Quit calling wrestling fake

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I've ranted on this before and it seems the time has come to do it again. I have been a wrestling fan for more than 30 years. And yes I know that the outcome is predetermined. What irritates me though is when non-wrestling fans call it "fake". Especially when it's said like this "You know wrestling is fake, right?" or "You know it's not real, right?" 

My chop marks & Masters' busted head
Courtesy: Jason Wilkey photography

As someone who has not only watched wrestling but worked within the business behind the scenes and in front of the crowd, it's insulting to hear this. I've even had a match, albeit for about 15 minutes, but my body can attest, there was nothing fake about what we were doing in the ring. I had red marks on my chest the next day from the chops I took and the guy I wrestled, Mike Masters had his head split open when a chair shot went wrong. The pool of blood in the ring and the six staples required to close the wound are another reminder this business is far from fake.

Injuries from Heath Hatton & "Farmer" Billy Hills

My friend and wrestler "Farmer" Billy Hills posted the pic on his social media after the Cape Championship Super Show. You can see he is clearly not feeling like the action he was involved in was fake. Stride Pro Wrestling Champion Heath Hatton was injured last year in the ring. He continues to nurse nagging injuries that you wouldn't expect from a fake job. He even needed surgery on his head as a result of an injury during a match.

The Walking Dead
Courtesy: AMC

The bottom line is this. I don't tell my friends who love the Walking Dead that the zombies aren't real and no one is getting their heads blown off. We all know there's not a giant gorilla running amok on Skull Island and spoiler alert, Dr. McDreamy wasn't really performing surgery on Grey's Anatomy.  There's no need to remind fans of these movies and TV shows that they're watching something "fake" and there's no need to do the same for wrestling fans. We get it, it's entertainment. I really don't want to see men and women actually beating the hell out of each other.  Thanks for putting up with this rant.

Yes I'm a Wrestling Fan and Proud Of It

Maybe we are extreme fans...

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I was recently at a professional luncheon and the subject of this blog came up.  I didn't mention it because I was actually representing a different group at the event, but a friend of mine told the group that I'm a wrestling blogger.  I could actually hear gasps of amazement from others in attendance.  I think professional wrestling still gets a bad rap these days and I really don't understand why.

Courtesy: WWE

I get that wrestling isn't for everyone.  What I don't get is that almost every time I mention to a non-wrestling fan that I am one, their first response is "You know it's fake, right?"  My answer usually ranges from "It's not fake, it's pre-determined" to "You know that movie you watched last week isn't 'real', either, right?" 

Dexter

Let's examine... I never one time in all the conversations I've had over the years about a show like Dexter said to the other person, "Dexter is fake.  He's not REALLY killing all those people."  Because it's entertainment.  These days, pro wrestling passes itself off as entertainment too.  Long ago Vince McMahon and others in the industry let the fans in on the reality of the business.  That doesn't mean it's fake though.  Fake to me implies it's not real and people don't get hurt.

I challenge anyone to find another form of entertainment that requires the athletic ability and staying power of  professional wrestling.  The men and women who step into the ring understand there's a huge risk.  Just a few weeks ago Mexican wrestler Perro Aguayo, Junior died during a mishap in the ring.  Owen Hart fell to his death in 1999 when an entrance stunt went wrong.  A wrestler named Droz has been paralyzed since an in-ring accident more than a decade ago.  Countless others have had broken bones, torn muscles and concussions as a result of a "fake" sport.

AJ Lee, Dolph Ziggler, Big E
Photo courtesy: WWE

Not only do wrestlers put their bodies on the line, they have to look good doing it.  Most professional wrestlers these days look like they've been chiseled out of granite.  They have amazing physiques and work hard not just on the days they're wrestling, but also getting into that kind of shape.  Plus, when you're with a company like WWE, wrestlers (Superstars and Divas) are on the road a lot.  If they're not in the ring, they're doing promotional work or speaking at an event or granting an ailing child's Make-a-Wish request.

The cage factor too
Photo courtesy: WWE

Also consider this, the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA all have an off-season.  WWE does not.  They're live with original programming 52 weeks a year with the flagship show Monday Night Raw.  It's 3 hours of live TV each week.  There's also two hours of SmackDown! and an hour each of Main Event and NXT (done by different stars) on the WWE Network.  Wrestlers work injured.  I'm not saying that's a good thing, but I think it needs to be understood that the reality is while the outcomes are predetermined, the road to getting there is often a bumpy one.  It's not fake.  Wrestling does hurt.  I wonder how people would react if they knew I once had a match...

