Wrestling is not a sport

[Snail Shell]

Actually, many of the matches do not have a pre-determined outcome. Many are improvised and, while they are not actually hurting each other, acting like they are hurt is what determines who wins.

As well, the wrestlers have to not only be good at the sport to get signed on to a major contract (like other sports), they also have to have a good persona or gimmick to perform under. Just being yourself in the ring or good at the sport isn't good enough.

On a side note, I don't watch wrestling any more, but I would like to say that the athletes (yes, athletes) who participate in pro wrestling do have backgrounds in collegiate wrestling, competitive grappling and martial arts. While they are not hurting each other, the nature of their sport is very physically demanding and unlike most other professional sports in North America, pro wrestlers do not get an off-season to recouperate.

While what constitutes 'sport' may vary in the minds different people, I believe pro wrestling, while not real, should at least be respected as such.

Just my two cents.

Snail Shell

 

[Tickle Fiend]

I don't know if this issue has been brought up, but i'll bring it up again anyway...it's not a sport, yes it's scripted...and you know why it's not a sport? think about it, if they were really making those type of moves on each other for real and not for acting, damn there would be many dead wrestlers out there..i mean those body slams...those dropping the knee right on someone's head, or chest...that would really injure someone if not kill them..especially the way they are built anymore..

does that make sense? seeing as how i can't express myself always as i wish to..

They usually do pay the price later on in life for all of the bumps they've taken. They may not get killed or hurt after the moves but that doesn't mean it won't hurt them later on.

 

[Goodieluver]

I don't know if this issue has been brought up, but i'll bring it up again anyway...it's not a sport, yes it's scripted...and you know why it's not a sport? think about it, if they were really making those type of moves on each other for real and not for acting, damn there would be many dead wrestlers out there..i mean those body slams...those dropping the knee right on someone's head, or chest...that would really injure someone if not kill them..especially the way they are built anymore..

does that make sense? seeing as how i can't express myself always as i wish to..

Many wrestlers have been injured, even crippled and there have been a handful of deaths due to moves. The several clips i have posted, wrestlters have suffered severe injuries, including hayabusa, the guy in a mask who ended up breaking his neck on a move.

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Again, wrestling never said it WAS real

 

[maniactickler]

yes you need to be an athlete to be a nascar driver...could you go four or five hours without stopping to pee??? that takes stamina...also nascar is a team effort...which also makes it a sports venue...

heresay says if there is no ball involved in sports, it cannot be a sport..well...going two hundred miles per hour on a narrow track, twelve inches away from some other idiot going just as fast, with nothing in your hand but your steering wheel and two balls...yup that makes it a sport...

I can go 10 hours without peeing. ive been a life long wrestling fan, and i dont think its a legitimate sport. its definately entertainment....and damn good entertainment!

 

[Curmudgeon]

Simple, again

Speaking in terms of WWF/TNT/EIEIO;

Wrestlers = Athletes
Wrestling = Not a Sport
Wrestling fans = ?

Discuss.

 

[maniactickler]

I dont know why people cut down wrestling fans. we happen to find it entertaining, no biggie. its a male soap opera. is it bad to be a three stooges fan too?

 

[Flatfoot]

They are competing against each other to get over with the crowd, the bigger the pop they get, the better chance at a better payday.

So then, any job with any physical labor and competitive pay/promotions could also be considered a sport. Cool! My job is one big game! 😀

 

[Curmudgeon]

Nope

I dont know why people cut down wrestling fans. we happen to find it entertaining, no biggie. its a male soap opera. is it bad to be a three stooges fan too?

Unless you start insisting that what they do is a sport.

 

[Flatfoot]

Also, as far as NASCAR, I don't follow it, but it IS a sport. There is physical exertion, both on behalf of the driver, and the pit crew. The driver risks dehydration driving for extended periods inside his car, which gets to some ridiculously high temperatures, and driving at those speeds is enough to get the adrenaline flowing. I feel the competition doesn't come so much from the race itself, but from each team's crew doing what they can to make the car perform better than other cars, through mechanical prowess, with winning the race being the ultimate goal. I feel that if car performance wasn't the central focus, there'd probably be more to the race than constant left turns. There is also physical exertion on behalf of the pit crew trying to conduct on-the-spot maintenance to get the car back into the race.

