First off, this one isn’t for all you hardcore fans, I’ve already written about the importance of Gillberg right here…just for you!

This piece is for you folks who have seen the adverts all over social media, “WWE has arrived on Netflix” and you thought you’d give it a chance.

Let’s address the biggest elephant in the room first.

Is Pro-Wrestling Fake?

Let’s start with the simple answer. Yes. Yes, it is. It is also way more complicated. Let’s get into it.

It’s well discussed that the outcomes of the matches are predetermined, the whole show runs to a script, and the outcomes are planned days, weeks, months or even years in advance.

Does this detract from the enjoyment? Absolutely not. You are smart enough to know that almost every TV show, movie, play, gig, YouTube video…is planned to a greater or lesser extent. This does not detract from your enjoyment. In fact, it should reinforce the chances of you being entertained compared to a “real” sport. 

Wrestling sits alongside theatre, circus, stand-up, drag shows…it’s live entertainment. We’ve all watched a magician. We all know they are tricking us into believing it’s magic, but we go on the ride and enjoy the show. Part of the real magic is being left bewildered at how believable a skilled performer is. Wrestling is no different.

A few years ago, I took my friends’ kids to a local wrestling show, they were worried that the performers were getting hurt. I told them, it is physical theatre and everything they do hurts, but the goal is to do it as carefully as possible and protect each other in the process. If you, as the viewer, believe they are hurt and tired, then the performers have done their job properly. If anyone is seriously hurt, then chances are the match will finish quickly or be stopped entirely.

A wise man once said to me, pro-wrestling is like a daytime soap opera, with less violence and better acting…

Do you like being entertained by a live performance? Wrestling is here for you.

Are The Referees “In On It”?

Yes, absolutely. They are a critical part of the performance. How else do you know how the match is going to begin and end? Is someone cheating? The rules are enforced by a ref and that helps reinforce the characters of the performers. Ultimately, they call the finish of the match.

On a big TV production, you will notice the referee will have an earpiece; they are listening to the people in the back and keeping track of everything. They warn the performers that there is an ad break incoming, or if there is a change of plans…that sort of thing. Referees are an essential part of the action and you know you are a fan when you know all their names and idiosyncrasies as well.

Do The Wrestlers Hate Each Other? Do They Like Each Other?

This is a fun one. Historically, some of the most violent matches have been between two very close friends. They trust each other, know each other’s characters, have often had many matches over their careers…you can insult your best friends in a way you can’t with someone you don’t like. This is no different. If you want to open a can of worms on this, feel free to look up some of the brutality between Terry Funk and Mick Foley…they were incredibly close.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are people who don’t like each other, and tension between them can create gold on screen. Feel free to look into the history between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

I think the best way to think about this is, you don’t like everyone you work with, and there are co-workers who become more than that, they become essential parts of your life (Hi Lois!). Wrestlers still have a job to do, and professionalism is the end goal. Does it go off the rails? From time to time, but then it’s someone’s job to mitigate that no matter where you work.

How Do They Figure Out What Is Going To Happen In The Ring?

This is a massive answer with loads of options.

At one end of the spectrum, you have performers who plan everything. Every move, interaction, nuance is worked out ahead of time. In some case,s they will run through the matches ahead of time at house shows or training centres to gauge reactions to moments or just to let the performers work with each other. This was,y they are comfortable working together when the pressure is on at TV or a bigger show. It can be very clinical.

At the other end of the spectrum is “calling it in the ring”. The performers know the outcome; they will discuss a few things ahead of time and ride the wave. 

A practical comparison is the difference between a script and a bullet point guide.

There isn’t a hard rule on this, there are a lot of wrestling organisations, and they all have different rules/conventions, and equally, the performers have different levels of experience and preferences.

Does This Mean The Wrestlers Are Talking To Each Other?

Very much so. Some wrestlers pride themselves on keeping their communication hidden to help the viewers suspend their belief. Then there is someone like John Cena, who is notoriously loud in the ring and can often be heard calling moves ahead of time.

What Is The Difference Between The Types Of Shows?

The Big Show(s)

These shows all exist at the top of the wrestling pile, WWE have “The Big Four”, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and at the top of the pile Wrestlemania. AEW have Double or Nothing and All In. New Japan ProWrestling have Dominion and WrestleKingdom…these are the shows where big stories will end, and the best matches should also happen. If something truly major is going to go down, this is when. If you want a comparison, World Cup Finals, Super Bowl, the Olympics etc. 

Monthly Shows

WWE has monthly PLEs (Premium Live Events) that used to be PPVs (Pay-Per-Views), that are still important, but less important than “The Big Four”. Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, Backlash, amongst others. AEW will have Revolution, Forbidden Door, amongst others. These shows will often feature some kind of special gimmick or matches that will roll into the bigger events. Expect title changes, great matches and bigger moments, but the world-shaking stuff will be on the big shows. 

TV/Weekly Shows.

WWE has Raw and SmackDown. AEW has Dynamite and Collision. This is where you can expect an occasional title change, slightly more chilled wrestling, and more promos/in-ring talking. Weeklies should push the plots forward and drive you to tune in to the PPV’s or PLE’s (there are always exceptions, though).

House Shows.

If a weekly show is recorded in a big city (London/New York) on Monday, the house show is in a smaller city (Cardiff/Albany) on a Tuesday. These shows aren’t broadcast, title changes are rare, and wrestling is a little calmer. These shows exist for wrestlers to try things, work out matches based on crowd reaction,s and also give people a chance to see their favourite wrestlers when they can’t go to a bigger show.

