Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Is professional wrestling a sport?, No smack-downs allowed

[bob_TCC]

While all sports provide entertainment and many professional wrestlers are athletic, I'm going to agree with Tuff Stuff magazine and classify professional wrestling as entertainment rather than a sport.

What do you say? Is pro wrestling a sport?

-Bob

[jrlenox]

What do you say?  Is pro wrestling a sport?

I think anything where the result (winner/loser/score) is determined by scriptwriters and promoters and not the events on the playing field (in this case ring) should not be considered a sport.

These guys are just actors playing characters .. I admit you do have to be athletic to be a wrestler.. and there is a huge risk of injury if things go wrong .. but basically, as many wrestlers have said, the results are mostly scripted - and many of the big moves are rehearsed to look cool and painful, but not cause severe pain or injury to the participants.

-Jim

[bob_TCC]

I think anything where the result (winner/loser/score) is determined by scriptwriters and promoters and not the events on the playing field (in this case ring) should not be considered a sport.

Agreed. In general, I think this is now the majority view of wrestling. Only the most diehard fans might argue that it's a sport.

-Bob

[jrlenox]

Though I have to admit .. I was a huge WWF fan when it first became big in the mid 80's with the MTV craze and all .. anyone remember the saturday morning cartoon ?

I quickly knew it was fake .. but the characters plots were enjoyable. Hillbilly Jim was my favorite ...

and then I grew out of it ...

-Jim

[meuandthelot]

Sounds like an oxymoron...
It's not a sport, but the participants are Athletes

[bob_TCC]

Sounds like an oxymoron...
It's not a sport, but the participants are Athletes

There's athletic people where I work too, but that doesn't make it a sport.

-Bob

[bob_TCC]

Though I have to admit .. I was a huge WWF fan when it first became big in the mid 80's with the MTV craze and all ..

And I will admit that I actually went to a pro wrestling event when I was younger. I can't remember who all was there now, but it was interesting to me at the time.

-Bob

[meuandthelot]

I did too, my Grandfather & Uncle owned a bar in Chicago. I remember these guys at the event, then stopping in the bar... Dick the bruiser, Ukon moose cholak(sp?) & others..been awhile. The Shiek & Baron Von Rashke only at the event.

I can still remember a few(well alot..lol) YELLING "he's got a stick, he's got a stick"..Don't remember what it was, but one of the wrestlers had a foreign object, and the people were Yelling LOUD. Hey thanks for the memory Jog!!!!

PS- Not saying it's a sport just that it's funny. They are athletes, not just athletic.

[jrlenox]

There's athletic people where I work too, but that doesn't make it a sport.  

-Bob

yeah ... but if all the athletic people at your office put on silly outfits and started body slamming each other .. would people buy tickets ?

[Evolution]

i honestly used to love the wrestilng, I think it was more of the characters though than the actual "wrestling". thats what I think is wrong with the wwe today, there are no real characters. nobody can really support john cena or triple h, because they are just so boring. when I was a kid we had The Rock fighting Stone Cold at wrestlemania, we had Xpac fighting Kane, when Kane was really Kane and everybody was scared of him. The undertaker, what was up with being the american bad...? he was good enough when he was with edge, christian and viscera. Shaun Michaels, when I watched it he was a legend who everybody worried about, now he's just some average joe!

Rant over...sorry.

[toysoldierman2001]

I used to know a lot of the now defunct ECW Wrestlers My 2 sons went to school with a girl named Francine who was a manager for a tag team called the Pit Bulls. We used to get in to the local events for free and after the matches were over she would take us back in the locker room. We met Stone Cold,Cactus Jack,The Sand Man,Terry Funk and many others.They all were really nice people and believe it or not they were all very polite and appreciated the fan support.

[Evolution]

you met the cactus jack, im officialy jealous...legend

[bob_TCC]

yeah ... but if all the athletic people at your office put on silly outfits and started body slamming each other .. would people buy tickets ? 

