10 Times Wrestling Was More Hardcore Than "Real" Sports

4. Planes, Trains & Cena-Mobiles

Sports: The schedule of most professional athletes seems downright leisurely compared to what pro wrestlers go through. Each NFL team will only play about 16 games in a 17 week period, or 1/3 of the year. Unlike in the WWE where athletes are classified as independent contractors, professional athletes have player's unions, pensions, health cares plans and can usually bargain as free agents for the best possible contracts. Their leagues pay for their travel and accommodations, first class flights and top of the line tour buses. Strikes, which are virtually impossible in pro wrestling, have terminated game play in several leagues around the globe. During the Major League Baseball strike in 1994, teams ended up down $1 billion in revenue and it was all over the issue of salary caps. For the next decade every team wound up with slumping ticket sales. Pro Wrestling: If you are a WWE superstar and your name is not Lesnar you will be working the road, sitting behind the wheel, 300 days a year. Superstars do house shows, Smackdown, Raw and about a dozen PPVs annually. In addition to work in the ring, there's promotional appearances, photo shoots, interviews, charity work and whatever people do on "Total Divas." Wrestling has no off-season. The grim reality is injuries and addictions are the top ways to get any time off at all.