10 Obscure Wrestling Secrets That Took Years To Discover

6. The Hard Cam

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WWE, even as live attendances plummet—the recent UK tapings were half-full, despite the company only visiting the British Isles twice per year, and delivering a WWE Championship switch in late 2017—still looks like a gigantic enterprise.

Everything in pro wrestling is worked, even the attendances; Vince McMahon lies about crowd numbers to shareholders, and at this rate, he will need his best working boots on. Watch virtually any episode of SmackDown in 2018, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the brand is comparable in drawing power to the flagship. It plays similarly-sized arenas to what appears as a huge, enthusiastic crowd. In reality, the hard camera obscures the fact that the arenas are half-full.

We often joke that WWE is produced for an audience of one. Given the direction WWE performers face when delivering promos, this really isn’t too far removed from the brutal truth; to hide this, WWE tactically manoeuvres its crowd onto one flattering side of the camera. At least Kevin Dunn’s sickness-inducing camera cuts are good for something.

Even prior to the rise of broadband internet, which allowed fan pictures to destroy WWE’s “capacity crowd!” narrative, a significantly less popular brand made a pitiful attempt to obscure its own poor numbers with the use of tarp and a dimmed lighting rig.

Nitro in 2000, mirroring its ghastly content, was as dark as hell. The show was so awful that it couldn’t even pretend it was popular.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!