r/nextfuckinglevel • u/amy2kim22 • Mar 21 '23
Professional wrestlers at work.
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u/creepyguy_017 Mar 21 '23
Scripted or not, you gotta admit thats an amazing performance.
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u/egstitt Mar 21 '23
It's definitely scripted, and it's also pretty damn incredible
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u/gordielaboom Mar 21 '23
Right?! It’s brawny ballet!
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u/Your_Daddy_ Mar 21 '23
People pointing our how wrestling is scripted, after like 100 years of pro-wrestling being main stream - you think?
Everyone knows its scripted - but the point is there is always a story line, and its always drama, and often it ends with a great smack down of someone.
I dont watch it that much these days, but as a kid, WWF wrestling was life!
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u/Awkward_Potential_ Mar 21 '23
They think it shows their intelligence. I might start pointing out that X-Men movies aren't real to sound smart.
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u/Your_Daddy_ Mar 21 '23 edited Mar 21 '23
I know the type too well.
Same people that got upset over a fictional Ariel from Disney re-imagined as a black character.
As if mermaids of any kind are real, lol.
I think wrestling is a lot of fun. I subscribe to Peacock, and they have all the WWE stuff on there, so I check it out sometimes.
Back in the day, like late 90’s - my uncle had this little device that would scramble your cable box, giving you access to all the pay channels for free. It also got you the free PPV stuff, like Wrestle Mania! Got to see The Undertake throw Mankind of the freakin cage! Shit blew my mind!
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u/StoneGoldX Mar 21 '23
Which is more embarrassing, watching wrestling or being an admitted Peacock subscriber?
Speaking as someone who does both. The dollar a month deal was too good.
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u/subtxtcan Mar 21 '23
The people in that industry whom I've met a handful of (smaller circuits than WWE or anything), they are a total package deal if they're good. Acting and drama, creativity, dedication to the story, but on top of all that is actual, real deal athleticism. It always impressed me.
I'm not a wrestling "fan" but it's been in my orbit since childhood and I've got a deep respect for it.
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u/thestashattacked Mar 22 '23
I like to say it's fake in the way that Cirque de Soleil is fake: You definitely can't do it, and it takes a lot of skill.
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u/David_Haas_Patel Mar 22 '23
Not scripted. But the bullet points are in place. They call 75-95% of the match as it's happening based on general layout and crowd response. Which is impressive.
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u/GregoryGregory666666 Mar 21 '23
Always have to laugh at the moves such as the end where the wrestler on the floor moved closer to the other guy jumping down on him. I worked security for a match with Sgt. Slaughter against Jimmy the Fly Snuka years back. They were mortal enemies so they got separate changing rooms that was connected by an inner door. They went to their respective rooms post fight screaming crap at each other. I was with the Sgt. when the inner door opened and Snuka came in. The back slapping and laughter was fun to watch. But there are some damn good athletes in this very scripted activity.
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u/datmuttdoe Mar 21 '23
Wait, they were friends behind the scenes...IT'S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT!
I remember a panel from a mad magazine back in the 90s I read once where it was poking fun at wrestling. The one image I remember was "only in wrestling will you have a man from Ohio pretending to be middle eastern with a man from Maryland in a headlock and the crowd chanting "USA! USA! USA!" or something like that.
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u/GregoryGregory666666 Mar 21 '23
Back in 86 I was in training in DC and two of the trainers there were big time wrestling fans. They were ready to fight me for saying otherwise. I watched it as a kid back in the late 60's and early 70's and my Dad used to say that stuff is fake. I didn't believe him for a while. The athleticism is incredible in the higher levels of the sport though.
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u/datmuttdoe Mar 21 '23
I was a huge fan in the 80s and 90s. Once wcw dissolved I was already pretty much out. I was living in St. Petersburg FL as a kid and used to see Hulk hogan riding around on his Harley. It’s genuinely good entertainment, or at least for me it was.
Real or not, Hogan vs Andre, Hogan vs Macho Man, Sting, the Hartts…so fun to watch. And the Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels ladder match is unrivaled as the goat in wrestling entertainment.
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u/AsstDepUnderlord Mar 21 '23
the athleticism def real, but the damage these guys do to themselves is too. I think your chances of living long and healthy are probably higher in the ukrainian army than the WWE.
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u/GregoryGregory666666 Mar 21 '23
I was trying to remember when this happened and could not recall the year so I ran to Google. You're right though and even with this little bit of info it still remains they put their bodies through some torture.......... FROM GOOGLE.. "When did people realize wrestling wasn't real? The first public acknowledgment by a major insider of the staged nature of professional wrestling came in 1989 when World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey State Senate that wrestling was not a competitive sport."
