THE SQUARED CIRCLE: PINFALLS, SUBMISSIONS, VICTORY AND DEFEAT - THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING!!!

Professional wrestling is a beautiful sport. With a rich history, it has gone on to enthral and entertain fans for decades now. What is it about wrestling that makes it so unique and popular? It is, after-all, a fight between two men. But, there is a certain hidden element in the sport that has allowed it to sustain its popularity among fans. Well, for starters, it is the one-and-only spectacle in the world that combines theatre with athletics – hence the term sports entertainment. It indeed takes some special talent to keep fans interested in a product that is primarily based on fighting.

Wrestling, as most people now know is scripted. The matches are choreographed and the results are pre-determined. Wrestlers typically portray characters in the ring with most feuds having a hero and a villain who, in wrestling jargons are known as face/babyface and heel respectively. Gone are the days when people used to think that the violence associated with the sport was real. Today’s fans are well-informed and know that what they witness on-screen is merely a story. There were times in the past when wrestlers used to remain in character off-screen too. Wrestling companies all across wanted to keep the fact that it was worked a secret. Breaking character was considered a grave offence and employees who broke that code were dealt with severely by their companies. But, thanks to the internet, this secret has long been out. Fans have learnt the nature of the industry and there is now a very thin line between  kayfabe and real. It should no longer come as a shock to any wrestling fan to see two people beat each other to a pulp in the ring have dinner together outside of it.

But, professional wrestling, till date, has not been viewed as a serious form of sport by many due to the fact that it is worked. Though people who hold such notions are ignorant of the technicalities of the industry, it is hard to blame them because not until long ago, wrestling was still thought of as real.  Wrestling fans, just like in any other line of entertainment, are hard to please. Nobody accepts a meaningless feud. Every feud needs to have a solid story to back it up. A gripping story, over-the-edge promos and, most importantly, a great match are all that it takes to make a feud memorable. Simple as the sequence may sound, however, it is easier said than done. Who doesn’t like a great story? A great story to begin with followed by some exciting promos that develop and help the story advance is half the job done. Promos are of crucial importance because some rivalries take months to build, but promos are what keep the audience’s interest in the program sustained. It is no wonder that wrestlers with great mic skills are so popular. Some of the most popular superstars ever are not the greatest ring technicians, but they carried their companies on their shoulder simply because they created magic with the mic. They single-handedly sold arenas across the world and were revenue-generating wonders for their companies because they were entertainers.

 And then comes the most important part of it all – the wrestling. The storytelling doesn’t happen only through promos, the matches sell stories as well. It is the story that makes or breaks a match. This is one of the toughest aspects of wrestling because in around 20 minutes, a great story has to be narrated. Every match needs to have a beginning, middle, and an end. If wrestler A comes to a match with injured ribs, then a meaningful story would naturally involve his opponent attacking his ribs to weaken him and set up the finish. A great story would ideally involve an exciting start with high-intensity moves to get the fans warmed-up and interested in the bout following which the action slows down with the focus being more on technical, mat wrestling in order to conserve the fans’ energy, and towards the end, really pick up steam that would send the crowd into a frenzy. Similarly, the distinction has to be drawn between the face and the heel. The face would always abide by the rules, listen to the referee whereas the heel cheats to win, breaks rules, relies on distractions to take advantage through illegal moves, etc. Unfortunately, today, storytelling in the ring seems to be a lost art.

Wrestling, in a lot of ways, is a funny sport. Since the results are pre-determined, the greatness of a performer is not measured through his/her win-loss record which is how every other sport operates. A great wrestler is one who looks good even in defeat and, more importantly, makes his opponent look just as great. There are some average in-ring performers who, all of a sudden, almost magically seem to be a lot more talented than they were seen as up until then. But, the credit goes to their opponents who made them look great.

Wrestling has seen many transitions over the years. While in the past, people used to cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy, today’s fans are a lot smarter with regard to their choices. They cheer/boo a wrestler based on how talented he/she is and not on the basis of the character portrayed. Wrestling, just like cinema, brings out various emotions in the fans. It has, however, lately become a fad to be the bad guy. Being the villain is suddenly seen as cool and wrestlers seem to prefer negative roles. Fans are tired of seeing the hero who is always nice to people, never hurts people and abides by the rules. They want to see characters that are more believable and show more human emotions and do occasionally snap at others and show selfish, mean tendencies. It is the bad guy who brings out all sorts of emotions in the fans – happiness, sadness, grief, anger, hatred, love. It is now proven that it is impossible for a hero to bring out the kind of plethora of emotions that the villain can.   

However, one has to be careful while playing a heel character. The primary role of a heel is to make the fans despise him but attempts to do just that have led to some ugly, controversial incidents in the past. The best example of that would be the case of Muhammad Hassan. For those who don’t know, Muhammad Hassan was a Middle Eastern-American gimmick played by Italian professional wrestler Mark Copani. His character primarily focussed on him trying to prove the stereotypes from the 9/11 attacks wrong and fighting against the anti-Arab prejudice. During one particular episode of WWE Smackdown, Hassan, who was feuding with the Undertaker at the that time, began praying on the ramp and summoned five masked men who were dressed in black shirts and ski-masks. Armed with clubs and a piano wire, they marched down the ring and beat the Undertaker and choked him out following which Hassan’s manager Daivari, whom the Undertaker had just defeated, was carried out of the ring. The event was taped and three days later, just mere hours before it went on air, the London bombings took place. With insufficient time to edit the segment out, the episode went on air with an advisory warning appearing several times during the broadcast. The angle drew nationwide attention through various media reports and the United Paramount Network (UPN) said that it did not want the Hassan character on its network that week. Following this decision of the UPN, the WWE decided to have the segment on their official website where Hassan claimed that due to his being an Arab-American, the people of America automatically assumed him to be a terrorist which was unfair. Though he was still in character, he made a reference to the real-world coverage of the incident by the media. The UPN then pressurized the WWE to keep Hassan off their network and he was subsequently released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2005. In another incident, WWE superstar The Miz once, in an attempt to draw heat from the fans in order to further solidify his villainous character, interrupted the American national anthem during one of WWE’s house shows to which the National Guard members in attendance took offence. David Finlay, a trainer and agent at the time, who authorised this move, was eventually dismissed from his post and though he justified his move as an attempt to make the Miz character more hated, took responsibility for his termination.    

What is an even more adored character, however, is the anti-hero. The anti-hero is the exact same as the angry-young-man that we have all become so familiar with. The anti-hero typically behaves like a villain. All his actions are heelish, yet he gets cheered by the fans. The anti-hero is anti-establishment, questions the rules, breaks them and constantly defies his boss. It has become so uncommon these days to see people not complaining about their boss at work. People have so many frustrations at work that it is indeed no wonder that they love a character that defies his boss and gets away with it all the time. It is the deeper emotional connect of the fans that makes the anti-hero so adorable.

Wrestling today has become an area of academic study. People have written articles, essays, theses and dissertations examining the cultural significance and role of wrestling in modern society. Wrestling has, for long, fulfilled the roles of theatre and literature. Wrestling’s portrayal of the classical hero, and themes such as revenge, vengeance, tragedy and the depiction of the hero’s struggle towards achieving greatness, overcoming obstacles in his journey and defying odds to emerge triumphant are age-old themes portrayed by theatre and literature. Theatrical elements such as lighting can play a crucial role in wrestling. Which wrestling fan can ever forget the chills down the spine that is felt when the lights go off for the legendary entrance of the Undertaker? Characters and storylines are supposed to be reflecting the current attitudes, beliefs, concerns, and conventions of society. Wrestling, now, has garnered largeprominence in mainstream culture. It has become an area of journalistic criticism with several newspapers and newsletters giving coverage to the sport. Wrestlers have gone on to be a part of movies, writing, politics, business, etc. Similarly, celebrities from other sports and modes of entertainment have got themselves involved with wrestling for brief periods. Several movies and plays have been produced regarding the industry, the most famous being the 2008 film “The Wrestler” which garnered several Oscar nominations.

However, once it became apparent that professional wrestling was worked and that the results were stage managed, it was seen as a cheap form of entertainment for the uneducated working class, which is unfortunately, an attitude that exists to a certain extent even today. However, perceptions of the sport have started to change. The French theorist Roland Barthes was among the first to state that wrestling was worthy of deeper analysis in his essay ‘The World of Wrestling’ from his book “Mythologies”   published in 1957 in which he states that wrestling should be looked at not as a scamming of the ignorant but as a mode of theatrical performance where the function of the wrestler is not to win but to go through the motions that are expected of him to provide the fans with a theatrical spectacle.

However, just like any other line of work, professional wrestling has its share of hazards. Inspite of its scripted nature, pro wrestling has a highly masculine side to it due to the extreme levels of violence and aggression that constitute the nature of the sport. The moves performed in the ring are done with extreme care and caution and take years of practice and professional training to be executed safely, Even so, a stunt gone wrong can lead to very serious injuries, and in extreme cases, even death.  However, inspite of all the criticisms, wrestling has gone on to entertain fans for decades and will hopefully continue to do so.

 AND THE BEST PART OF IT ALL-IT IS A WELCOME CHANGE FROM THE CLICHÉ TRIUMPH OF THE GOOD OVER THE EVIL, BECAUSE AS OFTEN AS THAT HAPPENS, THE DARK SIDE PREVAILS….