Can real wrestling survive in the U.S.?

On Sun., Apr. 1, 64,000 fans packed into Safeco Field to witness a heated championship competition. The match included no helmets, hoops, or pucks, but instead spandex, chairs, and fake blood. The WWF Championship fight between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin was the final event of a four-hour program that displayed the finest stunts and drama of professional wrestling. This entertainment sport earned more than 34 percent of all Pay-Per-View revenue in 1997 and continues to gain popularity.

But many critics argue that professional wrestling is not at all professional, and is much more physical entertainment than true sport. Indeed, if the moves are scripted and the punches are not real, why is it considered professional, and what relation does this athletic drama have to the actual sport of wrestling?

The media reiterates that professional wrestling is fake—as if the viewers did not realize this themselves. However, the "fake" aspect does not seem to deter the seven million people who tune in each week to watch WWF Monday Night Raw. Although the athletic component is important to the show's appeal, equally important is the open display of violence not permitted in other, real sports. This combination of athleticism, violence, and drama particularly attracts its target audience of young males. Brian Angstadt, a young viewer, explained "Pro wrestling is like a soap opera for guys. Instead of wondering who slept with whom, you wonder who is going to kick whose ass." Indeed, the audience pays attention to the evolving storyline between the competitors while they cheer on the good guy and wait for the bad guy to fall.

Yet the question remains, if American men enjoy watching a fight that rewards physical agility, then why is college wrestling not a closely followed national sport? It's the closest real athletic event to pro wrestling, but despite the growth in popularity of the WWF and WCW, collegiate wrestling remains a regional attraction and suffers from perennial budget cuts.

The Midwest dominates college wrestling, with powerhouse schools such as Iowa, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Nebraska almost always claiming the top positions in collegiate rankings. Wrestling is to the Midwestern states what lacrosse is to the mid-Atlantic states: a sport taught from an early age and supported by entire communities. Midwestern schools maintain strong programs because they can recruit from the best high school programs located in their own states. Thus, it is difficult for other regions to develop competitive wrestling teams, as they cannot attract top athletes. The lack of nationally known programs limits both knowledge of and interest in the sport, making it less likely to garner national media attention.

Another blow to college wrestling was Title IX, which required colleges to provide equal funding for men's and women's sports. There are no women's wrestling teams, and most colleges opt not to take away money from the football team; instead, they eliminate the wrestling team. In addition, Title IX also states that there must be an equal number of scholarships given to male and female athletes, and many colleges unwilling to provide gymnastics or field hockey scholarships do away with wrestling scholarships. Wrestling is typically a middle-class sport, and without financial support, many wrestlers are unable to compete at the college level.

Wrestling has the combination of physical and psychological intensity that makes athletics exciting to watch. Yet real wrestling is difficult to appreciate because the skill involved does not look spectacular to non-wrestlers. To a novice viewer, a superb wrestling move might appear as simply a heated game of Twister between two men in spandex. In contrast, football and basketball are enjoyed by both devoted fans and unknowledgeable viewers because it is easier to tell who is doing well in a game.

Pro wrestling knows how to sell itself to audiences by making everything obvious and dramatic. When a wrestler gets smacked in the face with a chair, it is pretty clear that he is not doing too well in his match. On the other hand, if a professional league were developed based on the rules of amateur competition, it would not be appealing to American audiences. Americans generally like to watch team sports that Americans dominate. Wrestling is both individual and international, with some of the best wrestlers coming from Turkey, Greece, and Iran. Indeed, wrestling, like power lifting and gymnastics, is one of the truly "world" sports that the United States does not dominate at the Olympics. Wrestling, unlike relatively recent inventions such as football, basketball, and baseball, has existed for over 5,000 years and was originally a vital part of a Greek soldier's training. But Americans think of wrestling as nothing more than an overdone street fight complete with absurd characters who are appreciated more for their ability to intimidate and taunt than to compete as an athlete.

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