(Part 1 of this article can be found HERE.)
When I was younger, people had
these ideas and concepts about professional wrestling that they would tell me. It was as if they somehow
knew everything about the professional wrestling business. Things I used to hear
time and time again were:
“Wrestling is scripted”
Okay, so is wrestling scripted?
Well, that depends on the person and circumstance. Now, when I use the word
‘scripted’ I am referring to promos, interviews and segments. When a wrestler
goes to the ring to cut a promo, does he know exactly what he is going to say?
Did he just learn a script? Yes and no. I’ll give you an example.
Vince Russo |
However, top main event stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin
and The Rock just had bullet points on what they should cover during their
segment, and had a lot more freedom in what they said.
“The blood in professional wrestling is not real”
How many times have I heard this one? Yes, the blood in professional wrestling is REAL. The process itself is known as blading or juicing. To carry out the blading, a razor blade is concealed in the tape on the wrestler’s fingers or parts of his hands. In some circumstances, the blade may also be stored somewhere else on the wrestlers body, but this is less common.
How many times have I heard this one? Yes, the blood in professional wrestling is REAL. The process itself is known as blading or juicing. To carry out the blading, a razor blade is concealed in the tape on the wrestler’s fingers or parts of his hands. In some circumstances, the blade may also be stored somewhere else on the wrestlers body, but this is less common.
A small incision is made on the
forehead, and this will cause the wound to bleed profusely. Scalp wounds also
heal very quickly, so in a few days the cut will disappear altogether.
Obviously, professional wrestlers
know where to cut, but there is a risk that they can cut too deep which results
in permanent scaring, or even cutting artery located in the forehead. Probably,
the most famous case of this was Eddie Guerrero at Judgment Day 2004. In this match he
accidently cuts through an artery in his forehead resulting in massive surge of
blood pouring from the cut. Eddie lost so much blood in that match that he
felt the effects of it for two weeks after the match.
“They're just actors”
No, they are athletes. I think
people really underestimate professional wrestlers, and the attributes it takes
to actually be one. It takes an immense amount of training and dedication to be
a professional wrestler, and the athleticism required is tremendous.
Although, there are theatrics involved, that at the end of the day is part of the performance.
Although, there are theatrics involved, that at the end of the day is part of the performance.
Also, do you know the schedule of
a professional wrestler? Its 320 days a year! Yes, you did hear that correctly.
Many people think they do one TV taping a week, and a PPV every month and
that’s it, well I’m afraid that is not the case.
Professional wrestling is 365
days a year, with no off season; it’s just 100% percent all the time. The days
when they are not doing live TV tapings they are either traveling or doing
house shows, which are non-televised wrestling events. They spend time away from home and there families just so they can entertain us.
“Nobody gets hurt in professional wrestling”
This is probably the most frequent one I heard growing up. Yes, the moves in professional wrestling do hurt.
Actually, they hurt a lot. Dave Finlay once said “you can’t see pain, you can
only feel it”.
The moves that professional
wrestlers do in the ring are very impressive, but are also extremely dangerous.
If something were to go wrong it could result in serious injury or even death.
Probably, the most famous serious injure from a botched move happened on
October 5, 1999 during a taping of SmackDown!
The match was D’Lo Brown against Droz,
also known as Puke. During the match, D’Lo attempts a running powerbomb on Droz
but wasn’t able to secure a tight grip on him as he was wearing a very
baggy shirt at the time. As a result, D’Lo slams Droz directly onto his head
resulting in fracturing two disks in his neck. The accident left Droz paralyzed
from the neck down. Although, through treatment he has regained some movement in
his upper body and arms. The match itself has never been broadcast. However,
the stretcher image can be seen at 0:14 in the video below.
Another famous botch happened
during the match between Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin at SummerSlam
1997.
During the match Hart delivers a
botched piledriver to Austin, dropping him directly on top of his head,
resulting in breaking his neck. For a few minutes Austin lay in the ring
completely paralyzed. After a few minutes had passed, he managed to regain
enough movement to pin Hart and win the match. After the match, Austin had to
be helped up and led to the back. He didn't take part in another match for four
months.
Now, I can’t write about injures
in professional wrestling without talking about Mick Foley. He has sustained
countless injuries, broken bones, and concussions throughout his professional wrestling career.
He even lost his ear during one match.
The most famous match of Mick’s
was probably the Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker at King of the
Ring in 1998. This goes down as one of the most violent and dangerous matches in professional
wrestling history.
There is a lot I could say about
this match. Actually, I could probably write an entire article about it. However, I’m not. I’ll just give you an outline of
what happened during the match.
The match itself consisted of two
main high falls, or bumps as they are known in professional wrestling. In the first fall, Mick was thrown from the top of the cell
through the announce table, which was a height of 22ft when taking into account the
angle at which he fell.
Surprisingly, Foley only suffered
a dislocated shoulder from the first fall, but was still badly shaken up. At this
point the match was stopped, and Mick was taken away from the ring. But being
the crazed lunatic that Mick Foley is, he comes back to the ring and scales
16ft up the cage once more to continue the match.
Now, the first fall was supposed
to take place, although everybody regretted letting it take place afterwards.
However, what happened next was 100% legitimate and was not planned.
The Undertaker delivers a
chockeslam to Foley resulting in a panel in the roof of the cell to give way,
and Foley crashes to the mat below knocking him unconscious in the process. On
the way down a steel chair which was on top the cell came down with Mick striking
him in the mouth causing him to lose one and a half of his teeth. One of his
teeth went up into his sinuses
and came through his nose. Other than this, from that fall he sustained
a badly bruised hip, a pierced bottom lip which was caused by him biting all the way through,
and a severe concussion.
Foley just lay there lifeless in the middle of the
ring for a few moments, and medics immediately rush the ring. Terry Funk, who
was at the scene at the time said in his book, "Watching from the back, I thought he was
dead. I ran out here and looked down at him, still lying in the ring where he'd
landed. His eyes weren't rolled back in his head, but they looked totally
glazed over, like a dead fish's eyes.”
At this point, the match was stopped again. However, Mick chooses to
continue the match. At this point, Mick can hardly get to his feet, and the
matches carries on for about 10 minutes, with the Undertaker ultimately winning
the match.
After the match, Mick refuses to be taken to the back on a stretcher, and
has to be carried to the back. Mick receives a standing ovation from the entire
crowd.
Mick could not remember much of the match itself and had to be shown tapes
of what exactly happened during the match. Still, 15 months after the match,
Mick struggled to remember peoples phone numbers, an on one occasion drove an
hour past his house without realising.
The fact is Mick Foley could have easily been killed that night, and for
what? Just so he could entertain a crowd. No man will ever attempt what he did
that night. Was it necessary what he put his body through that night? No way.
But what happened that night will be remembered forever, and nobody will ever
try to recreate it.
Oh yeah, did you know professional wrestling is fake? Give me a break.
If you would like to see the full
match then a video can be found below.
I hope you enjoyed this article, and part 3 will be uploaded soon.
Catch you later,
Giordano
I hope you enjoyed this article, and part 3 will be uploaded soon.
Catch you later,
Giordano
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