WWE Panorama: 5 Dimensions of the Pro Wrestling

Pro wrestling has been a polarizing “sport” throughout its rich history. While many people have fallen in love with this business for lifetime, society has normally detested it.

A majority of the society is not even completely aware of this industry. People think that it is only violence, and that too fake. It further allows people to deride the fans of pro wrestling.

I myself had a little experience past week, which bemused me. One of my friends and an admirable critique of my writing flatly refused to call my work on bleacher report “writing.” According to her, only demented people could be fans of such a wicked sport. Hence, being a pro wrestling writer must have made me a cannibal in her eyes.

Given the relationship writers and critiques share, I let the debate go at that point. However, it made me introspect.

While we can quarrel with these people all day long, we have to realize that some content of WWE and extremely hard-core promotions have always created false notions about the true nature of pro wrestling. It has often come across as sexually explicit, ultra-violent and morally bankrupt pastime.

Unfortunately the truth cannot be farther from that, and that is what needs to be highlighted.

My encounter with my friend confirmed my belief that people need to be shown a different side of pro wrestling, a side that stands for everything that is right with the business. We must underline those factors that have enamored the most sensible and sensitive connoisseurs amongst us.

We must acquaint people with the Art of Pro Wrestling.

Calling pro wrestling an art may cause a little bit of stir, however I will stick to what I believe. We will explore it through five stages.

• 1. Wrestling as an art and expression
• 2. Medium of the art
• 3. Wrestlers - the divine artistes
• 4. Fans - the Connoisseurs 
• 5. Wrestling - An Addictive Experience

Thus without any further ado, let us indulge in the divine elements of pro wrestling.

Wrestling as an Art: Wrestling as an Expression

Before we try to establish pro wrestling as an art, we ought to understand what the art is. There are many complicated definitions of art. Many elite thinkers have tried to define “art” in own aesthetic way.

Wikipedia - the digital avatar of oracles - defines art in the following manner.

"

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses emotions, and intellect.

"

I have a simpler definition of my own.

"

Art is an expression of human heart. It is conveyed by one, and understood by many.

"

Pro wrestling stands true on every word written above. Pro wrestling meets every benchmark to qualify as an art.

A conglomeration of factors like wrestlers, production crew, bookers and writers creates a well-rehearsed spectacle that mesmerizes millions.

It makes many adults realize that a child still lives inside them. It inspires awe. It invokes emotion. It makes one gasp, and it makes one smile. It enables many souls to connect with each other on common grounds. Pro wrestling makes one write, and inspires evaluative debates although they might often involve rather acrimonious undertones.

Therefore, we can safely say that pro wrestling is more than able to affect our senses, emotions and intellect.

However, an art goes beyond these definitions. Art is not any activity, it is an experience.

Three factors essentially create an experience of art. The very first of them is...

Medium of the Art: Storytelling

Every art has one or more mediums that convey its message. For e.g. Painting involves exhibition of colours. Music through its sounds soothes our soul.

Similarly, pro wrestling through storytelling and its elements captures our imagination. Story is the exact factor that distinguishes pro wrestling from wrestling, and which takes it more to the realms of art rather than to those of sports.

The story in pro wrestling is the same old story of “good vs. Evil.” This story is being told for eons, it is told by all sorts of cultures and it has been learned by all generations of the humanity, but it still has the evergreen splendour.However the true magic of this story in pro wrestling is not in the result where good guys win. It lies more in the way good guys win. Pro Wrestling is about “How”, not about “what.”

Storytelling in pro wrestling has several aspects.

Through wrestling and ring psychology, a story is unfolded in front of our eyes. Every punch, every slam and every counter has a purpose. The sequences we see unleash different stages of the story.

The use of promos and characters add new layers to the story. They enhance the “good” and “bad” dimensions to great effect. But most importantly they simplify the story to such an extent that it is understood by the last person in the audience.

A company like WWE can further amplify the effects of story with the able use of lighting, pyros and other production techniques.

However, above all these factors there is one more. Every art is incomplete without one ingredient and that is emotion. If art is an expression of one heart, understood by many, then emotion is the very language of that expression.

Pro Wrestling can be spectacular at any time, but it only becomes meaningful when it has emotion.

Emotion makes us relate with our superstars. It was because of their emotions that HBK, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Sting, the Undertaker and Eddie Guerrero surpassed the boundaries of normal wrestlers. It was because of their emotions, they made a place in people’s hearts. And no matter if they never sold merchandises, they sold the story brilliantly and that made them stand above a lot of bigger stars.

