Concept
Professional wrestling is an athletic form of theater that revolves around mock combat performed in a squared ring. The storylines are typically based around interpersonal conflicts between good-natured "faces" and villainous "heels". While the ring is the main stage, additional scenes may be recorded for television in the backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television. Professional wrestling as a form of theater evolved out of the commonplace practice of match fixing among American wrestlers stretching back to the late 19th century. Americans eventually came to accept professional wrestling as a performance art, fundamentally because it was more entertaining when faked. Professional wrestlers responded by adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stuntwork to their performances to further raise the entertainment. Nevertheless, the wrestlers kept pretending the matches were real competitions, and the fans played along—this is a tradition known as kayfabe. In the United States, authentic wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context; no professional league for authentic wrestling exists. Authentic wrestling forms have never been popular enough with Americans to sustain a professional league (and there is no clear reason as to why). A case in point is Real Pro Wrestling, an American professional league that dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In some other countries such as Iran and India, authentic wrestling is popular enough to sustain a professional career, and "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. India's Pro Wrestling League is a case in point. In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling thusly: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition.
