This is not a setup troll question, I am sincere because I just can't seem to force myself to like it, but I am thinking that maybe there is something there that I just don't understand that would allow me to get into it.My sisters and I, practice MMA and actually know MMA fighters, one who is actually one of MMA's top World Champion fighters of all time and is always featured in most MMA promotional highlights, but I don't want to say who it is for privacy reasons. My crush is World Champion's Valentina Shevchenko and her sister, Antonina, who I hope to get to meet one day through our acquaintance.Anyway, give me your take on wrestling please, or maybe it is just truly 2 different audiences for each sport, end of story. I could accept that answer as well, and is what I am thinking the true answer is.
I appreciate any help you can render and I will not put down wrestling, I promise. I am hoping for a unique take on my question, if there is one :)
Could anyone explain to me how a person who enjoys MMA, “REAL” FIGHTING can get interested in WWE “FAKE” WRESTLING?
I think you need to view it as what it is, entertainment. It's a show, it's storytelling where the story is told through actions, not words. Think of it as live-action anime. They're putting their lives and limbs on the line for real just to tell a story that happens to be fake. If you can watch anime for the story and the characters, you should be able to at least understand what pro wrestling is attempting to do. They're attempting to make people feel something. To give people something to care about. It's not just two giant dudes beating on each other, don't you see? One of them is a good guy and the other is a bad guy!
The easiest way to get into pro wrestling is to pick one guy, one character in particular that you like or find entertaining, even if all you like is his costume, and just follow their career. Find somebody you relate to. These guys all have characters with their own unique personality traits, everything is amplified for show business but typically the character is not THAT far off from the person playing it, and furthermore, over time the wrestler and their gimmick tend to grow into each other more and more.
I really can't recommend that new Vice series, "Dark Side of the Ring" too strongly. I think it's great to peek behind the curtains and see how behind all the glamour and glitz and showmanship and spectacle, the people who work to put on that show are all too real, and all too tragically human, and all too fragile.
It's important to keep in mind too, how absolutely MASSIVE the lore is for pro wrestling. It's like an anime that went on for over 100 years and has tens of thousands of major and minor characters, and yet every show they put on has to be just as entertaining and accessible to the person who comes to their first show and has no idea who anybody is, as it is to the most diehard fan who knows all the backstory and all the characters and all the angles.
The biggest obstacle for new people trying to get into wrestling in my opinion is that the current product is so shitty. At least 95% of pro wrestling fans can't even watch it anymore and haven't been able to for a decade or more. There's a lot of reasons for why this happened and this answer is already way too fucking long, so I'll just leave it at that. The pro wrestling I grew up with as a kid was AWESOME and it was already into decline by that point. The stuff they have now with WWE is like the tackiest, seediest soap opera ever made. Pro wrestling used to be a story without words, now it's the opposite, it's endless words with very little story. The wrestlers barely even wrestle, they're all too busy giving canned speeches into the microphone to try and drum up interest in the next pay-per-view. It's turned into an infomercial for itself.
So if you just watched a recent event and couldn't get into it, don't think that that means you can't get into pro wrestling. Nobody likes the current shit. Not ANYBODY.
Pro wrestling is more about character and story development. It's about being able to put on a show rather than winning. It capitalises on the dramatic aspects of winning and losing, good vs evil, old vs new, big vs small. You don't not like a movie because the fight scenes are fake. You didn't hate rocky because the boxing scenes were predetermined. Pro wrestling is just like a show or a movie but it perpetuates.
MMA is just hand to hand combat for a prize. The fighters are only thinking about winning. They aren't thinking about making anyone laugh or telling a story. Do you understand?
its a whole different universe. It’s a dance. There’s different types of fans. Some wrestlers are likes for being charismatic and have a look and connecting with fans. This is the simplistic fan. But there are different categories of fans. Others like technically sound wrestlers. Technically sound being how well they can execute the moves, hoe good they are at the dance. How their storytelling and psychology is. There’s a lot more to it. It’s hard to explain. There’s worlds within the universe of pro wrestling, why guys/gals rise to the top, different skills, different types of fans, backstage politics, drama, friendships.