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u/Your_Daddy_ Mar 21 '23
Many years back!
Remember Sgt Slaughter (bad ass name too) did the GI Joe PSA's??
I learned out to swim/float thanks to those PSA's.
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Mar 21 '23
I got to meet him a bunch of years ago. He signed autographs at a baseball game. Stood and took pictures with kids and fans through 8 innings.
He even was nice enough to let me get a picture of him putting me in the Cobra Clutch. Super class.
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u/chesterjosiah Mar 21 '23
"Sergeant Slaughter" lol The name itself is amazing and brings back childhood joy. What an epic beast! I remember his stache and combat boots clear as day.
Who was the villainous guy with the spiky boots?
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u/GeologicalOpera Mar 21 '23
If you are thinking of boots with the curled toes that came to a point, that was the Iron Sheik. I’ve seen roughly 5 decades of wrestling (1970s-present) in the time I’ve been a fan and he’s the only person I can think of whose footwear matches your description.
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u/GregoryGregory666666 Mar 21 '23
I cannot recall as I did not watch much later in life. But at this event the crowd was very anti Slaughter and he asked me in the changing room if we could give him a ride to the parking lot so he doesn't get his ass beat. He really was smaller than I would have thought. I was 6'6 and about 250 at the time and I felt like I could take him. (J/K). I ordered our transport wagon to drive over and back up to this door and he jumped in for a safe ride to his car. He was so grateful to me. Another wrestler who stood out one night after an event was the Iron Sheik. A co-worked was checking on a Cadillac parked in the fire lane of a busy shopping center when the Sheik came busting out of the pizza joint yelling his fool head off. My friend, who was as calm as could be and everyone loved him, put his hand on his revolver as he backed up to his car telling the Sheik to move his car now or it would be towed. My friend drove away and watched to see the Sheik get in and park. I laughed my ass off on this one.
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u/Unable_Coat5321 Mar 21 '23
I hate it when people say it's fake. It's not fake, it's scripted, there's a difference. Everything they're doing is very much real.
They don't just hand out contracts, titles etc to just anyone they feel like. You still have to be at absolute elite level at what you do to get a contract, more so for a title. These guys still train, practice and dedicate their lives to their craft just as much as every other sports star. People don't realise the amount of skill involved. Professional wrestlers deserve a lot more credit than they get
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u/FallenG0ddess Mar 21 '23 edited Mar 21 '23
It's like saying an acting performance is fake. Much like acting, it's a wrestler's job to draw you in and suspend your disbelief with a display of artistry.
Edit: all I'm seeing is a bunch of people getting butthurt because others like something they don't understand fully.
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u/DenialAndEroor Mar 22 '23
I don’t understand how I’m 2023 it is still considered shameful to be a wrestling fan, I bought tickets to a show that I had to travel too, when the guys at work found out all I got was “you know that is fake right right?” “ why would you tell anyone you like wrestling” etc. Why do I have to be ashamed to like something?
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u/FallenG0ddess Mar 22 '23
Because they feel superior pointing out something they believe is stupid. When all they're doing is being a dick.
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u/LastChristian Mar 21 '23
I hate it when people say it's fake. It's not fake, it's scripted, there's a difference. Everything they're doing is very much real.
Ok but people call it "fake" because it presents itself as a real sporting competition and viewers have to figure out that it's actually not one.
It's the same as if The Dark Knight Rises said the footage of Bane's crew hijacking the plane was actual footage. People would say, no, it's fake. Only in some weird fan universe would people say "No it's scripted because the stunts were real."
Wrestling is "fake" as long as it presents itself as a real sporting event. As soon as it presents itself as simply an improv-gymnastics act then no one will need to point out it's fake.
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u/FallenG0ddess Mar 21 '23
What about magic. Do you feel a constant need to point out that the woman isn't really sawed in half? That the elephant didn't really disappear? Or do you appreciate the illusion and the artistry and let people enjoy things?
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u/Awkward_Potential_ Mar 21 '23 •
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You've never watched a wrestling show if you think they're trying to pretend to be real. GD, dumb people who think they're smart are the worst.
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u/Soggy-Piece6800 Mar 21 '23
Bro it’s so easy to understand 💀. People are aware it is scripted. That doesn’t take away from the showman’s ship unless you are a literal child who thinks these moves work in real fights.
