8/04/2007

The problem with wrestling is ...

Some people say that blogging is a self indulgent and almost utterly pointless pastime. Yet there are so many bloggers out there who really do inform and entertain. The best at this is Dizzy, who is not only a Tory (shame on him) but an Evertonian (he is forgiven for being a Tory).

He has written a brilliant piece about he problem of drug taking in Wrestling in the US and the dominance of WWE over other wrestling Federations. I personally cannot stand wrestling. It's a sort of ballet dancing for strong blokes, all choreographed and planned in advance with a large element of naff acting. It's not a sport at all and does not deserve to be called a sport. However, i would urge fans and non fans of wrestling to read Dizzy's posting as it really is worthy of a larger audience.

2 comments:

dizzy said...

It's actually quite rare for the fights to be choreographed as such. The result is certainly known, and the time the bout should last is decided as well. What actually happens during the fight though is usually quite random, and the it is the ref that signals when they need to end it all.

There are occasions when it is choreographed, such as the big stunts like jumping off a cage on to a pre-prepared table that will split in two. But other than that it comes down to the two wrestlers and how good they are at their trade.

Sometimes the result is not the intended result either due to that good old thing called "office politics". There have been times when one wrestler has decided that he doesn't like the idea of losing and so has actually beaten the other person to the point where the three count is genuine. They get fired.

Sometimes they get fired for other things outside the ring. Such as the time when Sid Vicious stabbed Arn Anderson in a hotel brawl. Glad you liked the post though, wrestling, especially american wrestling, is an unbelievable sub-culture.

What always amuses me is that you generally have two views of wrestling. Either those who dismiss it all as rubbish, or those that think it's real. Slap bang in the middle you have the people who are interested in the actual business and the real world of wrestling and its politics.

Anonymous said...

If you want to see wrestling as a competitive sport, watch the amateurs. Professional wrestling is all about entertaining the fans. I view it is a very physical soap opera. Creating storylines to come up with matches instead of just having a round robin check list.
Not having Sky, I cannot watch the shows but if I could I would because I enjoy seeing what they come up with. the fights can sometimes be ignored but the best fights are must see examples og how 2 men can work in tandem to stage a fight and still survive with nothing but bruises.
How they fight is largely up to them. Every show has a time limit and each match is scheduled to last a certain amount of time. This means that one week a match will last 5 to 10 minutes and on another week 20 mins. The good wrestlers will make both short and long matches involving and entertaining.
I enjoy craftmanship. Whether it is a book, a play, a TV show, a film and yes, even a wrestling match.

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