You know it's Fake, Right?

You know it’s fake, right?

 By Matt Lingerfelt

What’s the standard response that people give when you tell them that you watch Professional Wrestling?  “You know it’s fake, right?” is pretty much what they say everytime. At least everyone that I have ever spoken with about wrestling tells me that at first.  I always look them in the eyes and grab a chair, and then I HIT THEM IN THE HEAD WITH A CHAIRSHOT!!!! Ok, maybe that’s taking it a too far. But in all honesty, I say that yes wrestling is “Predetermined and Entertainment”, but not fake.

The danger of physical injury isn’t a matter of IF it’s going to happen, but more of a matter of WHEN it’s going to happen.  Stitches and Staples are just another day at the office. Blown out knees and dislocations are just minor setbacks when it comes to wrestling.  How many performers can we name that have broken their neck? What about torn muscles? What about when performers have torn muscles clean off the bone, and then they finished the match? (Let’s take a moment and give Triple H a round of applause for that one) So, I believe that without going into too much more detail, we can all say once and for all, Professional Wrestling is NOT fake.

But if we were to say it is fake… than by that same logic all our responses to wrestling would be a fake as well. The cold chills we get when just the sound of the Undertaker’s gong goes off. FAKE!! What about when we tear up when we have to say goodbye to one of our heroes. FAKE!!! Personally I still can’t watch the Raw when Ric Flair said his “final” goodbye without batting away a tear or two.  What about when Edge stood in the middle of the ring and… ok, ok, I guess you get the picture.

But what about last night during RAW, when during the best promo of the evening, John Cena pointed out in the audience a kid decked out in Cena gear with a sign that said “I am Beating Cancer’. And by doing this, making that child and his fight to beat cancer the focal point of his whole speech? Was that fake? What about the massive “pop’ of the crowd in support of that kid? Was that fake?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

So, is Professional Wrestling predetermined and just a form of entertainment? Yes. Is wrestling fake? Without a doubt, and in the words of Daniel Bryan, “NO! NO! NO!”

Wrestling is so much more than entertainment; it’s what gives us the goose bumps at just sound of gong, it’s what makes grown men cry when they have to say goodbye to one of their childhood heroes. And sometimes, it’s what gives the child the courage and strength to NEVER GIVE UP in their fight against a terrible disease that trying to kill them.

Oh, by the way, after RAW went off the air, Cena went over to the kid with the sign and talked to them, and then he had the child come up into the ring with him. I’m pretty sure that smile of the kid’s face wasn’t fake either.