And to be fair there's a massive crossover in the sports, my boy Tyson was taking over WWE back in November but still being the best heavyweight in the world. The sports are not necessarily mutually exclusive, they can co exist together.
It is the male equivalent to the soap opera. I mean how can women watch a character die and come back as someone else and take THAT seriously?? Same concept. Guys know it's fake, the drama and story lines of the wrestlers are as well (pretty much all these guys behind the scenes are definitely friends) but it's entertainment---and much like a soap opera, it shouldn't ever be taken too seriously because it's not. Obviously some guy who also enjoys MMA knows for sure this isn't anything like that, but they can equally be entertained by the two mediums.
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Anonymous
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Long story short back in '03 I was in philidelphia airport and I almost got into a fist fight with that piece of shit brock I also met eddie guerrero before he passed away god rest his soul one of the nicest guy's you'll ever meet. prince albert snores like a freight train when he's sleeping. chris benoit before he passed away was a monster in size. Him and kurt angle those two mother fuckers you would NEVER want to encounter in a dark alley under any circumstances. Those guys were massive in size complete monsters. I also met james McMahon shane's third cousin and his friends as well and when I saw a wrestling match with james sitting behind me I called ever move before it happened and james and his friends were shocked and impressed and wanted to take me backstage to meet some of the wrestlers and I was like nah I didn't want to. also he told me his cousin Stephanie is a spoiled brat in real life to because of her father vince. my mom got into a lot of blowouts with hulk Hogan down in florida while he was still married to his wife linda or whatever her name was. and my uncle saw randy savage on a plane on one of his business trips years before randy savage passed away. Nikki bella is really superficial. all she talks about is her hair and boobs her wine her podcast and her boyfriend who she forced herself to fall in love with after her breakup with john hence why I don't talk to her anymore she was to shallow and superficial.
Hulk Hogan blocked me on twitter cause we were having an argument about the historicity of Jesus lol The guy can't see anything any other way than his own.
@OfDeath He's a piece of shit from what my mother says which I tend to believe after all the screwed up encounters I had with wrestlers and the wrestling association. A friend of mine works at one of those minor wrestling associations out in Tennessee as a ring announcer and manager
There are a lot of wrestlers who are convinced that Hogan is selfish and phony. Not to mention the sex tape with his friend's wife where he made the racist comments. Like what kind of a person does that? He thinks he has some kind of moral high ground on me cause of his religion. Well I'm not a racist weirdo who makes sex tapes with my friends wives. Ask Bret Hart what he thinks of Hulk Hogan lol He did help a lot of sick kids for charities and stuff which is honorable but apart from that...
I grew up with WWE as my Saturday afternoon entertainment. It's only more recently I've come to appreciate MMA more (mainly through youtube clips). I see WWE as a kind of performance art or theatre, that happens to include an emphasis on semi-choreographed fighting. But just coz the punches don't fully connect, doesn't mean the performers don't get thrown about or bloodied up. I don't know what its like today but back in the early 00s heydey, some of the marquee fights could get pretty bloody. Even if TLC matches were staged to look more violent than they really were, its still gonna hurt like hell to get body slammed through a table into the harder ground outside the ring.
UFC I enjoy for the purity of the sports combat. I think any UFC fighter could learn to act and apply their skills to WWE. But fewer WWE could successfully transition to UFC. Brock Lesner being one such example. But even in his older WWE days you could still see how he had the poise and discipline of a "real" fighter. Its what made his fights so captivating. Someone like Rey Mysterio probably would struggle in UFC matchups, considering the lucha libre style is limited in its effectiveness in an MMA matchup. Its the way he mixed a likeable stage persona with high-flying wrestling skills that made him an underdog to root for. Just look up the Rey Mysterio vs Big Show fight, that had my whole family on edge of seats, even my mum who usually scoffed at WWE as a 'kids show'. That to me was exemplary of WWE's appeal-- it was a David vs Goliath matchup that you'd never see in strict MMA conditions (namely because a 500lb MMA fighter would hospitalise or even kill a 150-160lb luchador). But in the more fantastical world of WWE in its peak days, a matchup like that could deliver all the drama and wrestling prowess, without the risk of someone getting killed in the ring.
