Reference sources, glossaries, and peer-reviewed literature confirm that professional wrestling matches are scripted, predetermined theatrical entertainment rather than legitimate athletic contests.
Emerging from a legitimate contest regulated by a set of rules, professional wrestling is today a fictional product, where no actual competition takes place. Those same rules serve as a setting for a particular kind of narration: the kayfabe, the fictional framework for all professional wrestling’s narrative, a fictional world with the characteristic of having a 1:1 ratio between real time and fictional time. Professional wrestling and videogames deal in different contexts with the same elements: rules and fiction (Juul 2005) [13]. By combining aspects of narrative theory and game studies research, this paper will analyze the narrative of professional wrestling utilizing the tools commonly used or specifically developed for videogames. An understanding of professional wrestling elements is necessary to explain and criticize the different approaches that videogame designer have used when creating wrestling videogames, a popular sub-genre that present specific peculiarities. The first chapter will provide a background to the history and the evolution of professional wrestling tracing the transformation from wrestling as a legitimate contest to a constructed media spectacle. The on-going constructed nature of contemporary wrestling will be addressed using Chatman’s concept of narrative. We will then use the theory of scripted narrative and alterbiography (Calleja 2009) [4] to explain how the pre-designed elements in a staged match are only partially scripted. This will be the ground for three subsequent passages, each one enlarging the view on the object of study: what happens in the ring, what happens just outside of the ring, and what happens in the fictional world of professional wrestling. By considering the transmediality (Jenkins 2003, 2004) [11, 12] of professional wrestling, we will analyze those conclusions and see how they are used by professional wrestling videogames: the territory where real rules have to be fleshed out in order to simulate the “fake rules” of professional wrestling. The paper concludes that theoretical frameworks developed within game studies have produced useful tools that can be deployed in different contexts, in this case to understand the constructed story that so deeply informs the agonistic (Caillois, 1962) [5] aspects of professional wrestling. The concept of scripted narrative and alterbiography clarifies how the narrative is enacted in and outside of the ring, integrating previous studies about wrestler fan behaviour (Ford 2007) [8], and claryfing the role of the wrestler as both a storyteller and an actor. By considering wrestling as a serialized fictional product, it is possible to analyze the kayfabe as a unique narrative frame, capable of keeping narrative coherence operating with a 1:1 ratio between real time and fictional time. The concept of transmediality, also discussed in game studies, proves to be deeply affected by the kayfabe. Wrestling has strong transmedial narrative elements: it is sufficient to feature few elements of the wrestling enviroment to project the contents of the kayfabe. With that said, making a game out of the mixture of dramatization, physical performance, and symbolical meaning of professional wrestling is no easy task. A theoretical framework can be useful to approach design issues: wrestling fictional elements appears in videogames thanks to its deep rooted transmediality, but the subtleties of professional wrestling’s narrative are still understated in wrestling videogames.
Professional wrestling is an unsporting sport, a theatrical entertainment that is not theatre. Its display of violence is less contest than ritualized encounter between opponents, replayed repeatedly over time for an exceptionally engaged audience. To watch wrestling and write about its performance is to attempt to come to terms with the significance of a highly popular performance practice as it intersects, exploits, and parodies the conventions of both sport and theatre. Rather than simply reflecting and reinforcing moral clichés, professional wrestling puts contradictory ideas into play, as with its audience it replays, reconfigures, and celebrates a range of performative possibilities. Beyond its spectacular elements, professional wrestling is an athletic performance practice, constructed around the display of the male body and a tradition of cooperative rather than competitive exchanges of apparent power between men as directed by the promoter. The fight is fixed, in the squared circle as in life.
the wrestling business. Originally used to refer to those who were aware of the existence of kayfabe and the scripted nature of professional wrestling. The
Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the worked nature of the business. Into the 21st century, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms. Ma
Something (usually a scripted move or spoken line) which does not go as planned due to a mistake.
Bret's rope
The second rope of a wrestling ring, the middle rope, often considered the most dangerous rope. Named after wrestler Bret Hart, who frequently struck from this rope. The term was coined by Jay Hunter.
broadway
Also going broadway.
A match that ends in a time limit draw.
bump
To fall on the mat or ground. A flat back bump is a bump in which a wrestler lands solidly on their back with high impact, spread over as much surface as possible. A "phantom bump" occurs when a wrestler or referee takes a bump without a plausible reason (usually due to a botch or other mistake).
burial
Also bury and buried.
The worked lowering (relegation) of a wrestler's status in the eyes of the fans. The opposite of a push, it is the act of a promoter or booker causing a wrestler to lose popularity, momentum and/or credibility, or damaging their gimmick through means such as forcing them to lose in squash matches, losing continuously, allowing opponents to no-sell or kick out of said wrestler's finisher, or forcing them to participate in unentertaining or degrading storylines, or not using them at all. A burial is often used as a form of punishment due to real-life backstage disagreements between the wrestler and the booker, the wrestler…
Professional wrestling, often referred to as pro wrestling, or simply, wrestling, is a form of athletic theater centered around mock combat, with the premise
Professional wrestling, often referred to as pro wrestling, or simply, wrestling, is a form of athletic theater centered around mock combat, with the premise that its performers are competitive wrestlers. The legitimate sport of wrestling has never been popular enough in the United States to sustain a professional scene because the action is considered too slow-paced. In the late 19th century, wre
Ju…
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