How is professional wrestling different? Unlike amateurs, professional wrestlers are paid. They also tend to be more skilled. A sporting commission regulates amateur wrestling, but pro wrestling is intentionally unregulated. In its early days, wrestling fell under the state sporting commission authority. League owners soon realized that they could avoid the hassle by classifying their shows as entertainment, not a competitive sport.
Wrestling does have rules. However, the rules are loosely defined and loosely enforced. The skills of the wrestlers do not determine the outcome of the match. Instead, writers work on plots and storylines well in advance, and every match is another chapter in the story. Who wins and who loses is all in the script.
Does that mean that wrestling is fake? It's true that the plots are predetermined and the moves are choreographed. Wrestlers aren't really trying to beat up and injure each other. Sometimes, the bitterest enemies in the ring are really best friends, and the outlandish stories surrounding the characters are usually not true. However, simply calling wrestling "fake" is like calling an action movie fake. When you see a movie, you know that the actor didn't really jump a burning car over an exploding bridge, but you're still entertained. Stunt people and special effects crews worked to make those scenes seem real, and their work can be very impressive.
Pro wrestling is like that. Most wrestlers are exceptional athletes who train for many hours each day to maintain their physical condition. They practice for years to learn both the moves and how to execute them safely while still making it look dangerous. They suffer many injuries, sometimes severe. Their schedules are grueling. There's certainly nothing fake about flying 20 feet through the air from the top rope.
This concludes the introduction to professional wrestling. Next I will try to cover various aspects of wrestling in other posts.
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