DeepHour wrote:
One or two reflections on the wrestling I used to watch, which may or may not be applicable to the more modern stuff, which I don't watch:
There was a widely held view that it was all 'staged' or 'fixed', not to be regarded in general as genuine. I mean, look for example at the way Catweazle wriggles out of the hold that McManus had on him at the 1:50 mark in the video above! Also you would often see people like McManus apparently slapping or punching their opponents violently in the face, yet you never saw anyone with a bloody nose.
Another thing is that very few matches ever ended in a draw, unlike, for example, in football (soccer). You had the feeling that one or other contestant was always supposed to win. More remarkably, in contests that were decided by two falls/submissions or a knockout, you NEVER saw a final result of 1-0, always 2-1, very occasionally 2-0, or a knockout.
Wrestling
is staged/fixed. The matches are scripted, though the injuries that some wrestlers pick up performing moves are certainly not fake and can in fact kill or seriously injure people, as has happened in the ring.
Most adults who watch wrestling know it is scripted, but they watch it because watching wrestling is a joyful thing. Beholding talented athletes with sometimes entertaining characters is a thing.