Off the top rope with an elbow, The Rock delivers a devastating blow to his opponent Ric Flair. Ring announcer Jim Ross shouts oooooh thats got to hurt. The question: is professional wrestling real or fake? Many believers and non-believers get into heated debates on what really happens when the men enter the ring.
Do the moves, locks, and punches really hurt? If so do the cage and barbwire matches, hitting people with chairs, or crushing people through tables hurt? This age-old sport has been around even since the being of man. Presidents such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln have worn the trunks and have stepped into the ring. Abraham Lincoln has won title belts before. (A&E: History of Professional Wrestling) The history of wrestling has turned into a multimillion-dollar industry. On March 29,1987 a world record indoor attendance of 90,873 people packed into Detroit’s Pontiac Silverdome.
They, and countless thousands glued to their televisions had come to see the final act of a classic tale of envy, deceit and blind ambition. The epic struggle between good and evil, the story book blonde haired hero and the hideous monster. The chance to achieve victory over seemingly insurmountable odds. The event was Wrestlemania 3 and the match Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant.
Fans around the world come every Monday to watch their favorite wrestlers step into the ring, trying to win over their opponents with brut force. After punch, kick and body slam the wrestler wrenches in pain then rises to action. He returning to his opponent with a clothesline, then grabs a chair, and slams it into his opponents head. They wrestle, only to come up with no blood or even a black and blue. People stare and wonder, are it real; did he really get hit with a chair. For wrestling fan, Chris Mortensen: The show is a fascinating look into how the sport — and at one time it was a Sport — evolved into the combination Super Bowl-Vegas show it is today with its spectacles, parody, profanity, and comic crowning and uncrowning.
Indeed there would be few forms of modern entertainment whose roots can be traced back so clearly to the tradition of the carnival as pro-wrestling. Modern pro-wrestling is all about spectacle, from the elaborate ring entrances of the sports biggest names, the grandiose excesses of their costumes and the stylized battle in the ring, pro-wrestling thrives on spectacle. And in pro-wrestling, there is no bigger spectacle than Wrestlemania. I do believe that wrestling is fake, but much doubt is left in my mind. The show or match is filled pain-staking moves.
I dont know how they fake some of the stunts they pull off in the ring; people getting hit with steel chairs or getting smashed through a table. This industry was brought up real, by carnivals and sideshows. The strong men would challenge people, if those people won, they got cash reward. Now these athletes are former football player, weight lifters, and people from anywhere with a desire to get into the ring. Chris, like many people think wrestling is not real, but the doubt is there in his head.
Keith Gehshan a wrestling historian and fanatic, has watched wrestling at the age of two with his older brother. He has seen the highs and the lows of the business, it was popular in the eighties, it was unpopular in the late eighties and early nineties, and todays popularity is at an all time high. When Keith turned 14 he would practice professional wrestling with his brother for hours. When he turned 15, his brother and he attended a wrestling camp, for the whole summer. At this camp they learned the ins and outs of the sport, from jumping off the top rope, to getting hit with steel chairs.
Dan Malinco, who has been in the business for many years and has two sons in the sport now, taught this. He believes that the sport is magical. Even though he knows it is fake, he still believes in it, like it was a real, sport like baseball. Dan Malinco has been wrestling since he was in his teens. Now, he is about 55 years old, with two sons in the ring.
He has had many surgeries on his knees, shoulders, back and neck, while sustaining countless concussions and broken ribs. He has preached the realness, and the pain of the sport. Making it in the sport is about one of the hardest things to do. When you are in, youre in for the ride.
The bruises, broken bones and traveling non-stop were the worst part. This sport isnt like baseball that plays a limited season. This is professional wrestling a year round show of men lifting and throwing each other around every night. I have spent most of my life in a sport. That right a sport, it was real sport. All those broken bone for something fake, I dont think so.
The question of professional wrestling is a thought after answer. Many people think that wrestling is fake, but questions linger in their minds. The one who does believe doesnt care what people say about wrestling. For all I can to say is—For those who believe, no explanation needed. For those who do not believe, no explanation will do Bibliography:
