Ask the Editor ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"? Apr 2, 2008 - 3:17:05 PM

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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

Mark Dinatale of Los Angeles, Calif. asks: Wade, I am sure this has been asked before, but it's something that bothers me. Why does every on-camera person in (especially) in the WWE refer to wrestling is "this business". To me it downplays what they all do as performers. You never hear the NFL say "this business." I would think that referring to it more as a sport would make it seem more legitimate. Even referring to it as "sports entertainment" all the time is better that "this business". I know for tax purposes you can't call it a sport, but does that hold true for promos and such. What if you watched a movie and every 15 minutes someone in the movie looked at the camera to remind you, "it's just a movie" it would take you out of the moment. Just a thought.

It's long been a bone of contention with me. I think it sounds odd and does break suspension of disbelief a little. They're not totally alone as I've heard many pro athletes say regarding their sport, "This is a business," but usually it's in the context of a contract squabble or trade rumor that could send them away from their current teammates.

I think the term "the business" is in part born out of a desire to avoid the backlash of calling it "a sport." When wrestlers say that, I think they worry that it's just going to start an argument with someone who rolls their eyes and says it's not a real sport. Also, there's a badge of honor a lot of people in pro wrestling wear by saying any chance they get that they are in a business, meaning they're not "marks." There are even people I've talked to this weekend who didn't get emotional during the Flair farewell because it would have been like being a "mark," which sadly within wrestling is often considered the lowest form of human being - the people who are the targets of their marketing and buy into what they do.

Vince McMahon may have amplified it when he didn't want the WWF to be grouped in with "those rasslin' promoters" back in the 1980s. With a straight face - for marketing reasons and to set the bar for himself high - said during the early WrestleMania years that he wasn't competing with the NWA or AWA, he was competing with Disney and other forms of entertainment. So to refer to himself as "pro wrestling" would have been admitting he was in the same group as those small time, regional, old geezers running "pro rasslin'" companies.

Also, I think part of the problem is it doesn't sound right to say, "When I got into sports entertainment…" because, although nobody in WWE wants to say it to the McMahons, that term is just one of the most stupid sounding things in almost any context, especially when a pro wrestler is called a "sports entertainer" in the context of the show. It's one thing to put that down as your occupation on a tax form, but on a wrestling show it's the equivalent of someone in a baseball movie, during movie dialogue, referring to themselves as an actor. No, during the movie, they're a baseball player. And during a WWE TV show, they're "pro wrestlers."

Think of your favorite actor talking about why he or she got into acting. Would you rather hear, "I first got into professional acting when I…" or "I first got into the industry when I…" Using the term "industry" makes it seem like a cold, calculated business decision, whereas using the term "actor" makes it seem like a choice of passion, love, and art.

The term "the business" and "the industry" is thrown around so much that I don't think anyone in pro wrestling hears it the same way a fan or a non-fan outside of "the business" hears it. But it is an odd term in the context it's used. If I never hear the term "sports entertainment" and especially "sports entertainer" used on a wrestling show again, I'll be happy. I don't know, though, if we'll ever get back to pro wrestlers referring to themselves as getting into "pro wrestling" rather than "the industry" or "the business" because that stigma is always there that if they say they got into "pro wrestling," people are going to think they are trying to pull a fast one on them and are pretending it's real. It's just an odd linguistic challenge with no easy answer for everyone.

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