Is Wrestling Honest?

The WAWLI Papers by J Michael Kenyon

IS WRESTLING HONEST?
by Joe Cassius (source, date unknown)
Reprinted in The WAWLI Papers, Volume 2, Number 42

"Confidentially, just between you and me, is wrestling on the level?"   Having wrestled all over the world, I have heard this question on the average of twice a week in every language from Portuguese to Hindustani.   My answer is always "yes," but people often doubt the sincerity of it.   They think I'm trying to shield my profession from criticism.   Nothing could be further from the truth.   I really do believe that wrestling is one of the most honest sports around today.
There are plenty of "know-it-alls" ready to criticize and satirize the mat sport, although they often know relatively little about it.   There are also "has been" wrestlers, mostly of the "never-was" variety, who are quick to call names and "expose" the game.   Unable to make the grade with their wrestling skill, they resort to these tactics to gain recognition.
In writing about wrestling, some distinctions must be made. Professional wrestling, the match you see on TV or in most of the big arenas, is an exhibition.   That is, it is not a fight where one man must prove physical superiority over another, or a game where one team tries to hit more home runs than the other.   It is an exhibition in the sense that there are many moves and counter moves, much brain strategy and showmanship.   It is the bodily grace, masterful tactics and fluid motions of the wrestlers in action that constitute the beauty of the sport, not brute strength.
Perhaps the main difference between amateur and professional grappling lies in showmanship.   Amateur competition is pure and unadorned.   It gives the fan true, competitive mat technique.   Torture holds, dislocative holds, chops and punches, which often highlight professional bouts are grounds for immediate disqualification in amateur matches.   A body slam may be used only if one knee touches the mat.   Any dangerous tactics are barred altogether.   It is the duty of the amateur coach to safeguard his students.   This is not hard for him to do, since he does not work under the pressure of trying to thrill the public.
Unfortunately, the ultra-safety practiced in amateur wrestling shows up at the box office.   It has the fewest paid admissions of any intercollegiate sport.   If the grapple-for-pay boys fought like that, they'd soon end up selling apples on street corners.
Partially due to the impetus given professional wrestling by television and partly due to the fact that wrestling fans have demanded more and more action over the years, officials of the sport have made the rules flexible enough to allow for more thrills, spills and excitement.   Today, the professional teacher stresses an offensive type of wrestling.   Defensive tactics are not emphasized.
Very few pros still practice the "old style," intricate inter-leg devised by Farmer Burns and others like the immortal Gotch.   If the action in the ring is not open and extremely aggressive -- even to the extent of throwing a few, well-placed punches -- the audience will lose interest, become dissatisfied and let loose with boos and other catcalls.
Sports fans in general have increased their demands for showmanship in all branches of sports over the past 20 years.   Professional sports are big business and promoters have met the public's wishes by adding color to all games.   Wrestling is no exception.
However, showmanship in wrestling has met with more criticism than any other sport.   Dandy wardrobes with spangles and silks, satin buttons and monograms, polka-dot robes, long hair and exaggerated struts, are what John Q. Public wants, but some critics object strenuously.   To them I say, "Name one professional sport that doesn't have its glamorous counterparts!"
Take the pomp and pageantry of both professional and collegiate football.   Colorfully dressed bands strut and play during halftime.   Bare-legged cheerleaders make like Mexican jumping beans all through the game.   Rooting sections display color-filled caricatures of their opponents.   A few years back an electrically controlled jack-in-the-box was featured at the Rose Bowl during intermission.
In the game itself we have seen the development of more and more aerial plays which keep those yawn-provoking, line-bucking stalemates from developing.   The forward pass met spectator demands in making football even more exciting.
Baseball also is out to impress the mass audience.   Showboating umpires, whistle-happy referees and jubilant athletes kissing each other are all part of the build-up.   Fans want the thrill of seeing a home run hit and they get homers, even if stadiums have to shorten left or right field to make them possible.   Just another example of how thrills are built.
In professional basketball, a game is considered dull if there aren't at least 100 points scored.   Fans used to be satisfied with 40 or 50.   Rather than down-to-earth competition, today's fan wants the tricky antics of a team like the Globetrotters.
Here's what Jimmy Powers of the New York Daily News had to say about the basketball situation in his column recently: "Abe Saperstein is considered the top showman in sports today.   He believes the center jump should be restored to basketball because you have an interval to let the fans absorb what they've seen.   Today, before you have finished a cheer after the team has scored, the ball has been whipped down to the other end of the court and the rival team has scored and the ball is on its way back again."
Another criticism which is often leveled at professional wreslting has to do with the faces wrestlers make in action.   "How can it be on the up-and-up?" folks ask me.   "Just look at those phoney grimaces!"
In answer, I offer them a fair test.   We stand in front of a mirror and I separate their fingers and them give a hard jerk.   Any doubt is erased when the scoffer looks in the mirror and sees his own anguished face, contorted in a way he would not have thought possible.   The only comparable expression is found on the countenance of a track star finishing a hundred-yard dash or a weightman throwing the shotput.
I confess, I have seen exaggeration in some pro wrestling bouts.   However, this is usually found among wrestlers of less experience.
I am not proud of everything that has taken place during the last five years of professional wrestling.   But I do believe the wrestlers and the professional mat game as a whole should keep up with other professional sports in maintaining and enlarging upon the galmour which has been part of the game since the time of the early Roman gladiators.
Wrestling authorities try to allow only those men with the highest qualifications to enter the game.   However, as in all branches of professional sports, you will find occasional "rotten apples" in the barrel.   It is to the credit of the wrestling profession that they are constantly alert and vigilant in ferreting out these bad apples.
Wrestling is honest because it speaks for itself.   Everything that goes on during an exhibition is visible to millions of TV viewers.   Many of these people appreciate the skill of move-countermove, the grace of turning a hold against the one who brought it.
Being a wrestler myself, I appreciate a skillful exhibit of wrestling.   When there is a minimum of clowning and showmanship is not overdone, no other sport can match the interest of wrestling.   When two top grapplers meet in a serious bout of this sort, I am proud to be a wrestler!

Click HERE to e-mail J Michael Kenyon

Information on "The WAWLI Papers" in print form can be found HERE