Tonight, in the
very ring…
I enjoy watching
sports. There are so many emotional ups
and downs that come along with cheering my team to victory…or defeat. I love understanding the rules, the plays,
the strategy…and also appreciating the athletic ability and how so many
athletes push themselves to the limit.
But, I also love to
watch purely entertaining television or movies.
The ‘over the top’ story lines of soap operas, the superhuman
accomplishments of action heroes, and the really cool explosions in many of
So, although being a
sports fan gives me a little bit of a thrill, I have discovered something much
much better.
Professional
Wrestling.
Pro Wrestling mixes
the sense of rules, competition, and the skillful athletes found in sports with
the special effects, drama, heroes and villains of entertainment.
Where else can you
find such a wonderful mix? Nowhere!
One of the major
aspects of Sports that I enjoy is the demonstration of athletic ability and
skill. I am overcome with a sense of
‘Aw” when an athlete goes above and beyond in competition. However, it would be very unfair to expect an
athlete to perform show stopping feats every single game.
That’s where wrestling
steals the show. Every single week I can
expect to see a severe career-ending injury
followed by a miraculous recovery, the underdog winning the match, and most
importantly, lots of flips, hits and very hard falls.
BUT - To clarify right
off the bat, Pro Wrestling is a Spectacle, not a real Sport. Wrestlers may look like they are “thinking on
their toes”, but 90% of a wrestling match is rehearsed. As I’m sure you all figured out, most of
those punches are fake!
However, if you don’t
watch it TOO carefully (and ignore all of the bad acting), you will see a group
of guys and gals with super human strength.
You will see absolutely amazing athletes beating the living daylights
out of each other.
Before I go too much farther,
I should outline the whole point of wrestling.
To win fights, or matches.
Like sports, Wrestling
has rules, refs, and a logical approach. Basically in order to win a match, the
athlete must pin his or her opponent down for a count of three. You can not punch the ref, you can not get
any help from other wrestlers, you can not use chairs, metal bars or trash cans
when hitting your opponent, and when the bell rings, you are supposed to stop
fighting.
But this never occurs
in Wrestling. It’s a disappointing match
if the rules are followed. This is where
the Entertainment component of Wrestling kicks in.
A really good
wrestling match has fighters who disobey as many rules as possible. The ref is knocked out in the first few
seconds so there will not be any pesky interruptions. Wrestlers slam random
objects over each other’s heads, and the fighters have their wrestling buddies
close by, to jump in and assist with the beating
Sports also have a way
to recognize the best. For instance, the
Stanley Cup in Hockey. Wrestling also
rewards the best – with giant gold belts.
A championship game or
match in any sport is total rush of excitement for the fans. It is very devastating when your team loses
though. Especially seeing as you have to
wait an entire year for another shot at victory. In the case of the Maple Leafs, several
decades!
With Pro Wrestling you
don’t have to wait too long for two wrestlers to fight for one of these giant
belts. There seems to be a title match
every few weeks.
Most sports fans have
their favourite players. They tend to be
the men and women who have a little bit of a stage presence, or are well known
outside of the respective sport.
However, this is often limited to maybe a few players on a team who
really stand out. There are only so many
Dennis Rodmans, Tiger Woods, or Wayne Gretzkeys.
With Wrestling,
however, EVERY wrestler is a “character”.
They all have fully developed personas, signature outfits and fighting
styles. Basically, every wrestler is
either the greatest Hero, or the meanest Villain. They also have pretty cool names, like “The
Rock”, “Stone Cold Steve Austin”, “Sgt.
Slaughter” or “Hulk Hogan”
AND, they must also have a catch phrase that they repeat at nausium and
make very little sense. For instance:
“Can you SMELL, what the Rock is Cookin’…”
and my personal Favourite, a simple yet effective “WOOOOOHHHHHH”
Wrestlers also have
the best clothing. Spandex.
A wrestler needs to be able to move
comfortably while jumping off of a ladder onto someone else’s face. Spandex allows for great movement, it also
shows off the wrestler’s physique. Let’s
face it, most Pro Wrestlers are in great shape.
(Steroid scandals aside).
I like to think of
wrestling as the grey area between sports and entertainment.
I have stopped
wondering why I enjoy watching people regularly getting hit on the head with
chairs. Or why I don’t seem to care that
the Referees fall like bricks after only a slight tap, why a 15 minute beating
can be shrugged off with a shake of the head, and why a good guy suddenly
decides to become completely evil.
Why? Because I like it!
So, I will leave you
with this: (takes off jacket, to show
wrestling t-shirt)
“This SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY two of the BIGGEST superstars in World Wrestling HISTORY will go head to head in a gruelling battle. The WORLD heavyweight champion, Shawn Michaels the Heart Break Kid will face challenger TRIPPLE H in a STEAL CAGE DEATHMATCH”
Because, ANYTHING is
possible in Wrestling!