Wrestling

[Horny Elf]

Can somebody here give me a reasonable explanation to why the hell anyone over the age of twelve is willing to spend time and money on something as ridiculously stupid as fat and ugly men who pretend-fight in tights?

There are alot of annoying sports out there, but atleast they have some sort of competative edge. Wrestling is just.. the sheer essence of stupidity.

Anyone ?

[RATTY...]

Only americans like it. They're too stupid to see through the tricks. Stupid entertainment for stupid people.

[Antega]

Yea... can't stand wrestling. I live in England though... Americans find it entertaining.

Women wresting though :grin:

[Troll King]

It's entertaining. That's all that needs to be said. If you don't think it so, then so be it. There's no need to insult those who do. Call them boorish if you want, but they aren't the ones calling others stupid over it.

[Raver420]

Hahaha

Only americans like it. They're too stupid to see through the tricks. Stupid entertainment for stupid people.

[PH]

I like how RATTY.....,...,..@(@#327* completely disregards the fact that the WWE travels to the UK and other places in Europe, and sells out every show. Yet "only americans like it". I guess the clue train is a bit slow in getting to Norway and letting him know that wrestling is pretty fucking huge in Japan too.

Anyway, yeah, it's our answer to females and their soap operas. If it was just rolling around on a mat and shit that would kinda suck, but there are storylines and angles, and I think the majority of fans are more interested in those than in the actual wrestling.

[Riesen]

I thought this was going to be about amateur wrestling, olympic-style, whatever you want to call it. The "real wrestling". I did that until I fucked up my knee.

[DoTheFandango]

I like it for its entertainment calue. We know it's fake, we know its lame, but it's fun to watch at times.

The video games are alot of fun too!

[Dameon Angell]

Its like the equivalent of a soap opera for guys. You ask people "Why the hell did you watch Dallas?" And they'd usually go back and say "Cause it's stupid, but you get into it, etc*." Same thing for wrestling.

[Ward]

its not just about wrestling, its about rivalries and shit

[Facetious]

ive never been into wrestling. i suppose the intelligence of people who watch it varies, but i dont think you can argue that the dialogue is not written for intelligent people. i always watch when the chicks wrestle, if their plastic surgery is at least somewhat convincing, but i dont really understand why the guys have to wear such tight spandex. clearly, it makes sense in real wrestling, but in pro wrestling, people wear all types of clothes, the spandex obviously doesnt offer a "competitive advantage" i bet if you asked a sample of wrestling fans "do you like the spandex costumes" a ridiculous minority would say yes, but at the same time, im sure they do market research and find that wrestling fans watch more when the guys are in revealing clothing, or else theyd be rid of it by now.

i cant help but believe that OVERALL, professional wrestling fans are below average in intelligence, and have some sort of homosexual curiosity.

[Troll King]

It's about the illusion of competitive advantage. A lot of people wonder why fans watch when it's fake, and they miss the point when they ask that. Fans know it's all an illusion, and the costumes are a part of that. Actual wrestling and other grappling type fighting styles prefer tighter clothing so your opponents can't get a good grip. In pro wrestling, it's all about adding to the illusion. Most of the moves don't actually hurt, for example, but they try to make them look as if they should hurt a lot. Likewise, if they want to appear competitive, then they should dress as if they were competitive. You seem to be operating under the logic that, because it's fake, there's no reason to wear tights as if you were a real wrestler, but that's missing the whole point.

Tighter clothing also better highlights people's physiques. Wrestlers want to give the illusion that they are bigger and stronger than they really are, and the tights add to that illusion. Some wrestlers have been known to do other things like wearing lifts on their boots to make them look taller. Some shave their heads or grow distinctive facial hair to make themselves look more intimidating.

A lot of it is tradition too. Older generations of wrestlers wanted their fans to think it was real, so they dressed the way fans felt they should if they were real. In recent years, people are more aware of the illusion, but wrestling culture has a strong tradition, and the tights are an important part of that history. The costume also defines the style of the wrestler. More hardcore wrestlers ditch the tights for ripped jeans or ragged t-shirts, and their dress reflects their approach. Others have costumes that reflect their characters so they dress the part. Mexican wrestlers also have a strong tradition of wearing masks. It may seem as silly as wearing tights, but in Mexico, the masks are badges of honour. It's considered a disgrace for a wrestler to become unmasked while in character, sort of like the people playing Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. There was even one popular Mexican wrestler who crossed over into film and his character in a series of films was a wrestler/detective, and he keeps his mask on the entire film. There was a scene where he steps out of the shower in the locker room after a match and you realize he had the mask on the entire time he was in there.

There is another practical reason besides "competitive advantage" however, and that's branding. Many wrestlers have logos or catch phrases or nicknames, and those show up better on tighter clothing. A lot of the designs are rather elaborate, and it's probably easy to produce them on that material. You can achieve the same thing with t-shirts for example, but under the physical grind, t-shirt material will easily get torn during a match. They add to a wrestler's overall appearance and distinctive costume makes them more memorable and thus more marketable.

You can look at some baseball players for a parallel. Some prefer the older, baggy style uniforms when it would likely increase drag. It gives them a distinctive look. The difference between baseball and wrestling is that appearance plays a bigger role in a wrestler's success. A lot of the same reasons work for comic book superheroes. Why does Superman wear tights? He doesn't need to worry about wind resistance as he's strong enough to overcome any drag. Hell, if I was Superman and my weakness was kryptonite, I'd walk around in a lead suit all day. He's strong enough to move around in a lead suit and lead protects him from kryptonite radiation. But the illustrators draw him in tights because of many of the same reasons that wrestlers dress that way.

[3d.]

This will attract FozzY2k before long. he he, silly hard man wanna be wrestler guy. pfft. :wub:

[Valker]

Only way to watch Muscular, Sweaty Men in tight, rather revieling outfits touching each other in a manly way without being accused of homosexual behaviour. It's Real Men's Sport after all ^-^

[Roxy]

Wrestling can be fun to watch when the storylines are interesting. I usually watch RAW and the bigger PPV's. Oh and quite a few europeans do like wrestling.