Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-24097388-20171126063933/@comment-1705775-20171126152248

wrestlers when in the ring are fictional characters / personas no different from actors, the difference is they are a hybrid of athlete, actor and stage-person.. do not confuse WWE style wrestlers with actual wrestling, they are completely different.. WWE wrestling is purely for entertainment and basically has ring-based drama / superhero style characters and plots mixed with elaborate stunts and shows of strength etc.. traditional wrestling is a sport, with no real drama or storyline.

now, that's not saying WWE wrestlers are NOT sportsmen and women, they do practice traditional wrestling (it's in their name, after all) but much like gladiators they take on a character role and storyline for WWE, making them fictional in that sense.

a good example is guys like Kane and whatnot who while on stage are portrayed as near-supernatural monsters with immense strength, very little empathy etc yet when out of the ring he is actually quite a pleasant guy, he doesn't really go around murdering people.. that's just a character he plays.