Wrestling isn’t a ‘sport’, in my opinion. Its Performance art or theatre…like ballet. And like ballet, I’m not saying its dumb or doesn’t take immense effort and skill to master…but its not “sporting” when the outcome is known and practiced…thats theatre.
no its not ! wwe is regarded as sports entertainment, its entertainment based on a sport, ballet isnt a sport that is described as performance theatre but you do get sports that are practiced where the outcome is known !
Eg. gymnastics, it is practiced and repeated continuously with a know outcome, same applies to synchronised swimming the same can be said for any track based sport because they repeat the same thing over and over. if someone runs a 100 metre race he will start in a spot and 100 metres later end in a spot and that is a repeated action everytime he or she runs the 100metres (they will not run 99 metres or 101 metres.
it is not like football, tennis or rugby where the ball in play makes the outcome of the game or match unpredictable.
Every sport you described there involves a competitiveness of some kind. A scoring of some kind where the better example is the winner. That is sport. That is why ballet isn’t a sport and synchronised swimming is. I feel like thats a bit of a strawman argument, as I never made that claim.
Wrestling is scripted, and while I again say that it takes skill and effort to do the acrobatics and physical things the people do, there is no competitive element to it outside of the acting…
If the winner of the 100m race (your example) was agreed ahead beforehand, it would also not be a sport would it?
EDIT: here is definition of sport: n - an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
To me the focus is on the compete. The only thing WWE wrestlers compete in is popularity… if they’re sportsmen, by a stretch so is every youtuber
As off topic as the “wrestling is fake” discussion is, I wholeheartedly agree. I enjoyed it a hell of a lot as a kid though, but haven’t watched it in at least 20 years.
On topic though, I’m glad PGA is making a comeback. I loved the EA golf games and hope 2K can steer TGC into a more arcade friendly direction as well. It needs a proper career / campaign with motivation to keep playing it. Give me a modern “PGA tour” with elements of TGC (which I haven’t played, due to lack of “proper” campaign) and I’ll throw my money at it.
If you include a comment like “(can we call it a sport?)” in the article then you are inviting a discussion about whether WWE is a sport. Ergh, hence, viz-a-viz, and therefore: it is not off-topic.
Also loved wrestling as a kid. I suspect for the same reason kids enjoy shows like DragonballZ where it takes three episodes to wind up one attack. Kids are suckers for the manufactured drama, but it has to be combined with action.
Sadly, I must also enter the “WWE is not a sport” camp. @Mottamort’s logic is entirely sound. Chess is more of a sport than WWE is.
Chess isn’t a sport. It doesn’t take athletic ability. I usually sum up my opinion on sports vs games with golf (I am looking forward to 2Ks PGA as well!). When you go golfing, it is a sport if you walk all 18 holes. As soon as you start taking a cart to follow your ball, it becomes a game. I’m too exhausted to go into more detail behind that reasoning right now though.
I love it! I have this argument with Ryk from RSG Geldsake regularly :D.
I would take it one step further, though… the act of walking to the ball to play your next shot has no real outcome on the game. No part of the contest is affected by how fast you can get to your ball.
While a large amount of mechanical/muscle skill is needed to play golf, it’s not physical exertion that wins you the big bucks.
“Drive for show, put for dough,” as Gary Player says.
∴
Golf is not a sport, whether you walk or ride on the cart.
By that definition then esports are not sports… Now think carefully about whether you want to make that kind of claim on a gaming forum full of die-hard esports fans (including the horde of simracers)
That reminds me of when I was out golfing with friends back in the day in Canada. We were out at sundown. I should mention our provincial bird is the mosquito. I remember lining up my shot in the sand trap, only to notice my arms covered in mosquitoes. I shook 'em off, Happy Gimore’d the ball, then made a break for the golfcart. I look behind me, and it was like something out of a cartoon. A massive swarm of mozzies following me in my draft.
As I approached the golf cart, my friend was frantically swatting his arms and legs with both hands, and when I was close enough, he floored the cart and I had to jump into it while in motion. Of course, when it was his turn to swing, I returned the favour.
Ah, what is a sport? And what defines the word sport?
For an activity to be concidered a sport, according to the Global Association of International Sports Federations, an activity must have elements of the following 4 criteria:
have an element of competition
not be harmful to any living creature
not rely on equipment from a single suplier
not rely on any luck element within the activity
According to these rules, physical activity is not a fundamental requirement for an activity to be a sport. For this reason, activities like chess and GO can be concidered a sport alongside with athletics. See, traditional sport would be seen to have physical activity. Other activities that does not have that element, like chess and GO, is seen as a subcategory of sport, Valles minds ports. Same rule applies to motor sport, where the physical activity to replaces by the reliance on a motor. Video games is another sub section called Esports. As such, things are not black and white, and the gray areas can fit withing the frame work of sport should there be sufficient skill and competition involved.
For that reason I consider most of the mentioned activities as sport, or some sub section of sport. But a sport nevertheless. Even wrestling, or WWE, is a forum of sport.
As for the topic of 2k games, I too want to see a proper PGA game. That would be such a great thing!
WHAT ABOUT ME??? Is my logic tragic and sad? :’( WHERE IS MY RECOGNITION FOR EVEN STANDING UP ABOUT AND STARTING THIS!!
RABBLERABBLERABBLE!
Also yea…that definition given there includes chess and esports (I consider chess technically a sport as you compete in a game of some kind against another opponent to win) but doesn’t include WWE.