When/how did you realize WWE wrestling was fake?

[Jodah]

When I was about eight. It wasn't until college and talking to some people who did local "pro wrestling" shows that I realized just HOW fake it is. Still, the stuff they do is pretty crazy. Takes a lot of athleticism and strength to pull off and many of the submission holds actually do hurt if applied correctly. Hell, Undertaker's Hell's Gate is based on one of the deadliest holds in mma.

I still mark out once in awhile when I watch but after awhile I realize what happened and start to actually think about it.

 

[Quesa]

Wrestling is male soap operas, the acting is occasionally better and the resolutions are sufficiently manly and bloody. Wide eyed wresting fans (mostly children) are referred to as marks. When Hulk Hogan would do the one thing he could do and everyone would scream with joy, they were marking out.

My brother is a smark (smart mark). My brother and I got into it during the war between WWF, WCW and ECW and all the back stage drama that had people changing companies in the dark of night. That was a very compelling time. You had Ted Turner's determination to crush Vince McMahon for not selling his company. You had a very real war for ratings and owning Monday night and the young male demographic (my Dad's a career TV guy). You had bookers (the people who write the plotlines) with massive egos on power trips. You had a company that had a crazy amount of talent that couldn't meet payroll for months and the constant curiosity as to who would jump ship and tilt the scales. There was noooothing fake about that. When ECW and WCW died, any interest I had died with them.

Now, my brother watches because he admires the athleticism. He gets into the stories because he's invested in the people and the machinations behind the scenes. He rarely watches the WWE, he watches RoH, which is about as close as you can get to ECW these days, unless it's to watch former RoH wrestlers like Brian Danielson (Daniel Bryan), Matt Sydal (Even Bourne) and CM Punk getting buried by talentless, politically connected people in the WWE.

 

[D-Ray]

You're right. I didn't mean to say it's all fake. I should edit my post.

 

[RJ 17]

Don't know if someone else has already brought this up, but back in the 90's a bunch of "Backyard Wrestling Federations" were popping up and kids were hurting themselves, as such Vince McMahon and a number of wrestlers put together a bit of a PSA that they started playing that explicitly said "What we do isn't real, we call it "Sports Entertainment", and that's how you should take it: as entertainment and nothing more." So yeah, there's the fact that they came out and officially said they're fake.

Buuuuuuuuut even still, I had about a 3 year phase when I was really into it. Knew it was fake, but still it's fun watching guys get powerbombed through three tables that are on fire and covered in thumb-tacs (now THAT'S what I call entertainment! xD). There was a match between Understaker and someone else. It was during Undertaker's "American Badass" persona when he'd ride the Harley down to the ring for all his matches. Anyways the match spilled out of the ring and over toward's Taker's bike, from which he pulled a pipe that he was going to use as a weapon...but he dropped it and it rolled allllllll the way across the ring while the two wrestlers stopped what they were doing and just stared at it like "Ahhhhhhh crap...guess we gotta improvise."

I imagine that Taker was supposed to win the match by using the pipe, because shortly after they lost said pipe, he did a couple other things to his opponent and ended up winning anyways.

 

[CleverCover]

Watching my friend's grandmother enjoy it and saw someone get beat in the face with a big shoe and get right back up again. I complained that "This can't be real because she should be unconscious by now."

Second time, my sister was playing the game version. I asked if it reflected actual matches. She said yes as her character was beating another person with a ladder and then a sledgehammer. I facepalmed and walked away.

If that was an actual match...I can't see how people can't tell it's fake. Especially in that no rules version.

 

[Zeraki]

Since I was little, although I wouldn't exactly call it "fake", since the bumps they take in the ring are real to an extent. I always knew everything was scripted and that the wrestlers were playing roles, but I enjoyed it anyway. I pretty much stopped following it completely since I couldn't stand either WWE or TNA's writing/politics anymore.

 

[NubiJuan]

I think my breaking point was when I started getting angry at how Big Show would always flop down like a giant dummy so 11 maybe? I had heard that it was fake but I was too fascinated to think about of it too much.

 

[Smooth Operator]

When dad got tired of my ignorance and showed me a kick boxing match, I mean who knew people get hurt when really fighting...

