10 Most Fake Wrestling Props Ever
AEW: great pro wrestling with the sh*ttiest props you've ever seen.
Virtually all of professional wrestling, beyond the meta niche fringes, exists to suspend the disbelief of the audience.
This is mostly accomplished with snug, physical work aimed in the safer spaces; the flesh of the cheek, the upper back capable of absorbing a bump spread across a large surface area. Wrestling, having long since evolved from catch-as-catch-can slogs, also involves several props - so much so that plunder violence feels altogether redundant in 2021.
The wooden table is an enduring pop generator. The sensory ghoulish thrill is unparalleled, made safe by the specific wood used and the way in which it is treated, and made spectacular by the pleasing noise and exploding shards. The steel chair is altogether more dangerous, which is acknowledged now by mostly being used to crack an opponent over the back, and if the set-up is contrived, the wince-inducing noise rattles the cynicism away. But wrestling, being wrestling, is fond of trying out a triangular wheel.
Even supernatural bullsh*t is meant to look convincing in its own heightened context, otherwise, what's the point? The idea is to pull the audience in and encourage them to melt into the fantasy.
This is rendered somewhat difficult when a terrible prop fails to melt in a performer's mouth...
10. WCW Attempts To Use An Electric Chair
The thing about using an electric chair - in addition to sanctioning murder live on pay-per-view, which seems a bit libellous - is that it couldn't look convincing or even good.
Nobody was going to accept that a man's life had been taken, and a real-looking electric chair is less violent than it looks, at least according to motion pictures. The insta-corpse flails around in disturbing fashion, and the sound effect is scary enough, but it's not really a big spectacle of a visual, is it?
Sure, it's rather unsettling, but little Timmy in the cheap seats isn't going to see Abdullah foaming at the mouth, is he?
Best put some sparklers on the thing to make a man's ostensible death look like a fireworks celebration!
The pyro activity was actually busier than at Revolution 2020, which was unfortunate in this context. Pyro conditions a crowd to pop.
"F*ck yeah! A guy is dying! This f*ckin' rules!"
If the pyro didn't expose the sham, the close-up of the apparatus did: nothing was connected to Abdullah's head, and he sold actual death as if struggling to get to the vinegar strokes.