WWE isn't a sport, its theatre and its for 10 year old boys.
For something to be a sport there has to be a competitive test of one of more skills between 2 or more players where the execution matters.
For example; While Chess is a competitive test of one of more skills, the execution does not matter, there is no finesse in the way the pieces are placed. They could be placed by a proxy and it would not change the outcome.
WWE is not a sport because while there is finesse in the action and execution of the moves played, the outcome is predetermined so it is not a competitive test of skill.
I wouldn't recommend WWE as an entertainment form myself as i think there are much more interesting things available, that really is the main impediment to getting into it; its not very good.
But while you are right to say they are different audiences because what is being offered are different things there is no reason why a person couldnt like both, even if one were a poor mans version of the other and that is not the case that still wouldn't matter.
You could easily see how a person could enjoy what we call banger racing in the uk, old essentially scrap car racing and also enjoy formula 1 racing.
Or local football and international football, whatever.
The question doesn't really make a lot of sense frankly, I dont know why you would feel like you should or need to get into WWE? Its like saying you are going to get into literature by reading trashy magazines.
I think for a lot of us just appreciate the change of pace that we brings in. Ufc is... Well the ultimate fighting championship. Two people fighting against each other, no excuses, no bullshit, just shut the fuck up and fight.
But wrestling combines some crazy bodybuilding again with some very impressive skill and adds the story element which isn't really serious at all. And that's what WWE is... It's fun. Just as simple as that. You can show it to your kids and admire the costumes it's just fun.
Interesting how just today I was looking up Valentina Shevchenko after fighting her on the UFC videogame.
And to answer as I am a fan of both mma and fake wrestling. While WWE is fake it tells stories kinda like a theater play. You have characters and they say line and get into conflict about stuff and then they fight it out in an acrobatic fashion. MMA is amazing for being a true combat sports where you can get your nose busted for good if you're not careful and naturally you fight once or twice a year but make tons of money. I don't compare the two I simply take in each of them for what it is
Pro Wresting is nothing more then Sports entertainment.
It's Theater and Sports combined.
The injuries and the risks are real. If a wrestler wanted to. They can be a leg breaker (turn it into a real fight).
Thats how they used to control the defiant wrestler. They would send in a real leg breaker. To break a guys leg or just bust him up real good. To keep them inline. (They have not done that since the 90s. Look up wrestling biggest screw job with Bret Hart. Thats one of the most current and famous ones)
The bad acting part. Thats for the fans. The fans love drama. That's what gets them in the seats.
I was big into wrestling when I was a little kid , even when i realized it was fake I still enjoyed it considering it was still comical , I eventually stopped watching wrestling as I got older but I know a lot of people that still love it , i don’t hate it just not into it like I was when I was younger , it’s pretty much a comical soap opera is the way I look at it basically who is pissed off at who , who is the champion , who turned good and who turned bad etc. It’s just fun comical entertainment , even though it’s set up they still do shit that has to hurt them like jumping off of ladders and slamming through tables etc. And the history of it I think people love about it , wrestling has been around for many of years. So an MMA fan probably likes it because it’s kind of the same concept just MMA is real fighting. But they still interview the fighters and they talk smack on their opponent like wrestling does
Growing up my dad used to watch wrestling. I would get up and leave the room. This was the 70's and 80's when you only had 1... maybe 2 tv's in the house. I actually went to school with a kid that would fight other kids that said it was fake. This was back when they kept insisting it was all real. I thought MMA was the same thing as WWE. One day I had the TV on some spots channel and that MMA came on. I was like "holy shit", this guy is laying on the ground and the guy keeps punching him int he side of the head. In the end, I don't see how anyone watches either. Kinda fucking ridiculous to beat the side of someones head while they are laying on the mat.
