TNA: Maybe Mr. Anderson Is Right. Wrestling IS Real

Ken Anderson walked to the ring on TNA with a t-shirt that reads, "Wrestling is real... People are..."

I do not need to finish his statement because most people who know Anderson knows he says what he wants to say. But maybe the former TNA Champion has a point and wrestling itself is real and the crap around it is fake.

And when we look at the state of the "business" and the demand for greater risk without reward, them maybe the injury by Jesse Sorensen was one that was bound to happen at some point. Only problem with that is we did not expect the injury to be as "dramatic" and drastic as it was.

When Sorensen broke his neck, a C-1 injury that connects the spinal cord to the skull, it proved just how dangerous the business is. The moves professionals make, no matter how much they train or rehearse or even claim that the moves and the "entertainment" is fake, still hurt and could be life-threatening or deadly.

I cannot find a copy of the injury on the internet that has not been confiscated by TNA as property of their marketing and brand. But an injury to the spine and subsequent partial, if not full paralysis, is pretty serious. And no matter how many times we see the disclaimer on WWE shows or PPV events or on TNA, the need to see a higher rate of severity in moves, holds and punishment is what drives buy rates and ratings.

And the more the business clamours for it, the more high risk moves wrestlers will take and more injuries will take place. We have seen throughout the years what injuries have done to wrestlers like Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Kurt Angle and others. I cannot quantify the loss of Owen Hart in this list because he fell to his death during a pre-match stunt. And we still do not know all the facts in that case. But his loss was tragic.

Mike DiBiase is one of the few professional wrestlers to die during a match. On July 2, 1969 in DiBiase suffered a fatal heart attack in the ring, but we cannot use his death as part of this analysis either, it is just an unfortunate set of circumstances.

What we can talk about is the growth of the business as entertainment and not wrestling as a sport. We can talk about how we are getting away from drop kicks and armbars to concentrate on kicking opponents' faces off. More punishment and more aerial moves are affecting both losers and winners, and they are drawing more ooohs and aaahs from the crowd.

Wrestlers like Giant Baba, Jack Brisco and Buddy Rogers would have been repulsed by these circumstances. And the current veterans like Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Bruno Sammartino must be sick to their stomachs watching what happens when a Daniel Bryan and Big Show collide.

What the hell is happening to the business myself and others fell in love with?

Sorensen's injury was tragic, unforgettable and sad. But it is the nature of the business today. Until there is a need to control the antics that call for high-risk moves that go above and beyond what we are used to, then these things will continue to happen. There will not be any regulation, maybe some discussion, but in the end we will see things stay the same.

And more of our superstars will be injured, possibly worse than Sorensen was Sunday night.