Is Wrestling Fake?

Is Wrestling fake? Wrestling is scripted and is only fake when it comes to certain aspects of wrestling. When you talk about wrestling most people think about World Wrestling Entertainment also known as WWE. The company has now referred to wrestling as sports entertainment. The border between being fake or real is drawn here. Of course, when it comes to any wrestling company it is in fact scripted.

When it comes to wrestling, it is often compared to the UFC and NCAA wrestling. People call it fake for many reasons. Reasons range from the predetermined matches to the “fake” punches. This is when the script comes in. In many wrestling companies the matches are predetermined. For example, in 2016 the monthly pay-per-view for WWE saw Roman Reigns beat both Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar to place himself in the main event of Wrestlemania for the second year in a row. People use excuses like this to determine wrestling is fake. Predetermined matches are like a script in a movie. No one complains about a movie being fake so why call wrestling fake as well? Wrestling is a form of entertainment just like movies but somehow everyone judges wrestling for not being real like UFC.

Often wrestlers break the 4th wall and say something that their character wouldn’t say. The following tweet is from Dolph Ziggler, a current WWE superstar, who responds to a question about a truth in the wrestling business. There are many examples when wrestlers go off script. One of the biggest examples of this happened in 2011 in the rivalry between John Cena and CM Punk. On the 27th of June there was a weekly episode of RAW. Near the end of an R-truth and John Cena match, CM Punk comes out and helps R-truth beat John Cena. After the match CM Punk grabs a mic and tells everyone the truth. CM Punk goes out there and talks about how he feels about the company and even talks about his boss dying. The rest is history. Eventually they muted his microphone because he was about to share a story about Vince Mcmahon. This is one of many moments when the characters are no longer there.

Now many people say that the wrestling business is fake because none of the moves are real. So you’re telling me Mankind/Mick Foley falling of the cell was fake? Okay. What about Shane Mcmahon falling of the titantron? All the big moments, are of course predetermined so that the wrestlers know how to fall and avoid any brutal injuries. Often wrestling is proved even more real when an incident happens such as the following:

Here we see Joey mercury completely shatter his nose from a ladder hit. Originally he was supposed to take a ladder hit to the face but he didn’t block properly and the ladder broke his nose.

This example is from WCW in which Sid tried to do a big boot from the top of the rope. He landed completely wrong and ended up breaking his leg. What do all these examples have to do with wrestling being scripted? These examples go to show that wrestling moves in WWE are still dangerous and often do hurt a wrestler. Any move could easily end a career. Here is an example:

At a Summerslam pay-per-view Owen Hart had a match against Steve Austin. Hart gave Austin a piledriver which would come to shorten Austin’s career. Austin was placed too close to Hart’s knees which would lead to Austin hitting the mat hard. The injury would eventually shorten Austin’s career.

What is the response a wrestler gives when someone says, “wrestling is fake”? Well there are a lot of responses. Xavier Woods is a current wrestler in the WWE. He had this to say, “It’s art. We get one take, not 40, in front of a live audience that appreciates us putting our bodies on the line for their entertainment. It’s fine if you don’t like it but there is no need to disrespect us or the people who watch it by calling it ‘fake.’ Wrestling fans are the greatest fans in the world because they understand this notion.” Wood’s clever response clearly portrays what wrestling is and how wrestling fans see it.

What is the point of all of this? This is the question most of you are asking yourselves. The point of all of this is to prove that wrestling isn’t fake. Moves often hurt wrestlers and injure them. The matches are predetermined but of course that is the whole purpose of the business. The sport is called sports entertainment for a reason. No one complains about movies not being real so why hate towards wrestling? If you don’t like it then just go watch your chick-flicks.