Maybe. I might suggest it as a way to increase revenue.

-Bob

[jrlenox]

For those interested in Wrestling Cards, "Professional" and all other kinds, the guys at the following site:

Wrestling Card Archive - http://x-titles.com/wc/index.html

have done a great job in tracking down every known card that has wrestling or a wrestler on it.

Collect them all if you dare ...

-Jim

[meuandthelot]

Hmmmm, I would've never guessed it!!!

Pee Wee Herman - "Paul Reubens" 2x State Champion, Dade County FL

Thanks for the link

[jrlenox]

Hmmmm, I would've never guessed it!!!

Pee Wee Herman - "Paul Reubens" 2x State Champion, Dade County FL

Thanks for the link

I didn't even see that part of the site !
I just liked it for all the information on cards and checklist data

There are lots of cool others there .. here's from the site:

Actors and others:

Joe Allen - Astronaut
William Baldwin
John Belushi
Dr. Norman Borlag - Noble Prize Winner
Pappy Boyington
George Brooks
Michael Collins - Astronaut
Tom Cruise - "Thomas Mapother" Glen Ridge HS, NJ (9th & 10 grades)
Tony Danza
Pat Day
Kirk Douglas - "Issur Danielovitch" D3 Nat'l Champ (St. Lawrence C.)
Chris Farley
Al Franken - Comedian
Victor French - Actor
Pee Wee Herman - "Paul Reubens" 2x State Champion, Dade County FL
Larry Holmes
John Irving - Author, "World According to Garp", "Cider House Rules"
Harvey Keitel - Actor
Ken Kesey - Author, Merry Prankster of 1960s Kool-Aid Fame
William Kerslake - NASA Scientist
Jim Lampley
Jay Leno - HS wrestler
Sugar Ray Leonard
Mario Lopez - "Slater, Saved by the Bell" 7th State 160 lbs CA in 1991
Bill Macatee
Jay Mohr - Saturday Night Live, NJ "Jerry McGuire"
Nat Pendleton - Actor in the 30s "Whistling in the Dark" "Thin Man"
Katie Roman
Bill Shoemaker
Joseph Smith - Founder of the Mormon Church
Mr. T
Vince Vaughn - Actor, Wrestled from 8th to 10th grade
"Weezer"
Spud Webb
Robin Williams - HS Wrestler
Rob Zander - "Cheap Trick"

Presidents of the United States:

Calvin Coolidge
Dwight Eisenhower
Abraham Lincoln
Ted Roosevelt
William Taft
Zach Taylor
John Tyler
George Washington

[proGr@m217]

haha, this is so fake. even the blood on cena and jbl during the 'i quit' match was fake. lol

[aceecards]

It is the greatest male "soap Opera" ever thunk up.

I would love to write for WWE, I have some great story lines

[proGr@m217]

haha, make it a drama, ace.

its almost funny how these guys think these stuff up. even the ECW one night stand was preposterous. fakers. lol.

the fighting techniques are quite something, though. i'll give these guys that.

[KHarmon]

There's no way that pro wrestling could be considered a sport...primarily for all the reasons mentioned above. I do think that these guys are exceptional in the area's of strength, a few are even pretty good when it comes to conditioning...but they got into pro wrestling either because they were no good at other sports, or washed out of other professional sports. The Rock was an up and coming talent on the football field before a major knee injury side lined him for good. How he was able to get his knee in good enough shape to do the things in the ring that he's done, I don't know.

I have a friend of mine that used to work for a small police department along IH-35 in Central Texas. He stopped a rental car with none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin who was driving from the DFW International Air Port to his home town of Victoria. He wrote Stone Cold a written warning for his speed and cut him loose thinking that it was pretty cool to have his autograph on a warning ticket, but Stone Cold followed him to a convenience store in town and autographed a T-shirt and a cap and gave them to him. I was PO'ed that he didn't call me over there when he had him stopped...everything I've heard about Stone Cold is that he's a pretty cool guy outside of the ring.