Pro Wrestlers Are Athletes

Wrestling 101 

Professional wrestling is a style of wrestling and a form of entertainment. This sport involves staged performance that blends a mix of storytelling, drama, and athleticism. A popular form of entertainment in North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and Japan, it was first presented in France in 1830. Their French promoter Jean Exbroyat  famously created the first two modern wrestlers presented as “Edward, the steel eater”, and “Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker.” This introduction of personas solidified the public view of wrestling as entertainment. From the 1860s to the 1960s professional wrestling grew in popularity, not only in Europe but in the New World.

  In the U.S. the W.W.F. (World Wrestling Federation) was created by Vince Mcmahon and Linda Mcmahon in 1961. W.W.F. was a wrestling promotion that drew millions and millions of fans through a weekly TV show. The W.W.F. is still talked about due to the entertaining storylines that were involved in the show as well as creating stars who are well known today such as Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Dwayne "The Rock "Johnson, Stone Cold “Steve Austin” and The Undertaker. In 1994 the WWF would get a name change its name to W.W.E. (world wrestling entertainment) and to this day has an insane amount of popularity and success from its sports entertainment. Other wrestling promotions presented as sports entertainment companies include AEW (All Elite Wrestling) ROH (Ring of Honor) NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) and Impact Wrestling. Professional wrestling is considered entertainment because the wrestlers aren’t actually fighting or in a heated rivalry in real life, professional wrestling is a scripted television show for our entertainment. Professional wrestling is like acting but being the stunt double all the time. The move sets wrestlers do are real but they aren’t trying to beat each other up like UFC or boxing. These are booked matches with a set ending in place.

Storylines and Archetypes We Love 

There are many aspects that make professional wrestling entertaining to watch, there’s action, drama, humor, love stories, overcoming adversity, facing obstacles, pain both physical and mental, family issues, and joy. The Bruin’s Eye asked G.H.S. senior Carol Vargas why she views professional wrestling as entertainment. She explains it’s the form the wrestling takes: “I enjoy high flying wrestling and find the moves set and bumps wrestlers take very entertaining. It's cool seeing these pro wrestlers do some of the craziest stuff of your enjoyment.” Another senior, Joseph Trujillo, adds that he usually thinks of wrestling first as entertainment and not as a sport “because of the story, the characters, and the action.” But Trujillo adds that he also finds the athletic displays impressive: “It is also entertaining to see these men and women duke it out in the ring.”

   In the world of professional wrestling, there are many terms wrestling fans and pro wrestlers commonly used to signify the specific archetypes or roles that wrestlers use as their personas. There’s the “Babyface,” the good guy, the one who is supposed to be cheered. A “Heel” is the bad guy, the one who is supposed to be booed. All wrestlers have to develop a “Gimmick,” a wrestler persona in the ring, so they will be enjoyable to watch. As you can see, audience participation is highly encouraged by the sport, another reason why attending a pro-wrestling match is a similar experience to Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and soccer is because the sports fans watching are rooting for their favorite team to victory and supporting their favorite player.

   In professional wrestling, it’s crucial to have a storyline. Storylines make a wrestling show develop and provide the fans with reasons why they should continue to watch wrestling matches on a weekly basis. Storylines are fictional, created to draw in the audience, and are practiced and rehearsed by wrestlers several times before their premiere in the match in front of spectators. A good story involves dynamic characters.

Fans need to invest in the character first, a character needs to draw a crowd that will cheer or boo him or her. If a wrestler doesn’t receive a cheer or boo from an audience, nobody cares about their story.  What makes a storyline entertaining to watch is the trait that a wrestler plays if he or she is a good guy or a bad guy. Wrestlers and athletes share a common goal of achieving success in their respective fields. The characters that wrestlers develop are different from those of athletes that sports entertainment fans admire.

