8 Things Non-Wrestling People Don't Believe About Wrestling
We know it's fake... but also, it isn't.
Jaw hit floor in the FS1 studio this past week, when WWE's Bayley casually let slip to Fair Game host Kristine Leahy that WWE's champions are expected to chauffeur at their own expense between shows, enduring a gruelling schedule which often sees them getting acquainted with America's highways sometimes for four hours per stint.
It's always utterly fascinating to see how 'real people' react when confronted with the abnormal normalities of a business which has long since stopped surprising anyone intimately familiar with it. Leahy's face was a picture as The Hugger tried to explain the ludicrous working conditions as an industry tradition. You could almost see years of indoctrination being de-radicalised at the suggestion that, you know, this isn't how other employers operate.
Travel itineraries that'd have Michael Palin complainin' are but a drop in the ocean of wrestling's murkiest methods. Judging by her slack jawed disbelief, Leahy would require reconstructive orthodontry were she to be confronted with some of wrestling's more ludicrous yet equally established practices.
Even the basic conceit of the industry flabbergasts most outsiders. How can you defend the concept of blading given that context?
8. Blading
At the conclusion of SummerSlam 2016, Brock Lesnar opened Randy Orton's cranium up like a Christmas present, repeatedly bashing his swede with his sharpened elbows until the canvas was awash with crimson.
The reason for this excessive, inexplicable act of non-staged bloodlust? The main event demanded colour, so to circumvent the restrictions of PG, WWE's paradoxical solution was to have The Beast batter poor Randy for real.
Simply put, 'accidental' bleeding from what in any other walk of life would be considered affray was deemed more palatable to industry outsiders - in this case, the company's sponsors - than the time-honoured tradition of a controlled nick with a small blade.
In the abstract, it's eminently understandable; voluntarily cutting yourself open for the sake of 'art' sounds fundamentally barbaric, and in many instances, it has been. No amount of explanation to concerned backers that a razor to the face is safer than repeated blows to the head would do - especially when confronted with the image of, say, Eddie Guerrero squirting like a fountain.
It's not just suits left aghast by the concept of gigging. Ahead of playing a role which demanded he accurately portray the realities behind the business, even The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke could not comprehend that blading was a real thing, only agreeing to pull the stunt on director Darren Aronofsky's request on the basis he thought it was a bit of a wind-up. It wasn't, and eventually, he was forced to go technicolour on film. This one'll never fly.