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ASK any self-respecting, long-time fan of professional wrestling what irks them the most, and you'll almost definitely find amongst their top answers: 'People calling the industry 'fake''.

Wrestling fans are, like all followers of a sport, profession or activity, extremely loyal and steadfast in its defence. Those brushing off or generalising wrestling as 'fake' is not only seen as a derogatory remark towards the entertainment itself, but also a throwaway insult to the fans themselves.

Though definitions will no doubt differ marginally throughout the world, 'Fake' to many refers to someone, or in this instance, something that is being presented as one thing, when it is clearly another. By this very definition, professional wrestling cannot be seen as fake. In 2008, neither World Wrestling Entertainment, nor Total Nonstop Action Wrestling or any other wrestling organisation, casts the aspersion that its product is anything more than a form of entertainment. Naturally, within the product, storylines will call for the viewer to use some imagination, but this is no more than you would expect from any soap opera an Episode of Eastenders for, example.

But it's not just the industry's voluntary and relatively new-found transparency that makes the term fake' seem more frustrating. As, in many instances, not only is professional wrestling not fake; it is also very, very real. Ask Tommy Dynamite Kid' Billington how he feels about the word fake'. Indeed, check with Darren Droz' Drozdov for his opinions on the matter. These are just two former professional wrestlers whose lives will never be the same as a result of a career in the ring.

Back in the rasslin' days of the 70s and 80s, the slow-paced style of wrestling limited the chances of injury as a result of impact moves in the ring but of course today's quicker style means that injuries are all too commonplace. Patched up despite bruises, bumps, knocks and niggles and made to go out and perform at the same pace the following night, it's no surprise that wrestlers face early retirement if not an early grave. The dedication of wrestlers to the profession is as unquestioned as that of its fans, and the worldwide phenomenon that is professional wrestling continues to grow, under the banner of sports' entertainment.

Staged, to a degree? Yes. Results pre-determined? Absolutely. Fake? Most certainly not.

Learn more about this author, Matt Wall.
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