 

[Heronblade]

A few minutes into the first show I watched, before the wrestlers finished glaring at each other and making absurdly macho claims.

I was 15 when I watched that show however, so I suppose I had a far bit of an advantage.

 

[CLJ304]

A friend told me so I believed him years ago. some moves are too obviously faints but i'm just glad it is entertaining enough they recycle story lines to much...like a mans soap opera just less unplanned prego divas. At this point they should stop making people quit or get fired when they are only going to do movies for some time I love The Rock and glad he came back for a time seeing him in action again was nostalgic and awesome. at least it carries some realism.

 

[GistoftheFist]

Ugh, another 'wrestling is fake' thread appears. Why is it when high schools put on plays about Romeo & Juliet, nobody ever stands up and screams "FAKE" even though we already know how the play is going to end?

Allistar Overeem called, he said when you're done beating this he'd like to eat it.

 

[Freaky Lou]

Oh, pretty early on, when I saw Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero face each other in a ladder match for the legal custody of Rey's son. Surely everyone knows the law does not work like that.

Captcha: Lager frenzy

 

[Sacman]

Well it's the same thing concerning Santa Claus or God... in that I always knew it was fake but it's just so much fun the fake bits can easily be ignored...<.<

I still watch it sometimes if it comes on... sort of Nostalgic...

 

[ElPatron]

About the time you realize the rules state you can't throw a punch with the fist totally closed, you realize it's fake.

There is a series of videos on YouTube that explaining how they perform stunts avoiding pain, and in the worst case scenario, avoiding injuries.

but, a submission in WWE drags out into an extremely dramatic chance of escape for about 30 minutes long. lol

With all due respect to the performers, WWE submissions holds SUCK.

I tried a few years ago, and John Cena's STFU was the most painful. The neck part is quite bearable, but the leg hurts like you have a really bad muscle cramp and it's very hard to handle it.

However, I think most people are able to endure more than one minute.

See those Ankle Locks? They don't actually hurt unless you are really relocating someone's ankle. And I doubt WWE would allow it's performers to actually have injuries that often just for the sake of realism.

About the same time I figured out movies weren't real
I only watched it to be entertained, so it didn't bother me in the slightest.
John Cena on the other hand...

Oh God, that guy still pisses me off. He is either trying to portrait a Navy SEAL or a black dude, sometimes both at the same time. He sucked in the Marine (no surprise, with all respect to Steve Austin he can't write for shit) and he sucks at rapping. His matches weren't entertaining to watch. At all.

BUT I WILL KICK THE MOUTH OF ANYONE WHO DARES TO CLAIM THAT DRAGON DRAGON IS FAKE!

 

[TakerFoxx]

For about as long as I knew it existed, and (as an amateur wrestler), I hated the WWE for it. Then I caught an episode of Smackdown, kept watching it to mock up, but then realized that I actually liked it. Been watching it on-and-off ever since.

 

[AgentCooper]

I think I always knew since my uncle was a wrestler in the local indies. This was in the early 90's little after WCW started.

I still love to watch wresting and I have high respect for anyone who wrestles.

 

[Jon Shannow]

I was never under the impression It was real, I watched my first one with the knowledge it is acted out (badly)

 

[Antitonic]

Like most other "realisations" (Christmas, sex, religion, etc) there's no real defining point. It's like a natural evolution. If forced, I'd say it was during the Goldberg era, where he'd have one match but his streak would go up by 5. After 10 minutes, it'd be up by 6. He must've had a match in the parking lot. That's how those things work, right?

I never watched WWE but I figured out it was fake when I saw this gif

Spoiler

Then again I don't even know if that IS WWE or some other wrestling show but meh, unless it's UFC then it's probably fake

Oh Scott Steiner, will you ever not suck?

EDIT: Just so you know, your .gif is from TNA.

 

[mooncalf]

"Fake" is a word that will get you into trouble around wrestlers, and they're not un-tough so y'know, watch that. Remember, if you DO incur the wrath of a professional stuntperson, you should immediately declare the matter to be decided by a tag team match, tag one of his buddies on the shoulder and then run like hell.

Considering the first wrestling I saw was WCW when Sting used to zip down out of the rafters in a trenchcoat with a baseball bat... Yeah I was pretty sure it was staged.