Now that I've went off on a NASCAR tangent, I'll concur that professional wrestling is not a sport, but professional wrestlers are athletes. However, I also feel that although it may technically not be a sport, I think this subforum is probably the best place to discuss wrestling, because it holds a competitive theme, and the performers are athletes.

 

[Tickle Fiend]

Unless you start insisting that what they do is a sport.

It is. It's a sport, it's entertainment and a soap opera, among other things.

 

[Laugh704]

hmmm if Nascar isn't a sport...how can professional wrestling be considered one??? and Nascar does not have a predetermined ending..

Nascar is a sport..much more a sport than those wimps playing golf..

I suppose that's why ESPN, CBS Sportsline, NBC Sports and any other major world-wide sports media outlet considers and ranks Tiger Woods the world's #1 athlete. Just because golf doesn't produce sweat, blood and defy death every minute does not mean it is not a legitimately, highly skilled and recognized sport. How many of us can hit a golf ball 300 yards with pin-point accuracy? How calm and skillful would you be trying to sink a putt 20 feet away with hundreds if not thousands watching your every move? Not to mention TV cameras watching and following your every step and decision.

Try this test. Ask anyone with educated sports knowledge to name one of the highest ranked and most respected athletes in the world. Count how many say Tiger Woods before they say Tony Stewart, Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon.

Ok back to the point of discussion. I think we all agree point blank that "pro" wrestling is not a sport. Period. That was the title of this thread. Wrestling is not a sport. What is there to debate about?

But I offer this question.. why do they not make real, actual wrestling an actual 'pro' sport? As mentioned Kurt Angle won a gold medal in real 'non predetermined' wrestling and many of the wrestling 'entertainers' have athletic backgrounds. So, why not make wrestling a legimate sport with actual rules and no predetermined outcome? Find out for real just who is the best actual true wrestler?

 

[CitY of MicA]

But I offer this question.. why do they not make real, actual wrestling an actual 'pro' sport? As mentioned Kurt Angle won a gold medal in real 'non predetermined' wrestling and many of the wrestling 'entertainers' have athletic backgrounds. So, why not make wrestling a legimate sport with actual rules and no predetermined outcome? Find out for real just who is the best actual true wrestler?

I've thought about this from time to time- I guess you could say it's a crowded sports market stateside, but there ought to be a pro league for wrestling. As for determining who is the best legit wrestle in pro wrestling, you'd have to have weight classes. Basically, you could have several title holders, but many of the matches one is used to seeing today would never happen. I don't think it's a bad idea, but it might not be all that exciting to the regular fan base when you factor in the weight classes and rules that they would have to follow.

 

[isabeau]

Also, as far as NASCAR, I don't follow it, but it IS a sport. There is physical exertion, both on behalf of the driver, and the pit crew. The driver risks dehydration driving for extended periods inside his car, which gets to some ridiculously high temperatures, and driving at those speeds is enough to get the adrenaline flowing. I feel the competition doesn't come so much from the race itself, but from each team's crew doing what they can to make the car perform better than other cars, through mechanical prowess, with winning the race being the ultimate goal. I feel that if car performance wasn't the central focus, there'd probably be more to the race than constant left turns. There is also physical exertion on behalf of the pit crew trying to conduct on-the-spot maintenance to get the car back into the race.

Now that I've went off on a NASCAR tangent, I'll concur that professional wrestling is not a sport, but professional wrestlers are athletes. However, I also feel that although it may technically not be a sport, I think this subforum is probably the best place to discuss wrestling, because it holds a competitive theme, and the performers are athletes.

yippee that is so true.....

and i knew that wrestlers have gotten hurt or killled during their sessions...but for the most part, it's an act...

 

[isabeau]

I suppose that's why ESPN, CBS Sportsline, NBC Sports and any other major world-wide sports media outlet considers and ranks Tiger Woods the world's #1 athlete. Just because golf doesn't produce sweat, blood and defy death every minute does not mean it is not a legitimately, highly skilled and recognized sport. How many of us can hit a golf ball 300 yards with pin-point accuracy? How calm and skillful would you be trying to sink a putt 20 feet away with hundreds if not thousands watching your every move? Not to mention TV cameras watching and following your every step and decision.

Try this test. Ask anyone with educated sports knowledge to name one of the highest ranked and most respected athletes in the world. Count how many say Tiger Woods before they say Tony Stewart, Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon.

Ok back to the point of discussion. I think we all agree point blank that "pro" wrestling is not a sport. Period. That was the title of this thread. Wrestling is not a sport. What is there to debate about?