Just as sports teams may use a gamebook with a series of specific plays again and again in a sports match, there are popular storylines in professional wrestling that are used again and again. For example, a “Turn” is when the good guy turns into a bad guy or when the bad guy turns into a good guy. And just as athletes must obey the rules of any sport, Pro Wrestlers follow the rule of always maintaining the illusion that the match happening is absolutely real and not scripted, commonly known as “Kayfabe.”

and not scripted. Wrestling superfan Carol Vargas explains that “storylines matter in wrestling because you see more passion from the wrestlers even if it’s scripted. A wrestler's acting plays a major role in a storyline so we as fans can be emotionally invested in a storyline. If there is no build-up or storyline prior to a match, what’s the point of watching a match without any story.”

Performers ARE Athletes 

Pro wrestling fans enjoy the spectacle of storytelling, our favorite wrestlers, and the overall history of professional wrestling. But we also appreciate and respect the level of training demanded for this sport. The amount of physicality, pain endurance, and physical shape professional wrestlers must obtain to compete is unbelievable. Professional wrestlers train three to four times a week, for around two to five hours working on various workouts, in the ring, and promo skills at wrestling training. Some of the most basic moves in wrestling need to be trained multiple times throughout wrestling training, to make sure the wrestler masters the move. Wrestlers take pride in training to make sure they don’t injure themselves or their opponents inside the ring. When performing a move, the wrestler needs to put the opponent in a proper position before making the move to protect the opponent. If any wrestling move is executed improperly, the wrestler can suffer from a horrible injury that can stay with them for the rest of their lives.

   It’s no secret that professional wrestling matches are planned in advance with a winner being chosen before a match takes place. While critics can use this planning to argue that it’s not a real athletic match, the planning of these athletic feats is critical for wrestlers to pull them off safely and believably. During matches and practices, it’s important that wrestlers communicate with each other about what they plan on doing in the ring. The fact that a match is planned, choreographed, rehearsed (practiced), and then performed doesn’t make the physical demands of the match any easier. Professional wrestling requires less athletic ability because wrestling doesn’t require any specific body size, wrestling allows athletes no matter size to compete in the sports entertainment industry. Professional wrestlers don’t have the same level of endurance as other sports such as soccer and basketball, even though wrestlers need stamina throughout a match, wrestlers take breaks outside the ring to catch their breath. Moreover, working in tandem with another athlete demands good teamwork, which every wrestler must have to succeed in the match.

   Being a professional wrestler is the toughest sport for any male or female to compete in. These wrestlers travel 280-320 days a year all around the world, with little to no breaks off. To become a professional wrestler, an athlete must stay fit and be in top physical shape. Professional wrestling is a sport that revolves around cardio, muscle, strength, and power. Wrestlers put their bodies on the line each week, sacrificing their health and well-being to entertain us wrestling fans. Even though professional wrestling is scripted, the physicality and pain wrestlers take on a weekly basis is real. The art form that wrestlers partake in is extremely dangerous and has even resulted in severe injuries, life-threatening injuries, and even death. Some of the injuries that have occurred are to the head, face, knee, back, and neck injuries that have put a wrestler out of action for months or even retirement. Wrestlers tend to work matches even though they are suffering in pain from previous matches to entertain their audience. Multiple G.H.S. weighed in to express their respect and appreciation for what these wrestlers have done for fans of the sport. Joseph Trujillo tells The Bruins Eye “I respect the business because these wrestlers go out every week and put on a show to entertain our fans. Every day, 24/7, they are doing their job to the best of their capabilities. They put their bodies and well-being on the line. Wrestles in the past have suffered life-sustaining injuries just for our entertainment.” Carol Vargas adds, “What I respect most about the wrestlers is the dedication they put in both outside and inside the ring.”

   Before badmouthing or diminishing pro wrestling, we need to educate them on the athleticism and entertainment value of the sports entertainment product. We should also encourage non-wrestling viewers to keep an open mind and not judge something they may not fully understand. We need to respect all forms of entertainment and athleticism.