Foley at Knoebels

I didn't say it was. But again, call it stunt work or acting or something. Just don't call it a sport.

Regardless of what you call it, lets not take away the respect for what these guys do. The responsibility they have while in the ring not to paralyze the other "performer" is huge.It's a love it or hate it activity. That is why in my first post I addressed it to any wrestling fans here.To me, it was awesome. To others it might be like running into your favorite NFL player.My point was not to start a "is wrestling fake" post but to say "hey, Mick Foley is one of us", not that I put myself in a category as some of the "extremeists" on here but I try!

Ensign Smith said:
Pro wrestling is opera for the unwashed masses. Except that instead of fine-tuning their voices, the performers fine-tune their choreographed moves. It's Cirque de Soleil for the Nascar crowd. And more power to them.

You seriously think it's just the NASCAR crowd that gets into it? You obviously don't keep up with the WWE.

Guilty as charged! :)

They have made some serious changes to their programming in the past few years. In an attempt to go PG, you won't see any more blood, the women are appropriately dressed, and you can go weeks without hearing a single curse word.

^Which has severely watered down the product, IMO, but that's neither here nor there.

As for people who think it's fake, try telling that to Owen Hart.

As far as being choreographed, you'd be surprised at how much isn't. I liken it to anyone who does improv of any kind - musicians, actors, etc. If all the performers involved know what they're doing, people who've never met can work together and create great results.

That's not to say spots aren't worked out ahead of time, but much of it is improv.

Jeff said:
...but it's not the same discipline even as nine teenage girls playing high level volleyball. If these guys are entitled to some kind of respect, it's not the same kind of respect.

No, it's a much higher level of respect. :)

Still not sure what you're trying to get at with those comments.

There are a lot of people who believe the biggest difference between the WWE and NBA is that Vince McMahon tells people its fixed but David Stern doesn't. In the end, they are all entertainers. Some are entertained and like to watch; others don't.

Lord Gonchar said:
As far as being choreographed, you'd be surprised at how much isn't. I liken it to anyone who does improv of any kind - musicians, actors, etc. If all the performers involved know what they're doing, people who've never met can work together and create great results.

That's not to say spots aren't worked out ahead of time, but much of it is improv.

This. Usually the ending of the matches are planned out, but everything before that is usually done on the fly. Even some of their promos (interviews, in ring microphone segments) are improved, depending on who it is. The Rock, for example, improved all of his promos, which is remarkable.

I rate wrestling right up there with nascar.

It's funny how many people we saw with nascar and wrestling shirts on when we went to carowinds this summer. Not to mention all of the mullets as well...lol

I admit that I used to watch wrestling, but I was 12 years old at the time also.

What's the difference between wrestling and pairs figure skating in terms of validity? Both are choreographed routines designed to entertain the audience that require large amounts of discipline, physical ability, and training. Is it just that one pretends to be competing about something that it's not (and to a certain degree, doesn't even pretend anymore)?

I wonder what Foley thinks of Son of Beast. "This ride is way too much like work."

The difference would be that its more difficult to ice skate than it is to wear a unitard.

Hopman said:

Vic_SFKK said:
being a gaijin making a living wrestling in Japan is what wrestlings legends are made of...

By wrestling, you mean sumo? Sumo is a whole different animal. Sumo is about tradition, hunor, and real skill.

Plus, sumo ain't fake!

Well no.. i mean professional wrestling... the japanese fans love it... they treat it as a real sport and the tradition it holds in the land of the rising sun is unreal..

Ensign Smith said:
Pro wrestling is opera for the unwashed masses. Except that instead of fine-tuning their voices, the performers fine-tune their choreographed moves. It's Cirque de Soleil for the Nascar crowd. And more power to them.

I would think someone who spent so much time at Geauga Lake is part of the unwashed masses.

That's what Grizzly Run was for.

(Duh.) ;)

Lord Gonchar said:
Still not sure what you're trying to get at with those comments.

Simply that calling I don't call it sport, as some others have said or implied. I think it compares more favorably to Cirque du Soleil or something, believe it or not.

Not a wrestling fan myself, but Im going to have to side with the non-sport group. Especially if you use the definition of "sport"

Sport - is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing).

If the event outcome is scripted in any fashion you have basically nulled the definition of sport. I also know there are days when I have flipped past wrestling years ago and these clearly less athletic people seem to "win".

Jeff said:
I wouldn't call "pro" wrestling a sport in the first place...

Is band a sport? ;)

Only at band camp. And you only get style points for what you can do without your instrument. Or maybe with it? I dunno, I wasn't in band.

Being in a rock band is not a sport either. It is very much like "pro" wrestling. A group of people who perform together using a craft that they have practiced.

I have always considered music performance the anti-sport, and I see wrestling to be much more like being in a band than being on a sports team.