From Bard to Bodyslam: Unraveling Wrestling’s Storytelling Magic
Yes, I’m going there!
Wrestling isn’t real. It pretends to be fought, by stuntmen. These people are more acrobatic than the old-school—fat men slapping and kicking each other—however, they do use some storytelling, too.
You hear talk of it. There are two ways this is done currently: plots in promos and in-ring and backstage skits. These are usually created by writers, some with wrestlers' input. The other way is in the matches themselves.
Promos And Sketches
These are written by film and TV scriptwriters, some with input from former and current wrestlers.
(I’d rant about how ring performance is more important than skits. But, in this era of PG wrestling in WWE, it’s a waste of energy. AEW and TNA Impact are for another article).
Promos are short for promotions. Wrestlers add interest in a match by just talking about it. Sometimes, they come after a match to build up the personality of the performer:
