Ok.
Daniel Bryan getting up, top rope.
He’s about to bodyslam Kane.
Top rope, looking to put Kane away!
But wait, Kane gets his hand on Bryan’s throat!!!
Wait, hold on Mac.
This is obviously fake.
I mean look at this guy’s face.
Um, that's not really the point man.
Daniel Bryan might be exaggerating here, but there's no way those moves don't require serious
skill.
And anyways, that's not really even the point.
The world's largest professional wrestling organization, World Wrestling Entertainment,
or the WWE, they have the second most viewed Channel on YouTube.
And a lot of those fans, they're not watching for the pile drivers and the bodyslams.
If you look at the top WWE video on YouTube, it has 90 million views, and the wrestling,
it doesn't even start until more than halfway through.
Pro wrestling isn't fun to watch for the fighting, it's fun to because of the storytelling that
happens outside of the ring.
Let's take it back for a second.
This is what wrestling used to be.
A legit sport where two guys fought in a ring to pin each other down.
The problem was, this wasn't that exciting to watch.
So over time wrestling turned into a sort of staged athletic performance where competitors
would help each other pull off more impressive moves.
And it wasn't just for men.
Still, regardless of who was wrestling, crowds came to see people fight.
Or do whatever this is.
Where's the drama?
That started in the 1950's with a wrestler whose name was Gorgeous George.
He was a wrestler known for his larger than life performances that were built around his
carefully crafted character.
His thing was being fancy with bleach blond hair, fancy costumes, he even had a butler
who would come into the ring and spray perfume before he came in.
Sounds pretty offensive.
It was a hit.
And Gorgeous George he drew huge crows, turning wrestling from a sport into a performance
of spectacle.
Wait, so, can I come up with a character?
Uh, sure.
What you need to understand about wrestling characters is that they fit into pre-set archetypes.
There are heroes, who are called faces.
Short for babyface.
And there are villains, who are called heels.
I wanna be a bad boy.
That means you want to be a heel.
And that means you cheat, use dirty tactics, you're evil, you're full of yourself.
Perfect, I just wanna sew the seeds of chaos.
Right, yeah yeah.
So–
Just, total mayhem.
A heel.
I just wanna like f*** up everything in my sight.
You done?
Yeah.
So you've gotta have a gimmick.
Like Gorgeous George and his fancy taste, wrestlers usually have a gimmick that helps
establish their backstory.
You got anything?
What do I have to choose from?
There's a ton.
As pro wrestling evolved, gimmicks got more and more creative as storytelling became a
major aspect of pro wrestling.
The focus had shifted so much that by the 1990's the World Wrestling Federation, they
invented a new phrase to promote what they were doing.
Even though we call ourselves sports entertainment, because of the athleticism involved, the key
word in that phrase is "entertainment".
More entertainment meant more characters, and there's so many to choose from.
Some are masked and mysterious.
Brute jocks.
Supernatural characters.
Self-absorbed jerks.
Anti-authority rebels.
Evil billionaire tyrants.
Evil tyrant for sure.
But also like– a skateboarder?
If you want to figure out a wrestler's gimmick, all you have to do is look at their entrance.
Some have special effects.
There are costumes, set pieces, and even vehicles.
These entrances, they can become iconic.
Like The Undertaker's, a wrestler known as The Deadman because of his dark connection
to the afterlife.
He enters to the sound of a bell ringing before they play his theme which is based on Chopin's
"Funeral March".
Like characters in a play, the entrance is a big opportunity for storytelling.
The wrestler can say who they are,
"Wrestlemania will no longer define who I am".
what they want,
"Now I'm here for two reasons."
and how they'll get it.
Then the fighting starts.
Wrestling is like one big play, and the ring is like the stage?
Except the performance, it never stops.
You mean they stay in character all the time?
They even have a word for it, it's called "kayfabe," which is code for maintaining the
illusion that the character is real.
So it isn't just about making the wrestling look authentic, it's about sticking to the
storyline at all times.
Most wrestlers, they try to never break kayfabe.
You can't always tell what's real and what's not.
HHH and Stephanie McMahon who shared a storyline, they had a fake wedding in 2000 that ended
with a divorce when they met in the ring to renew their vows.
Our marriage, it's over!
Off camera though the relationship continued and in real life the performers actually got
married in 2003.
And since then, their real life marriage has been reflected in the storytelling.
You ready to unveil that character yet?
I think so.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Here to defend the Vox title, the evil billionaire slash tyrant slash skateboarder.
Thrill Peterson!
What is that?
Is that a check for a million dollars?
Oh my god!
He just ripped it up.
"Peterson Check Rip!"
What are y'all doing?
Dude, kayfabe!