Why Wrestling Is Fake, Explained

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: When did you first realise wrestling was 'fake'? Let me know in the comments... How Championship Belts Are Made, Explained 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2HTiGOrfJ1kqpI The History of Lucha Masks, Explained 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4XTeJ6FhteteZI

[@CasualFox12495]

More of this! Yasss Laurie!!!

[@freddiehowell6878]

Reading the title of this video... nobody told me

[@HoistTheBlackFlag]

It would be more tremendous to get the 'explained' of the change from 'sport' to 'Entertainment' so please sir, may we have another?

[@charithyadav1237]

Don't remember 😅

[@greenkoopa]

When I was a kid I saw Lex Luger wrestle in WCW. He was not very good.

[@michaelrivera8360]

"IS STILL REAL TO ME DAMMNIT"!!😥😥

[@marjoe32]

I can see the high school gym.

[@cenationmiles]

I was waiting for this comment

[@michaelrivera8360]

@@cenationmiles you are welcome!😀😁

[@ironmanDX]

🤣

[@kev_whatev]

Take it easy man

[@tryan715]

When I was a kid and found out that Santa Claus wasn’t real, I didn’t stop celebrating Christmas. I just celebrated it in a slightly different way. Less of the “magic” and more focus on the spirit of the holiday. The same thought process can be applied to professional wrestling

[@tryan715]

@Naruto Minato yes moron. I do know that.

[@LordDirus007]

Yeah you know there was this guy called Jesus

[@pinball541]

Wait! Santa Claus isn't Real???😁

[@tryan715]

@Nunya Buisness You’re ,clearly, to stupid to understand what I wrote. Please take your nonsense and shitty grammar elsewhere.

[@realityorfiction]

when I found out Santa Clause wasnt real the focus went from "Oh im going to write santa a letter" To oh "im going to beg my parents"

[@firemarshal2629]

My nephew was over during wrestle mania and told my son “you know it’s fake right?” My sons reply? “So, it’s still fun”

[@CarmeloHIM]

You should be proud.

[@MrBaronCabron]

It was your reply, wasn't it?

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Your son is wise beyond his years. Congratulations to you and yours for raising such an intelligent child.

[@bennewman4675]

When they get slapped in the chest and have a red mark that is real. And sometimes westling can go wrong. It's not all fake most of it is but not all of it.

[@rajdhaliwal9488]

It’s predetermined the outcome of the match but not fake the bumps risks are very real

[@shibbywwe]

You're about to work yourself into a shoot, brother

[@partsFUNknown]

Don't work yourself into a worked shoot shoot work, brother hh

[@Lynch2507]

@@partsFUNknown you shoot too much, you're gonna work yourself into a shoot work, and then you'll be the mark brother

[@erikstorm8935]

@@partsFUNknown You forgot: "only love HH" lol.

[@ChristopherJames1993]

What I find funny is that Kevin Sullivan kayfabed himself into a divorce and his wife having an affair. Literally worked it into a shoot.

[@joshoxley4445]

My eyes rolled further back than Taker's at that Lou Thesz Press gag, well played Laurie.

[@erikstorm8935]

He needs an obligatory "I see what you did there" ;).

[@zeroeleven6551]

YOURE EXPOSING THE BUSINESS LAURIE!

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: The business exposed itself! The subject of the next video!

[@LordDirus007]

Yeah everyone knows all of this information. Countless Documentaries on it. People don't care if Wrestling is fake. It's the Drama that people watch it for.

[@marc_leblanc]

I never liked the term fake. I prefer to say 'staged'. There's nothing fake about a slap to the chest! 😜

[@NeonKnightOA]

They actually have in the crew someone who had a bit of experience with being on the receiving end of another wrestler's attack during a match, lol!

[@DiabloTommaso]

Fake is wrong, staged is rigth. I can t take a quarter of a bump

[@iori1303]

What about the "punches" ? And why is it called "professional" wrestling and the actual wrestling is called "amateur" wrestling 🤔 ?

