Howdy folks. I am going retro. Back in 2011, I started my online columns via a website that is currently obsolete. I happened however to dig through my archives and found one of my first articles. With some adjustments, the article has been updated to meet current standards. Here is one of my most successful, and favorite articles I have written.
This article will be dedicated to all wrestling fans like myself who have all been told the same thing… Wrestling is Fake. No it is not. It is scripted and that is a big difference.
Any person who hates WWE, NJPW, ROH or any wrestling promotion for that matter, will always will say “It’s just fake anyway”. These buzz killers are annoying. We all know that wrestlers follow a script, kayfabe is dead as Vince McMahon always stouts. We love it all the same. Wrestling universes are fantasies that we are absorbed into, with the over the top characters, unbelievable events and fun entertainment. Some people watch “soap” dramas, some people watch “reality” T.V. My world is wrestling. I enjoy knowing that I may be watching an epic battle between superstars, legends or rookies every week; and I love it.
The wrestlers of today and the past are so different in variety and entertainment. In the past, big hulking men battled in an unrealistic, unbelievable contest that it is looked back to being cheesy, and somewhat nostalgic. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior battled in a most famous contest where wrestling holds were non-existent at Wrestlemania 6, yet their charisma and crowd interaction won them over. Today, wrestlers are world class athletes, entertainers, and perfectionists. All professional wrestlers are masters of the ring, and anything less would be frowned upon and exploited. This brings up my next point, and that is they are real human beings.
Wrestlers sweat, bleed and give their soul in that ring. They take real bumps, feel real emotions, and get hurt. When wrestlers follow script and everything goes fine, there is not a problem, the show goes on. When something goes wrong, we feel pain for the individual, whether they be Heel or Face. You cannot fake gravity, you cannot fake emotions, and you cannot fake real world tragedies. When a wrestler wins the gold after so many years, those tears are real; believe me.
This next part is a little bit closer to me. The real world, aka mainstream media, never shows it cares for pro wrestling and ignores it. That is until there is a tragedy to exploit. If a wrestler dies, or is caught up in legal matters, it is not fine to exploit this for your own media benefits. You have no right to get a story out of tragedy in a world you don’t know. A few years ago, we lost a legend in the Macho Man. In the wrestling world, we mourned and remembered the man as an icon and a great person. In the real world on the news, it was “drugs caused this” and “all wrestlers are dying early” all over… Bull Sh*t.
The wrestling community is not stupid. Yes, drugs were are huge part in wrestling’s past, but I believe WWE and many other companies have done the right thing cutting it out and implementing good health to routine. I applaud a drug free wrestling world and I hope one day that it comes true. Every time a wrestler dies we all feel it. Every time a wrestler gets hurt, we feel it. The men and women in wrestling are real humans and have families that love them more than what we do.
Wrestlers are told what to do, who is going to win or lose, and how to perceive this to the crowd. Just remember, these superstars travel long days, work unbelievable hours, and must be fatigued heavily every week. They grin and bear it for us and I don’t know how they do it. They are incredible. We come to love older stars like Sting, Undertaker, Bret Hart, Goldberg, Edge and Stone Cold for who they are. We also come to hate others like John Cena and Roman Reigns for their push. Yet we respect them and relate to them as real people. The point I have tried to make is that no matter how much smoke and mirrors you use, you cannot fake humanity and respect.
Thank you for reading.
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