Even martial arts fighters and boxers have a hard time adapting to professional wrestling. Not all fighters have been successful in this business. For example, in a match in Saudi Arabia, Tyson Fury looked as ridiculous in the wrestling ring as C.M. Punk did in the octagon. Some are naturally gifted like Ronda Rousey or Brock Lesnar, some are simply professional like Josh Barnett, and some may not be able to do it for various reasons.
One of the main problems for martial arts fans is that, for some reason, they live under the myth that their MMA stars go into professional wrestling because no one will maim them there, they won’t have their faces painted on, and it’s easy money for them. No, friends. The reality is entirely different. Of course, the same people do not believe in the integrity of the games in online casinos in India, but here, too, do not worry.
The most common reviews of wrestling are these:
- It’s impossible to get real damage there;
- All fights are staged;
- Wrestling interests only children.
The damage is unreal
In wrestling, you’re less likely to see the black eye, but we have to remember that direct punches and punches to the face in WWE are forbidden by their official rules, even if it’s a script. If in MMA you can get your face smashed in the cage, in wrestling, you have a great chance to get a concussion after unfortunate bumps (falls in the ring), tear ligaments, break all your limbs as well as your neck, which often causes wrestlers to end their career and some end up in the wheelchair. In his first run in WWE in the early 2000s, Brock Lesnar did nothing but drink gallons of vodka after his performances to numb the pain.
People who have a background in MMA, when they start wrestling, they do not have to take lesser risks to their health. To avoid breaking themselves and each other, wrestlers train for years. And that is by no means easy, considering most WWE superstars play 150-200 matches a year. If you believe the coaches’ words, many people who thought it would be easy and just because it’s “fake” trivialized leaving after a few workouts without answering the phone.
The risk of getting yourself killed in professional wrestling is not inferior to mixed martial arts and even superior, given the number of appearances. The bottom line is that wrestling is by no means easy. It’s a myth.
Only high school kids watch it
That’s not true. Yes, right now, the same WWE is a family product, trying to reach the maximum audience. But that does not mean that wrestling is for kids and only school kids watch it. Instead, the main contingent of viewers who consistently bring in wrestling profits remains adult men ages 18-41, who buy up merch at the official store and travel to shows. Some fans even travel all over the states with the same WWE.
If you look at the current product of the same promotion, AEW, which has established itself as a pure number two in the U.S. market, it’s hard to find kids in the arena during shows there. That’s a fact. In contrast to the same WWE, among the audience of AEW now are many teenagers and young people who just got fed up with the cartoon and plush products of WWE.
All wrestling, in general, appeals to a primarily adult audience because it’s made up of a lot of elements, including the drama that a kid simply won’t buy into. Many people want to see a little more violence and a bit of blood, but that’s something WWE can rarely show right now. They even have a P.G. television rating, meaning that a child must watch the show with a parent; the parent controls the viewing in this case. We have begun to see less blood for the same reason: it is not forbidden, but it is undesirable in large quantities. And if there is too much of it in one show, WWE is constantly getting complaints from sponsors.
Indeed, the industry and WWE have changed significantly in the last two decades. Once, the face of WWE was Steve Austin, a bald motherfucker who drank beer, pointed his middle finger, and liked to beat up his boss; in the last decade, the face of the company has been John Cena, a character who was aimed at a child audience. Nevertheless, both WWE and Vince McManus managed to make a fortune.
There’s no connection between MMA and wrestling
That’s not true, no matter how many different kinds of discussions you’ve had trying to foam at the mouth to prove wrestling fans wrong. Especially as the entire sports and sports entertainment industry continues to move forward. Over the past two decades, the lines between sectors have been erased.
It’s important to realize that professional wrestling and mixed martial arts have a lot in common. However, we should not forget that the modern MMA has adopted a lot from wrestling during its evolution. And in general, there is an opinion that mixed martial arts as a phenomenon and industry are a modern incarnation of professional wrestling. This opinion is prevalent now because Conor McGregor was Roddy Piper for the viewer in the United States thirty years ago.
MMA has taken a lot of elements and different tricks from wrestling. But the most crucial thing the mixed martial arts industry has done in the last few decades is copied the business model from wrestling, mainly WWE.
So the UFC, at one time, went about getting a slot on television, going into the free-to-air format, showing the story between the fighters there, and telling people who they were. Similarly, they teased their audience and induced them to buy their pay-per-view, even as WWE did.
It’s not a sport, and it’s just a show
That’s one of the main things people far from professional wrestling are wrong about. Wrestling is a unique thing in the world of sports and sports entertainment. It cannot be categorized as either a sport or mere entertainment because it contains these elements.
According to one definition, a sport is an activity that requires physical prowess and skill. Sport must first and foremost be an activity that seeks to develop a person’s physical and mental abilities. And just in this definition, professional wrestling is doing just fine.
However, athletic training alone won’t be enough to be a good wrestler. You need to have a high mental capacity, which should constantly be improving, to remember the execution of dozens of techniques and movements from the personal arsenal. During the fight, the wrestler must navigate in time to perform everything in the correct sequence and build the match correctly. Whether it’s scripted or not, you’re going to get hit all over the body, thrown in the ring, have your arms broken during the match, and hit on the head with a chair. And for all that, you have to keep a lot of the details in your head.
Professional wrestling is not just a show, and it’s also a sport and entertainment. It can’t be categorized into one thing because it remains a unique phenomenon. It looks different in different parts of the world. However, the sporting element turns out to be fundamental everywhere because, for the viewer, it seems like a competition in any case, where there is a winner and a loser. Therefore, martial arts fans should not think it is just a show while equating WWE with all wrestling.
