FREE ESSAY ON IS WRESTLING A SPORT

IS WRESTLING A SPORT

Is Professional Wrestling a Sport?
Imagine thousands of screaming fans waiting for the popular television show WWF Monday
Night Raw to begin. Elaborate firework displays go off and loud music plays all to
enhance the audience's excitement. This is professional wrestling, one of the hottest
things on TV today. It is one of the highest rated programs on television each week. With
all the attention wrestling is receiving today, a great debate has ensued. Many people
argue that pro-wrestling is not a sport and that anyone can become a profession wrestler.
They believe it is not physically demanding and they are not hurting each other; it is
completely fake. By many, wrestling is considered nothing more than a fancy show with
talented actors. Professional wrestling is deemed by many people to be a "male soap
opera." So the question arises, should professional wrestling be considered a real
sport?
A sport is defined as any activity where competition is involved. Whether it involves a
one on one confrontation or teams, it is a sport. A sport also normally contains great
physical exertion among the athletes in which they must train for a long time in order to
aquifer a skill. Another quality of a sport is the desire amongst all athletes to be the
best. Professional sports are also about pleasing the fans because without the fans there
would be no pro-sports. A final thing about professional sports has to do with travel and
frequency of competition. Many pro sports require their athletes to travel and perform
very frequently. These ideas are what sports are all about.
Now take professional wrestling as a sport. The wrestlers definitely are athletes that
aquifer a skill in order to wrestle. Wrestlers also very often square off in fierce one
on one battles or sometimes they pair off in tag teams. The greatest of all reasons why
pro-wrestling is a sport though is the great physical exertion that must endure in the
course of a match.
The amount of physical pain goes through in a match is immense. The matches are truly
exhausting to the wrestler. Matches normally last from ten to fifteen minutes but may go
upwards of a half-hour. During the match there are no breaks, the wrestlers are
constantly hitting each other and performing moves like piledrivers and suplexes.
Wrestlers even sometimes leave the ring and this is where their true stamina and strength
come in. Many weapons are used like chairs, ladders, and even tables. The power of the
hits from these weapons even sometimes causes the wrestlers to bleed. Many people believe
this blood is fake, but it is almost always real and the wrestlers must continue their
matches through it. Next, the wrestlers sometimes proceed into the audience. This is
especially dangerous because the wrestlers have to do deal with their opponents as well
as drunken fans screaming and hitting them. This is just a typical day in the life of a
pro-wrestler. 
If still uncertain if professional wrestlers pain and injuries during the course of a
match, watch the wrestler Mankind. Mankind is a former World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
champion and is often dubbed "hardcore," meaning he experiences no pain. He takes more
punishment than perhaps any pro-wreslter in history. Take for example, a match he had
this past June. It was against a very powerful competitor, the Undertaker. The match
began on top of an eighteen-foot high cage. A few moments later Mankind was thrown off
the cage and crashed through a table. It looked like the match was over, but Mankind
miraculously got up and continued by climbing the cage again. Next, he was thrown through
the cage and landed on his back in the middle of the ring. Mankind then somehow got up
again and even managed to fight the Undertaker for about fifteen minutes. Finally, the
match ended when Mankind was pinned after being slammed into about five hundred
thumbtacks. During this match Mankind lost three teeth, broke two ribs, and punctured a
kidney. Only a real athlete with great stamina could pull of such amazing feats.
For a person to begin their wrestling career they must first go to a special wrestling
school. Here they go through intense training and learn the basics of wrestling such as
how to fall, hit each other, and perform specific moves. More importantly wrestlers must
learn how to not injure each other significantly. Professional wrestling has many
dangerous maneuvers that can cause broken bones, paralysis, or even death. At wrestling
schools, wrestlers also get themselves into top physical condition. This is done by
performing a rigorous set of training such as running, push-ups, and weightlifting.
Without this training, a wrestler without never be able to sustain the intense they take
and the long matches they perform in.
Professional wrestling is also a great example of the athlete having a desire to be the
best. Very often after wrestling school, a wrestler must start off very small. The first
places they wrestle are in tiny federations where the matches are held in small venues
such as high school gyms and bingo halls. If they perform well, they can work their way
up until they reach the pinnacle of professional wrestling, the WWF. 
A need to please the audience is also another excellent quality of professional
wrestling. In order to keep the interest and support of the fans; wrestlers must be at
their best at all times. They have absolutely no room for error. If a wrestler does not
perform well they will lose their fan base and eventually their jobs. This is another
reason why pro-wrestling is so competitive, it is survival of the fittest.
Professional wrestling is also about traveling frequently over large distances. Wrestlers
in major federations such as the WWF fly all over the country to perform in matches. The
WWF even goes to other nations such as the United Kingdom. No pro-sport makes their
athletes travel to other continents to perform. There are also very few breaks in
wrestling. Very often, a wrestler must wrestle three to four times a week in different
cities. This continues year-round because there are no off-seasons in professional
wrestling. In some aspects pro-wrestling is harder than other pro-sports because no other
sport makes their athletes travel as consistently or wrestle as often.
In conclusion, professional wrestling is undoubtedly a sport. Wrestlers have to perform
in many tasks that go along with the definition of sport. They have to endure pain, train
rigorously, please audiences, and travel in order to succeed. Without these things, a
wrestler would never amount to anything. The next time someone tries to say professional
is fake and not a sport because wrestlers are not athletes let them know what
pro-wrestlers go through.