Post by robby.blade on Mar 7, 2013 8:33:55 GMT -5
Had to write this for my Writing 121 class, been up working on it for the last 5 hours. It's due in 5 more hours. I was hoping to get a few opinions and maybe be able to make necessary changes before turning it in.
Rob Warren
Mrs. T
7 March 2013
WR 121 T/R 11:00 – 12:20
THE SPORT OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Although it may be thought by many to be “trash”, “fake” and a “male soap opera”, professional wrestling is the ultimate mixture of sport, art and entertainment. First originating as a carnival attraction in the late 1800’s in the post-Civil War era, professional wrestling has grown to become global phenomenon. The top wrestling organization in the world for the last three decades, World Wrestling Entertainment (formally the World Wrestling Federation from 1979 to 2002) is currently broadcasted on television in over 145 different countries and in 30 different languages. Rightfully so, when people hear the term “professional wrestling”, the WWE is what they will probably think of. After all, they are the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, they were the first promotion to expand past a regional territory, and they probably always will be at the top of the ladder.
One of the most common things I hear as a wrestling fan from others who are not fans of the sport is something along the lines of “Don’t you know that stuff is fake?” Really? Professional wrestling is staged yes, but to call it “fake” would be ignorant. Sure, the wrestlers don’t make full contact with each other in most cases, as the punches they throw are pulled, and for example, a move like a running boot to the face of an opponent would typically result in the one on the receiving end throwing up their arm in front of their face at the last split second, in order to take the hit instead. Professional wrestling is not about truly causing harm to your opponent; it is not a real fight. Professional wrestling is an incredible mixture of athletics and theater. Former Minnesota Governor and professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura said it best; “Wrestling is like ballet with violence.” Rather than competing against the other person they are wrestling that night, wrestlers are actually competing against the rest of the locker room to put on the best match of the night.
While most wrestlers work a lighter, lesser-contact style, a type of Japanese wrestling known as Puroresu has become increasingly popular for being a full-contact, hard hitting variation of professional wrestling. Along with stiff slaps, chops, punches and kicks, these matches also use Mixed Martial Arts techniques such as submission holds you generally wouldn’t see inside of a wrestling ring, but rather in a legitimate MMA fight. The stories that are told in a Puroresu match are about the “fighting spirit” of the competitors. Puroresu has expanded across the globe, more commonly known to American wrestling fans as “strong style”. If the casual non-wrestling fan were to watch a handful of great strong style/Puroresu bouts, it would more than likely have a drastic impact on the way they perceive the sport.
Professional wrestling comes in all different variations, often times with slight rule variations based on the location in which the match is taking place. Mexican wrestling, known as “lucha libre” features much more fast-paced action, with high flying aerial attacks and lightning-quick sequences of moves. Most lucha libre bouts are contested in a best two out of three falls match, a tradition which had also originally been used for championship matches in America and Japan, but abandoned somewhere in the 1970’s. One other small twist in lucha libre is that when a competitor leaves the ring, they would normally have until the count of ten to re-enter the ring, but in lucha libre, the count is expanded to twenty. Some American independent promotions such as Ring of Honor have begun utilizing the twenty count rather than a ten count which is more common in the United States. Colorful attires and masks are very common in lucha libre, as a matter of fact, most masked luchadors (wrestlers) go to great lengths to keep their identity and personal life hidden from the general public. With a luchdor’s mask as his “identity”, losing the mask is viewed as being the biggest form of humiliation. Matches called “Luchas de Apuestas” are used to end rivalries between luchadors, with both competitors wagering their masks in the bout. If one or both luchadors do not have a mask, hair is the other substitute. Lucha Libre places less emphasis on storylines while still producing great rivalries between luchadors almost entirely based on the story that is told within the match itself.
Storylines play a big part in American wrestling, and would be why so many people tend to think about pro wrestling as a soap opera. Over the last few years, storylines and other segments of the show have begun to overtake the programming; with shows featuring more drama and storylines than actually having wrestling matches. For one, I am not a fan of this approach what so ever. I am a wrestling fan. I turned on the TV to watch people wrestle. I am not entirely opposed to angles and storylines, as I think that they are great, I just feel as if the main focus should actually be on the wrestling. Professional wrestling is drama, comedy, action, adventure, with maybe a little bit of horror sprinkled in too.
Currently, the WWE Tag Team Champions, “Team Hell No”, composed of Kane and Daniel Bryan is a wonderful example of comedy in professional wrestling. While Daniel Bryan is a newer face to the WWE, having only been around for a few short years compared to the monstrous Kane who has been going strong sense arriving on the scene in October 1997, the two have formed a team and a love-hate friendship with one another, after attending anger management therapy. Kane has always been a demonic type character, so as you can imagine, this recent teaming between the two has shown a new element to the persona of Kane. They are two teammates who just can’t seem to get along, but always manage to come together when their championships are at stake.
