This is a startling little article over at wrestlinginc.com
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2011/0522/539855/
From 1991’s wrestlemania VII, a full quarter of the performers are now dead from heart attacks and drug overdoses for the most part.
the same cannot be said for NFL superbowl starters of that year, or even Boxers.
And that’s what happens when a car salesmen runs a stable of athletes.
Beware.
UH…If men in America want to risk their health to be on a male soap opera, that’s their right.
Life, liberty, and the right to be stupid!!
so, no accountability? no regulation? no oversight like in other pro sports?
This is a big sport a huge money maker and apparently dangerous for the performers involved for any number of reasons from doping to dubious management practices.
May as well make a sport of jumping off a bridge with no rope for 25% of the participants.
I agree you can’t legislate against stupidity, but you can make sure people have difficulty exploiting stupidity.
Also, you’ve pretty much made the statement for all fighting sports. Which doctors will tell you outright these days are a stupid activity to be involved in due to the high amount and repetition of concussions that occur which in fact limit quality of life even when you are young.
Who knows what people are losing with every impact on their brain?
IMO it’s not a sport, it’s entertainment. Sure there’s athletic ability involved but in no way you can consider it a sport. It’s sad to hear these guys destroy their body in that way and end up paying the ultimate price, but it’s their choice.
[QUOTE=Brule;1098897]IMO it’s not a sport, it’s entertainment. Sure there’s athletic ability involved but in no way you can consider it a sport. It’s sad to hear these guys destroy their body in that way and end up paying the ultimate price, but it’s their choice.[/QUOTE]
Sport is entertainment by definition bud. Boxing is entertainment, so is football, wrestling etc.
It’s a sport like any other by all definitions of sport. Is it fair? no, probably not. lol
It is a lot of theatre, but then, so is a lot of sport.
I don’t consider it a sport either. They are obviously very athletic people. Especially the luchadors(sp?).
But, in reality, there is no competition or game involved. It’s a prearranged set of movements where they already know the outcome.
I’d consider it more akin to something like the Shaolin Wheel of Life things than I would a sporting event.
Again, i’m not saying the guys aren’t athletic. That’s obviously not true. Just isn’t a sport, imo.
[QUOTE=MasterKiller;1098891]UH…If men in America want to risk their health to be on a male soap opera, that’s their right.
Life, liberty, and the right to be stupid!![/QUOTE]
I completely agree.
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1098895]so, no accountability? no regulation? no oversight like in other pro sports?[/QUOTE]
Back in the 1994 Vince McMahon was put on trial for distributing steroids. He was acquitted.
They are not as heavily regulated as boxing, MMA, football, etc because they are not a sport by legal definition.
[QUOTE=BJJ-Blue;1098904]
They are not as heavily regulated as boxing, MMA, football, etc because they are not a sport by legal definition.[/QUOTE]
“legal” definition?
Ok, so what is teh “legal” definition of sport.
here’s the dictionary definition of it.
noun/spôrt/
sports, plural
[B]An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment[/B]
- team sports such as baseball and soccer
- a sports center
Entertainment; fun
- it was considered great sport to trip him up
[B]A source of amusement or entertainment[/B]
- I do not wish to show myself the sport of a man like Williams
A person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation
- go on, be a sport!
- Angela's a bad sport
An animal or plant showing abnormal or striking variation from the parent type, esp. in form or color, as a result of spontaneous mutation
so, “legal”? whatever. 
I still wouldn’t categorize it as a sport, bud. There is no competition for the ultimate prize, they know who’s coming home with the gold at the end of the day. By using that web definition you could call anything made for entertainment a sport. Their primary purpose is to entertain the fans.
It isn’t a competition…
The wrestlers are very well aware of the health risks of their job.They are willing to sacrifice it because preforming in front of an audience is addictive to them.
Personally i find it quite brave that one is willing to make such a trade
[QUOTE=goju;1098914]The wrestlers are very well aware of the health risks of their job.They are willing to sacrifice it because preforming in front of an audience is addictive to them.
Personally i find it quite brave that one is willing to make such a trade[/QUOTE]
All a matter of perspective I suppose.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1098912]It isn’t a competition…[/QUOTE]
Uh, you’d be surprised at how many so called “competitions” are not that at all.
I think people would be outraged if they knew how money effected the outcomes of games.
