Secrets of Professional Wrestling

Fans of erotic wrestling (virtually always men) fantasise about seeing moves performed in wrestling shows being enacted upon them by the opposite sex (virtually always women). However it is important to realise that all is not as it seems.

If you get a well trained wrestling demonstrator to perform the moves on you, she will know how to do it without causing injury, if necessary telling you what you have do to in order to cooperate. This assumes that is she knows what she is doing. If you get a girl friend or causal acquaintance to agree to try the moves, or a prostitute or indeed someone set up as a wrestling demonstrator who is not really skilled, then take care. It could be a lot more dangerous than you think unless you stick to simple stretches and squeezes.

The Secrets of Pro Wrestling was a television programme screened on UK TV's Channel 5 in March, 2000. It explained how wrestling is really a series of stunt fights. Wrestlers names and appearance had been changed to protect their true identities. As with conjurers, it is not professionally ethical to reveal secrets. All of the bouts used as examples were m/m. This write up of the programme is paraphrased from the original which refers to two men wrestling with each other.

The Basics

The violence looks real as the men in the ring employ secret tricks.

The body slam. The victim launches himself into the air. The opponent ensures the victim's head does not hit the floor first.

Punching. A closed fist can cause serious damage. Wrestlers use open fists that make light contact so the opponent knows how to react.

The Stomp The wrestlers make the sound with their feet.

The Head Kick. A combination of ballet and brutality - it takes perfect timing. There is no real strength behind the kick, the victim runs into it, his arm secretly guides the foot to its target. He snaps his head back just at the right moment to make it look real.

The Head But. If it was real, it would cause instant concussion. With his hand on the opponents head, he pushes his own head onto it, and the opponent knows when to react.

The secret ingredient is for the victim to make a good "sell job" of the result. By selling the agony to the crowd, the fake fight looks viscous.

The Suplex - the opponents arm cushions the victim's neck as he falls.

Who wins or loses? The "booker" concocts the secret plan. one is "the baby", the other the villain, the Heel, the bad guy. The booker is in the lobby passing out secret signs - you didn't really think all the fans brought these banners from home? How the wrestlers win or lose is up to them and the partner. The entire match is choreographed, but not in advance - they are secretly taking to each other throughout the entire match telling each other what to do. The audience do not hear the covert conversation. That is what completes the illusion.

The Ring. Four inches of foam number padding protect the corners. The floor is padded with the same stuff that protects the falls of Hollywood stunt men. Some rings have a spring in the middle that absorbs the shock and gives them some real bounce. Between the foam and the spring is loose sheets of plywood that makes a bone crushing sound. A microphone sends these crashes and bangs to the arena's speaker system to make them sound even more.

The Splash.> First is signal is sent to the victim to get ready and tuck his arm in. The opponent lands on his arms and knees and the victim reacts.

The search for forbidden objects by the referee is a time for passing on last minute instructions for the match, what holds are to be used etc. When there is a gap in the action, the ref often passes information between the opponents. The ref is definitely part of the choreography. He deliberately overlooks an apparently illegal move to stir up the crowd. The crowd get mad at the ref and the aggressor.

The ringside announcer constantly monitors the crowd's response to the action and passes instructions to the ref who can wind up a fight that is not interesting the crowd. Brawling outside the ring also excites the crowd, the wrestlers slapping each other's bodies with their forearms. A wrestler's "girlfriend" is sometimes brought in to get involved with fake brawls outside the ring.

A villain sometimes brings in a child to the audience who pretends to ask for an autograph, and the villain tears up the book and the child appears to be horrified. A "sweet old lady" in the audience who gets a "bashing" is a "stunt granny" who is well padded.

The Backdrop. The victim pushes off his opponent's shoulders to fly right up into the air and absorb the impact with his feet and shoulders.

Props - trophies etc, are as in films made of special materials and designed to break in especially weakened sections. "Salt" in the eye is not salt but talcum powder. Chairs are real, but they are used in a special way to hit the back of the opponent, not his head. the victim grabs his head, so the crowd thinks that's where he is hit. Tables are made of particle board, which break very easily if hit in its middle - its weakest point.

The Flying Body Block -out of the ring Once out of the ring the victim is actually waiting to catch the aggressor and block his fall - just another happy landing when you know the secret.