But I offer this question.. why do they not make real, actual wrestling an actual 'pro' sport? As mentioned Kurt Angle won a gold medal in real 'non predetermined' wrestling and many of the wrestling 'entertainers' have athletic backgrounds. So, why not make wrestling a legimate sport with actual rules and no predetermined outcome? Find out for real just who is the best actual true wrestler?

i didn't say golf wasn't a sport..in fact before i discovered nascar...men's golfing was my favorite sport.....

 

[soletkler]

Good Lord, Bartelby. Those words apear to be forming sentences. Let's read them.

Oh my. So much to say and so little motivation to write it all down. First in response to someone posting earlier on the board, if we accept that the primary criteria by which to define "sport" is the lack of a previously agreed upon outcome, then NASCAR (much to my chagrin) is in fact a sport. Sure your dad might be able to lob his beer gut into a two seater and make a left turn as fast as the next guy, but for the purposes of this converastion he's an athelete.
Next, just because one wears silly (read: garish) looking outifits which may or may not have been constructed purely from an old sewing machine and a badazzler, it doesn't mean he/she is not an athelete. If this did preclude people from being atheletes we would have to take gold metals away from every figure skater in history. Except for Tanay Harding. She has a grizzled look about her and I'm not going to be the one who steps onto her porch/patio/cinder block foundation holding up the double wide to tell her she has to give the one thing keeping her from diving over the edge back. To sumerize: Bitch is scary.
Now on to this wrestling business. Is professional wrestling fake? Sure, but so are lots of things that we all can enjoy in spite of thier artificiality. Take sitcoms, dramas, comedys, dramadeys, the breasts of Hollywood starlets (go ahead pick one), the sense of self-accomplishment one feels after a hearty workout followed by the gorging of a pint of Ben & Jerrys, and the feeble hope that any of your politicians actually care about you. I don't actually expect Zac Brath to be able to cure my allergies. That doesn't mean that Scrubs isn't a fantastically funny show. Joan River's face hasn't moved an inch in thirty years. I can pretend that it's because being famous resolves all of your personal problems in some majestic slight of hand. Now boys and girls, accidents happen. Sluts who made thier careers pandering to cameras on E! in a sleeping pill induced haze sometimes die of drug overdoses. Catholic actors sometimes forget their being watched and say mean things about those folks that think Jesus was just alright (I'm lookng at you Doobie Brothers). And sometimes, just sometimes, even if you choreograph every move down to the last pin, you still end up getting hurt. But just getting hurt doing something doesn't make you an athelete either. Pro Wrestling doesn't need to be a sport anymore then the Harlem Globetrotters need to win an NBA Championship. So, the next time you think about getting all hot and bothered when someone describes a pro wrestler as an athelete, calm down, relax, and remember that wrestler is going to die a quick, painful death at the age of thirty-four from complications arrising from the massive amount of steroids he's taken to live up to that poor bastard's expection of him as an athelete.

And there you have it.

 

[Laugh704]

Nascar is a sport..much more a sport than those wimps playing golf..

Sounds to me like you don't think much of golf as a sport by these words.

 

[Haltickling]

REAL wrestling is sport, even an olympic discipline, and probably one of the oldest in history.

The show called "wrestling" in America is not a sport, but often fun to watch. For the viewer, a wrestling match is often physically more exerting than watching a baseball game... 😛

Race-driving is definitely a sport. The drivers need to be top-fit to withstand the extreme G-forces (up to 5 G, which means you weigh 5 times as much as normal) for a long time, whilst being concentrated 100% on their driving skills and their reaction time. Just like fighter pilots, but they don't compete in tournaments. Michael Schumacher was a top driver because he was physically and mentally top-fit.

Golf is a sport, too, although it doesn't take much physical exertion, just skill. Somebody described Golf as "taking a stroll under artificially complicated circumstances"...

Chess is a very special case, because it doesn't take any physical activity. It's a race of brains.

Working out in a fitness studio or while jogging is sport, too, even if it's not combined with a competition. You're just competing with your own laziness; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I usually lose...

Just my 2 €-cents on this topic...

 

[Tickle Fiend]

REAL wrestling is sport, even an olympic discipline, and probably one of the oldest in history.

