Professional Wrestling Entertainment

Wrestling in its purest form is a spectator sport like any other, it’s origins date back thousands of years to ancient Egypt where it was both a pastime and a form of training for soldiers. It featured in the first modern Olympic games in 1896 and it still exists today as an Olympic event.

Professional Wrestling Entertainment such as what is practiced by World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) is based upon this but cannot be deemed as being a spectator ‘sport’. A sport is something that involves both elements of physical activity and fair competition. Professional Wrestling Entertainment has transformed from being a sport into an event that contains theatrics and stunts, and where the wrestlers themselves are often acting out a script. Whilst the exertion of the wrestlers is certainly physical, and they prove themselves to be athletes, the competition is not always fair, with pre-determined acted out story lines and props often deciding who the winner will be. The wrestlers themselves have cult followings, the largest single market segment being teenage boys, and are portrayed along the same lines as super heroes and super villains.

The introduction of storylines, acting and theatrics has turned Professional Wrestling Entertainment into a multi-million dollar entertainment phenomenon. Revenue generated at wrestling matches in 2005 for WWE Inc was approximately $49 (£26) per head, with around 1.7 million spectators. Revenue is also generated through world-wide television audiences, movies, music, and product merchandising. Professional Wrestling Entertainment is a prime example of entertainment being used very successfully to drive sales of merchandise (anything from plastic figurines to toothbrushes), with revenues for WWE of over $100 million (£52.8 million) in 2005. This turns the industry into a very profitable one indeed.