Okay, so the other day I was hanging out with my buddy, and we got into this HUGE debate about WWE. He’s a die-hard fan, swears it’s all real, and I’m like, “Dude, come on!” So, I decided to do some digging myself, just to settle it once and for all.
My Investigation Begins!
First, I hit up YouTube. I figured there’d be tons of videos, and boy, was I right! I typed in “is WWE fake” and got bombarded with results. I started watching a few “exposé” type videos, you know, the ones with dramatic music and slow-motion replays.
These videos showed things like wrestlers subtly passing razor blades to each other to cut themselves (yikes!), or how they practice those crazy moves over and over again. It was pretty wild.
Digging Deeper
Next, I moved on to some wrestling forums and articles. I figured I’d get some more “insider” info there. I read a bunch of posts from people claiming to be former wrestlers or people who worked backstage. They talked about how the matches are “worked,” which means the outcomes are predetermined, and the wrestlers cooperate to put on a show.
-
They are “worked”
-
Outcomes are predetermined.
-
Wrestlers cooperate to put on a show
I also learned that there’s this whole vocabulary they use. Like, “kayfabe” is the term for maintaining the illusion that it’s all real, and “shoot” is when something unexpected or unscripted happens.
My Conclusion
After all this research, I gotta say, it’s pretty clear that WWE is more “sports entertainment” than a legitimate athletic competition. I mean, the wrestlers are incredibly athletic and talented, no doubt about it. They put their bodies through a lot, and it’s definitely dangerous. But, the storylines, the rivalries, the winners and losers…it’s all part of the show.
So, I went back to my buddy, armed with all this info. He still didn’t totally buy it, but I think I planted a seed of doubt. At the end of the day, whether it’s “real” or “fake,” WWE is still entertaining as heck! We both agreed on that.
