Wrestling is a man’s game while Comic books is a nerd’s fantasy. At least that is what people say to me. Up until now I even believed them. Wrestling was a sport that I thought was different than the superhero stories I read and dream about. I say it in the past tense because I couldn’t be more wrong. They are more alike than you think.
Each has a Costume and a Logo
Be it superheroes or Wrestlers, everyone has their trademark style of clothes they choose to wear while giving out their performance. The Boogeyman, HH, and Rey Mysterio had Logos and Costumes that became a trademark of the WWE. Superman, Batman, Captain America and the others also follow the same route.
Good Guy vs. Bad Guy
Never in my entire year of watching WWE have I seen a character in the Gray area. The wrestlers have a clear-cut alignment. They are either Good or Bad. There is no in between. Comics also take the same path to storytelling. There is a villain that the Good Guy must defeat while all the odds are stacked up against the Hero as the Villain is booed and the good guy is rooted for.
Team-Ups
In Wrestling, there is a common phenomenon that occurs more often than we care to admit. Wrestlers team up to defeat a common foe. Roman Reigns is doing it now. HHH did it with DX. Even Hulk Hogan did it with now. When talking about their comic book counterparts, similar collaborations like the Justice League and The Avengers come to mind.
Good Guy goes Bad, Bad guy becomes good
Randy Orton and Edge used to be the absolute scum of the wrestling world. They were treated as cheating second-rate villains that will punch below the belt to get it. But then they rose up and redeemed themselves in the eyes of the fans. John Cena used to be WWE’s poster child until he betrayed Bautista and became the villain. Comic book and Wrestling Federation’s scriptwriters are the same I guess.
Events and Crossovers
The Avengers have had their fair share of dramatic events in the MCU. Events that have added immense wealth to the Marvel coffers. Infinity War is coming but Age of Ultron, The Avengers, Civil War have all been massive hits. Now think of WWE. They have yearly events like Wrestlemania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. See what I mean.
People pulling the strings from the Shadows
Wrestling has a bad reputation of always giving off the Villain as some guy who was only manipulating the guy who everyone thought to be the villain to carry out his own ends. It has happened every year. A weak, sickly looking man is the actual mastermind behind two well-known wrestlers’ feud. How often does that not happen in comics??
The Villains explain their Evil Plan in Promos
The Wrestlers are present in the Ring. The Stage is set and as shit is about to hit the fan the screens turn to black as the huge TV starts flashing a video message from the Evil Mastermind. They give off their plan and explain what is going to happen next. Sounds eerily similar to the comic books if you ask me.
Women Rise to Fame
It is only now that the Wrestling Federation is realizing that Women also deserve a role in their organization. Female Wrestlers used to Over sexualized divas that were nothing but eye candy. But recently, the WWE is working on giving the female wrestlers more screen and script time and is helping develop tangible story arcs for them. As a result, their popularity is rising. The Comic Book industry has also only recently found the error of their ways.
Storytelling is serialized
The story arcs take in an orderly fashion. On event passes and makes way for another. Nothing overlaps anything else. Wrestling and Comic books follow the exact same pattern of plot mechanisms. There is a hierarchy of events that must be followed. A fight or an event never happens if it is not under proper supervision.
Wrestlers and Comics have had a crossover
If all the other points in the list did not convince you, this will. Wrestlers have crossed over to the comics on more than one occasion. Joey Ryan is one prime example. It is not a one-way street though. Comics also have used Wrestling in their plot devices. Spiderman, after getting bitten by the radioactive spider, fights a wrestler for the prize money. The events then lead up to Uncle Ben being murdered and Peter Parker becoming the Web Crawler.
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