The whole point of the moves is to be flashy and for show, half of them aren’t even survivable without all the cushioning you gotta do to your opponent. No one is here arguing it’s a legitimate brawl to the death other than maybe school children, in which case you should really learn what battles are worth fighting lmao.
Scripts don’t take away from enjoyment unless you want them to.
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u/Ich_Liegen Mar 21 '23
viewers have to figure out that it's actually not one.
Stuntmen are fake. They're not real. They go on movies that present themselves as a real battle between a cop and a serial killer and the fans have to figure out it's actually not real.
Sounds stupid, doesn't it?
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u/apikope Mar 21 '23
It is a real sporting competition when they compete for a prize. Yes, they pick the winner beforehand, rehearse the match and sometimes have some kind of storyline to get people more invested. But it's still sports.
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u/TheWholeFuckinShow Mar 21 '23
I forget which wrestler said it, but it was something along the lines of "I never understood how some people thought we hit each other with fake chairs. How is it fake? It's made of metal I'm sitting on it. It's a fucking chair. It hurts."
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u/FormerRelationship8 Mar 21 '23
Dudes are agile as fuck. That takes work
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u/yehcheersaye Mar 21 '23
Mans 42 years old!
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u/siccoblue Mar 21 '23
I broke my femur three separate times just watching this video and I'm in my 20s
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u/omnomization Mar 21 '23
I'm exhausted just watching. I can't believe how long they can flip around like that.
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u/BlackberryMobile2394 Mar 21 '23
This really is some next level art. I always hated it growing up because I knew it was fake, and choreographed, but as I grew older I learned to appreciate the art and amount of effort it takes to do this sort of thing. Good for them, they’re some serious athletes! Still think it’s silly though, but that’s just me.
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u/Dudeiscray Mar 21 '23
Also, not everything is choreographed. Only some key moments of the match (the most important ones). A lot of the stuff that happens is improvised. Wrestlers talk to each other for the next move. That's why it's important for them to know all the moves in a ring and learn how to execute them. That will make a difference between the elite wrestlers and the average ones.
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u/LambCo64 Mar 21 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
I've been a massive wrestling fan my entire life, but something I can never wrap my head around is people who don't watch it saying the same thing;
"You know it's fake, right?"
Of course we know. But you get caught up in the fight, rooting for your favourites to win and the bad guys to get their asses handed to them.
No one ever asks if I'm aware that Movies are fake.
And I understand that it used to be presented as legitimate sport and that keeping the fact that it was preditermined a secret was how they used to operate, but we are decades past that at this point.
And I hate the term "Fake" being used to describe it. It's predetermined of course, and depending on the wrestlers it's either choreographed beforehand or choreographed while in the ring, but the result of the scripted violence is often quite real not to mention the level of skill it takes to make it look (mostly) real and not hurt each other is incredible .
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u/Your_Daddy_ Mar 21 '23
It may be a scripted sport, but these wrestlers are in peak condition.
Some of them are legit fitness freaks - on par with NFL players.
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u/LambCo64 Mar 21 '23
Exactly. I trained to do this a few years back (had to stop for health reasons, long story) and it is absolutely brutal. Your cardio especially needs to be amazing to do this at a high level.
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u/Your_Daddy_ Mar 21 '23
I was watching a video of training at the WWE performance center - that shizz looks way intense.
Joe Blow is not gonna walk in and jump in that ring - so in that regard - I think it’s a serious sport.
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u/pookachu83 Mar 22 '23
This may get me downvotes, but I'd say some elite wrestlers even surpass nfl/NBA players as far as conditioning and athleticism. To go and lift a man repeatedly and continually do these moves for 20-30 minutes without getting blown up(winded and visibly tired) takes insane conditioning. There have been many cases of "elite" NFL or NBA athletes signing up to be in a pro wrestling match and getting winded and blown up 3 minutes into the match and later stating how incredibly hard it is to do. These guys don't get enough credit. People compare them to gymnasts, but gymnists only go in short bursts if a few seconds at a time, some of these matches go to the 40-60 minute marl in some cases. It's crazy.
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u/Turakamu Mar 21 '23
Brock Lesnar comes to mind.
He'll do this shit where he runs the ropes but he clears the ring in a few steps and it looks scary as fuck.
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u/clothesline Mar 21 '23
Kayfabe officially died with the attitude Era in 1997. That was over 30 years ago! When David Arquette was screaming wrestling's not fake in that movie
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u/Kalakarinth Mar 21 '23
Impressively that main wrestler, Volador Jr, is 42
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u/MH360 Mar 21 '23
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Virus was also in the mix, and he's 54.
Knew Volador Jr as soon as I saw him, the grey hairs suit him well nowadays.
