While pro-wrestling is scripted, you can still glean from it self defense tips unlike highly choreographed and exaggerated fight scenes that you see in many films or UFC fights. Bear in mind that it's the ideas pro-wrestling tries to convey that are useful in a real fight not the actual moves themselves. Of course performing a tombstone pile-driver won't ensure you win every fight so you should not attempt to use any wrestling moves in a fight. Assuming good ring psychology is in place, you can learn alot just by watching pro-wrestling.
* It's not always about size and strength - After watching many pro-wrestling matches with wrestlers of all shapes and sizes wrestle each other, i've noticed that they all managed to work well with each other despite their differences. There's even an instructional video on how small wrestlers can wrestle larger ones. Quickness and agility also serve as equalizers against a very large and powerful opponent.
* Capitalize on your opponents mistakes - When you or your opponent makes a mistake whether it's missing an attack or not committing to an attack, it can cost him or her. You can notice this in pro-wrestling when a wrestler moves out of the way after his or her opponent jumped off the top ropes or when they perform a counter-attack at a critical moment. Capitalizing on an opponent's mistakes can help you in winning a street fight.
* Learn from your surroundings - I've noticed especially from watching hardcore matches that pro-wrestlers are very aware of the environment around them and take advantage of it. They pull out all sorts of weapons and utilize them in devastating ways. By learning from your surroundings, you will be better equipped to survive in a situation requiring self defense.
* Learn to adapt - Pro-wrestlers especially in barbed wire matches or inferno matches adapt to the changing situations as the match progresses. Pro-wrestlers will often use their balance and speed to avoid getting thrown into a flaming table. The ability to adapt to each situation is an essential skill in self defense because if you can't, your opponent will have the upper hand.
* Immobilize your opponent - Sometimes you have to wear out an opponent's arm or leg if he or she is too powerful to defeat single-handily. A great example of this is seen in when Kurt Angle faced the Undertaker at No Way Out 2006. Kurt Angle realized that the Undertaker was superior in terms of striking and strength so he resorted to strategically wear out his legs to render his moves useless. This weakened the Undertaker significantly to where Kurt Angle could wrestle against him more easily.
* Psychology - There is also a psychological aspect in pro-wrestling that is often overlooked in self defense. Confidence, emotions, and perceptions all play an important role in whether you win or lose. This can be seen in staredowns or when a pro-wrestler cowers when he or she realizes his or her opponent is seemingly unstoppable.
In conclusion, the pro-wrestling business isn't just for pure entertainment. It can teach us many important skills that can be applied in daily life even in self defense.
With MMA fighting in direct competition with pro-wrestling, businesses like the WWE have fallen in popularity. This is due to the "realness" of UFC fighting and the decline of creativity in the pro-wrestling business. I think the UFC is not in any way superior or more advanced to pro-wrestling. There are many misconceptions of how pro-wrestling works and how UFC works in which i will attempt to resolve. I will argue why pro-wrestling is much more entertaining than MMA fighting.
"Pro Wrestling is fake, UFC is real" - Many people believe that everything in the pro wrestling world is fake and that wrestlers do not get hurt. Nothing is further from the Truth. Pro-wrestling is scripted but in no way fake. Pro-wrestlers put their bodies and health on the line for entertainment. They engage in rough-play but injuries are still real. An example of this is when Undertaker throws Mankind of a cell and gives him a dislocated shoulder along with a concussion. Chair shots, submissions, punches, etc. are all painful despite being scripted. Pro-wrestling tries to limit the amount of pain but this isn't always possible.
While the martial arts in UFC are authentic, that's exactly the problem. WWE invented it's own brand of fighting dubbed "Pro-Wrestling" while UFC relies on martial arts, thus misrepresenting it by making it into a sport. In traditional martial arts, people train for survival whereas UFC fighters train for competition. In traditional martial arts, the purpose is to improve your health and well-being. The UFC fighter's goal is to be a dominant champion. A traditional martial artist doesn't have to be a bodybuilder while a UFC fighter is typically muscular. A UFC body-builder has the luxury of substituting techniques for muscular strength in submissions. This cannot be done in the discipline of traditional martial arts. According to UFC rules, there are many things that are forbidden - Head butts, Eye-gouging, biting, hair pulling, groin or elbow strikes, blows to the back of the head or spine, throat
strikes, kicking the kidney with the heel, the list goes on. Indeed, UFC fighters train with martial arts but is it authentic to it's original form when so many attacks are forbidden? Not at all.
According to an article titled "9 Ways Fights are 'Fixed in MMA'", the author explains that experienced fighters are set up with inferior ones. The UFC company doesn't mention the difference between a record of wins and fighting experience. Take undefeated UFC champion Ronda Rousey. She is a very aggressive fighter trained in Judo and attacks to level an opponent. While it seems as if she's won by extraordinary experience, this was only because the women's division was not as developed as the men's. The author suggests that UFC relies on what is called "padding records." The UFC company picks similar fighters in physical characteristics and records, but not in experience. Looking back at Ronda's fights, i can clearly see that these fighters weren't even close to her level. I'm not expert in martial arts, but even from a standard common sense approach - You don't rush in against a very aggressive opponent. A smart martial artist would learn when to keep his or her distance. This is what Ronda's opponents did not do. The company does this to make Ronda popular. How skilled is Ronda Rousey in reality? We don't know yet.