Just because wrestlers have been trained to safely perform the moves that they do inside of the ring does not mean that they are “super-human” or not prone to injury. Even the most experienced wrestlers suffer injuries from time to time, some of which may follow them for their entire career and never heal one-hundred percent from. Just recently, Adam “Edge” Copeland announced his retirement and relinquished his World Heavyweight Championship due to complications increasing from past neck injuries, citing that he had been diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal cord, which would put Copeland at risk for neck-down paralysis or even death if he were to compete in the ring again.
In April 2003, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was fired (in storyline) from the WWE, but the truth behind the angle was that Austin’s neck was in terrible shape and he was forced to retire from in-ring competition, via doctor request. In the summer of 1997, Austin sustained a broken neck at the hands of Owen Hart when Hart dropped Austin on his head with a move called the “Piledriver”, a risky maneuver which obviously can cause serious damage if not performed correctly. Austin would return to the ring three months later, and conquered the WWF Championship on March 29th, 1998. By the end of 1999 Austin’s neck began causing more and more problems, and would undergo another neck surgery to have discs in his neck fused together. This time, he was kept out of the ring until the beginning of 2001.
The greatest example that comes to mind of the toll of pain and harm professional wrestling can inflict on a person’s body would be “The Dynamite Kid” Tom Billington. Billington, a British wrestler who was an active competitor from 1975 until 1991, has been confined to a wheelchair sense the late 90’s as a result of many injuries sustained to his back and legs throughout his sixteen year career.
One that cannot be forgotten is the story of Darren Drozdov, simply known as “Droz”. Droz, a former Denver Bronco who attained slight fame for purposely regurgitating on the football live on TV during Monday Night Football game, wrestled for the (at the time) WWF from the middle of 1998 until October 5th, 1999 was left paralyzed after a botched maneuver resulted in Droz landing on his head and fracturing two discs in his neck. He was originally a quadriplegic after the accident, but has regained the use of his arms and upper body sense then.
Sense the year 1985, there has been an overwhelming 121 deaths among professional wrestlers before the age of sixty-five years old, and ninety-nine of those deaths have been before the age of fifty years old. This number is only counting wrestlers that had appeared on National television at some point in their careers. The majority of these deaths were attributed to heart complications, suicide or a drug overdose. “Unfortunately, the least common way that wrestlers seem to be dying is due to old age.” (cite) Prescription pain killer medications seem to be the worst thing out there for wrestlers, because too many turn to them for relief, and soon enough it turns to an addiction. After five broken necks, former WWE Superstar and Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle admitted to taking up to sixty-five pills of Percocet each day, with twenty just to wake up and get out of bed. Angle has not consumed pain killers sense 2006.
Wrestlers don’t like to hear their sport being called “fake” any less than the die-hard fans do, and have often reacted in violent ways when presented with the question. In 1984, reporter John Stossel took a look at the world of professional wrestling for a segment on the show 20/20. Stossel is shown some of the basics of how wrestlers punch, kick and slam each other by a wrestler by the name of Eddie Mansfield. Mansfield former tag team partner, David Shultz was not as kind to Stossel when the two met at Madison Square Garden while Stossel was on assignment for the 20/20 segment. First off, Shultz has sense alleged that regarding this incident, he was instructed to act how he did by WWF owner, Vincent K. McMahon. When Stossel interviewed Shultz about the wrestling business, Stossel said “I think it’s fake.”, which lead to Shultz slapping him once, asking “What's that, is that fake? Huh? What the hell's wrong with you? That's an open hand slap. You think it's fake? I'll fake you.” before slapping Stossel again. Stossel received a $425,000 settlement out of court from the WWF as a result of the incident, claiming that Shultz struck him in both ears, causing hearing damage. Shultz was terminated from the company almost immediately following the incident. Leon White, better known as “Vader” appeared on the show Good Morning Kuwait while on tour in the country for the WWF, when he was asked the question if wrestling was “fake” or not. He responded by grabbing the show’s host by the collar of his shirt and yelling at the man.
Professional wrestling is not “fake”. Professional wrestling is a spectacle. While the matches are scripted and pre-determined, there is no denying that those who apply their craft inside of the squared-circle are true athletes, artists, and entertainers. Perfecting how to perform a scripted battle that tells a story, feels convincing and can captivate an audience is a skill. It is not something that any random person can do, and that is what makes it so special. In sports, you have people performing athletic maneuvers, competing with someone or something, with the end result having winners and losers. In professional wrestling, you have people performing athletic maneuvers, competing with someone else, with a winner and a loser at the end, despite the result being pre-determined.