Anyway, what you guys “think” a sport is, versus the very definition of it from whatever dictionary you choose which defines words and their meaning is irrelevant.
really it is. Sorry to let you down, but something isn’t suddenly something else because you personally don’t want to see it that way. lol.
or, just because you think so and say so doesn’t mean it’s true.
so, by definition, wwe is a sport and in fact advertises itself as such. Anyway, this was not the point of the thread.
It is an observation that unregulated sport-entertainment involving violence real or contrived is in actually… not a very intelligent thing to do. It is startling the amount of deaths that have happened from what seems to be a need to compromise yourself in an effort to stay at the top of the game and not get relegated to the lower ranks.
This is where the idea of sport and competition gets sad and self defeating.
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1098916]Uh, you’d be surprised at how many so called “competitions” are not that at all.
I think people would be outraged if they knew how money effected the outcomes of games.
Anyway, what you guys “think” a sport is, versus the very definition of it from whatever dictionary you choose which defines words and their meaning is irrelevant.
really it is. Sorry to let you down, but something isn’t suddenly something else because you personally don’t want to see it that way. lol.
or, just because you think so and say so doesn’t mean it’s true.
so, by definition, wwe is a sport and in fact advertises itself as such. Anyway, this was not the point of the thread.
It is an observation that unregulated sport-entertainment involving violence real or contrived is in actually… not a very intelligent thing to do. It is startling the amount of deaths that have happened from what seems to be a need to compromise yourself in an effort to stay at the top of the game and not get relegated to the lower ranks.
This is where the idea of sport and competition gets sad and self defeating.[/QUOTE]
And just because YOU declare it is a sport doesn’t make it so. Sorry.
The ONLY reason the government can get involved in professional sports is because pro leagues are afforded anti-trust exemption. WWE has no anti-trust exemption, and therefore the government has no business regulating any part of it.
I would compare what pro-wrestling organizations do, moreso since the '90s, to what the Hong Kong stunt performers did mostly in the '80s to early '90s, and some Thai performers are doing today. Basically, destroying or risking destroying their bodies to get the biggest props from their peers and the audiences. The difference with the WWE, Impact and others is that they must do it night in, night out every week. Unlike filming a movie, they have to get the stunt(s) right the first time; there are no second takes in front of a live audience.
In a way, the pro wrestling spectacle is a type of competition. The matches themselves are a “work,” but the performers are working to improve their spots on the roster and with the audiences. Bigger reactions (love or hate) from the fans, obviously, equals better spots and bigger paydays/less chance of being fired. Once they have their spot, they obviously don’t want to lose it by not performing when injured.
Sure, the outcomes are fixed, but unlike what some believe, the entire match can’t be choreographed start to finish. You can often see the pro wrestlers putting their heads closer and whispering to each other during the course of a match. They also work on cue and a lot of improvisation.
But in the end, it’s their own choice what to do with their bodies. There are plenty of young people who will do anything at a chance for (or to hold on to) stardom. Not to go too far off-topic, but there are many professions that involve health hazards, such as coal mining, firefighting, etc., etc. Some might say that these things involve essentials (true), but they are all professions that involve risks to life and health.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1098919]And just because YOU declare it is a sport doesn’t make it so. Sorry.[/QUOTE]
no need to get all huffy and bnched up.
I didn’t “declare” it anything. I pointed it out that it is defined as such.
lol, got your old coot mode on or something?
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1098907]“legal” definition?
Ok, so what is teh “legal” definition of sport.
here’s the dictionary definition of it.[/QUOTE]
It’s up to each State’s Combative Sports commissions. They define what a sport is, not a dictionary. If it doesn’t fit their definition of a combative sport, they can’t/wont regulate it. It’s that simple.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1098919]And just because YOU declare it is a sport doesn’t make it so. Sorry.[/QUOTE]
He will argue til he is blue in the face, or his fingers fall off. He is never wrong.
He posted once that the Federal Reserve is a private corporation and after it was pointed out to him he was wrong he still refused to type the simple words, ‘I was wrong’. And he isn’t going to type them on this thread either.
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1098947]no need to get all huffy and bnched up.
I didn’t “declare” it anything. I pointed it out that it is defined as such.
lol, got your old coot mode on or something? :p[/QUOTE]
Bah, i’m not huffy! Not trying to be anyways, lol.
That was actually me being a smart ass more than anything else