by Ben Ayuko
{image by AP}
We all know that wrestling is Fake.
Two, or more, superstars enter into the ring and, after screaming at each other for a bit, proceed to perform various stunts in order to elicit various oohs and aahs from the crowd.
It literally sounds like a circus show.
The story is often very dramatic, akin to a soap opera. If the soap was heavily punctuated with wrestling matches in between every cliff hanger.
It may, therefore, come as a surprise to know that many professional fighters rank, not MMA, nor Boxing, not the Slap Olympics. but pro-wrestling as the most injury inducing sport in the world.
Yes, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) with all your favourite superstars like John Cena, The Rock, Stone Cold (am I showing my age) the Undertaker, his brother Kane (I still can’t believe they’re not actually brothers) and so on and so forth.
Turns out, it’s not that it’s fake, it’s just that the storylines are scripted. The stunts? They are very real.
When Jeff Hardy jumps off a 20ft ladder straight to ground to land on the Big Show, he is risking maiming himself, in real time, just for your entertainment. It’s crazy when you think about it. He almost has to pick someone as big as the Big Show, or Mark Henry, to land on, otherwise he’d be risking serious injury for himself, as well as whoever is waiting for him down there.
That famous Hell in a Cell match between Mick Foley and the Undertaker which set the standard for death defying stunts, is remembered so iconically because it was the first time anything like that had happened. That is to say, it’s not normal, even in WWE, to just throw somebody off a 30+ ft structure while aiming for a small table as the only thing that could break his fall. Should he miss, it would be curtains for him.
In fact, the older you get, the more you realize that it isn’t the guy who threw the punch who is the hero, it’s the guy who took the fall. This is because, not only do you have to be able to sell an injury to the audience and convince them that you’re actually hurt, in a natural way like Dolph Ziggler, but you also have to avoid actually getting injured. It’s like a middle ground you have to find. Get hurt just enough to use it in your performance, but not so much that you can’t continue the show.
Ken Shamrock, a retired fighter who once dabbled in both MMA and WWE, in an interview said, “…Pro Wrestling is where I get more damage. “
This is mostly due to the frequency of the matches. Whereas boxers and MMA fighters book a fight once every so often (some can do as little as 2 fights a year), WWE is scheduled to air once a week at the minimum, with fights that can last anywhere between 10min and 1 hour, regardless of the state of the wrestler.
In 2012, Dwayne ‘The Rock‘ Johnson once gave an interview where he said, “…in the latest WrestleMania against John Cena…” “…10 minutes into the match, I tore the top of my quad (quadricep muscle) and my adductor (muscle) from my pelvis (pelvic bone).” At that point, there was still a good half an hour left in the match. By the end of the match, he had proceeded to tear his abdomen in 3 separate places, needing emergency surgery to restore it. Despite this, he managed to finish the match which become one of the most memorable match ups in recent history. And why? Why put himself through such physical abuse while enduring so much pain? For the people of course. Because the show must go on.
In 2019. the Undertaker faced off against Goldberg. This was a very anticipated, very nostalgic match because it was going to be the first time they ever faced each other in the ring, despite both of them being involved in pro wrestling for over 20 years. This would turn out to be probably the realest match I have ever seen. Why? You have to remember; these guys have been in the business for over 20yrs. There is not a spring chicken to be found between the two of them. That is to say, despite the wealth of experience they may have, their bodies are not as agile as they used to be.
Goldberg ran into the corner post and concussed his head pretty early on. After that, every single punch, kick, piledriver, body slam, you name it…every single one connected. Even when the Undertaker hit his signature move ‘The Tombstone Piledriver‘ he ended up actually driving an already-concussed-Goldberg’s head into the mat. People were worried. He could have down a similar path to Owen Hart, or worse yet, turned out like Chris Benoit
Thankfully, he was fine. They were all fine. Though there are some wrestlers who aren’t always so lucky, majority of them are able to recover after some time off.
So, in summary, I found out about wrestling, found out it isn’t real, and then found out just how real it actually is.
Maybe that should be the next plot line.
