Is "Pro Wrestling" a sport?

[Marc the Smark]

OK, I have debated this question with buddies of mine for years. I personally dont consider pro wrestling a sport but I DO think its a rigourous athletic competition. Probably as brutal as american football and MMA. Yes, you heard that right. Working matches 300+ days out of the year is more brutal than fighting in one MMA fight which could last 20 seconds every other 6 months imo.

Anyway, I just caught an episode of 'Joes vs Pros' on Spiketv and they had Bill Goldberg as one of the pros. He played in the NFL for 3 years and he made a name for himself as a pro wrestler in the late 90s. The regular Joes had to get Goldberg on his back to finish the event and they actually said "sport" and "pro wrestling" in the same sentence, thus giving pro wrestling as a sport more credibility.

IYO, is pro wrestling a sport? Why or why not?

[Rammsteinmad]

It's "Sport's Entertainment". The way I see it:

The "Sport" comes from the obvious competition. However, the "Entertainment" comes from the storylines, and the fact that everyone know's it scipted.

So the sport side of it (the competition) doesn't come from actually winning the match, but how great you can make that match be.

I guess that doesn't really answer your question to well. But if I had to give a simple yes/no answer I'd go with yes, pro wrestling is a sport.

[Xero]

IT'S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT!

[Rammsteinmad]

Thank you for saying what had to be said.

But I'm not telling you something you don't already know.

[Kane Knight]

It's not a competitive sport, but I won't complain if people call it a sport.


tHink about it: Body Building, martials arts, and so on are considered sports. Pro wrestling incorporates a lot of these into one "event."