WWE is an American sports entertainment company headquartered in
Connecticut, USA. It promotes professional wrestling, which is different from
Olympic or combat-based wrestling since the outcomes in the former is pre-determined whereas in the latter it is not so. In that sense, WWE can be referred
to as scripted, but the problem arises when people who are not fans mistake it for
being fake, which is a different thing altogether.
WWE fittingly prides itself in being not just any sports company but more
importantly an “entertainment” company, where the prime focus is on providing
enjoyment to its fans, rather than emphasizing only the sports section. WWE
athletes have to remain fit, healthy, and athletic because it is ultimately a sport,
where moves need to be performed in a safe and executable manner.
However, the sport is also a source of entertainment, and WWE Superstars are
responsible for the amusement of the fans. Entertainment is presented best when
the story is scripted and outcomes are predetermined so that the key to the box
of fan satisfaction is in the hands of company writers who script the shows and
storylines. In that sense, WWE shows are not dissimilar from a scripted Marvel
film or a theatrical drama – all of them have heroes, villains, and a plot, and their
sole emphasis is on keeping the fans stuck to their seats.
Fans are more engaged when control is assuredly in the hands of creators, unlike
other sports where although the game is natural, there is always a risk of a boring
game or something untoward occurring. These also carry negative side effects
where if a natural game is boring, it might be blamed on God or nature but if a
scripted match is monotonous, the writers are the ones sent to the gallows –
rightly so because they are paid to do their jobs well and write interesting stories.
As actors in a drama have roles to play, so do WWE superstars. Based on whether
fans like or dislike a performer in the storyline, he or she can either be called a face or a heel respectively.
Is WWE Scripted?
A face is supposed to perform honorably as a fighting champion, while the heel takes shortcuts, cheats, and insults the audience, cementing his stature as a bad guy. There are twists and turns, and the audience’s emotions are manipulated by the scripters who know the art of evoking the strongest emotions out of the viewers. There are storylines involving championships and partners, bosses and workers, the David-Goliath trope, and much more. Other sports do not contain storylines and therefore WWE is not your usual kind of sport.
This is not to claim that WWE superstars do not get hurt or suffer from frequent
injuries, because any sport involved in taking a lot of bumps, even scripted ones,
takes a toll on the body and mental health of the performers. Many careers have
ended short because of neck and spine medical issues – natural when the
performers are jumping off high ladders onto wooden tables and hitting each
other with steel chairs. The moves performed are executed safely and by trained
professionals, but like stuntmen, injuries can occur anytime while effectuating
stunts.
WWE Superstars such as Edge, Paige, The Undertaker, and Daniel Bryan have had
career-threatening injuries which have led to multiple-year absences and a lighter
work schedule on return. Psycho Sid suffered a grotesque on-screen injury where
he broke his leg jumping off the top rope, and Brock Lesnar got his neck broken
when a top rope move went wrong and he landed on his neck. Barring such
serious injuries, routine medical checkups are conducted frequently by
professional company medicos and doctors, to ensure health and safety of the
performers.
Tom Cruise was working on a scripted movie when he suffered a nasty injury to
his leg, which otherwise his stuntman would have been at the receiving end of.
Similarly, WWE entertainers are stuntmen cum actors who do high-risk moves for
entertainment at a high stake of damaging their bodies. The real risk is involved in
carrying out these moves on a regular basis.
However, in spite of the health and injury risks, WWE is largely based on fictitious
storylines just like any other film or work of art, to engage the audience and
control their passions. Just as we felt happy witnessing the defeat of Thanos on-screen, WWE fans are satisfied when the bad guy meets his end.
Thus, in conclusion, WWE is scripted sports entertainment.
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