10 Wrestling Secrets Hiding In Plain Sight

4. "Stunt Grannies"

Not The Back
WWE

Time now for some scintillating cruelty, as pro wrestling sinks its hooks into our most sympathetic sensibilities by paying an elderly lady to get physically threatened by a brick sh*thouse of a colossus.

This particular fan plant is so, hilariously inspired: the elderly have a sort of innocence about them. They are also frail, and thus, are the next best thing to dropping a leg on some toddler's face. The threatened cruelty is so unconscionable that this tactic persevered over years and across continents: the idea of Handbag Vs. 24-inch F*cking Python is such a grotesque mismatch that it melts the hearts of the hardened wrestling fan and compels them to provide a furnace atmosphere.

But, like virtually everything else, it is a sham designed to arouse a reaction...as is this entry, which is a thinly-veiled excuse to hyperlink that clip from an old TV special in which a masked wrestler drops some worker of a granny on her a*se. A stunt granny tried to bray Hulk Hogan on Nitro, once, if that counts. She was the youngest person in the main event segment.

In truth, though, wrestling companies have and continue to plant fans in the crowd to guarantee an embellishment of the desired reaction. Done well, and it adds to the spectacle; done too obviously, as was the case at TakeOver: New Orleans last year, and the artifice detracts from the supposed real-life drama.

Contributor
Contributor

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!