The American wrestling promotion called world wrestling entertainment, or as it is popularly known by its abbreviation, WWE, was founded first in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation or CWC. The CWC was launched as a part of the Northeastern part of the National Wrestling Alliance, but due to a breakout between the two promotions, CWC decided to go along its own way, rebranding itself as World Wide Wrestling Federation or WWF.
Over the years of change and transformation, the CWC finally stopped at the brand name of WWE, which it has been using since 2002. The WWE promotion is the world’s biggest wrestling promotion, and it is divided further into two major brands called Raw and Smackdown.
What started off as a wrestling promotion has now branched out and extended into films and football, all the while lending the company property to put out video games and action figures of the iconic professional wrestlers under the WWE. The company itself has a long history spanning decades, and avid fans of wrestling would know all about the legends and icons within the game, along with all of the controversies and transformations that have taken place.
The WWE has its own network channel along with its own YouTube page, both of which churn out content almost daily. With its year’s worth of history, new fans can dedicate hours upon hours to catching up with the present wrestling timeline. There are so many old-time classics and legends and so many exciting new fights lined up with totally new faces that new fans and fans who left the field can get back to.
We feel like we should let the fans know what a wrestling promotion means, especially if you are new, since it might help them better understand the answer to the question: Is WWE scripted? The WWE is an entertainment and media company; it is not necessarily one that promotes sportsmanship by sticking to the rules.
It is called a wrestling promotion which means that it puts up shows and fights that involve wrestling, but it does not really have to stick to the actual rules of wrestling like in the Olympics. It is wrestling, but if you just removed the rules, and add on the literal promotional aspects of managing the wrestlers and the logistics of the fights.
Is WWE Scripted?
The wrestling that professional wrestlers indulge in is more for entertainment and less for the actual sport. In 1989, the owner of the WWE, Vince McMahon, admitted publicly that there were aspects of the fights that were practiced and predetermined. The wrestling that we see on screen is not actual professional wrestling that sticks to the rules of Olympic wrestling.
It is more for entertainment, with its scripted lines, stories, and even partially choreographed matches. The dramatics are knowingly added to the fights to make them more exciting and keep the fans wanting more. Vince McMahon admitted that though this was professional wrestling, they were adding theatrics, hoping it would sell.
So, to answer the actual question: yes and no. Yes, parts of the fights and the entire event are rehearsed thoroughly, so much that people question if it is real or not, and no, there are parts during the fights where the rehearsal goes wrong, and the wrestlers are forced to improvise and act.
But at the end of it all, what you see on television is a mix of theatrics, drama, improvisations, a tiny bit of actual attacks, and a whole lot of chaos. All of this is plated perfectly to bring to you a peak form of entertainment that many have enjoyed over the years. It can be categorized more as sports entertainment than actual professional sports.
While this news may have broken the hearts of many young viewers who assumed it all to be real, the whole fight itself had not lost the spice and entertainment it seemed to carry before we knew the fact that it was all scripted. Having said this, the fact that it is rehearsed almost like a dance rehearsal does not mean that the wrestlers do not put in the time and effort to train and build their bodies or that their effort means nothing.
Also Read: Which WWE Wrestler Died Recently In 2022? Answered