[@mattt115]

@@iori1303 we dont want everyone to be murder

[@Docwilson91]

I like to say predetermined outcome but that’s basically a long way of saying “staged” so no complaints here

[@JonathanH71]

I think it was the time Jim Duggan and The Iron Sheik got busted together when they were in a blood feud that made me really have to say okay something isn’t right here.

[@sumigoutham1391]

Iam so proud that i am a fan of professional wrestling

[@arijeet3224]

Mee too

[@TravisTheMaximus]

Who cares?

[@MrBrknsyt]

Just came here from Laurie's Wrestle News... Btw.. Hi Laurie, I'm your biggest fan!

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Welcome, welcome, hope you enjoy!

[@arijeet3224]

Just think if we were not a fan of professional wrestling what will our life look like!!!

[@anikawilson1937]

"Under a Dwayne Johson"..,got that😂

[@thedude5600]

Hollywood can claim a fictional film is based on true events, and no one bats an eye lid, in fact most fall for the re-invented history portrayed on screen. But with pro wrestling it’s literally treated like a slur on the face of sport but non wrestling fans. It’s stories told but athletes.

[@coreycollins6917]

Hollywood never pretended it were real nor do they get upset when you say movies are fake

[@azhan4983]

@@coreycollins6917 Hollywood never pretended it was real because it is obvious that a movie is fake but when it comes to wrestling it changes because there are some incidents like Pipe bomb and Foley falling off the cell that felt very real and therefore making people think twice about a particular moment that's why WWE or wrestling claims to be real.

[@austinleach1307]

@@coreycollins6917 I guess at that point I look at it as "being mad over a lie everyone stopped telling 30 years ago".

[@TheSupinesmokey]

@@austinleach1307 This

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Are you telling me the Blair Witch Project wasn't a documentary?

[@codyk5796]

Love Hackenschmidt vs Gotch being in the thumbnail

[@alfie859]

Such a good vid , you can really tell how much time is put into every video

[@KoolMutualAids]

Pro Wrestling is essentially like the tournament arc of a shounen anime but with live actors.

[@DottyBlitz]

the term “fake” isn’t a good way to say it, some people find it disrespectful best way to say it is “Scripted” or “Staged” as the bumps these men take actually hurt

[@NostalgiNorden]

Star Wars is more fake than wrestling.

[@ArtseyHayton06]

@@NostalgiNorden it's fiction so wha-

[@robertlogan5354]

Yep. The part most people mean when they say it's 'fake' is the bumps... which is mostly the only part that is real. Most everything else is fake.

[@jumperflake7145]

@@robertlogan5354 the Avengers r fake too..!! Especially the end game... It's so fake..

[@ryanatorryanson9535]

I say choreographed.

[@ColinStuart]

It gives you a new respect, for what stunt men do in the movies! Their athleticism is superior!

[@edatthegovernance]

As a fan of stage magic and pro wrestling, I can safely say my irritation is the same when someone tries to expose the 'fakery' of either. Even when I know how the trick is done, I came to see a performance. Let me enjoy it.

[@ianbyrne465]

I feel like there's an overlap of people who like reminding wrestling fans that it's 'fake' and people who share those 'childhood ruining' takes about Disney or something. Some people just really get off on what they perceive as exposing something or making it worse for others. It's like how most people who describe themselves as "brutally honest" seem to get more out of the "brutal" part than the honesty part

[@edatthegovernance]

@@ianbyrne465 point.

[@ajtee721]

When Rikishi 'did it for The Rock' 11 year old me was like "something ain't right"

[@dragondeeznutts]

Wym??

[@ajtee721]

@@dragondeeznutts that's when i realized it wasn't real

[@BlossomField91]

I learned it was fake for sure after I stopped watching and when I started using the internet regularly. I think I came across a Wikipedia page explaining pro-wrestling terms like kayfabe, shoot, (get) over, face, heel, etc. It didn't surprise me. I'd suspected it was fake because many pro-wrestling moves are impossible against unwilling opponents. It was always obvious when Undertaker did a Tombstone pile driver or whatever that the other guy was complying and Undertaker was making sure he was safe. A lot of wrestling moves (especially high flying stuff) looks cool but doesn't look like it hurts or even hurts the guy doing the move. Chris Benoit always curled in pain when he did diving headbutts and you could tell he wasn't acting. No wonder his brain turned to mush.

[@TomGarrett73]

Yes, I would enjoy a video focusing on the New Jersey Athletic Commission story.

[@hunterbridwell5104]

The whole video from that Al Snow piece is really interesting.

[@firemarshal2629]

Dude is a genius in the ring

[@PancakeRAPTURE]

Hi I’m here to beat a decades long dead horse and giving my complimentary “it’s still real to me damn it” comment, good day.

[@paulkusler]

This was a really great watch! Thanks for all the hard work putting it together👍

[@TheForeverRanger]

My favorite "expose the business" moment happened not on TV but in a movie. That movie was Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion. In the early scenes of the movie, it shows two wrestlers going over the match with the promoter played by Bud Abbott.

[@kamilahscorner6602]

You call those marks, bumps & bruises fake? Bc there’s nothing fake about that sh!t. “Fake” isn’t the right word to describe wrestling. It’s more insulting considering how much your favorites put on a show for y’all so they can feed their families. Y’all watch movies & tv shows & they’re fictional & I don’t hear any complaining about that.

[@thekydman01]

Yo ive never been so early to a PFK video im so happy.

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Welcome! Sometimes we lurk the comments this early

[@thekydman01]

@@partsFUNknown YOOOOO HELL YEAHHHHH. Love you guys man. Always putting out top tier content.

[@advictoriam3106]

Laurie! Bring back CBW! It's been absent for far too long and I want to know if Rick Thunder is safe!!!

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: We'll be doing it later in the year. Promise!

[@partsFUNknown]

We plan to when it's safe to do so in the UK from June!

[@advictoriam3106]

@@partsFUNknown cannot wait! The one shots were a god send during lockdown and they've been sorely missed especially after the way Rick's story came to an end. I marked out hard when Amelia made an appearance in Funemployed

[@partsFUNknown]

@@advictoriam3106 LAURIE: We've got some exciting things in the works for when we can get back together, so CBW should be pretty bloomin' ace when we can get back to it

[@FauxJas]

I really enjoy learning about the origins of some of these wtestling terms, I never knew Mark originated with a literal mark on an audience member.

[@godofdoss]

What an excellent video.

[@xMrd0nut]

"Wrestling is fake" Wait... what?! You mean that dead dude with magical powers of lightning, raising the dead, smoke, etc is only a CHARACTER?! youdontsay.jpeg

[@dragondeeznutts]

No bro that evening at olive garden actually happened, and that necromancer was REAL bro

[@afrikasmith1049]

I remember a story about Andre the Giant drinking in a bar and two guys started harassing him and saying that he wasn't so tough. Andre eventually got up and chased the two men out of the bar and flipped a car over if I'm not mistaken. Pro Wrestling is scripted but that doesn't mean they could put you to the ground in a real fight. Hell, some of those moves like the Tombstone Pile-driver could cripple you if it was used in a real fight. It takes skill to pull off all of those moves without hurting anyone and it takes incredible endurance to keep going after getting injured. That's why I respect professional wrestlers rather it's fake or not.

[@uhobme2028]

To be honest, it feels like a mix between circus and theater experiences. As a kid, when i learned it was fake, it took some of the shine off it and i dropped it eventually. I got back into it about three years ago and learning how things work has only given me more respect for the work and athletes.

[@NickyvMLP]

"Wrestling is fake." "So is your favorite movie." And that's shuts them up real quick.

[@Cboz1978]

You mean ET wasn't real???

[@monkeydluffy983]

That's a stupid comparison.

[@NickyvMLP]

@@monkeydluffy983 No its not, people just don't like it because it shuts them up

[@UFCWWE69]

@@NickyvMLP nah it’s dumb af

[@ogreen8475]

It might be pre-determined on who wins but I guarantee you half the people that say it’s fake couldn’t even do what they do in the ring!LOL

[@dabudebu3816]

There it is. The right argument.

[@paulbarrell9109]

If it wasn't scripted a lot more wrestlers would die as really fighting in these ways would cause deaths.

[@Powers3848]

And it did. Look how many wrestlers have died before they even reached 50 over the years. Not in the ring, but from drugs, pain pills, severe head traumas etc etc. All from being used as race horses. And who made the most money by tricking these individuals to give their lives?.... Yes who... Mm... Vince McMahon. He is a billionaire on countless ppls deaths.

[@sectorgovernor]

I think the same... Maybe it is fake because a real fight would be very dangerous

[@conjugationsm8528]

I'm very happy being a "mark". It's fun, interesting, can be introspective, dramatic, funny and just a lot of fun.

[@profjeff9]

18:52 "Two guys stretching each other out for three hours at a time."

[@chuges]

Love these videos so much. Well researched and presented with that trademark Cool Laurie flair and wit. Well done sir.

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Thanks!

[@Magnum_Dong]

When I was young I was in a weird stage of learning that wrestling is "fake" I knew they were actors, Undertaker of course isn't a zombie wizard, but I didn't fully realize what they were doing was "fake" so I deadass thought they had a line of people ready to play Undertaker after every time he kayfabe died.

[@rajdhaliwal9488]

It’s predetermined not fake they still take real bumps risks with no retakes like movies do

[@ascendancy425]

Definitely want that follow up video 👍

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Spoiler: it's mostly already written

[@edchanful]

This is one of the toughest sport to me, they bump their self in the ring, training 24/7, heading to gym, travel, make the match, let alone putting their brains on the work for creativity on their character n moves, plus with gimmick match including table ladder chairs it's tiring and not included injuries

[@funichigo]

Try MMA

[@bystanderbutch3509]

Ain't got nuthin on hockey.

[@jarvisyoung8350]

I've been a magician and even had a short non illustrious career in pro wrestling. The idea is that either is an entertaining art form or theater, if you will. Predetermined or "worked" that is cool. But, the term "fake" is very disrespectful to the effort and passion involved in being a professional wrestler. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the show.

[@agustinrico3304]

Wrestling for me is like a very physical episodic theatre, you’re seeing it live, and the actors are doing their best to give you a show, you know it’s not real but for a moment while watching it, you are immersed into it

[@bennewman4675]

When they get a red mark that bit is real. People all so have to try and remember wrestling can go wrong. Most of it is fake but not all of it all the time

[@1krani]

Anyone who hasn't seen ALL of Al Snow's wrestling lectures on The Hannibal TV, go watch them. Whatever you think you know about pro wrestling, you are wrong. Al Snow-sensei will enlighten you.

[@bradleycombs2626]

Wow what a great video!

[@bossbradley]

I love these videos! So much information.

[@matthewhart898]

This was really excellent. I knew a fair few details of the history of pro wrestling going in but there were many more details included in this plus interesting tidbit like why the media might keep away from writing any exposes on wrestling these days.

[@Tykoon22]

I just want Laurie to explain life to me on a daily basis--that should be a Patreon reward.

[@88kylesperhour]

Love these history videos! Would love to see a history of wrestling rings explained.

[@michaellively9692]

We know it’s mostly planned but when someone like Randy Savage jumps on you with his elbow you can not say ow

[@LeeCaithness]

British promoter Max Crabtree once said “for those people who like professional wrestling, no explanation is needed. For those people who don’t like it? Any explanation would not be acceptable.”

[@johnkusske7535]

When I was six years old I was absolutely terrified when Kinji Shibuya paralyzed a jobber wrestler with a nerve hold on tv. I ran to my parents in fear and they told me not to worry; it was all staged; everything would be all right. Sure enough, Vern Gagne showed up, massaged the jobber a little bit who got up and rubbed himself. That was the moment I knew wrestling was fake. But it was still fun and I've been watching it ever since. But now it isn't fun anymore.

[@EnTiDDies]

Wrestlers Dying over injuries and people still doubt that just because it's staged it doesn't mean that the pain received isn't 2015 Rey Mysterio match that had a wrestler unintentionally killed

[@davesmith-rs1yo]

Those vintage guy sure did look mean tho! Reminds me of the men I remember when I was a kid, builders, lorry drivers and you wouldn't wanna mess with them. Oh how things have changed.

[@EmmaBonn96]

To give a more detailed explanation of the term mark When you paid for your tickets The Carny would deliberately shortchange you. If you didn’t call them out on it. They would say, “hey, we have a special deal for you.” And they would Mark your hand and tell you to show that Mark to the different carnies running the games. They would then know to pressure the poor sap into spending more and more money. An important side note: there’s a Carny expression that goes “leave the mark his bus money.” What that basically means is, if you rob a mark blind, and he can’t go home, he’s going to stick around and eventually figure it out.

[@trustymccoolguy7828]

Another great video

[@NathanMladenik]

its not fake its fixed but it is real hits but not full power

[@krumphau]

Fiction. The obvious F word nobody outside wrestling seems able to grasp, is Fiction. It's a bizarre mental process where a person who reads books and watches movies and plays video games, when confronted with pro wrestling, is suddenly perplexed by the idea of being entertained by something that you know isn't real. And you literally have to explain the concept of fiction to them like they've never encountered it before.

[@xxflamesxx]

My small brothers says the ring is made of a trampoline 😂😂😂

[@GioTheVax]

Pro wrestling may be staged, scripted, or choreographed, it's anything but fake. The performers still go through grueling displays of athleticism, even if it's much safer than real fighting. Not just anyone can lift people as big as them over their head, or spring from a top rope, do a double flip, and slam into another person on the mat. It's really similar to stunt work in movies and TV. At the end of the day, it's still very impressive on the part of the performers

[@IBroLLyISePhIrOtH]

So you’re telling me the undertaker can’t teleport from the entrance to the ring?

[@TravisTheMaximus]

:O

[@josephmorelli3408]

If it wasn't "rehearsed" the wrestlers who took bumps would be dead.

[@TomJBeasley]

I'm assuming you took the rest of the day off after you wrote the Lou Thesz Press gag? I would've done.

[@justjack6275]

I love watching John Stossel get slapped.

[@tonyjackson4078]

Well done. I'm familiar with many names in this video, but I'm far from a wrestling historian. This contained a informative, not insulting explanation to not actually fans of pro wrestling, but those jerks who pipe up, even in 2021, "You know it's fake right?".

[@Lifewhilelearning]

1989? I'm pretty sure Vince made that speech in the late 90s. Great and informative video!

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Vince told the New Jersey State Senate in 1989 not to consider wrestling a bona fide competition for the purposes of circumventing the various Athletic Commissions - the out of character promo was about not insulting fans intelligence and during the Attitude Era

[@Lifewhilelearning]

@@partsFUNknown thanks. This is why you're the journalist. Much appreciated!

[@erikstorm8935]

Vince was lying in 1989 so he could circumvent the Athletic Commission. Wrestling was NOT fake in 1989. It was as real as can be, including 2 years earlier when Hogan bodyslammed the 900 Ibs Andre the Giant in front of 200,000 fans. And broke all of the muscles in his back. And wanna know why I think that? Because it's STILL REA... ok I promised myself I wouldn't finish that sentenced! Please...don't...do it.

[@TerminallyNerdy]

LOL that jim cornette dig at 13:36 was PERFECT. Love this series

[@joshpeters3803]

I thought Simon Miller had signed with PFK lol🤣🤣

[@donnietobasco9791]

I don't think anybody would deny that fitness, guile, courage, toughness and intelligence are all required in spades to place the spectacle of an entertaining wrestling bout before an audience. What's NOT being placed before that audience however, are the raw, unfiltered, visceral impulses that people who are engaged in genuine "life or death" combat are wont to display.....as they may once have been on show in the medieval or gladiatorial theatres of antiquity. Wrestling provides its audiences with a "safety conscious" mimicry of visceral brutality, and that in itself....is no mean feat. I don't think those who decry wrestling as "fake" are necessarily expressing a desire to have genuine...fights-to-the-death...make a come-back within civilised society. It's more of a nod to the fact that in times past....such things really WERE a common means of mob entertainment and they generally occurred without any filter, or attempt to sanitise the spectacle. It might be argued....that if we're no longer going to be a society which seeks or derives entertainment from genuine bouts of visceral brutality....then why do we even need to have such things professionally "mimicked" for entertainment purposes? The simple answer is probably.....because it's fun. Because its entertaining. Because at some level, it still taps into our visceral humanity.....and even as a sanitised spectacle, still has the power to stir human emotions and sate our inclinations to root for "good" over "evil" or to see justice (swiftly served) in the ancient manner of trial-by-combat etc. Humanity often improves itself....not necessarily just by stopping things it once used to practice.....but often just by sanitising and modernising those things to the point where they become much more benign and far less brutal. Wrestling is to be congratulated for this. It still pulls in audiences.....and its possible that many within those audiences don't even fully understand what it is they're being dawn to....but it also doesn't matter. The Wrestling pro's know precisely how to keep their audiences entertained and to extract those dollars.....and can generally do this without anybody being (deliberately) harmed, maimed or killed. "Fake" or "staged" it may well be.....but it's also done to a very high standard. A professional and often highly theatrical standard one might add.

[@williamhild1793]

EXCELLENT video, Laurie! Thank you very much for the history lesson. I will pass this video on to other fans to enjoy.

[@Powers3848]

20/20 already exposed wrestling back in 1984.... You never heard of Eddie Mansfield?... He basically took John Stossel and showed him everything even how they blade themselves to get color... Jeezes you guys are way behind... Just search here on KZbin: eddie mansfield 20/20. Pro Wrestling was exposed back in 1984!

[@bLYSfullyhere]

I love these videos Laurie!!! They’re so educational and fantastic. Please keep them coming!!

[@ThatEntertainingEdtechArtist]

This was awesome - thank you! I would love to learn more about athletic licensing and Vince’s request in ‘89. I live in South Carolina, and I believe there are athletic licensing issues here that prevent wrestling from coming here as much as North Carolina.

[@IDontCare-mo1tp]

Notice how all “wresting is fake” slaps all come from before 2001. 2001 was the 1st year mma/ufc went main stream snd the year wrestling died as a “sport”. The guys and girls are athletes, this isn’t in question. When you see the wresting punches and actual fighting punches it’s comical. I never wanted to grow out of wresting but it’s like religion. It’s believable when young but in the cold light of day as an adult it’s a soap opera not a sport

[@scotcarr3390]

Fascinating stuff. As a kid in the '70s & forward, I used to get all sorts of shite from other kids for liking wrestling. "It's so FAKE" they said. Imagine their shock when they finally realized how "real" it was! Like you guys said though, it didn't really matter that the wins & losses were scripted. That missed the point. Real or predetermined, pro wrestling is fun to watch. Just like magicians/illusionists, even though you KNOW there's a "secret" to the show, that doesn't matter because the show itself is so fun!

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Yeah exactly. For me the most interesting facet was the media obsession with it being fake, but then you think about credible reporting and all that stuff and you can see why the media would be so reluctant to talk about much else regarding wrestling other than the accusations of fakery.

[@bennygarcia1913]

It’s a soap opera with violence ! What’s not to like? Days of our lives was fake but people liked it. Let people enjoy it without crapping on it

[@ADL21]

It's funny wrestlers will hate if someone calls it fake, but when we're at training if someone's going a little to rough we go "settle down it's fake, you really wanna fight to go UFC"

[@thewoodchipperr]

THIS THE ONE

[@abelliguez2023]

How is wrestling fake? WWE pays employees to entertain people. Footbal hires employees to entertain people. When a football employee hits someone and they get hurt that was part of the job to entertain and comes with consequences. Wrestlers endure real time possibilities of getting permanently hurt or killed.

[@rahamanawelenje9955]

Football is real stop kidding yourself

[@deantimson5643]

I would definitely like a vid on difference between entertainment and shoot contest. Was it worth not paying the fees in late 80s.

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Different Athletic Commissions had different rules including moves that you couldn't hit, there were also the fees and a little bit of corruption on top. All of it pretty unnecessary because wrestling wasn't a sport in the same way football or basketball are

[@edalder2000]

@@partsFUNknown I know in Maryland that wrestlers can’t blade. That’s because a wrestler in training bled to death from a badly done blade job. At Full Gear 2019, someone actually wanted AEW banned from Maryland. That’s because of the Omega-Moxley match drawing blood. The guy complained to Maryland’s State Athletic Commission.

[@naturalmystic8769]

I'm L

[@erikstorm8935]

@@partsFUNknown I just wish the Peaky Blinders were involved in fixing wrestling matches, and giving corruption to the athletic commissions (or whatever was the UK version at that time). The Peaky FN Blinders of the TV show, of course. They were involved fixing boxing matches and horse races. I'd love to see them get into good ol rasslin before the show is all wrapped up.

[@superdavelane4]

I've been a lifelong fan of wrestling, not a diehard, but a fan.... why don't wrestlers get the same respect as actors in action films do. No one says movies are fake, but somehow wrestling is fake. Why can't wrestling be respected and looked at as performance art? Just as stage plays and magic acts are?

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: I think the difference is that no one ever pretended movies were real - like in 1896 when the showed The Arrival of a Train and people ran out of the screening scared that a train was coming in they had to tell people it wasn't real. For a lot of its lifespan wrestling told everyone that it was 100% a legit sport and everything was true, so it's probably an overhang from that that people still use fake to discuss it.

[@superdavelane4]

@@partsFUNknown we took and actual competition and morphed it to a form of plain ol entertainment. No different than a Harlem globetrotters game. Basketball and wrestling is real and competitive. But Wrestling as we know it, and a globetrotters game are both forms of entertainment with predetermined finishes and everyone's in on it.

[@Mistertbones]

You're wrong. It's the world that is fake. Wrestling is real.

[@matthewrogers2521]

Best Explained video yet. Fantastic that you told us about the carnival side of Fake Wrestling as well as the theatric side of it and how won led to the other. Must watch for all wrestling fans.

[@keithofarrell3080]

The results of a match might be known beforehand but the bumps the wrestlers take are no way fake. Would u be able to take a suplex off the top rope? NOPE! They put there bodies through so major painful & damaging Situations. I hate when people call wrestling Fake(if only they knew). Anyway, Great content as usual & you have a new Sub from Dublin, Ireland. Take Care Guys 👍👍

[@TheZornisse]

As always: brillant! When I started watching pro-wrestling (in the 80s) I thought, it was some code of honor that made combatants wait with their answer to their opponents attack :) Now I know, and guess what? I am still watching and having fun!

[@woolicane]

I think my favourite way of putting it comes from a piece from wretletalk back when it was on the telly "wrestling is not fake, wrestling is fixed"

[@CommodoreFan64]

Awesome video, I'm gonna have to show this to some of my family who just don't get why I love watching Pro Wrestling so much!!!

[@robertdematera4561]

So you're telling me u don't really smell what the rock is cooking!?

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: Tell me the last time you saw him in a kitchen

[@robertdematera4561]

@@partsFUNknown 😂😂😂

[@jleis2996]

Good stuff, high quality and was entertained the whole video, plus learned a lot.

[@tristanirby6272]

So the man who exposed it back in the 30s was the one who really broke kayfabe

[@JoeSmith-ey2xp]

You could have made this 3 hours and I would have watched it all, the history of wrestling is a very interesting topic, please do more.

[@DJReyzor357]

Nothing says I am real than a supposedly dead man from Death Valley, California that is basically a corpse with Super human powers 😆 🤣 😂

[@DougGreenberg50]

When I was a boy living in the San Francico Bay Area my brothers and I watched "all-star wrestling" on TV Friday nights. This was the early 1960s. There were "good guys" like Bill Melby and Ray "Thunder" Stern, and bad guys like Ray Stevens and Mitzu Arakowa (he used "the claw" on opponents' midsections). The post-match interviews were a big part of the show. I remember Ray Stevens calling men in the Bay Area "pencil necks." They would show weekly matches on TV and then have a big "championship event" at the Cow Palace, which we could not attend. We thought it was real until a friend of my older sister told us it was fixed. Her mother was a schoolteacher, which gave her credibility. At first we refused to believe it, but the bubble was burst.

[@Badgerman494]

I think legitimacy is what most wrestlers, good ones at least, strive for. It's why you get men like Undertaker and Triple H finishing matches with their spines sticking out the tops of their heads, or a leg spun 180 degrees at the knee.

[@michaelrivera8360]

Wow Laurie took a page out of Rick Rude and Appeared in 2 channels🙄🙄

[@partsFUNknown]

LAURIE: I can do it all

[@darkdestiny9106]

Good ol' JR put it best: "How do you learn to fall off a 20ft ladder?" Wrestling is "fake", more staged to be exact, but the athleticism and injuries are real, and every time I hear someone suffered a crazy injury but still went on with a match, I find myself in love with it more and more. There's also a reason why Taker is my fave wrestler of all time.

[@funichigo]

The answer to your question is simple become a stuntman. Some of the injuries are fake too but obviously they fooled some people like you

[@josho5423]

I know they claim Gotch, Hackinshmidt, and others in the early 1900s were legit, but someone who does any form of real wrestling, or even trains in any combat style like I have, will tell you that it was *just* as fake as today. Not even the best conditioned fighters in the world could over an hour in a real fight without someone collapsing from utter exhaustion. They would. Boxing is probably one of the easier combat styles since it mainly is arm movement and plotting footwork, but even the best boxers need intermittent breaks between rounds, and can hardly keep their hands up in the last few rounds. Wrestling is one of the HARDEST types of combat from a cardio perspective. Most people in average shape wouldn't be able to last 2 minutes without being completely blown up, and unable to move after 5 minutes. It sounds absurd if you've never done it before, but it is really that exhausting. The best conditioned athletes who know how to pace themselves and control their breathing can probably make it near 30 minutes of continuous combat, but most cannot. The only way you could go and hour or more is if you and your opponent are working together. If you don't have to use continuous explosive power to defend and attack, instead pacing choreographed movements in which you and your opponent work together and work in rest holds when needed, you could theoretically go for as long as you wanted to. If it is a real contest, and both fighters are actively trying hard to win, no wrestling match would go longer that a handful of minutes. That's just the reality of fighting.

[@philroberts1745]

Yes I would like that follow-up video please, Laurie, thanks. Really interesting as always, loved it.

[@liambethell2584]

Almost immediately as I knew you couldn’t hit someone in the head with a sledgehammer and they still be alive let alone able to compete next night on raw. Still didn’t stop me from loving it though.