A reference to these people takes me to the next factor that makes Art one experience. And that is…

Wrestlers: The Divine Artistes

There is no art without artistes. No word, No colour or no move has any meaning unless and until it is given one by an artiste.

In pro wrestling, a move attains its meaning when a pro wrestler puts his heart into it to tell the story through that move. It might be a physicality of pile driver or it might be an aerial move that defies gravity, wrestlers make them meaningful by using them at the right place and at the right time. 

People like Chris Jericho, Edge, The Undertaker, Christian, Eddie and many others dreamt of becoming a pro wrestler and did anything necessary to become one. There are hundreds of similar pro wrestlers around the globe who have remained unknown for their lives but who have worked equally hard.

These people lived through hard days and hungry nights to be what they are. That is why, when they were in the ring, they had a sense of purpose that many “superstars” lack. Some of them became legends and some them an afterthought. But nobody can take away the fact that they tried and did it.

Secondly, every artiste has an ego and that takes him to the limit. HBK belonged to this category. He knew he could do things others can only dream of. Every night he went out to outdo himself. He expressed himself without any inhibitions and gave us surreal shows.

The reason such guys are artistes, and some others are not is their approach. Their devotion and dedication separated them from run of a mill stars.

Humility is another hallmark of the artiste. No artiste ever considers himself above his art. It is precisely why; a wrestler like Akira Hokuto is an artiste. For those who do not know her, Akira Hokuto is a Japanese female pro wrestler and she will always remain one of the greatest wrestlers to step in the ring.Despite her stature, her stardom she was never an AJW champion. The reason she was not one is what makes her so big. In 1993, Akira was booked to win the title against Aja Kong, but she HERSELF requested AJW honchos to make this match a non-title bout. She explained that an injured woman winning such a prestigious title would be an insult of the belt and all previous holders.

It is people like these that have given pro wrestling its true glory.

However, all these artistes have one bond in common and it is the reason that helped them to survive through every rough patch of life. And the reason is…

Fans: The Connoisseurs

Every artist displays his craft for the single reward. This reward is adulation of the people. It holds true for every artiste.

Whenever passionate pro wrestlers put their heart on the display, they forget about wins and losses. They forget about the pay and the push. All they care about is the audience and their response.

Those claps and chants of "this is Awesome” is the ultimate prize that the true artist of the squared circle fights for. It does not matter how many hands are clapping or how many voices are screaming. All that matters is the voice of claps, voice of chants and the subsequent state of trance.

It is the exact behaviour of the fans and their reactions that makes up for the third dimension of this art. Along with medium of art and an artiste, it is audience that creates the experience of art.

Few pro wrestlers in the ring can create one great spectacle, but it only becomes an experience when people watch it and feel it.

It is the dropped jaws and faces painted in a palette of emotions that give pro wrestling its true soul.

Wrestling: An Addictive Experience

People often ask us with subliminal snobbery that why we love pro wrestling so much. They expect us to defend ourselves feebly and give up our passion. Well,god bless the poor creatures. Some things can never be explained, they need to be experienced. Pro wrestling is one of such things. It is the experience of wrestling that makes it so much special.

Pro wrestling takes some time to make one a true fan. Like a premium liquor, the kick of pro wrestling is little slow. It takes time to grow on you. However, after the first taste either you turn away or you never do.

Gradually we begin to understand difference between the good and bad pro wrestling. With time, we discover the magic of several dimensions of the pro wrestling. The five star matches, classic promos, surreal moments each of them takes a rightful place in our memory. We start recognizing talent when we see one.

It slowly becomes an addiction, a passion. That is because pro wrestling is an addictive experience.

The production crew, bookers and writers create a perfect backdrop for the wrestlers to showcase their talent. The wrestlers put their bodies on the line to entertain people. And in return, with their response audience enlivens the work of their favourite superstars.

The art, the artiste and the connoisseur, together transform the squared circle into a living theatre of dreams. It becomes a grand opera of emotions and ambitions, where every spectator has the right and a reason to be involved.

Such experience transcends the paradigm and becomes an interactive art. One feels compelled to engage in such a spectacle, and only once one has experienced it, one understands why people are pro wrestling fans.

Last Words...

We often analyse pro wrestling from different angles. The nature of pro wrestling gives us immense scope to do so. This article was an attempt to see pro wrestling through different lenses. It was an attempt to analyse pro wrestling from a novel aspect.

I would like to hope that it did not fail in its endeavor.

As always, it is up to you now. Whether you agree or you don’t, kindly voice your opinion irrespective of that. It is appreciated as always.

Thanks for reading and cheers.