"Oh, come on! They all learn how to fall, the chairs are made of tinfoil, the tables are built to break apart in the middle, none of this stuff really hurts!" This one normally follows on from the "it's fake" comment, where the non-wrestling fan implies that nothing that goes on in a ring hurts. Quite frankly, this is a ridiculous thing to say. Yes, a lot of what happens during matches is designed to look as painful as possible while limiting the actual amount of impact, but these are strong guys weighing anywhere between 200 and 500 lbs, throwing each other around onto hard boards or thinly padded concrete. To say that they don't come out of every match feeling a little beat up is ludicrous. If you were to jump high into the air right now and land on your back, would it hurt? Damn right it would! What these guys do is a very physical, demanding job every time they perform. Taking a chokeslam hurts. Taking a shot from a steel chair (very real and heavy, by the way) hurts. Even just simple things like running the ropes can give you rope burn until you're used to it. And this is all just in the normal run of things. What about when accidents happen? Try saying "it doesn't hurt" to people like Edge or Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had to retire due to neck injuries. Try telling it to people like Darren Drozdov, who got injured during a match and is now a quadriplegic for life. Or try telling it to this poor guy... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQlc71oqxEw Bottom line, these guys perform well over 200 days a year and put their bodies through a lot of punishment, all in the name of our entertainment. To dismiss them by saying "it doesn't really hurt" is the height of disrespect.
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
