Taken in a vacuum, professional wrestling is pretty weird. With all the costumes and the fanfare and the crazy storylines, professional wrestling is an odd duck, but it's wildly popular. And the life of a professional wrestler isn't easy in the least. Here's the tough reality of what it's like to ve a professional wrestler. Professional wrestling has a lot more in common with a Shakespearean play than the original sport it was named after. Wrestlers are actors, putting on heroic or villainous performances to entertain a crowd. However, the popular idea that wrestling is fake doesn't do justice to the all-too-real damage that wrestlers do to their bodies in the name of art. Sure, any good actor can fake a heel turn. But try taking a metal chair to the head and see how you feel the next day.
In 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported that dozens of WWE wrestlers were suing the organization over wrestling matches that had resulted in long-term brain damage. The primary accusation was that the WWE had intentionally covered up these injuries to avoid paying for proper medical treatments. According to an attorney who represented wrestlers in the now-dropped suit:
"Any of the finish moves that are sort of high-flying, off the ropes, all of these involve some amount of trauma to the head, even if the moves are correctly performed."
And there's a bigger issue: Wrestling culture itself encourages terrible injuries since the audience goes so crazy over ridiculous athletic feats. An orthopedic surgeon writing for the Post & Courier admitted that some of the moves he sees wrestlers perform cause him to literally hold his breath, and as an increasing number of performers attempt these high-risk moves, the horrific consequences have included broken backs, snapped necks, torn quads, and ears getting ripped off, according to Complex.
#Wrestling #ProWrestling #WWE
Workplace hazards | 0:17
No rehearsals | 1:37
Lives cut short | 2:37
Intense training | 3:56
Upfront cost | 4:54
No employer health insurance | 6:02
Brutal schedule | 7:01
Drug culture | 7:49
History of sexism | 9:02
Signing away big rights | 9:56
In-ring racism | 10:54
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