I would take a guess that WWE is both safer and more likely to make you a celebrity - which can be exploited to make money and gain status - much more readily than MMA is likely to do. I suspect that MMA fighters realize before too long that a legit MMA career is likely to be fairly short, and earning potential is likely to be limited unless you are at the top of the pile, but a WWE character can work for 10-20 years, and potentially make a lot more money, and even get outside endorsements, movie cameos, etc. From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense.
Wow... I gotta be careful who I pick fights with, those two are not obvious MMA fighters in bikinis. Guess I better stop pulling girls hair!
The old professional wrestling was good stuff. The new stuff went down hill. It's fun, it's a goofy show with violence and drama..."ballet with violence". MMA is real, but kinda the same stuff without a show. If they could get the MMA fighters to act more and put on a display and such, that be interesting:)
it's vanilla and chocolate... both have their place:)!
Well, wrestling is more kinda fairy tale hollywood stuff , you pick a guy and cheer him and if everyone else is cheering him the crowd’s support gets him to victory
In mma it’s pure sports it’s intense there’s no happy feel good moment there’s just two guys ready to whoop each other’s asses for real ,
So in an interview wwe superstar randy orton was asked the same question, like u knw his opinion on mma , he said you know it’s intense and you watch it and think this is my guy and woah , in a few minutes he loses
I’m not a. If fan, but WWE is basically a soap opera with elaborate choreography. -Not a sport. To fully appreciate that firm of wrestling I really recommend the show “GLOW.” On Netflix. It’s about the first female wrestling league taking place in the 80’s. It’s a movement set basically and it’s great fun! I actually know a few of the stars and they do a great job.
WWE is about safe entertainment and fun visuals. I think most WWE fans are grossed out by the reality of real fighting.
My dad was a pro mma fighter back before the ufc. Well, he competed in a mma tournament and ended up winning a title.
He began training in the military with an old guy from Japan. And then kept doing it for 30 more years after that, eventually opened a school in the same group and then closed it down about 20 years ago.
So, I enjoy watching people watch WWE. I wouldn't watch it myself because it's not for me, but if someone I liked enjoyed watching it then I would watch it with them.
I would enjoy participating in real fighting much more. And actually I thought about doing that for fun recently. I think I probably will if I can afford to do it.
When I was a little kid I thought wrestling was the coolest but lost interest around 9 and started martial arts at 10 and did that until I was 13 and didn't get into MMA until I was in my early twenties watching not training but my dad was always a boxing fan and the greatest dad ever. He followed wrestling and took me to see it a few times when I was into it and followed martial arts and went to all my tournaments when I was in martial arts and later when I followed MMA he followed it of course the whole time he always followed boxing but I believe he followed what I liked because he wanted to be close to me so that is the only reason I could see for liking a real sport like MMA or boxing and follow WWE at the same time.
Yes for the most part its fake but somethings happen that aren't fake like vader getting his eye popped out during a match and popped it back in or when mick foley had his ear Torn off and lost his ear of when shane mcmahon got a Concussion by being thrown through glass but i guess the only way to enjoy this wrest
Pro wrestling is basically like a pantomime on steroids , but still respect to those participating , mis-time any moves , you will be seriously hurt !! MMA is the real deal , basically modern day gladiator combat. did multiple styles before the term MMA was coined. Remember early pre MMA , Pancrase especially , after the now revived Greek gladiator combat art , Pankration , Bas Rutten & the Shamrock brothers were big names. For stand up striking , Lethwei from Myanmar , very similar to it's Muay Thai / Lao neighbours , but no gloves , just tape and gauze on hands , and headbutts allowed & encouraged , win only by KO / stoppage , is the most savage. Here's a Lethwei taster...