Rob Warren
Mrs. T
7 March 2013
WR 121 T/R 11:00 – 12:20
THE SPORT OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Although it may be thought by many to be “trash”, “fake” and a “male soap opera”, professional wrestling is the ultimate mixture of sport, art and entertainment. First originating as a carnival attraction in the late 1800’s in the post-Civil War era, professional wrestling has grown to become global phenomenon. The top wrestling organization in the world for the last three decades, World Wrestling Entertainment (formally the World Wrestling Federation from 1979 to 2002) is currently broadcasted on television in over 145 different countries and in 30 different languages. Rightfully so, when people hear the term “professional wrestling”, the WWE is what they will probably think of. After all, they are the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, they were the first promotion to expand past a regional territory, and they probably always will be at the top of the ladder.
One of the most common things I hear as a wrestling fan from others who are not fans of the sport is something along the lines of “Don’t you know that stuff is fake?” Really? Professional wrestling is staged yes, but to call it “fake” would be ignorant. Sure, the wrestlers don’t make full contact with each other in most cases, as the punches they throw are pulled, and for example, a move like a running boot to the face of an opponent would typically result in the one on the receiving end throwing up their arm in front of their face at the last split second, in order to take the hit instead. Professional wrestling is not about truly causing harm to your opponent; it is not a real fight. Professional wrestling is an incredible mixture of athletics and theater. Former Minnesota Governor and professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura said it best; “Wrestling is like ballet with violence.” Rather than competing against the other person they are wrestling that night, wrestlers are actually competing against the rest of the locker room to put on the best match of the night.
While most wrestlers work a lighter, lesser-contact style, a type of Japanese wrestling known as Puroresu has become increasingly popular for being a full-contact, hard hitting variation of professional wrestling. Along with stiff slaps, chops, punches and kicks, these matches also use Mixed Martial Arts techniques such as submission holds you generally wouldn’t see inside of a wrestling ring, but rather in a legitimate MMA fight. The stories that are told in a Puroresu match are about the “fighting spirit” of the competitors. Puroresu has expanded across the globe, more commonly known to American wrestling fans as “strong style”. If the casual non-wrestling fan were to watch a handful of great strong style/Puroresu bouts, it would more than likely have a drastic impact on the way they perceive the sport.
Professional wrestling comes in all different variations, often times with slight rule variations based on the location in which the match is taking place. Mexican wrestling, known as “lucha libre” features much more fast-paced action, with high flying aerial attacks and lightning-quick sequences of moves. Most lucha libre bouts are contested in a best two out of three falls match, a tradition which had also originally been used for championship matches in America and Japan, but abandoned somewhere in the 1970’s. One other small twist in lucha libre is that when a competitor leaves the ring, they would normally have until the count of ten to re-enter the ring, but in lucha libre, the count is expanded to twenty. Some American independent promotions such as Ring of Honor have begun utilizing the twenty count rather than a ten count which is more common in the United States. Colorful attires and masks are very common in lucha libre, as a matter of fact, most masked luchadors (wrestlers) go to great lengths to keep their identity and personal life hidden from the general public. With a luchdor’s mask as his “identity”, losing the mask is viewed as being the biggest form of humiliation. Matches called “Luchas de Apuestas” are used to end rivalries between luchadors, with both competitors wagering their masks in the bout. If one or both luchadors do not have a mask, hair is the other substitute. Lucha Libre places less emphasis on storylines while still producing great rivalries between luchadors almost entirely based on the story that is told within the match itself.
Storylines play a big part in American wrestling, and would be why so many people tend to think about pro wrestling as a soap opera. Over the last few years, storylines and other segments of the show have begun to overtake the programming; with shows featuring more drama and storylines than actually having wrestling matches. For one, I am not a fan of this approach what so ever. I am a wrestling fan. I turned on the TV to watch people wrestle. I am not entirely opposed to angles and storylines, as I think that they are great, I just feel as if the main focus should actually be on the wrestling. Professional wrestling is drama, comedy, action, adventure, with maybe a little bit of horror sprinkled in too.
Currently, the WWE Tag Team Champions, “Team Hell No”, composed of Kane and Daniel Bryan is a wonderful example of comedy in professional wrestling. While Daniel Bryan is a newer face to the WWE, having only been around for a few short years compared to the monstrous Kane who has been going strong sense arriving on the scene in October 1997, the two have formed a team and a love-hate friendship with one another, after attending anger management therapy. Kane has always been a demonic type character, so as you can imagine, this recent teaming between the two has shown a new element to the persona of Kane. They are two teammates who just can’t seem to get along, but always manage to come together when their championships are at stake.
