A Little About Pro Wrestling

Professional wrestling has been in the news a lot recently.The news hasn't been good at all.The Chris Benoit tragedy has brought wrestling's dark side to the media's attention.Most people delivering or hearing the news know very little of the business.My purpose here is not to tell everything,but to dispel a few myths and maybe get someone to look at wrestling a different way.


I have been involved with independent wrestling as a manager for about 4 1/2 years now.I'm nobody known.You'd have trouble finding info about me even on the internet as I work in only one place and don't promote myself in the least.I'm just another face in an overcrowded scene,but I am there.Enough of my resume,on to the questions!


1)Pro wrestling is fake.Say this with a lot of venom in your voice,like pro wrestling just killed your puppy.So much anger on this point...People say this like it caused them to lose their house.So...is it fake?Yes and no.It is in that the outcomes are known and no one's trying to hurt each other(usually).It isn't because, well, you can't fake gravity and a lot of blows are delivered full force.You're just supposed to suck it up.If you can't take it you can go home.Seriously though,in this day and age, no one's trying to tell you it's genuine competition.Calling wrestling out as fake is like calling Lord Of The Rings out for being fake.You're not stunning anyone with your revelation.


Wrestling has more in common with theater than sports.Everything is performed in front of an audience in one take.There's a plot.There's costumes.There are characters, a protagonist and an antagonist.You need to exaggerate your every move so people sitting in the back rows know what's going on.You need to be aware of the crowd and sometimes even of cameras.You need to know when to work them and when to lay off.It may not be Shakespeare,but it is a performance.

You have to suspend disbelief when you watch wrestling just like you do when you watch a kung fu flick.Those guys aren't trying to kill each other either.There's more disclosure now,which I think is good.Shielding the business,commonly referred to as kayfabe,keeps an air of mystery but also leads to all the ridiculous theories about wrestling which bother me to no end.But there are still things no one is going to talk about.I won't talk about them either.


2)The wrestling ring is like a trampoline/mattress.It doesn't hurt at all.You're right about this too.It is like a trampoline,provided you remove the net and replace it with 3" thick planks of wood and a thin gym mat.Even doing basic moves you will get banged up and bruised.Try falling from eight feet in the air on your back twenty times and tell me how you feel.The ropes can be painful too.The first few times I hit the ropes I came home with HUGE bruises all over my back and ass.You get better and build up a tolerance to the pain after a while though.And this all comes assuming you're actually using a real wrestling ring,which is designed to give a little to help break your fall.Some people have to wrestle in a boxing ring,which has slightly more give than the floor under your feet.


3)All pro wrestlers are huge steroid monsters.This depends on what you're watching.In general,pro wrestlers should be huge.They should look like they could pick anyone from a crowd and kick their ass.If you're watching WWE,which is considered the "big leagues", you're going to see a lot of fit bodies.It helps absorb some of the beating you take too.If you're watching the indies, you're going to see all body types.You have a lot of muscular physiques, but also a lot of fat ass stomachs and rib cages.In the world of indies, I could be a wrestler.I'm 5'10" and 160 lbs.As much as I love the physical side of wrestling, I stay a manager because I don't think I'd make a credible wrestler.I'm skinny,pale, and not muscular.Unfortunately,that doesn't stop a lot of people from getting in the ring who are my size.They are going to get decimated and will only go so far because they lack the size to go to the next level.It just looks bad to have two 140 pounders trying to pass thamselves off as bad asses.


4)Drugs are rampant in wrestling.I don't get into this aspect of the business,but it is there.Some guys are quite vocal about doing painkillers.Most keep it quiet.Steroids are never mentioned.I'm sure some guys use them,but they don't brag about it.The reason for the drugs I can understand.Steroids make you bigger.Bigger guys have a better chance of making it than smaller guys.As for painkillers...think about it.Your knees,back, and neck take a LOT of punishment in wrestling.I'm only a manager,which means I don't get hit one quarter as much as the other guys, and even I have some recurring pains.Wrestlers will work with injuries that would take people out of desk jobs.They have to if they want to keep their "spot".You have thousands upon thousands of guys competing for about the 100 or so places the WWE has to potentially fill.If you take a year off to nurse a sore neck back to health, you most likely will have to start from the bottom again when you come back.So if you get hurt or are in pain, you either suck it up and go on or you take care of yourself properly at the risk of your career.Personally, when I get hurt,I just live with the pain.I won't take any painkillers.I don't want to get hooked or damage my heart.By now you've seen the death statistics for wrestlers.So many guys dying young.It's scary.

Overall,it's great fun.Working with the crowd and trying to get them to react is fun.Getting to work with people you've watched on TV since you were a little kid is awesome.Hell, it's even fun getting hit and beaten up because people are being entertained(ideally).Everybody doing this is trying to live a dream.How many people actually chase their dreams?It's admirable.It's what separates them from the millions who are content to just sit at home and watch it on TV.