Pro Wrestling Is Real: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[AyanesAyane's High Kick (Anime)|Ayanes High Kick]]'', the eponymous protagonist dreams of becoming a professional wrestler and eventually winning the women's world title.

* ''[[Street Fighter (Comic Bookcomics)|Street Fighter]]'' has it both ways; R. Mika's actual wrestling matches (i.e., the stuff that happens off panel) are scripted, while Zangief is baffled by the concept and has never heard of such a thing before. This has roots in ''[[Street Fighter|SF]]'' canon; the series takes place in the same world as the ''[[Saturday Night Slam Masters (Video Game)|Saturday Night Slam Masters]]'' games. Not only is wrestling real, but Zangief's old sparring partner Biff Slamkovich is upset that some people think it isn't.

* The first ''[[Spider-Man (Filmfilm)|Spider-Man]]'' film also depicted wrestling as real as a direct adaptation of his origin story. In that world, Spider-Man beat a wrestler named ''Bonesaw McGraw'', played by [[Randy Savage]]. This is a not-entirely-realistic depiction of a practice known as "hooking", in which a wrestler who actually is a skilled fighter is advertised as taking on anyone who cares to try their luck with a large cash prize on the line, and proceeds to mop the floor with the rank amateurs who come gunning for the prize while making the matches look more even and dramatic than they really are in order to entice more suckers -- err, contestants to step up, pay their entry fee, and try to win; it was so named because each actual wrestler involved would have a "hook", or a simple submission hold they could quickly execute to end a match in seconds if it stopped going his way. Not entirely realistic because, generally, steel cages aren't involved in shooting, nor do the marks (non-insider fans) have spider powers. Hooking isn't generally practiced in the post-[[Kayfabe]] era, but was done recently enough that some of its practitioners, the most prominent of which is [[WWE]] wrestler William Regal, are still active in the business today.

* ''[[Little House Onon the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On the Prairie]]'': In the 1979 episode "The King is Dead," the sport's early carny origins are exposed, although in the climatic scene the champion wrestler in this episode -- an aging athlete suffering from heart failure -- defeats a loudmouthed challenger using his own, legit athletic skills (putting the arrogant challenger in a legit bearhug and refusing to let go until the mouthy youngster passes out); he dies shortly after winning the match. The champion wrestler's manager, played by Ray Walston (of ''[[My Favorite Martian]]'' fame) is named ''[[Hilarious in Hindsight|Jimmy Hart]]'' ... the real name of a young musician who would become one of the best-known WWF personalities in the 1980s and 1990s.

* ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]'': The 1985 episode "Body Slam" starred [[Hulk Hogan]] in a plot that made heavy use of Hogan's wrestling career (including footage from a 1984 match vs. Greg "the Hammer" Valentine, presented as legit), and featured several WWF faces as un-billed extras in a scene where they fight off that episode's villains. In the segment featuring the Hogan-Valentine match, the ending is altered to show the bad guys entering the arena to confront and assassinate Hogan (don't worry, they're stopped in time).

* ''[[Saturday Night Slam Masters (Video Game)|Saturday Night Slam Masters]]''

* Frequently this is the case in the [[Fighting Game]] genre as professional wrestlers are commonplace entrants in the various tournament (which is to say that they know that their moves are capable of doing real damage and thus can use it as a legitimate fighting style). The UDON Comics ''[[Street Fighter (Comic Bookcomics)|Street Fighter]]'' series [[Playing Withwith a Trope|plays]] with this. Pro wrestling is real, but the elements that back it (such as kayfabe, selling, etc.) are also accounted for, which confuses Zangief when he wrestles R. Mika. She uses chairshots and low blows, all the while congratulating Zangief on his ability to sell but in truth she's actually hurting him and by the end, he's battered and beaten while wondering how this is "pro wrestling".

* In ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003]]: Fast Forward'', Pro Wrestling has ''become'' a legit sport. However, being from the past, Raphael is unaware of this and treats it like its all a show, at least until he gets his shell kicked by a disgruntled wrestler.