"Come On Man, It's Fake" OR "Why Do You Watch That Rubbish? It's All Fixed"

Sound familiar? Sepending on whether you're a wrestling fan or not, it's a good bet you've either been on the receivng or giving end of at least one of them.

I don't know how, but "fake" is a tag that seems to have become attached to the spectacle of pro wrestling, and it's very hard to shake off. It very often happens in my hostel that I'll be watching wrestling on TV or my laptop, and some wise soul waltzes in and treats me to one of the following:
a) A contemptuous laugh
b) An indulgent smile (like a parent would to a child who's playing with his imaginary friend)
c) A sad shake of the head
d) Similar body language indicating pity, disdain, etc.
e) A helpful "Come On Man, It's Fake" or "Why Do You Watch This Rubbish? It's All Fixed"


This behaviour is to be found all over the world. Now I find this completely unfair. There are others who follow cricket, football, basketball, badminton, movies of a particular actor or actress, play Counterstrike and other LAN Games with similar enthusiasm, but they are left alone. Their passion is not questioned. So why are we wrestling fans singled out for this treatment? I'm going to attempt to explain that, and also try and clear up one of the biggest misconception's around- that wrestling is "fake".


Why all the hate? Why do people look down on wrestling and it's fans?

This is actually very simple to answer. Far too many people think that wrestling is a sport with outrageous match-fixing involved, a business that pretends to be a legitimate sport and then cheats the audience by paying certain people to win and certain people to lose. If this was true, then I would totally understand the disrespect they show wrestlers and wrestling fans. But is it? Nothing could be further from the truth. This brings me to...

WRESTLING 101, CHAPTER 1: THE OPPOSITE OF REAL IS NOT NECESSARILY FAKE

Okay, so admittedly, a vast majority of the wrestling fans in my country (India) think wrestling is a real sport and aggressively argue with people who call it fake.

But you see, wrestling's not real. It's definitely not fake either. Which is why here, the opposite of real is virtual-a virtual reality similar to that you'd see in a movie or TV Show-one that exists only as long as the cameras are rolling.

What many people fail to understand is that you're not supposed to look at it as a sport. It's true that until the mid-70s at least, wrestling promoters presented it as a real sport and hid the fact that it was scripted and pre-planned, but not any more. Most wrestling fans today know that it's not real, and those in the wrestling industry are very open about it.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who introuduced the term sports entertainment, describes it best-
"Professional wrestling, as done by the WWE, has always been about entertainment. It features fantastic performers who are world-class athletes who have the ability to create entertaining characters and enthrall an audience. However, what we do is scripted and is not competitive sport. Unlike competitive sport, we can control the outcomes to ensure an exciting evening of entertainment. That's why our fans always get a great show."

Note, that's the chairman of the biggest wrestling company in the world talking. There's no attempt to hide, hoodwink or cheat anybody. He discusses wrestling as a director would talk about a movie, referring to the wrestlers as performers, not sportsmen, and their on-screen personas as characters.

In short, watching wrestling is like watching an action-packed play. Athletes (who have to be decent actors too) play out storylines and rivalries, as decided by the wrestling company, maintaining the spectacle of a sport.

So as you can see, the two sentences in the title of this blog fall apart in the face of this.
1)"Why Do You Watch That Rubbish? It's All Fixed" : There is no actual sporting competiton involved, and so saying it's fixed makes no sense
2) "Come On Man, It's Fake": Calling a virtual reality that involves suspension of disbelief in the audience (just like a movie or play) fake, is like calling The Dark Knight or Hamlet fake, just because it's not real. And I'm sure you'll all agree that's just plain unfair.

If it's not real, what's so insulting about calling it fake?
The word 'fake' implies some kind of deception, and is usually said very dismissively. "Fake" and "scripted", are two different things. What people don't understand is how physically, and indeed, mentally and emotionally demanding wrestling is. Wrestlers undergo a gruelling training and conditioning system that very few make it through, and WWE wrestlers in particular are on the road about 300 days a year. Imagine that much time away from their families. It takes creativity, teamwork and trust between two wrestlers to make a good match and tell a great story. The slightest mistake or error can produce horrific, painful injuries. It is a business wrought with great pain and sacrifice, one that takes hard work and unique artistry. It is a business held in great honour by all those involved, including the wrestlers and the fans. Doesn't "fake" completely and unfairly undermine that honour?

I'll end now. I do hope I've made a convincing defence of the business I love to those that don't love it. And I hope it's not too much to ask that the next time you hear someone vilifying or looking down on wrestling as fake, you'll tell them about this blog! Okay, that was shameless self-promotion. See you later.

"I can't jump high, so I jump from high places." - Cactus Jack