We grew up watching World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and it’s one of the childhood memories we saviour.
The popularity of WWE has only soared over the years as people continue to love the entertainment provided by the wrestlers in the ring. WWE has become one of the biggest entertainment and marketable industry in sports history.?
We were fascinated and excited by high-flying moves, we have loved wrestlers pulling the moves from up-top, the use of chairs and those crafty finishing moves.
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When we grew older we realised that it was all scripted, irrespective of that the wrestlers put their lives at risk and put on a show, week in and week out.
The moves that are put on display during contests are not actually intended to cause any serious physical harm to opponents. The hope is that all of the wrestlers involved in a match will be able to shake hands and wish each other well behind the scenes when all is said and done.
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The popularity of WWE has only soared over the years as people continue to love the entertainment provided by the wrestlers in the ring. WWE has become one of the biggest entertainment and marketable industry in sports history.?
But it has come with its own moments of shock and grief over the years - with many wrestlers becoming the casualty of the brutal action and life-threatening manoeuvres.?
Twenty years ago, WWE, which was then known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF), was hit with its most horrific in-ring disaster that shook the industry to its core.??
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Owen Hart, performing as The Blue Blazer, fell 23 metres to his death, live on the Over the Edge pay-per-view at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.
It sent shivers across the WWE, and the grief stricken industry was in a state of total mourning. The fateful day in 1999 is considered one of the most unfortunate and tragic days in the history of sporting entertainment.??
To say it was a dark day would be an understatement — Hart was known as a prankster and some would say the best wrestler in the entire Hart wrestling family, which included his brother Bret, a seven-time World Champion.
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It is never easy to pull off all the moves and it doesn't always go to the plan and script, as Hart unfortunately found out. Wrestlers take significant risks during matches that do not just include aerial maneuvers but also taking leaps off the top rope, off the cages and off the ladders.?
What looks to be a simple bump to us can be a serious blow to different parts of the body, most notably to the chest, head and neck regions of a person. Any unnatural jolt that rocks such a fragile part can be life-threatening.?
Though WWE continues to only grow and the audiences soars, it comes with the baggage of extreme risks and putting your body on the line. As much as wrestlers go by the scripted book and perform, it doesn't always fall in place.
Along with the fatalities, WWE stars have been a victim of some horrendous injuries inside the ring. They have been on the wrong side of moves going awry.?
WWE's ECW was very extreme version of wrestling - the blood and use of chairs and tables was common. One specific event of ECW Living Dangerously 2000 is renowned for what has become known as “The Danbury Fall.” Wrestler New Jack jumped off the scaffolding and took Vic Grimes, a 300-pound wrestler, along with him.?
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The two were fighting on top of the scaffolding and made a move to fall together, thinking they’d be cushioned by tables on the ground. Unfortunately, they missed the tables and hit the concrete instead, which was 15 feet below. Grimes’ body fell on top of New Jack’s, whose head hit the ground.
Somehow they survived, but New Jack sustained permanent blindness in one eye. That is the price you pay if it goes wrong, even in the slightest.
There are many such episodes that have even ended the career of many wrestlers - the most recent example being female performer Paige. She has since been working with WWE in a non-wrestling capacity.
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These perils are what WWE wrestlers face on daily basis, but they continue to perform irrespective. Always playing with fire when they execute all those moves inside the ring, it is a real tough job.
But the opportunity to perform in front of the massive audiences and the lure of good money while at it - many wrestlers can't resist the temptation a and entertain and put their lives on the line to perform and entertain.