[Pulp Fiction]

Is Professional Wrestling the same as a major Theartre production?

I say Yes.

Pro wrestling is scripted. Yes, the talent (wrestlers, referees, managers, announcers) are actors. The matches are decided way before the wrestlers step in the ring. But they are performers. Everybody has to work together to tell the story, wether it is bad guy vs. good guy, friend vs. friend, foe vs. foe.... it's called sports entertainment for a reason. We are watching to be entertained. Not to marvel at the spectacular scientific wrestling match by match. Hulk Hogan was the worst wrestler ever, but he told the story better than anybody.

Movies, TV shows and Broadway style theatre productions are scripted. Every person on screen/stage is an actor. Some productions are funny, some are dramatic, some are action based.... but they all tell a story.


Ric Flair's 1992 Royal Rumble match could have easily beat out Al Pacino's performance in "Scent of a Woman".
And Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan's commentary in the '92 Rumble is the best you will ever hear. From before the match starts until Flair's promo in the locker room.... his commentary is golden and the best performance of his career.


Daniel Bryan's victory at WrestleMania when the entire SuperDome was doing the "YES" chant and the reactions from the crowd when The Undertaker got beat to end his win streak was epic. No theatre show, movie, tv show could have the same response like those two moments.






So let's hear your opinion.........

[Stardust]

I could not disagree more. To not say these guys are athletes first and foremost is devaluing what they do. I'm sorry, but Bruce Willis, Arnold, Sly, Denzel, Farah Fawcett - Those are ACTORS! To even fathom that they could perform a Planca, 180 Flips from the top rope.

[Pulp Fiction]

I could not disagree more. To not say these guys are athletes first and foremost is devaluing what they do. I'm sorry, but Bruce Willis, Arnold, Sly, Denzel, Farah Fawcett - Those are ACTORS! To even fathom that they could perform a Planca, 180 Flips from the top rope.

Ok Dusty, would you agree with the statement....

Pro Wrestlers are Athletic Actors?

[zaga_fan]

I think that it's just two different worlds.

They have some similarities, but the differences are pretty stark.

[Stardust]

Ok Dusty, would you agree with the statement....

Pro Wrestlers are Athletic Actors?

No, I would say Sylvestor Stallone was an Athletic Actor (Playing Rocky) I disagree with anyone who even fathoms that these guys are not ATHLETES first and foremost! Was Sonny Liston an Athletic Actor when who took the phantom punch? The 1919 Chicago Black Sox fixed their games, thus they were athletes playing out a role in order to fix the outcome. I am 100% positive that the great actors of that time - Lon Chaney, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, could not have stepped on the baseball field and pulled that off.

That my friend, is Professional Wrestling!

[Pulp Fiction]

In 1998..... the best Cage/Hell in the Cell match in the history of Pro Wrestling took place.
The Undertaker vs. Mankind at the 1998 King of the Ring.

Also in 1998.... The Chicago Bulls won their 6th NBA Championship, the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XXXII.


There is NO WAY that Michael Jordan or Brett Favre would take the punishment that Mick Foley took in that match and still be able to perform. He was thrown off the cell in to the table, thrown through the top of the cell and landed in one of the hardest bumps in history. Then he was thrown on the thousands of thumb tacks.
"Professional Athletes" miss weeks/months for in-grown toe nails and bad hair cuts.

Mick Foley should have won the 1998 Golden Globe and Oscar for best performance in a Drama. His performance in that match was WAY better than Jim Carrey in 'The Truman Show' and Roberto Benigni in 'Life Is Beautiful'

[Stardust]

^ I am still going to take you to task. To imply that Mick Foley should have won an Oscar for his performance is to imply that his falls were fake. A movie actor will win an award for letting someone else take the fall (stunt double) or the event happened in front of a Green Screen and it was all digitally enhanced.

No, what Mick Foley did was REAL. Can't fake falling 20 feet onto a table in front of 20,000 screaming witnesses. Can't fake falling on 10K thumbtacks and most of them remain sticking into your body. No, there is NO Oscar for ACTING, those were real! Those falls and the impact is just as real as Wes Welker's snot bubbles when he is blown up going across the middle.

