Wrestling: How Did It Become Fake? | A Journey Through Time

I remember when I was a kid, and some older guy asked why I was watching the show if it was fake. That comment stuck in my head for a while since I enjoyed the heated match, and the flashy moves wrestling is showing were entertaining. As a kid, I just let it go. As long as I’m enjoying the show, who cares anyway? Now that I am running a martial arts blog, I started remembering that moment and decided to dive into wrestling’s history to check if it is fake.

Wrestling became fake because their audience liked the stage acts. The era of actual wrestling end in the 20s because the media noticed that doing fake but flashy stunts attracted more viewers. Despite people knowing that the stunts are fake, people started to like wrestling, including their scripts and dialogues.

In this blog post, we are going to talk about how professional wrestling has become fake. We would also speak a bit of the history, such as when and why this started to happen up to the current wrestling trend.

How did professional wrestling become fake?

Wrestling is still known to be an enthusiastic sport. It is now more fictional than real.

Previously, wrestling used to be genuine as grapplers fought for real.

But nowadays, it is fixed and fake.

Moreover, some techniques are taught to the players so that they act they are fighting.

Wrestling is not legitimate anymore. When people purchase expensive tickets to see a live match, they do not know that they are watching a staged performance. 

In the past, the wrestlers used to build their bodies by doing excessive workouts and weight lifting.

They worked hard to develop their muscles and stamina.

In contrast, contemporary wrestlers of today’s world are injected with steroids.

Their bodies get swollen and numb due to those injections.

Hence, the wrestlers do not even feel the hurtful punches they take.

Moreover, they are fully trained to act like they are severely hurt and receiving real hits.

They even show immense rage and yell at each other to increase the level of thrill among the audience.

The dialogues that the wrestlers deliver are scripted and pre-written.

Even the lines get rehearsed by the wrestlers. Almost all the matches are predetermined.

Wrestling is not necessarily fake but scripted.

The wrestlers are not trying to hurt each other but rather entertain the fans who sell out arena after arena worldwide.

WWE, for example, is the world’s top wrestling show. This show has never got out of the limelight and is famous as one of the ultimate reality shows.

Unfortunately, the whole program is pre-planned, and they precede it episode-wise.

The moves of the wrestlers fuel the enthusiasm and aggression of the audience.

As we all know, the entrance swag of Undertaker when he used to come out of his coffin was cool and unique.

Not only the younger generation but also elders had Undertaker’s’ posters in the rooms.

The producers of the show do ample spending on the outfits, stage, and lighting, etc.

So, now the minds know that matches are already fixed, yet people watch with the same energy and interest. 

When did wrestling become fake?

Wrestling started to become fake in the 1920s. It is the age when actual wrestling reached its end because of T.V. programs finding out that scripted matches with flashy moves were more entertaining and attract more audiences to the matches. Despite professional wrestlers not wanting this to happen, scripted matches became dominant in the 1930s.

Since the introduction and advancement of media, wrestling has become a mere T.V. program.

These programs are planned, rehearsed, and pose fakeness disguised in reality.

Before the power of media, humans were relishing the actual essence of wrestling competitions.

In those times, neither the matches were fixed nor scripted.

As compared to now, wrestling matches were organized in an open area. Especially in Asia, wrestling is one of the traditional games which is now losing its charm and attraction.

Most of the younger generation do not even bother to pick their heads up from their gadgets.

When the world of wrestling was about to get devoid of its fame, they began to present it as a T.V. show.

Directors and producers picked every creative way to grab the focus of the audience.

Moreover, the directors tend to train the wrestlers to be the paid actors, and surprisingly, they do. 

In the 19th century, wrestling was the best source of an entertaining legitimate game.

Gradually, its shine began to fade because promoters found the shortcut of gathering money from the audience.

Therefore, the media workers began to shoot and take wrestling as a project of the film.

By the end of the 1920s, the era of actual wrestling reached an end. At the same time, pro-wrestling got introduced.

In pro-wrestling, the duration of the program is short but attracts a colossal audience.

The players were instructed to perform actions based on pre-written scripts.

The producers bring the element of reality to the show by hiring top-rated directors.

These directors somehow help in choreographing the fighting moves of the wrestlers.

Even now, when the diehard fans know that wrestling is unreal and fixed, their dedication towards their wrestling stars never shrinks. 

If we delve deep into the concept of amateur wrestling, it is evident that till the 1930s, amateur wrestlers were more for matches.

This is because the change is not something professional wrestlers who trained themselves to the fullest would want.

However, despite not wanting to make wrestling into staged play, wrestling became fake in the 1930s.

Wrestlers were selected for the show, who had been getting their pieces of training regularly. Regrettably, this concept also diminished now, and promoters are approaching random athletes to act as mighty wrestlers.

Yet despite this all, the passion in the audience is not going to blur at all.

But I would like to tell you this.

If you still find wrestling as a good source of entertainment, it is perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with liking wrestling despite knowing it’s fake.

Remember that many people, even the older generation, love the sport despite being fake since the 1920s.

Is American wrestling fixed?

American wrestling is now fixed since scripted matches tend to grab more attention compared to real matches. Scripted matches tend to include dialogues and even backstage activities that caught more attention from the fans. Because of this, wrestling experienced enormous popularity as it will be in the coming years.

American wrestling organizers had set the trend of fake wrestling in the 1930s.

When media picked the pace and revealed its glamour around the world, then it targeted wrestling as well.

The promoters of various channels became habitual of presenting wrestling as a live show.

However, this trend did not stick to America, but Mexico and Japan also did the same.

Although the wrestlers had strong muscles, they still agreed to participate in false matches.

Over time, protein shakes and supplements spread in the markets, and wrestlers were requested to advertise them.

These are the tricks that manipulate the minds of youngsters.

These are the times when the publicity of wrestling touches the sky.

As the time elapsed, WWE matches got fixed as well.

In such programs, even the backstage activities were captured that later grabbed the audience’s attention and let them have an exhilarating experience around the ring. 

To draw the fans” interest, the greatest of the wrestlers play character roles in which they wear various stylish masks and attires just to put the fans” passion on fire.

Moreover, the character roles of the wrestlers are opposite to their actual personalities.

They pretend to be heroic characters so that the tickets for the match get sold out even faster.

Secondly, the rating of the shows faces a significant incline on the internet where various fans throw comments and share the content as well. 

It is an assumption that in the coming future, scripted wrestling matches will not cease on screen.

Despite knowing the facts, desperate fans will be watching with the same enthusiastic approach.

Also, a large population often cheers up their most favorite and idealized wrestlers.

Interestingly, it is clear that this trend of watching fixed matches will be in vogue for the coming years as well.

Sources:

1. Fake Rules, Real Fiction : Professional Wrestling and Videogames. / Calleja, Gordon; Oliva, Costantino .DIGRA 2009. DIGRA, 2009.
2. Bleacher Report