Most rational people know that the wrestling that is shown on TV is faked and rehearsed, sorry kids but it is. This is a cheesy, scripted popular version of wrestling that comes on television and has the wrestlers pounding the stuffing out of each other but then suddenly the one getting pounded jumps up as if nothing was happening to him and turns the match around.
This TV wrestling is nothing like the proper sport that has a place in the Olympics but it is still very compelling viewing and when it’s on despite all the cheesiness and drama it is still very watchable.
There is another type of popular wrestling that originated in Japan but is now watched all over the world. This is extreme wrestling, some elements of which have been incorporated into mainstream wrestling entertainment. Extreme wrestling can include thumb tack matches, barbwire matches, glass glued to knuckles matches, tables and chairs matches, light tube matches, electricity matches and also the all important mud wrestling matches.
Wait mud wrestling is a different type of wrestling; it’s not so extreme, unless it’s two fat guys in thongs going at it. This form of wrestling is very watchable as well just like a car crash is watchable you know you should be horrified at a car crashing just as you should be horrified to see two adults beating each other up and throwing each other in barbwire. Wait let me say that again BARBWIRE. If anyone has ever seen barbwire, it is wire with extremely sharp bits sticking out of it that slice skin and can pierce eyes. Now imagine someone getting thrown into barbwire and getting stuck and then pulled out. Why would anyone watch something like that? But people do and extreme wrestling is growing in popularity.
It is also not only guys that are getting into it, a quick scan of YouTube reveals that women are just as hardcore as male wrestlers. One particular match had two ladies wrestling in a ring which instead of rope had electrified wire installed, which would explode with a bang and flames and sparks would fly out of it anytime one hapless wrestler would be thrown into it. Another had two ladies wrestling in a ring that had thumbtacks strewn across the ring floor. If anyone has ever had a thumbtack stuck in them like I have, let me tell you it hurts. Now imagine hundreds of them on the floor and someone picks you up and throws you onto them.
Hmm, that doesn’t sound like my idea of a great way to earn my living but hey people enjoy doing it and others enjoy watching it. All I can say is that these female and male wrestlers are very brave individuals because even though this too is rehearsed, how exactly does one fall properly into a chair that has been set on fire. The simple law of demand and supply state that as long as people want to pay to watch something like extreme wrestling there will be people willing to hurt themselves in order to fill that demand. We can all just hope that no one gets seriously hurt and things don’t get too extreme and we start seeing gladiatorial matches to the death in the near future; now that indeed would be extreme.
Examples of blood sports abound with nasty ones like dog fighting, c**k fighting and many others showing us that if this trend of wrestling getting more and more extreme continues we will end up one day watching people killing each other on our TV screens. Hopefully we as a society will resist our own bloodthirsty nature and set up rules and regulations and laws to make sure that never happens. If it doesn’t we will find ourselves moving backwards into bleak and dark times instead of moving forward and stopping all forms of violence and learning to live in peace with each other. It is a tricky one to call though at what point is it not ok for people to exercise their freedom to hurt themselves and others if people demand it. At what point does the government step in and put an end to it? I’m glad I don’t have to answer these questions, that job is left to the politicians.
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