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Is American Wrestling staged? Do the wrestlers really beat each other to blood and break bones? Have they already decided the winner and all is the mess created during a match just a staged performance?

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  • 2
    This needs a notable claim
    – user5341
    Dec 19, 2011 at 18:50
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    @DVK I've definitely heard this one several times from several sources, and I think it's notable. Just needs some links to notable claims added.
    – John Lyon
    Dec 20, 2011 at 1:29
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    I always though this is a common knowledge, a question like: "Are action movies staged? Do the actors really beat other to blood ..."?
    – Suma
    Dec 20, 2011 at 9:18
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    I've never heard anyone doubting if it's scripted. It is a common knowledge indeed.
    – user288
    Dec 20, 2011 at 20:38
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    I call wrestlers actors.
    – user unknown
    Dec 21, 2011 at 18:33

1 Answer 1

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It's clearly a representation of a script and not a real fight at all.

This is what a WWE event is, according to WWE:

Live events and television programming are our principal creative content and production activities. Our creative team develops compelling and complex characters and weaves them into dynamic storylines that combine physical and emotional elements. Storylines are usually played out in the ring and unfold on our weekly television shows, and culminate in our monthly pay-per-view events.

In other words, a creative team scripts a storyline (including how the fight develops) which is then played out on the ring by "Superstars" and "Divas".

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  • Although it's a script being played out cooperatively, I think it's well-established that a surprising amount of the gore is real.
    – Larry OBrien
    Dec 18, 2011 at 19:59
  • real pig gore? :)
    – jwenting
    Dec 19, 2011 at 8:56
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    Can we now tag this question with "Gross" tag?
    – user5341
    Dec 19, 2011 at 18:51
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    @jwenting Wrestlers will poke themselves in the hairline with a thin sliver of a razor blade to induce bleeding. The documentary "Beyond the Mat" covers fairly extensively what's "real" and not. The storylines and outcomes of the fight are generally pre-arranged, and the wrestlers will often choreograph their fight beforehand, but the chair shots/ladders/thumb tacks/blood are all definitely real. Wrestlers are damn good athletes, whatever one thinks of the productions they take part in.
    – John Lyon
    Dec 20, 2011 at 1:23
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    @jozzas: good athletes, yes. good actors, absolutely not.
    – Les
    Dec 4, 2012 at 20:14

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