What makes the choreographed moves in the WWE entertaining despite the fact that they’re rehearsed?

Question

Read more about the real vs. fake debate in my blog post: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-d8pH0dcoRKeB12yOcnUQp.9VCFos?p=22255

Answer 1

I am not the most avid fan of the WWE, but I do love to watch it. I do know that, over all, most everything there is rehearsed. But that's not really the huge part of why I like it.

If you go see a movie and watch the story unfold in front of you, don't you enjoy the fact that the actors rehearsed. In watching wrestling, I love to see the way on how well they can take wrestling moves, soap opera-like storylines, and actors/athletes and turn it all into interesting television.

The wrestling moves that they perform in the ring can actually hurt. I'm not talking about jumping off ladders into tables, but I'm talking about real wrestling moves. If someone did a suplex on you, my guess is you might feel it in the morning. And if that same move was done 6-feet higher, you would feel it a little more. Submissions are equally as painful. Of course, in the WWE, you have to act like it hurts.Some of them really do hurt and acting is easier then.

Watching a really well-done wrestling move makes me flinch sometimes. I guess that's what I like about it even though I know that it probably doesn't hurt as much as the facial expressions say it does. Weather it's all rehearsed or not doesn't really matter. I would hate to see Johnny Depp's next movie without much rehearsal.

Answer 2

The outcome of the matches and major plot twists are the only thing predetermined. The match is ad-libbed, but wrestler's warn each other of what they're going to do. Wrestler's are trained on how to go along with moves without getting injured. And these are real athletes/performers who perform all of their own stunts. There are no strings attached when they do some of the high risk maneuvers.

And the spring floor they perform on does give a little, but it still does hurt. I know because I'm a cheerleader and have taken a couple pretty bad spills on spring floors.

And the chairs and most weapons are real, they just use them in particular manners that lead to th least injury. A chair shot to the face is directed onto the side that will open the chair as to allow give. You're still getting hit, but it's not as hard as if the chair was turned around.

Answer 3

This is because it is simply entertaining nonetheless of whether it is choreographed or not. Some of the moves takes real skill to carry out. Take the Shooting Star Press for example. It is simply an awe inspiring move because it is extremely complex to do. The 450 splash also takes real athleticism to execute too. The storyline in WWE makes the show have a real story instead of just random people fighting each other. It is entertaining the same reason why people like to watch regular sitcoms. We all know it isn't real but it is still fun to watch.

Answer 4

I've been watching WWE for 11 years and the reason I watch it is because, even though it is rehearsed, it takes skill and power to do some of the moves they do. Use the Undertaker for example. He is 7 ft. and over 300 lbs. yet he is able to walk on ropes that aren't wide and still has to power to do moves like the Piledriver and the Last Ride. The Sandman also is over 50 and he competes actively. The main reason people watch is that you never know how the match will end. I don't care if it is fake. The storylines are great and the rivalries are fantastic.

Answer 5

What makes fiction entertaining? What makes action movies entertaining? It's the same thing. We enjoy the spectacle even if it's fake. The chairs are constructed by prop companies and area called 'break-away' chairs. The moves, including the chair smashes, etc are VERY carefully choreographed. Do you know what happens to the human scalp if it's struck by an actual, solid, 15-pound chair by a large, strong attacker? If the skull does NOT fracture, the scalp seperates and their is a VAST amount of blood. Do you know what happens if you actually take a 275 lb. human and launch him into the air and let him smash another human in the sternum with his elbow? Massive internal damage, hemmorage, organ damage and usually death. Do you know how HUGE the lawsuits would be? Can you imagine the liability and the manslaughter convictions?

Do the math.

Answer 6

Well it's not just the moves - the story lines are just as important - it's the whole good vs. evil climactic battles and the relationships between the 'characters'. I mean we're past the days of the gladiator arenas but if people only wanted to see real fighting they can watch UFC or boxing or the 6 o'clock news for that! In the end Professional Wrestling is a unique blend of physical performance and entertainment - you can't really say people like either part of it exclusively but the cocktail works so there you go.

Answer 7

The whole show is entertaining. I'm 26 and can't stop watching it, I've tried. What makes movies so entertaining? They are more 'rehearsed' than wrestling. They also spend a million dollars adding computer graphics to make it look cooler. I can't explain why it's entertaining. All I know is that its fake, but people still go out there and bust their humps making it look good so we can be entertained for 15 minutes. I couldn't do that.

Answer 8

B/c it's drama. The appeal of the show is the same as the appeal of a soap opera. Also, no matter how many times you rehearse a move, accidents including deaths can still occur, as wwe history has showed. You can't help but be amazed at some of these moves wrestlers make and the danger involved in doing them.

Answer 9

I think because the risks are real. I mean they put their bodies through A LOT for the sake of entertainment and obviously they have a lot of practice but that doesn't mean that accidents don't happen. I mean you can't fake jumping off the top of a ladder through a table.

I think it's also because of the storylines which I know are completley fake but it's like watching a soap opera only the bad guys get punished by getting smacked with chairs and stuff and that's what people like to see!

Answer 10

my love for wrestling is a bit like yours, Lydia. I watched it religiously during the Hogan/Macho man era, and every day during the times when the Rock, Stone Cold, and Mankind were wrestling. I haven't watched it for a while, now. Ever since the merger with WCW.

I even went to a few shows. From that vantage point, you can see the punches missing by a few feet. You can see their lips moving as they tell their partner what they are about to do.

But you can't help but respect that these guys are doing some seriously punishing acrobatics. In his autobiography, Mick Foley talked about how he had perfected a method of falling on his head that would cause him to start bleeding out of the ears, and have the pain still manageable. Or when he talked about having his ear completely torn off his head at a German venue, and the nurse that was tending him quipped "Wresting is fake, ja?" as she held his severed ear in a bag of ice.

My sister described wrestling perfectly: "It's a soap opera for guys." I haven't watched it since I was a teenager, but I still have respect for the kind of work they do.