Douglas Edwards - Philosophy Smackdown

I realized that there’s a lot to explore here, and that thinking about pro wrestling from a philosophical point of view would be a fun and interesting thing to do. I looked around and saw, though, that little to no philosophical work on pro wrestling had ever been done. I said my prayers, took my vitamins, drank my milk, and got to work on this book.

Welcome to Philosophy Smackdown! This is a book about pro wrestling and philosophy – the first of its kind. It aims to examine pro wrestling from a philosophical point of view in a way that is interesting and fun. I hope you’ll agree that pro wrestling is not only one of the most impressive and unique forms of entertainment around, but also that it can prompt us to think about some deep issues concerning who we are as human beings, and how we ought to relate to each other both individually and culturally.

This is why I think pro wrestling is so apt for philosophical investigation: philosophy asks questions such as “What’s reality really like beneath the appearances?”, “What is it to be free?”, “What makes us the people we are?”, and “What is it to be a good person?”, which are all questions that arise when thinking about pro wrestling. Whether it’s thinking about the matches, the characters, the storylines, or the backstage politics, these questions are never far away. Pro wrestling’s stubborn resistance to classification into the categories of “sport” and “art” also poses a philosophical challenge, as philosophers love giving clear definitions!

Each chapter takes a key philosophical concept and analyses its role and significance in pro wrestling. We talk through reality, freedom, identity, morality, justice, and meaning, which – I suggest – all have central roles in what pro wrestling is as a phenomenon. We work through key examples in pro wrestling history to develop the central ideas, and also reflect on how the way these issues play out in pro wrestling is mirrored in the way they play out in our “real lives”. As a bonus “dark match”, we also discuss the relationship between pro wrestling and philosophy itself.

Here’s a brief summary of each chapter:

In Reality : Work vs Shoot, we explore the long-awaited encounter between what is real and what is fake. We will get to the heart of what reality is, and how pro wrestling helps us to understand the key distinction between appearance and reality. We will witness the times when that distinction breaks down in pro wrestling, known as “shoots”, including the infamous “Montreal Screwjob”, and discuss what being a pro wrestling fan can tell us about being responsible citizens in a democracy.

In Freedom : Scripting vs Spontaneity, we look at the idea that pro wrestling is scripted, and the extent to which this is a distinctive mark of pro wrestling over other sports, and real life. We explore the different extents to which pro wrestling is scripted, and discuss philosophical accounts of how “real life” is scripted. We also talk about breaking cultural scripts, look at the development of women’s wrestling, and examine the controversial issue of intergender wrestling.

Identity : Person vs Gimmick delves into the relationship between a wrestler and their character, or “gimmick”. We explore questions of personal identity, such as what happens to a character when the person playing them changes, and how we can make sense – if at all – of a character changing over time. We also talk about what happens when wrestlers “work themselves into a shoot”, and inadvertently become their characters. We also see that the predicament of wrestlers and their gimmicks is not a million miles removed from the issues of identity we face in our everyday lives.

In Morality : Babyface vs Heel, we examine the age-old question of what makes a good person, and how this idea plays out in pro wrestling storylines. Of particular interest is the classic babyface/heel dynamic, and how this has evolved in the last 30 years or so. We track this using Aristotle’s account of the virtues to explore how the roles of good guys and bad guys have changed, and what this tells us about our cultural interpretations of what it is to be a good person, and the aims we set for ourselves.

Justice : Prejudice vs Progress scrutinizes pro wrestling’s sometimes uncomfortable relationship with issues of social justice, such as racism and homophobia. We explore some controversial cases of race and jingoism in pro wrestling storylines, and contrast different ways of approaching LGBTQ issues. We also look at what it would take for a pro wrestling company to be socially responsible, and discuss the challenges awaiting the different approaches to doing so.

In Meaning : Sport vs Monster, we tackle the question of what pro wrestling fundamentally is. Is it a sport? Sports entertainment? Or a “monster”: something entirely resistant to categorization? We see that the issue of whether or not it is a sport is far more complex than it might seem, particularly when we clarify what sports pro wrestling is most similar to. We also trace the carnival origins of pro wrestling to develop the idea that pro wrestling is, and ought to be, in a class of its own.

The Dark Match : Pro Wrestling vs Philosophy offers some reflections on the similarities and differences between pro wrestling and philosophy, both as a subject, and as a discipline. It gives an insight into philosophical practice and method, and how both bear a striking resemblance to aspects of pro wrestling, such as the similarities between the narrative structures of philosophical works and pro wrestling matches, and the need for a philosopher to develop their own gimmick in order to succeed.

Pro wrestling showcases the work of some of the best athletes and entertainers that the world has ever seen. It is not often given its due as a cultural phenomenon from which we can learn much about ourselves and the world we live in, and my hope is that this book is a small step in changing that narrative. Pro wrestling’s not perfect, for sure, and there are some very troubling aspects in its history – and its present – that we will reflect on seriously and critically. I hope the overwhelming feeling though on reading this is positivity and optimism for what pro wrestling can do for us.

The speed at which pro wrestling moves provides a challenge for anyone writing a book about it. I have aimed to use examples that are reasonably timeless, but note that, particularly in the sections about the social and cultural aspects of pro wrestling, things can change over time. If progress has been made in regard to some of the social issues in pro wrestling raised in this book by the time you are reading it, then that’s wonderful, and I hope won’t detract from your enjoyment of it.

Also, just to clarify, I’m a philosopher who’s a wrestling fan, and that’s the perspective from which this book is written. I don’t pretend to be a wrestling journalist, or someone with expertise working in the pro wrestling business, and I hope that comes across in the text. As a philosopher, I expect many of the points made here to be conversation starters, as opposed to definitive claims. If you disagree with some of the things said, that’s great – let’s talk about it!

I am very grateful to Pascal Porcheron at Polity for the discussions that prompted this book, and for his feedback, comments, and encouragement throughout. I’d also like to thank Ellen MacDonald-Kramer for her help and efficiency, along with a number of anonymous readers for Polity who gave very helpful comments on the proposal and the first draft of the book. I’d also like to thank Ian Tuttle for copy-editing the text.