For the most part, wrestlers only fight each other as part of predetermined storylines on scripted wrestling shows. Backstage, meanwhile, everyone is pretty friendly with one another (or at least cordial), as they're all there to do a job, put on a great show, and get paid. Beating each other to actual pulps would make pulling off all three of those things way harder.
Wrestlers Who Fought Each Other Outside Of The Ring
For the most part, wrestlers only fight each other as part of predetermined storylines on scripted wrestling shows. Backstage, meanwhile, everyone is pretty friendly with one another (or at least cordial), as they're all there to do a job, put on a great show, and get paid. Beating each other to actual pulps would make pulling off all three of those things way harder.
Professional wrestling is a dangerous job, and it's not uncommon for wrestlers to pass away before their time. For some of them, the end comes before they even leave the ring — sometimes literally. Wrestlers tend to accumulate injuries, and some moves require them to trust their lives in their opponent's hands. All this means a great many things can go wrong during a match. A botched move, a previously undiscovered medical condition, or even a piece of faulty equipment can all turn a cool, scripted performance into a deadly serious situation. For instance, Cage Side Seats describes an incident from 2014 in which WWE wrestler Seth Rollins almost impaled himself on a nasty metal spike during a match.
Some say Hulk Hogan is the most influential professional wrestler in history. Others prefer the in-ring abilities of Ric Flair and Bret Hart, while others still feel that the crown should go to crowd favorites such as Steve Austin or The Rock. However, all those people would probably be a whole less famous if it wasn't for Vince McMahon. The WWF/E chairman dragged wrestling from its fringe territorial roots into the mainstream, or as close to it as a bunch of muscular, screaming people drop-kicking each other can ever be. Both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, McMahon revolutionized the world of sports entertainment. His executive skills have made him a certifiable billionaire, and his "Mr. McMahon" character is one of the more effective heels to ever step in the ring. The man even has a Guinness World Record to his name (for being the oldest WWE champion in history, naturally).
Mixed martial arts is a violent, bloody sport. Two athletes step into the cage and try their best to punch, kick, or submit their opponent. Obviously, people are going to get hurt. But at the end of the day, it's a contest of skill between professional fighters, men and women who respect one another and admire the craft and technique that MMA has to offer.
WrestleMania is the biggest night of the wrestling year, but what they give us isn't always deserving of that title. Plenty of terrible, pointless, and insulting matches have made WrestleMania memorable, but for all the wrong reasons: