What makes wrestling professional, part 1

”When the truth is wrapped in a poem, or is wearing a robe of poetry so to speak, it is no longer the truth but a poem in a worse meaning of the word, that is a lie” (Alex Gabriel Ingelius).

In more than 90% of pro wrestling matches the idea is that it will be either pin or submission that should decide the outcome. The wrestler is to place the opponent’s shoulders on the mat for the time of the referee counting to three or have the opponent in a hold the pressure of which forces him to announce he’s no longer able to go on. In various styles of known as wrestling the match is sometimes completely, sometimes mainly based on grappling skills. In Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling for example none but wrestling holds and moves are used, whereas pro wrestling adds strikes the purpose of which is to distract the opponent or change his location in order to make it a disadvantageous situation for him, so that the probability of having him pinned or making him submit would be significantly increased. 

After the change in the public image in the 1980’s and the development in the sport that's been taking place, the nature of matches labelled as pro wrestling has become such that both pin and submission seem to be but secondary goals, at least when measuring the level of intensity on which these matches do occur at their most crucial points. Although winning is still most often done by using either one of those two ways, it is surprising to find out the lack of skill of an average wrestler when we come to technical and tactical prowess, not to mention the knowledge of the underlying principles on which all grapping is based by the very essence of the art itself.

On a regular basis we do come to witness situations that are strategically incoherent. Let us say a wrestler takes his opponent down, thus having an opportunity to try to pin him not just once but several times, or if it the chance is better for taking a submission hold, why not go for it for the effect of the hold would probably be greater than in some random situation, standing up for instance. Note that submission holds are to be taken in similar speed and intensity as one uses while pinning – at least that should be the mentality. Despite of all this wrestlers are seen doing things that are irrelevant to say the least, apparently ignoring the very basics of the sport. As the opponet’s been put to the mat, they might

1. let go of the opponent and move away from him, sometimes all the way to the ring apron or even to the top rope in order to execute a high impact maneuver and presumably attract the audience by doing so, due to the visual nature of it, even when the time spent to the letting go and moving away is certain to affect the output

2. pick(!) the opponent up and rather keep the match going with both parties on their feet because of finding groundwork inconvenient and lacking the skills to do it successfully

3. pause and speak to the audience for the entertainment value of it or just to show off as if marketing themselves.

All these alternatives can only mean that a) the winning of the match is not regarded as something of primary importance, not at least at the moment, b) it is assumed that it should be likely enough to pin the opponent or have submission later on in the match anyway. So, instead of moving on with as steadfast manner as possible the wrestler deliberately chooses to rather please the audience by conducting a performance or bringing in some elements that would have no meaning whatsoever in any fight, neither in a match for that matter. In both cases wrestling is being pulled away from its own nature as a combat sport; Miyamoto Musashi spoke of the same problem of decadence while describing the 17^th century commercialization of kenjutsu: “There is more decoration than reality”.

Billy Riley