As for playing injured, yes, professional athletes will sit after sustaining an injury. Why? Because they have a guaranteed contract for that year that pays them whether they play or not. So, there is no incentive for them to play hurt.

A professional wrestler does sign a contract guaranteeing them a salary. But what most do not know is that the salary is 100% based on appearance! If a professional wrestler does not make an event, whether injured, transportation, or flat out does not want to go - He does NOT get paid! So why was Mick Foley on Monday Night Raw the next night, to get paid so he could pay his own medical bills!

[Pulp Fiction]

Competition: the act or process of trying to get or win something (such as a prize or a higher level of success) that someone else is also trying to get or win : the act or process of competing.
Performance: an activity (such as singing a song or acting in a play) that a person or group does to entertain an audience.

Pro athletes in Basketball, Baseball and Football COMPETE for MVP awards for a game or a season.

Michael Jordan did score all those points in real life.
Bret Favre did throw all those touchdown passes in real life.
Nolan Ryan did throw all those strikeouts in real life.

Results in actual COMPETITION was the reason they won their sports MVP award.


We all know pro wrestling is scripted... the outcome of matches, storylines. Everything except what wrestlers go through during their in-ring PERFORMANCE.

If Pro Wrestling was the same as a UFC/Boxing event where two people compete in an event where the referee was impartial and the outcome wasn't already been pre-determined, then I would say that the Pro Wrestlers COMPETE. But they don't, they PERFORM.

I'm not saying that Pro Wrestlers aren't athletes or what they do is fake or an act. They PERFORM at what they do better than any other people in the world.

A Broadway show about pro wrestling would suck IF they didn't use actual pro wrestlers. If the show cast actors who tried to be pro wrestlers, it would be one of the worst shows in history.



Ric Flair's '92 Royal Rumble and Mick Foley's '98 Hell in the Cell match are two of the best PERFORMANCES in the history of pro wrestling.

[Pulp Fiction]

This is straight from the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority Laws and Regulations.

Kentucky Revised Statutes

229.011 Definitions for chapter.
As used in this chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Advertise" includes the use of handbills, placards, posters, billboards, pictures, printed or written material or newspapers or other publications, or radio, television, Internet, and other communication media;
(2) "Authority" means the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority;
(3) "Boxing" means a contest or exhibition in which a person delivers blows with the fist which may be reasonably expected to disable or inflict injury and in which boxers compete for money, a prize, or other pecuniary gain;
(4) "Exhibition," means an event or engagement in which the participants show or display their skills without necessarily striving to win or involve amateurs not under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Amateur Athletic Union, Golden Gloves, USA Boxing, USA Wrestling, or a public show to which an admission ticket is required, or other charge is made, or invitation;
(5) "Kickboxing" means a boxing contest or exhibition where the participants are allowed to throw kicks or foot blows at the opponent in addition to punching with the hands and in which kickboxers compete for money, a prize, or other pecuniary gain;
(6) "Mixed martial arts" means any form of unarmed contest or exhibition in which participants compete for money, a prize, or other pecuniary gain, or for which admission or donations are collected from the audience. Mixed martial arts may include any element or combination of elements of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, or other martial arts. Exhibitions where participants are judged on form and style and where punches and kicks are pulled shall not be included in this definition;
(7) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, corporation, association or club;
(8) "Professional" is a boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial arts contestant, or wrestler who competes for a money prize, or other pecuniary gain;
(9) "Show" means any organized grouping of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, or wrestling matches, contests, or exhibitions coming under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority; and
(10) "Professional wrestling" means an activity or performance of athletic and wrestling skill between individuals who are not under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or USA Wrestling, in which the participants struggle hand-to-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest. The outcome of these matches may be predetermined. Participating wrestlers may not be required to use their best efforts in order to win.


And No.... Stardust and myself are not in an argument. I'm actually enjoying this discussion. Stardust has way more knowledge than I do about pro wrestling. Heck, I'm feeling smarter everytime he replies back and makes me have to do some research.