Is The WWE Really A Sport?

Well, yes, and no. It’s primarily entrainment, but there are elements of sport, since the actual “wrestling” – not the “for and after” macho posturing, silly names and costumes – requires some conditioning and training, along with the choreography.

The problem with “real wrestling” is that it’s rather boring as a spectator sport. Which is why you rarely see real wrestling: the collegiate and Olympic style wrestling, televised. But for people who enjoy seeing “very big guys” in oversized sequined diapers throw each other to the floor, WWE fills their entertainment void.

Sequined costumes or not, WWE wrestling does require some physical stamina and endurance, regardless if the actual “fight” is essentially choreographed. They still have to have the strength and stamina to “perform”, and apparently the wrestling is “real enough” that actual injuries do occur.

Perhaps the closest comparison to the “performers” of WWE would probably be Hollywood stuntmen and women. WWE, as well as Hollywood, employs both male and female “stunt persons” to perform “stunts” for the enjoyment of the audience. The only difference is that in Hollywood, the “stunts” merely support the plot and featured actors; while In WWE, the “stunts” are the plot, and the “stars” are the men and women who play out the plot according to the script, and just as in Hollywood, the “scripted stunts” are real enough that real injuries can often happen.

In both the movies and the WWE, we, as spectators, feel no guilt in watching choreographed violence since, after all, “it’s not real”. Fortunately, modern society, for the most part, has abandoned the real violence, slaughter and mayhem of the Roman Coliseum for merely scripted faux violence. Nevertheless, our basic attraction to conflict, risk and danger still exists, even in modern sports; even if well-disguised as “entertainment”.

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