The show called "wrestling" in America is not a sport, but often fun to watch. For the viewer, a wrestling match is often physically more exerting than watching a baseball game... 😛

Race-driving is definitely a sport. The drivers need to be top-fit to withstand the extreme G-forces (up to 5 G, which means you weigh 5 times as much as normal) for a long time, whilst being concentrated 100% on their driving skills and their reaction time. Just like fighter pilots, but they don't compete in tournaments. Michael Schumacher was a top driver because he was physically and mentally top-fit.

Golf is a sport, too, although it doesn't take much physical exertion, just skill. Somebody described Golf as "taking a stroll under artificially complicated circumstances"...

Chess is a very special case, because it doesn't take any physical activity. It's a race of brains.

Working out in a fitness studio or while jogging is sport, too, even if it's not combined with a competition. You're just competing with your own laziness; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I usually lose...

Just my 2 €-cents on this topic...

It seems like the only case/complaint people have against professional wrestling not being a sport is that the outcome is predetermined. All of the other things that people think make up a sport are present in professional wrestling. I think everyone agrees that amatuer wrestling is a sport. Professional wreslting involves a lot of amatuer wrestlers and amatuer wrestling moves. Professional wrestling as a whole may not be a sport, but there is an aspect of it that is.

 

[Tickle Machine]

I agree wrestling is predetermined, but one wrong move and you can hurt yourself really bad. It was real when Edge goes from one ladder to another and spears one of the Hardy Boys It was real when Owen Hart's cable snapped at Kemper arena in St. Louis. It was real when HHH tore his quad twice!! I could go on

 

[chicago]

I agree wrestling is predetermined, but one wrong move and you can hurt yourself really bad. It was real when Edge goes from one ladder to another and spears one of the Hardy Boys It was real when Owen Hart's cable snapped at Kemper arena in St. Louis. It was real when HHH tore his quad twice!! I could go on

The outcome of me going down a flight of stairs is that I will end up at the bottom. This is predetermined as I descend. One wrong move and I can hurt myself really badly. It was real for my grandma when she slipped and fell. It was real for my friend when she went sprawling down the icy stairs of my front porch. I could go on...

Climbing/Going down stairs is a serious sport.

 

[Random_Azn_Guy]

this is what members of the bullshido.com forum refer to as "rassling"

rassling, which is different from wrestling, is a fake redneck form of blindly swinging and throwing each other like retarded gorillas.

"Wrestling is the act of physical engagement between two competitors competing for a physical advantage. It is one of the oldest known forms of martial arts, having been documented in the Old Testament[1] and the Mahabharata[2]."

-wikipedia

 

[SlaverTickler]

Wrestling is Athletic theater. An X-Tream Sport with a fixed finnish, so to speak. It still involves great Athletics, and if Acrobatics is Sport then so is wrestling, if you look at it from the respective of camparing one match to another.

 

[Goodieluver]

Unless you start insisting that what they do is a sport.

No wrestling fan insists it is a sport until people start declaring it isnt a sport and that its "fake"

 

[Goodieluver]

But I offer this question.. why do they not make real, actual wrestling an actual 'pro' sport? As mentioned Kurt Angle won a gold medal in real 'non predetermined' wrestling and many of the wrestling 'entertainers' have athletic backgrounds. So, why not make wrestling a legimate sport with actual rules and no predetermined outcome? Find out for real just who is the best actual true wrestler?

No demand, colleges across the nation are in danger of losing their college wrestling programs due to budget problems, some of which stem from Title IX and just lack of interest. Globally it holds some interest, primarily in Russia and in America, its primarily in Iowa and surrounding areas. Hell, NIU is usually ranked in the top 25 for wrestling but the program technically should not even exist due to money problems, only reason its around is cuz Dennis Hastert is an Alum and used to be on the team so he heavily contributes to the school for the team. Right now we hit another surge for UFC\pit fghting but like years prior, it will die out quickly

Also, the notion of it being "amateur" has the connotation of it being pure still. Finally its an issue of pay, if you make an athlete pro, he's expected to make more money. This is similar to the battles in the early years about going pro or staying amateur in golf\tennis

 

[Goodieluver]

The outcome of me going down a flight of stairs is that I will end up at the bottom. This is predetermined as I descend. One wrong move and I can hurt myself really badly. It was real for my grandma when she slipped and fell. It was real for my friend when she went sprawling down the icy stairs of my front porch. I could go on...

Climbing/Going down stairs is a serious sport.

http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Sport_Climbing.html