Wednesday 23 April 2014

Pro Wrestling: Local and Legendary

For college this week, I wrote a sports article on professional wrestling, and I got the chance to interview none other than Kurt Angle. Thank you very much to Winnipeg's own Graeme Keam, AKA Mat Critic, for the amazing opportunity, and for taking the time to sit down and discuss with me this business that I love.

Below is the resulting article. I had soooo much content that I wanted to use, but I had a word limit of 1000, and after revisions, this was the result. I don't know if it's my best article, but it's my favourite, and I'll always look back fondly on it as possibly my last journalism-related assignment. Thanks again to Keam and Angle. I couldn't have done this without your generous input.

Enjoy the read!

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Many people are probably familiar with hockey, basketball, and football, and they can appreciate the talented professionals in these sports because they can relate. They have their own experiences scoring goals, shooting baskets, and catching passes—but how many people have hopped into a wrestling ring and jumped off the top rope, or driven somebody through a table, or crashed to the mat following a body slam? Professional wrestling may not be as familiar to Canadians as a sport like hockey, though it can demand just as much effort, skill, and sacrifice.

Back in 1996, Kurt Angle won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympics before transitioning into World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formally WWF). He quickly became a champion there, too, though it wasn’t easy for him to translate his experiences into professional wrestling.

“There’s just so many aspects of pro wrestling. If there was ever a sport that was the complete opposite, it’s Olympic wrestling,” says Angle. “It’s not just the stunts or the athletic ability. There’s character development. There’s obviously promo skills, acting skills, how to politic the right way, what to do… There’s no sport like it.”

Although professional wrestling matches are more like performances than competitions, that doesn’t mean they aren’t taxing, difficult, or painful. 

“The two most physical, demanding sports are Olympic-style wrestling and football,” says Angle. “I’ve done them both for many, many, many years, and neither one can hold a candle to the physicality of pro wrestling. Not just because you’re landing on plywood, but you’re doing it 300 days a year. By the time you’re 50, 55, you’re going to have arthritis in every part of your body, and for pretty much the rest of your life you’re going to suffer. But is it worth all that pain? I think so.”

Wrestling even infrequently carries a high risk of injury. WWE constantly reminds its viewers, “Don’t try this at home, school, or anywhere.” WWE Superstars undergo years of training to learn how to perform their moves safely, and even local wrestlers go through weeks of intense practice to learn the basics.

Graeme Keam, a promoter and wrestler for Primos Wrestling Canada in Winnipeg, knows the dangers of the sport firsthand. During a hardcore match featuring tables, tacks, and barbwire, Keam was on a table when his opponent landed on his legs; however, the wood didn’t break, and he hyperextended his knee.

“It was the only match I’ve ever done where I was terrified,” says Keam, who wrestles under the name Mat Critic. “With the tacks and the barbwire, it was very nerve-racking. I used to do hardcore matches, but it’s not worth it. Leave that to the younger guys who don’t have anything special to deliver.”

“I like to wrestle; I’m not a hardcore guy,” says Angle. “I see a newcomer doing a hardcore match and I say, ‘See that bastard right there? I will never work with him.’ I want to see somebody that can chain wrestle, who has psychology, that can tell a story and do it safe.”

Much of pro wrestling is physical storytelling using concepts like “spots” and “chain wrestling.” Chain wrestling describes a series of moves, holds, and counters that keep matches fluid and fast-paced, but they’re usually improvised. Conversely, spots are planned moments or attacks that wrestlers know they need to perform during a match, and they help structure a story leading up to who wins or loses.

“Some guys like to put the whole match together backstage,” says Angle. “I don’t like to pre-plan all that much. I like to go out there and improvise, but you always have to have a structure. You can’t just go out there without a structure. You can, but the match won’t be quite as good.”

“It’s got its level of fake, but it has to, or else you wouldn’t be able to guarantee anything,” says Keam. “With something like the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), you can pay 300 dollars for a seat to a main event that lasts 30 seconds. At least with wrestling, you’re getting what you came to see.”

Another aspect of pro wrestling, beyond the physical storytelling, are the characters that get viewers invested. There are heroes and villains that drive audiences to care about the outcomes of matches, which can make talking on a microphone as important as wrestling in the ring.

“You could be the best physical wrestler in the world, but if you don’t have a character that anybody is interested in, nobody cares,” says Keam. “Even at our level, if you can’t sell 10 tickets to 10 friends, you’re not doing it well.”

“My favourite was always the character development,” says Angle, who played a hero and a villain at WWE. “Being a bad guy, there’s a lot more dimension to it. I was such a good bad guy, whether it was being a goofball or just plain arrogant, and when you’re good at it, people start to enjoy it.”

Regarding the future of the business, Angle says he’s excited for professional wrestling, which is why he’s going to stay for about four more years. He now works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, though he looks back fondly on his years in WWE. 

“My career has been very blessed. There’s nothing else I can add to it except more five star matches. I’ve done it all. I have no regrets about my past or my wrestling.”

And that includes his rather drastic career change.

“In Olympic-style wrestling, one of the only things that’s fun about it is getting your hand raised,” says Angle. “Pro wrestling? I love the whole thing. I love entertaining the fans. So, which one do I respect more? Olympic wrestling, by far. But which one do I love more? Pro wrestling.”

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