all kinds of angles and characters and they can be put into any combination that the promotion’s booker can think of at the time.
Pro Wrestling Is Only Limited By The Booker's Imagination
That’s what people occasionally forget about wrestling: the people in it can be turned into anything with the flick of a pen. Randy Orton as an astronaut? Bobby Lashley as a farrier (that’s someone who shoes horses)? Maybe Becky Lynch coming to the ring to U Can’t Touch This and doing awful dancing like the Running Man? Ok so that last one actually happened (seriously, and yes there is video), but the idea is very simple: wrestling is only limited by the booker’s imagination and you never know what kind of gimmick or storyline you might see next.
The other thing to remember is that there is always the chance that someone could score a major upset. While it is true that this is the case with any sport, you can regularly see all kinds of shenanigans in wrestling that can take it into a different direction. There have been countless screwy finishes or improbable but still believable results that can leave fans surprised at the result. That opens up so many doors, and it makes you wonder just how much of a rollercoaster you’re going to be on at any given time.
The Best Wrestling Stories Feel Real & Connect With People
Take for example Daniel Bryan and the rise of the Yes Movement. Bryan is the best wrestler in the company (and pinned John Cena clean to win the World Title at Summerslam 2013) but the WWE higher ups don’t like him. This leads to an eight month saga of Bryan fighting against the odds and all comers to prove what he had done in the first place. Anyone can understand the idea of someone not getting what they have earned and wanting to get back to where they are supposed to be.
That’s what we got in one of the best stories WWE produced in years because they hit so many of the important points. They had a wrestler that the fans liked and put him in a place where he could play to his strengths (a mixture of the in-ring abilities and being one of the most likable wrestlers of all time) and it wound up with 60,000+ people in the SuperDome (make your own Hulk Hogan jokes) chanting YES as Bryan finally conquered the Authority and claimed what he had earned the previous year.
Where else are you going to get something like that? Television series can make that happen, but are they taking place live in front of your eyes like a play? Are they happening every week, and occasionally more than once a week? Do they include athleticism with people doing their own stunts and taking the other performers’ safety into their own hands? If those shows exist outside of professional wrestling, I’ve yet to see it, because there is nothing else like it.
Those are a lot of the things that other forms of media don’t have, but one thing that they do share with wrestling is the variety. You can have all kinds of movies, books, television or pretty much any other form of media and that means you can change things up if you’re not interested in what you’re seeing but still want to stay in the same area. Don’t like the show or book you’re in? Just change it up. Wrestling can be the exact same way all around the world.
Pro Wrestling Has Different Styles For All Kinds Of Fans
Not a fan of the WWE storytelling style? Here’s AEW with more action based wrestling. Want something more exciting? Try lucha libre. Hard hitting athleticism? Puroesu is available. Something a bit less than serious? Chikara is basically a comic book come to live, complete with time travel, a group of wrestling ants, mind control and a wrestling boar (from Moldova of course).
The fun thing is, you might get a big mixture of these styles in one show. There are times when any given wrestling show could include significant amounts of action, storyline development, athleticism, humor and more. That all comes from having the right mixture of people in the correct roles and it can be incredible to see all of them come together in whatever amount of time the show has that week.
Pro Wrestling Can Be Just About Anything
Ok so I rambled there even more than usual, but the gist of this should be pretty obvious: professional wrestling can be just about anything you could want it to be on any given night. One of the best things about it is that you never know what you’re going to see because, again, the whole thing is a work. It’s designed to be as entertaining as possible and so much of that comes from the creativity that is put together. The ideas don’t have to be some big, incredible, earth shattering change of pace, but putting wrestlers in the right spot with the right story can be absolutely fascinating.
I’ve watched wrestling my entire life and I can’t imagine that changing. For my money (and I’ve given it plenty over the years) it’s the best mixture of whatever forms of entertainment you could possibly want. I keep watching to see the athleticism and the characters and what they might be doing. Things can change in the blink of an eye with a new story or wrestler or match or anything and you don’t know when you might see something awesome take place.
That’s the case because the people running any given promotion could change their mind or focus in the blink of an eye and go somewhere else. Maybe someone new comes into a promotion and opens up new possibilities. It’s another tool that the company has to put on an entertaining product because, again, they can take it any direction they like. Yes it’s a work, but dang it’s fun and it has been for a long time.
(Yeah I know it’s a loose connection at best but rambling about wrestling is what I do).
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