The price for tickets to these shows decreases as you go down the list.

What About The Local Shows I’ve Seen Posters For? Are They Any Good?

Absolutely! Some of my favourite wrestling moments in my 35 years of fandom have been in small rooms to less than 100 people!

I often compare wrestling to watching bands, you can go to a small venue and watch a band absolutely slay it in front of 100 people, you can go see Taylor Swift play to 80,000 people, and so many stages in between.

If you go to a local show, you might see a star on their way to the top. We all know someone who saw (insert band name here) play to 50 people and now they are filling arenas and stadiums around the world. Everyone has to start somewhere. Wrestling is no different.

Smaller shows tend to have their own personality, and different promotions/companies will present different styles of wrestling. Some are more family friendly, some less so…let’s be honest, some will be violent as fuck. If you are in any doubt, a quick search for the promotion will tell you all you need.

Small shows are a great way to get up close with wrestling in a way that you just can’t at a WWE live event. Equally small shows can be super personal. If you go with your kids, they are going to be able to meet the wrestlers during the break, and they will love that.

How Do Wrestlers Find Their “Characters”? Do They Use Their Real Names? 

Let’s start with the name thing…some wrestlers use their real names, some don’t. Sometimes their ring names are a riff on their real life name, some people use their ring name to pay respect to someone important to them. Ring names can also change and evolve based on the performer’s career and character.

I honestly can’t think of one wrestler who has maintained the same character throughout their whole career, (possibly some luchadores). There are always shifts, changes, evolutions and sometimes complete changes. If we take a second to look at Cody Rhodes, he broke into wrestling using his real name, Cody Runnels, then took on his family’s wrestling surname and became Cody Rhodes. Between 2007 and 2016, he was part of The Legacy, Dashing Cody Rhodes (also Cody’s moustache), part Team Rhodes Scholars, part of The Brotherhood and then finally Stardust. It wasn’t until he left WWE in 2016 that he would evolve into “The American Knightmare” (a homage to his father) we currently know.

Cody’s character is very much an evolution, it feels more like he had to find himself in his character. Steve Austin has spoken at length about wrestlers’ characters being themselves, but turned up to 11. I think this is fair of Cody.

At the other end of the spectrum is a name from the 80s, Barry Darsow. Best known as one half of the face painted tag team Demolition, but has also been…Krusher Kruschev, Tsar Mongo, Crusher Darsow, Repo Man, the Blacktop Bully, Man Mountain Darsow and “Mr. Hole in One” Barry Darsow. I’ve probably missed some out as well.

A character can be “found” over time or be given for a valid reason, like repackaging a performer if they change where they work. Wrestlers’ history can often be tracked through character changes.

What The Hell Is Under The Ring?

Everything. You have to suspend your disbelief here. Imagine the underside of the ring is like Mary Poppins’ handbag. Tables, ladders, and chairs make sense. Thumb tacks/drawing pins in a sack…maybe not. I went to a show that kept a sack of Lego under the rin,g and if you think that’s not dangerous…you’ve never stood in a pile of Lego!

When The Referee Took A Tiny Bump, He Acted Like He Nearly Died! What’s Up With That?

Ah, the classic ref bump…this is another thing you will just have to get used to. You’ve got to understand that it’s part of the show. Fans have joked for years that referees are actually made of glass.

Why Does Everyone Hate Hulk Hogan? I Thought He Was Some Sort Of Legend… 

In 2025, wrestling is a mixed, varied, melting pot of wonderful and colourful characters from all walks of life. Hulk Hogan hasn’t changed his views on the world since the 80s. Most wrestling fans have. Do you have a racist uncle? Grampa? Vaguely related family member? Would you want them on national TV? No, and neither do a large part of the wrestling fandom. Times have changed. If you watched Wrestlemania 41, you’ve seen how wonderful and mixed it is. Most wrestling fans want wrestling to be for everyone, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Should I Try And Watch Some Of The Old Stuff? You Know, To Try And Catch Up… 

Just to be clear, this is a fairly epic task. There have been 41 Wrestlemania’s, given an average runtime of 5 hours, you are still staring down over 200 hours of wrestling, and that is just one event of the 12 they have run for 10+ years, not including all the weekly shows!

If you are feeling like you want to dig into a bit more history, old matches, that sort of thing, I’d definitely recommend looking up a list of the WWE’s greatest matches of all time and starting there, I quite like this one from Wrestling Inc. If you are watching with your kids, I’d preface this with a bit of a warning that some of these matches are pretty violent, so approach with some caution. If you start watching matches and want to dig into histories, YouTube is a treasure trove of well-produced content to continue to go down the rabbit hole!

Wrestling is a wonderful example of live performance art. It seamlessly blends so many things that you likely enjoy from many other media forms. If you are just getting interested, maybe stick to WWE for now, but know there is a big wide world out there waiting for you.

Once you start to figure out which wrestlers you enjoy and why, there is a whole community of fans, just like me, ready to bore the pants off you…I mean, talk to you about the weird and wonderful world that exists beyond WWE and the hundreds of shows and promotions that are out there. Maybe find some friends and watch an event together, use it as an excuse to get together and watch an event over food. Maybe check out a local show, if you are enjoying watching wrestling on TV, it’s even more fun in real life.

Maybe one day you will look back on this time and think, “Not so long ago I knew nothing about this world, but today I’ve flown 4000 miles just to be at a show and I couldn’t be happier!” Michael Partridge 

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