I grew up watching Wrestling and it felt like watching real combat. Genuinely, I felt the rumblers hated themselves in and off the ring with all their might and if not for the referee, they are willing to maim themselves. With little knowledge of how the Wrestling business was being run, I still enjoyed the feeling of victory I’d bask in when my favourite wrestler wins a match or how I’d sulk all day when they don’t, especially when an adversary uses a cheat code to snatch the victory. My love for sports entertainment heightened as I grew to the point of having ample knowledge of the wrestling business.
Many stopped loving the business and tagged it fake. Howbeit, fake is not the word, rather, it should be termed scripted. The wrestling scripts are interpreted by daring stunt men and women. Simply put, Wrestling is about storylines where good actors try to sell a story. The fun is derived from the art of skillfully telling these stories. And in every story, there are heroes and villains. However, in wrestling, the terms differ. The hero is the face and the antagonist is the heel— a classic example of good versus evil.
Like every other business, there’s marketing. The wrestlers come out and talk tough— threatening fire and brimstone whilst predicting how intense an upcoming match would pan out. All that is done to get their audience emotionally invested in their make-believe brawl. Also, since they are actors acting out a script, the prop team makes sure that the stage is set for the interpretation of the storyline that is being written by the creative department. The character creators give each wrestler a unique personality that they feel the audience would buy into. More so, there are wrestling gears that add to the aesthetic of the costume of a character.
The character range is endless— it’s all up to the creative department to come up with something they feel the fans would want — just like in cases of introducing a test product in the market. And if a product doesn’t do well, it is modified or outrightly withdrawn. At all times the performers are expected to put on a show when they are billed to perform in front of the excited fans who have graced the auditorium.
Wrestling as a form of entertainment is tasking, to say the least. Every superstar must have the charisma to dazzle the fans. It is expected for a wrestler to have both wrestling and microphone skills. The latter-mentioned skill is as important as the former, and to that effect, some fine wrestlers without good mic skills are handed a coach or hype man that helps in keeping their character interesting.
The roles of the athletes are never fixed— a heel today can become a face tomorrow, giving concrete meaning to ‘flipping the script’. The fans will eventually get what they want at the end but not without being teased with a storyline that makes them yearn for more— by taking them through a rollercoaster of emotions. In reaping huge emotional traction, a lot has to be put in. The creative department is tasked with coming up with controversies such as near successes to help thicken the plot.
To enjoy wrestling, you must be open to the antics of a wide creative spectrum that knows no bounds. With such openness, you will be able to relive your childhood fantasies if you are lucky enough to watch a character that resonates with your spirit animal. Also, you must have it in the back of your mind that no one is fighting to the death because it’s all scripted for the sole purpose of entertainment. If you have no bias towards movies, you shouldn’t also have any against professional wrestling.
While the sport is geared at creating entraining storylines and entertaining an audience that likes a bit of action, the targeted viewers should know that it is a show like any other and appreciate the added risks these stuntmen and the entire backroom staff have to put up at every point in time. They’ve been tragedies in some companies over the years when some stunts didn’t go as planned. Such incidents have made way for transitions into new wrestling eras that offer a safer haven for the athletes. Feel free to cheer for them whenever they are billed for your entertainment.