Just because wrestlers have been trained to safely perform the moves that they do inside of the ring does not mean that they are “super-human” or not prone to injury. Even the most experienced wrestlers suffer injuries from time to time, some of which may follow them for their entire career and never heal one-hundred percent from. Just recently, Adam “Edge” Copeland announced his retirement and relinquished his World Heavyweight Championship due to complications increasing from past neck injuries, citing that he had been diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal cord, which would put Copeland at risk for neck-down paralysis or even death if he were to compete in the ring again.
In April 2003, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was fired (in storyline) from the WWE, but the truth behind the angle was that Austin’s neck was in terrible shape and he was forced to retire from in-ring competition, via doctor request. In the summer of 1997, Austin sustained a broken neck at the hands of Owen Hart when Hart dropped Austin on his head with a move called the “Piledriver”, a risky maneuver which obviously can cause serious damage if not performed correctly. Austin would return to the ring three months later, and conquered the WWF Championship on March 29th, 1998. By the end of 1999 Austin’s neck began causing more and more problems, and would undergo another neck surgery to have discs in his neck fused together. This time, he was kept out of the ring until the beginning of 2001.
The greatest example that comes to mind of the toll of pain and harm professional wrestling can inflict on a person’s body would be “The Dynamite Kid” Tom Billington. Billington, a British wrestler who was an active competitor from 1975 until 1991, has been confined to a wheelchair sense the late 90’s as a result of many injuries sustained to his back and legs throughout his sixteen year career.
One that cannot be forgotten is the story of Darren Drozdov, simply known as “Droz”. Droz, a former Denver Bronco who attained slight fame for purposely regurgitating on the football live on TV during Monday Night Football game, wrestled for the (at the time) WWF from the middle of 1998 until October 5th, 1999 was left paralyzed after a botched maneuver resulted in Droz landing on his head and fracturing two discs in his neck. He was originally a quadriplegic after the accident, but has regained the use of his arms and upper body sense then.
Sense the year 1985, there has been an overwhelming 121 deaths among professional wrestlers before the age of sixty-five years old, and ninety-nine of those deaths have been before the age of fifty years old. This number is only counting wrestlers that had appeared on National television at some point in their careers. The majority of these deaths were attributed to heart complications, suicide or a drug overdose. “Unfortunately, the least common way that wrestlers seem to be dying is due to old age.” (cite) Prescription pain killer medications seem to be the worst thing out there for wrestlers, because too many turn to them for relief, and soon enough it turns to an addiction. After five broken necks, former WWE Superstar and Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle admitted to taking up to sixty-five pills of Percocet each day, with twenty just to wake up and get out of bed. Angle has not consumed pain killers sense 2006.
Wrestlers don’t like to hear their sport being called “fake” any less than the die-hard fans do, and have often reacted in violent ways when presented with the question. In 1984, reporter John Stossel took a look at the world of professional wrestling for a segment on the show 20/20. Stossel is shown some of the basics of how wrestlers punch, kick and slam each other by a wrestler by the name of Eddie Mansfield. Mansfield former tag team partner, David Shultz was not as kind to Stossel when the two met at Madison Square Garden while Stossel was on assignment for the 20/20 segment. First off, Shultz has sense alleged that regarding this incident, he was instructed to act how he did by WWF owner, Vincent K. McMahon. When Stossel interviewed Shultz about the wrestling business, Stossel said “I think it’s fake.”, which lead to Shultz slapping him once, asking “What's that, is that fake? Huh? What the hell's wrong with you? That's an open hand slap. You think it's fake? I'll fake you.” before slapping Stossel again. Stossel received a $425,000 settlement out of court from the WWF as a result of the incident, claiming that Shultz struck him in both ears, causing hearing damage. Shultz was terminated from the company almost immediately following the incident. Leon White, better known as “Vader” appeared on the show Good Morning Kuwait while on tour in the country for the WWF, when he was asked the question if wrestling was “fake” or not. He responded by grabbing the show’s host by the collar of his shirt and yelling at the man.
Professional wrestling is not “fake”. Professional wrestling is a spectacle. While the matches are scripted and pre-determined, there is no denying that those who apply their craft inside of the squared-circle are true athletes, artists, and entertainers. Perfecting how to perform a scripted battle that tells a story, feels convincing and can captivate an audience is a skill. It is not something that any random person can do, and that is what makes it so special. In sports, you have people performing athletic maneuvers, competing with someone or something, with the end result having winners and losers. In professional wrestling, you have people performing athletic maneuvers, competing with someone else, with a winner and a loser at the end, despite the result being pre-determined.
