Professional wrestling might be one of the most controversial sports known to man. The argument on whether or not the sport is real or fake has always been a hot topic among sports fans. Many sports fans say that professional wrestling is nothing more than a soap opera for men with way too much testosterone. They say that it is not a sport and the fighters are not real athletes. Most of the media in the sports world also see professional wrestling as a joke. On the other side, there are hardcore fans that believe professional wrestling is a real sport and all of the fighters are real athletes.
I believe that professional wrestlers are real athletes. Professional wrestling began in the early part of this century. It started off as a very small sport. Events were usually held at fairs or circuses. Crowds would gather too see two men fight it out in the middle of the ring until one man was victorious. The sport gathered more and more attention through out the years. In the late 1940s, the sport really started to pick up. It was starting to draw larger crowds and the events were being held at larger venues.
People were amazed when they saw two men fighting toe to toe in the middle of a ring. People were convinced that the men in wrestling were really fighting until about the 1960s. People became suspicious and started to question whether or not the wrestlers in these events were real athletes. The media entered the picture for the first time. Newspapers and magazines started to cover the events. They criticized the wrestlers by calling them phony and saying that they were nothing more than actors on steroids. (www. Slammers. com) This attitude has stuck with many people in the sports world.
The media does not classify professional wrestling as a sport but rather as a soap opera. A wrestling event would never be covered or talked about on the news. The only time a professional wrestling event would get any coverage by the media would be if what they considered a real athlete took part in the event. If a famous basketball player or football player competes, the media is there to cover the event. The media sees the sport of professional wrestling as a joke and they have given that attitude to some of the American people.
Wrestling is by no way a fake sport and the wrestlers are not fake athletes. To enter the sport, you must first sign an acceptance form to enter the professional wrestling academy. The training at the academy is for six months. It is a grueling place. The wrestlers must get up in the morning at six and run six miles, the next step in their routine would be the weight room. Each wrestler is required to lift weights for at least two hours. Their bench press weight is required to go up five pounds every week for the entire six months. Next in this routine is work on their cardiovascular system.
Each person is required to ride an exercise bike for one hour. Their time on the bike also must increase as more time passes. The rest of each day is dedicated to pure wrestling. Each wrestler is taught the basics of Professional wrestling. They do this exercise for about 5 hours. Generally, about 1000 wrestlers try out. About 10 or 11 of these athletes are kept. This is about a 98 % or 99 % failure rate at this academy (www. pro-wrestling. com).
This academy is rumored to be almost two or three times as hard as compared to pre-season training for the sport of football (www. ammers. com). Wrestlers travel on the road about 260 to 300 days out of the year (www. pro-wrestler. com). Most other professional athletes only compete in one season. There is no off season for a wrestler. A wrestler competes almost non-stop over the course of a year. They have events to compete in almost every night. These events are usually far apart from each other. Wrestlers usually spend almost a quarter of the year sitting on an airplane (www. pro-wrestler. com). Between all of this, they are required to work out 3 hours a day.
If these wrestlers are not real athletes, then I dont know what they are. These men are not only great athletes, but amazing actors too. The average pro wrestler has three fights a week. Each wrestler has to be prepared with what they are going to have to do in the ring, but also what they will have to say in pre and post match interviews. Many of these events are live and if a wrestler is not just as much of a convincing actor as wrestler they are worthless in the business. Many sports fans say that professional wrestling is nothing more than a soap opera for men with way too much testosterone.
They say that it is not a sport and the fighters are not real athletes. Most of the media in the sports world also sees professional wrestling as a joke. On the opposing side, there are hardcore fans that believe professional wrestling is a real sport and all of the fighters are real athletes. I believe that professional wrestlers are real athletes. If you do not believe that the sport is real and that these are not real athletes, then why dont you step into he ring with them and find out for yourself.