Does It Hurt?

This question goes hand-in-hand with "Is it real?" The answer is simple enough, but may yet cause confusion: sometimes. It seems like a cop out, but it's not and I'll tell you why.

I first have to tell you how a ring is put together. It is not a trampoline. It is not a mattress. There is a steel frame with a lattice of steel bars criss-crossing the middle. There may or may not be a spring in the middle. It doesn't matter. The difference a spring makes is minimal. On top of that spring is a layer of 2x6 boards. On top of the boards is a thin layer(about an inch/ 3 or 4 centimeters) of padding. On top of the padding is the canvas. The ropes can be rubber hose or steel cable wrapped in tape(padding optional.) There may be other rope materials, but hose and cable are the only two I've ever seen. The ring is "softer" in the middle, if only because there is more give there. That's it.

Bumping hurts a lot the first few times you do it. I remember being so sore after my first practice that I couldn't lift my hands to my head to shampoo my hair. You get used to it, but it's not uncommon to feel a little banged up after a match or practice.

Most of the discomfort associated with wrestling can be overcome by just "getting used to it." Bumping, hitting the ropes, getting thrown into the turnbuckles, etc are all things that hurt at first. You get used to it. That doesn't mean you can't get hurt. I still get bruised up now and then.

Gravity is you biggest enemy. Regardless of your opinion of wrestling's authenticity, you can't deny gravity. Wrestlers are falling down all the time. On purpose. We know how to fall in such a way that we can minimize the chance of injury, but it doesn't mean you don't get hurt. Bad shoulders, knees, necks, backs, and ankles are very common. These injuries are common because those are the body parts that are absorbing the constant impact.

I have been injured a few times. I have had countless friction burns and a few bloody noses. I had hemorrhagic bursitis in my left elbow from bumping during practice. That means I busted the bursa sack in my elbow and it filled up with blood. For a few weeks, it looked like I had a tennis ball in my elbow. There was an unpadded part in the ring, and my elbow found it. I recently reinjured my left elbow. It didn't swell up like before, but it is very uncomfortable to put any pressure on it.

At about 1:15 in the clip above, my opponent goes for a move called a jawbreaker(which I fuck up, but that's another story). The move involves one man grabbing the other man by the head, positioning the other guy's jaw on top of his head, and dropping to his butt or knees. The guy taking the move drops to his knees and "sells" that he just hurt his jaw. During this jawbreaker I had my teeth clenched, so they clacked together. One of lower teeth came halfway out of my jaw. You can actually see me checking my mouth after the move. I had to push the tooth back into my gums. I couldn't eat solid food comfortably for almost a month. All because I had my teeth clenched during a simple move.

I don't have the video of my biggest injury uploaded, and Blogger is being difficult about uploading it directly( I may add it in later.) I was in a battle royal. A battle royal is a match where nothing happens. You don't bump, as you can get stepped on. It's nothing but punches, chops, and kicks until you get thrown out. When I was getting eliminated, my knee swung down and hit the corner of the ring. The pain was immediate and severe. I was unable to drive home(luckily I came with my wife) and could only walk with a pronounced limp. I was unable to bend my knee at all.

Being the stubborn jackass I am, I waited 5 whole weeks before I went to the doctor. I even wrestled once or twice on it. When all was said and done, I had torn my LCL( since healed) and PCL( never to be fully healed). My kneecap had also calcified, thanks to my waiting so long to seek medical attantion, and was deemed beyond fixing. To make a long story short, it is 18 months later and I still have a hard time getting around. It took almost a year before I could walk down stairs without unbearable pain. Kneeling is still incredibly uncomfortable. Bad weather can make the pain so bad that I end up limping again. I am unable to jog and/or run for more than a few minutes at a time. My right knee will never be 100% ever again.

So... yes. It hurts. You can get injured. You can be as careful as careful can be. It doesn't matter. You are doing things the human body wasn't meant to do. Very few wrestlers get through unscathed. Why do it then?

It's just worth it to live your dream.