* UFC keeps beef professional, WWE doesn't - I'm pretty sure you've seen UFC challengers keep it professional while somehow trying to entertain us with the intensity. Take a look at this video on how UFC promotes its fights as the fighters stare each other down. Notice how Ronda Rousey flips the bird at Miesha Tates just before she is separated. We all know they're trying to make the fighters look tough so why disguise it with the professionalism? We know the fighters would fight right then and there given the chance, so who are they trying to fool? Nonetheless UFC does not let them do so. With all the conferences and interviews, UFC lacks the anticipation that WWE has.
Now watch this intense promo of a match between pro-wrestlers. There's no one standing behind them to make sure things don't get out of hand. On the contrary, it's the feuds that are promoted by the business to fuel the hype of the crowd. There's almost no rules. It's just pure intensity and creative characters with their own unique voice. It's a mistaken notion that pro-wrestlers just jump around and fight. They must also have great skills on the mic and in dialogue. You will see pro-wrestlers attack each other backstage to show their frustration and dislike for one another. You will see pro-wrestlers make daring claims in a solid and strong aggressive voice. WWE creates an environment where you can feel the competitive recklessness and ferocious hunger of wrestlers to succeed. It's as if the rules in society don't apply in the WWE and that's what makes people anticipate the matches. UFC lacks all of those things period.
* Pro-Wrestling is strategic like UFC - As i've stated earlier, Pro-wrestling is indeed scripted. You can find an example of a pro-wrestling script in the link below. Notice that the script only mentions who the winner, but it does not say how that victory will be accomplished. This is where the pro-wrestlers creativity and knowledge must kick in to get the job done. Pro-wrestling is thus no easy task. Pro-wrestlers still train like athletes because they are athletes. Some claim that pro-wrestlers have time to practice every choreographed move before the match - they don't. Smackdown for example runs on a weekly basis so the superstars must improvise on the spot. If a pro-wrestler lacks creativity and the ability to entertain, he or she won't be as popular. As a result, they won't appeal to fans or the company.
Pro-wrestling despite relying on a script, still has some form of strategy. Take for example the competition for the WWE title between Jeff Hardy and Triple H. Jeff Hardy is known for being a fly high risk taker who is willing to sacrifice his body for a victory. He's artistically acrobatic, agile, quick, and smart. He knows that Triple H is stronger and more offensive so Jeff Hardy devised a strategy. He put Triple H in a submission, continually tried pinning him, and flipping him over to counter-attack. This has gained Triple H's respect for using your opponent's weaknesses to your advantage.
* Pro-Wrestling is creative, UFC isn't - UFC almost always has the same types of matches. Almost all of the fighters look and fight the same. While it's entertaining to watch two fighters battle in a cage, it gets boring after a while. Some may argue "It's an unfair comparison because this is UFC.." however i beg to differ. This is entertainment. The goal is to please the crowd in the best ways possible. In Sword-fighting competitions for example, fighters are set up to fight in groups and use many other weapons. While UFC might have many MMA techniques, many fighters do not last very long and often do not get to employ all of their moves. It easily turns into a submission or knock out.
As i've stated earlier, Pro-Wrestling isn't just about fighting. It's about theatrical performance, character and storyline development, creativity in gimmicks, fashion, as well as ring maneuvers. It's as if your watching a movie in person. There's a wide variety of matches than the standard ones - Hell in a Cell, Punjabi Prison match, Royal Rumbles, tag team matches, Elimination chamber match, and so on. Each has it's own set of rules thus each pro-wrestler must adapt to the environment.
One would think that realistic fights equal more entertainment but this isn't always true. It's about how the fights are marketed and this is what makes WWE more entertaining than UFC.
* WWE has a more engaging audience than UFC - I've seen UFC audiences seated the whole time many times before. Go to a WWE show and it's like a concert as you hear the crowd roar. You see their reactions of sadness, anger, happiness, excitement, disgust, and so forth. You can see how devoted the fans are to their favorite superstars by the signs they hold up and the clothes they wear. Some pro-wrestling companies may allow fans to engage in some of the action. In the WWE world, the fans have a very close relationship with the superstars. While UFC managers try to please the crowd, the fans are no more than spectators. If their favorite UFC fighter loses, that's the end of it. This does not work in the WWE world. Ideally, the company works for the fans' best interests. If enough fans want something changed, the company will comply with their demands. It is the fans of pro-wrestling that direct the matches and develop story-lines. The fans are apart of the pro-wrestling business.
In conclusion, if people understood how UFC and WWE rather than promote false myths, we ought to see the clear differences. Once we do, we can decide for ourselves the Truth. When taking many things into consideration, i am convinced WWE surpasses UFC in entertainment value and ought to gain the same amount of popularity as UFC if not more.
While pro-wrestling is scripted, you can still glean from it self defense tips unlike highly choreographed and exaggerated fight scenes that you see in many films or UFC fights. Bear in mind that it's the ideas pro-wrestling tries to convey that are useful in a real fight not the actual moves themselves. Of course performing a tombstone pile-driver won't ensure you win every fight so you should not attempt to use any wrestling moves in a fight. Assuming good ring psychology is in place, you can learn alot just by watching pro-wrestling.
* Immobilize your opponent - Sometimes you have to wear out an opponent's arm or leg if he or she is too powerful to defeat single-handily. A great example of this is seen in when Kurt Angle faced the Undertaker at No Way Out 2006. Kurt Angle realized that the Undertaker was superior in terms of striking and strength so he resorted to strategically wear out his legs to render his moves useless. This weakened the Undertaker significantly to where Kurt Angle could wrestle against him more easily.
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