I'm so damn thankful for New Japan putting on Fantasticamania, truly.
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u/tacomeat247 Mar 21 '23
Got to attend a CMLL event in Mexico City a week ago. The badass is Volador Jr (I think) Ringside seats were $25 and it’s one of the best nights of my life. So much fun.
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u/EbenezerBoink Mar 22 '23
I was there! Back in the cheap seats, but still one of the best events I’ve ever been to.
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u/DougieSenpai Mar 21 '23
Yes we know it’s scripted guys. Like no shit.
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u/MitchLGC Mar 22 '23
Thread basically ruined by "scripted" talk what a waste of time
We all know. Everybody knows.
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u/AutumnAscending Mar 21 '23
Why does every country take pro wrestling more seriously than the country who made it. I haven't watched since like BigShow was popular but even back then the US wasn't doing the things that Mexico, Japan, or Argentina do.
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u/FallenG0ddess Mar 21 '23
American pro wrestling has always been more about the storytelling and soap opera drama as opposed to "workrate" which is what you're referring to. It's catching up these days but Mexico, Europe and Japan are very much ahead in terms of pure in-ring athletic talent.
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u/goforbrokecoke Mar 21 '23
Also American top talent was usually bigger and more jacked.
So by necessity they're less flashy but the basics look extra good. A crossbody from a 6''3 guy who could be an NFL linebacker isn't as complex as a 5''6 slim guy doing a triple flip senton but it looks just as (if not more) amazing.
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u/hadawayandshite Mar 21 '23
Pretty sure ‘pro wrestling’ was being done in Britain and France etc before America
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u/AutumnAscending Mar 21 '23
Homie, you know full well. I don't mean professional Greco-Roman wrestling.
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u/pookachu83 Mar 22 '23
He wasn't talking Greco-Roman Roman. Scripted pro wrestling has been a thing in Europe and Japan for ages, as well as america.
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u/Daemonblade Mar 21 '23
Amazing stuff. It really annoys me when people say these men and women aren’t athletes.
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u/Low_Atmosphere1218 Mar 21 '23
Lmao this looks fun i also wanna just grab a random person a street and just start spinning on his shoulders
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u/skkitzzo Mar 21 '23
I would love you see you attempt to do any of what you saw in this video, I would pay money for that
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u/Trick_Succotash_9949 Mar 21 '23
Doesn’t matter what people say about it not being Wraaaaaastling - the sheer athleticism is something to admire.
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u/Ok_Departure_8963 Mar 21 '23
This guy!!! WTF, I’ll 100% get back into WWE if it was like this. And of course more babes as well
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u/engineerFWSWHW Mar 21 '23
When i was still watching WWE, i think Rey Mysterio is the representative of this style of wrestling.
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u/Drop_That_Pickle Mar 22 '23
Rey is still mixing it up in WWE, though I think he is on the verge of retirement. His son, Dominic, is also a wrestler now, and they are currently in a rivalry with each other.
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u/PoignantOpinionsOnly Mar 22 '23
There's some high flyers in WWE right now. But they mix with various other styles.
There's a current storyline where a big strongman was making fun of "flippy" guys. Then he got teamed up with one and learned to respect their style and all that.
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u/Noisebug Mar 21 '23
Everyone knows it's scripted and not my flavour.
However, it tells a story and those guys work hard to tell it. Respect.
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u/ArgumentLost9383 Mar 21 '23
I would have preferred the video without the slow motion
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u/Flyby1441 Mar 21 '23
Although I may not appreciate this talent as much as the next guy, you gotta have respect for what I just watched. That was pretty badass.
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u/CardiologistBig842 Mar 21 '23
The way he sticks his arm out the end to catch dude lol.
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u/taylormadeone Mar 22 '23
Yeah I was commenting elsewhere that that’s how you tell the difference between indie wrestling and wrestling in the WWE or a bigger promotion.
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u/roughingit2 Mar 21 '23
Anyone else notice how close his head came a couple of times to hitting the floor? Wonder how many times that's happened and accidently knocked him self out...
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u/JamesCDiamond Mar 21 '23
Probably quite a few. There aren't many wrestlers who've avoided injury, either through overdoing a move or by their opponent being in the wrong place/not catching them quite right.
It's a collaborative exercise and the move taker is as important as the move giver (sometimes more) but no-one's perfect. Some of the very best have had the worst injuries because they push themselves so hard.
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u/tomdcamp Mar 21 '23
Nobody denies it’s scripted. The appeal is it being a soap opera with more stunts and fights.