MMA is a real sport and WWE is entertainment of violence its a drama though its like a dance choreographed scripted and so on you know they already know how to win and how to loose Now what makes wwe as a good entertainment 1. every player has there reputation like a celebrity 2. They got their own Entry Music that boosts people's ego For me it was always John Cena 3. they are stunt actors that's why many of them join the film industry at one point. 4. there are highly entertaining moves black flip, headdrop, neckbreaker, face buster, pile driver, cutter, back breaker, brain buster Which looks it more realistic intresting to see the violence but its just practise 5. Wwe is scripted and fake that's why they show it as entertainment 6. All though wrestling is a real sport which WWE used for money making and betting
I enjoyed both, but I don't enjoy the WWE of today. I liked it back in the attitude era with the better wrestlers/actors. Back when Triple H, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kane, etc. were the main guys. Wrestlers need to be good athletes sure, but they also need to be good actors and really sell their character and story lines. that is what it lacks today with the newer wrestlers. It isn't worth watching anymore in my opinion and hasn't been for many years. MMA on the other hand used to be much worse and boring, but the last 10 years or so of it, it has been much better so now I enjoy watching it more than I used to.
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
Ok so I will address your question but not from the perspective of wwe because it’s really bad I will address it from all the other company’s I watch like Ring of honor, impact wrestling and aew. So the storylines are really intriguing that’s the first part if you enjoy good writing you can get into it. Secondly it’s not all fake I can attest to that I went to ring of honor event and almost got hit with a chair and seen a wrestler get his finger broke. Lastly look up the extensive list of wrestlers who have had to retire due to injuries. One of my favorites recently came back Edge suffered so many neck injuries it took him 9 years to come back most doctors told him he would neck do it again. Also I fee it’s important to address what can go wrong if you don’t hit a certain way. In the other promotion I watch impact wrestling Eddie Edwards got his face smashed with a bat and blood started gushing from his Eye due to an accident made by Sami Callahan.
Yeah when people call it fake they have to realize that there are situations where it’s very real and very scary. There’s been some matches where people have accidentally knocked themselves out and no one knows what’s going on so imagine being so unprotected
Oh side note I’m one of those fans who would have got into the old ecw crowd. But these crowds show no mercy when I went there was a girl who didn’t know anything about wrestling and decided to say something against wrestling and the whole crowd started chanting you’re a whore at her like no joke the whole building was. Also a fan left a picture at the table and they let him have it they started chanting you fucked up you fucked up.
What you call fake wrestling is way more fun to watch than MMA. Now I am not the biggest wrestling fan today like I was back in the day but I still watch it and hope it gets great again someday so I can become as big a fan as before again. I have liked some people in MMA. Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Tank Abbot, Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Cyborg. I am not a huge fan of anyone right now though. The thing about it is in most MMA fights not much is happening a lot of it can be boring. Wrestling and MMA are not much different as far as the grappling and submissions there was also something in Japan called Pride where they did worked shoots which basically means it was a fake fight but passed off as being real. Wrestling and MMA are very similar.
But they are not similar in terms of fake vs real, as MMA is 100% real, nothing is fake there.
It sounds like wrestling has gone down hill from what you are saying and what Mr LightBulb said, so not much sense in even trying to like it at this time it seems?
Back in the day people thought wrestling was real and this is why it got so popular. They presented it like it was real they stuck to their characters even when they weren't wrestling always in character. Then late 90s the business got exposed everyone knew it was fake wrestlers wearing masks gave away the secrets on TV. Somehow though it got even more popular and they treated it like it was more real but this only lasted for like a few years but the reason why it worked is they had great stars and great talkers and once a couple great companies went out of business it went downhill. WWF became WWE and without compeitition they stopped trying and they used to get 8 million fans watching on Monday Nights when now they get under a million fans watching. For your age you would like old ECW from around 1994-2001 they were the cool type company they played the coolest music and had great storylines and they were hardcore.
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