Series of Surviving: 1996

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart on Twitter

As the 2011 edition of WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition, the Survivor Series, approaches I felt it would make sense to look at the previous Pay Per Views. Originally I was going to do a review of all the previous Survivor Series but I didn’t know if I could watch all the shows in time to do reviews. Plus, I decided to do the Chikara High Noon promotion and there was no way I could have done two blogs a day. So I decided since I only had five days to write about Survivor Series I should pick 5 years that had some significance.  As I started to thinking about what shows I would write about I realized the first three shows I thought of were a year or two apart. That realization lead to picking out a 5 (technically it’s going to be 6) year span that I think are probably the most historically relevant in the history of the Survivor Series.

Since this year’s show sees the Rock returning to the ring after a seven and a half year hiatus, I thought it was only fitting to start this series in 1996 with the show where Rocky Miavia made his debut. The show had three main matches besides the traditional Survivor Series matches, Undertaker vs. Mankind, Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels vs. Sid for the World Title.

Undertaker or Batman?

RANDOM THOUGHTS

If you think Michael Cole is annoying, go back and watch this show. The announcer team was Jim Ross during his heel phase, Jerry Lawler as the prototype to what Michael Cole is now and Vince “what a maneuver” McMahon. Not a good three-man booth.

Doug Furnas/Phil LaFon came into the WWF at the wrong time. Other than the New Rockers and Owen Hart there really wasn’t anyone else who could keep up with them. Their lack of over the top personality was also a hindrance. Was surprised to see Doug Furnas be the sole survivor of the opening match.

Undertaker’s winged leather suit was an interesting look. Wonder how Mick Foley’s WWF career would have gone had he not feuded with Undertaker as his first major feud.

Forgot The Stalker wrestled on this show. His awesome mustache should have won the match. Watching Stalker and Goldust fight each other while not using their real names is slightly odd.

I miss the pissed off Stone Cold character.

Lenny, the ECW fan that looks like Rob Zombie is in the audience next to the entranceway. Wonder what that guy is doing now.

The New York crowd turning on Shawn Michaels is always entertaining.

Why hasn’t TNA brought in Sid yet?

Rocky vs. Goldust (from WWE )

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

This was the debut of the blue chipper, Rocky Miavia. Rocky, while a rookie, showed glimpses of natural athletic ability.  Since he was the sole survivor and with the way Vince McMahon and Sunny put him over on commentary, you could tell there were big plans in place for The Rock from the beginning. Rocky was on a team with “Wildman” Marc Mero, Stalker, and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Mark Henry was originally supposed to be on the team but a leg injury took him out of action so Jake was a surprise replacement. They battled a team captained by Hunter Hearst Helmsley and featuring, Goldust, Jerry Lawler and Crush. While the big feud in the match was Mero and Hunter who were feuding over the I-C title, the focus of the match was Rocky.

The sole survivor

It would take a little under two years for Rocky to really transition into The Rock and convince the fans he really is the most electrifying person in sports entertainment. Though judging by his first six months in the WWF, I doubt many would predict the eventual outcome of young Rocky’s career. Much like Steve Austin, Rocky wouldn’t win the fans over until he had the chance to showcase his verbal skills and create a unique persona.

Austin vs. Hart

In addition to Rocky’s debut, the 1996 Survivor Series also marked the return to the WWF of Bret Hart who hadn’t wrestled since losing the World Title to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 12 earlier in the year. Bret battled Steve Austin in a well-executed technical match.  I really wonder how Steve Austin’s career would have played out had he not suffered the neck injury at SummerSlam ’97.  Austin went from a talented mat based wrestler to WWF style brawler. Not that there is anything wrong with that.  This feud will continue until Wrestlemania 13 where they had a match that many consider to be the match that turned stone cold steve austin into STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN. 

Hey yo! Is that Kane? 

In another highlight of this show was the return of Razor Ramon and Diesel. The two Superstars teamed with Farrooq and Vader to do battle with Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Flash Funk. Flash, aka 2 Cold Scorpio, had wrestled the night before in ECW coming up on the losing end of a Loser Leaves ECW match which was convenient for his WWF debut. I still don’t know if Vince really thought the fake Razor and Diesel idea was good or if it was just a ploy to gain some legal ground in WWF’s lawsuit against WCW. If I remember my dirt sheet gossip, the non-reaction to the Fakes proved WCW having Hall and Nash use similar mannerisms to the Razor and Diesel characters hurt WWF trademarks, or something like that. WWF winning the lawsuit is what would eventually lead to them being able to buy WCW for pennies on the dollar.

After re-watching this show if you take out the commentary it’s a pretty solid Survivor Series. There’s nothing horrible and the Bret/Austin match is just as good as their Wrestlemania match. Coming up tomorrow, a show I would like to wipe off the record books.

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