June 20, 2016

Writing About: Wrestlers



Out of all of my mortal (human) characters, the wrestlers in my WIP are my favorite characters because I get to be creative while writing about their career. Wrestlers aren’t usual characters in a book, but I couldn’t resist writing this post. And I figured wrestling fans may enjoy it.


Names –

Wrestlers can use their real name such as John Cena or Jeff Hardy, or a wrestler can have a ring name such as Sting or The Rock. A strong real name, or a ring name that matches their wrestling style and look, is a must.

Colors –

All wrestlers have theme colors that they incorporate into their attire or face paint (if the wrestler uses it). Think Eva Marie from WWE who has bright red hair and wears red. She even has a hashtag. #AllRedEverything

Outfit –

Wrestling is entertainment and the wrestlers are very much like actors, as well as athletes. Actors have costumes for their roles and so do wrestlers. These outfits incorporate their colors and match their personality. John Cena is All-American, so he wears jean shorts. Female wrestlers tend to wear skimpier clothing, but not all of them do. Some wear full-body leather outfits.

Theme Song –

What the wrestler walks into the arena to is another part of their package. The song has to fit the wrestler’s personality and excite the crowd when they hear it.

Finisher Move –

Every wrestler has a signature move they use to finish off their opponent and win the match. With Jeff Hardy, it’s the Swanton Bomb. Researching wrestling moves, watching videos, and combining stunts or putting a twist on one can help you come up with a new one. And you’ll get to name it!




Wrestling Match –

Watching wrestling matches is the only way to know how to write one. There are so many different types too: tag team, street match, cage match, weapons watch, etc. You can even create your own. Matches also have rules. Pin fall is the usually way to win. This is when a wrestler pins their opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a full three-count. But being the last in the ring in a group match where everyone is fighting everyone, or escaping the cage first are other ways to win.
TIP #1: Build up the tension. Let the match start off slow and get more intense with crazy stunts, “pain”, and close calls (two-counts).
TIP #2: Plan the match out. Know the beginning, middle and end. This will make it so much easier to write.
TIP #3: Include the audience. Have them cheer for the face (good) wrestler and boo the heal (bad) wrestler. They can chant too. A few favorite chants are “You can’t wrestle”, “You suck”, and “This is awesome!”

Wrestling is entertaining in real life and in fiction. One day, I hope to share my contemporary-romance wrestling story with all of you!


QUESTION: Are you a fan of wrestling? Do you have a favorite wrestler? Mine is obviously Jeff Hardy. haha


58 comments:

  1. Interesting. Personally I don't get wrestling, but then I don't get boxing or football, either. :)

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  2. Wrestling fan? That is a fun surprise. I've never watched a match, but the idea of coming up with a signature move sounds cool.

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    1. Yup. I don't really watch anymore, but I still have my favorite wrestlers.

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  3. I'm not a wrestling fan but you did great in describing how to write about the sport!

    betty

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  4. Not a wrestling fan. I do think getting smashed with a chair would hurt though.

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  5. I used to be a fan, before it became just one big mook taking one another big mook. The characters are gone now. I'd actually make a character. Duke Drazin who I use everywhere in writing actually started out as a wrestler on one of the games haha

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    1. I don't watch anymore, but I have some old Jeff Hardy DVD matches. His matches are the ones that inspire my story/character.

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  6. I have never been interested in wrestling at all, but this was such a delightful post you made it sound interesting. I can tell you had so much fun writing it.

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    1. It doesn't surprise me that everyone who has commented so far aren't fans. But I hope there's a few out there in blogland who are fans. I did have fun writing it. :)

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  7. We have a TV channel here in the UK That show alot a US wrestling. I don't fully understand it but have watched out of interest from time to time.
    Yvonne.

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    1. That's neat. I don't watch anymore. Sometimes if I see it's on, I check in to see if one of my favorites is wrestling then click back out.

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  8. I watched it back in the day of Hulk Hogan.

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    1. I remember watching it back then with my dad and brother. :)

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  9. I used to watch and enjoy wrestling when I was a kid back in the 60's. I don't think I've ever read a book about wrestling. When I was in high school I used to be pretty good at wrestling. I never bothered to go out for the wrestling team because to me there was a certain yuck factor to all that bodily contact with other sweaty guys. Maybe that's why I usually won most of my matches in phys ed when we did wrestling--I was anxious to end the match so I'd pin my opponents pretty quickly.

    I'd probably have gotten hurt pretty badly if I'd done the kind of show wrestling like you see on TV. That can be pretty dangerous even when you know what you're doing.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. I've never read or found a book about wrestler characters either, which is why I love my idea so much. :) High school wrestling does have that yuck factor with sweaty body contact. Haha It can be dangerous. They're like stunt people with the things they do.

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  10. I was a huge WWF fan in my late teens and very early twenties, but fell away from it after I no longer had cable in my dorm room my senior year and thus had to rely on the communal TV in the cellar rec room. To me, it was just part and parcel of being a so-called "tomboy" and taking pride in not being very stereotypically girly. My little brother got me into wrestling, though the frequent depiction of women on the show never sat right with me (such as The Godfather's Ho Train and all the skimpily-dressed women).

    When I was with my ex, I got back into it for awhile, since his father watches WWE all the time. I was so embarrassed when my brother corrected me and said the new-to-me wrestler I thought was named H was really called Edge. I'd been saying his name the way my ex's father did with his Russian accent.

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    1. Edge is in those videos I posted. :) My older brother got me into wrestling. I was a bit of a tomboy, too. But mostly because my sisters didn't like to hang out with me. So I hung out with my brother and watched wrestling. Like you, I don't like how the women wear barely anything.

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  11. I would be The Graham and my finishing move would be The Hip Buster. The regular one on one's and the cage matches are my forte. Yup my imagination thinks fast. Oh and all my costumes would have a tiny Jamaican flag on my right shoulder. Represent!

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    1. The Hip Buster. Ha. I love that. You do think fast. And I like how you'd have the Jamaican flag on your costume. Many wrestlers represent where they're from with a flag. :)

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  12. We used to watch wrestling on TV and it was fun. That was so long ago I can't remember their names. One was the Rock, I think, another Hulk Hogan. That's all I remember.

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    1. The Rock and Hulk Hogan are classics. And easy to remember.

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  13. Ugh, wrestling. I always figured it was fake. Then between my brothers and the boys in my own family, and broken furniture and bloody noses during "Friday night Smackdowns" I get it. But I don't have to like it ;-)
    Now, I can endure Bruce Lee movies fairly well. Long as I have a box of Sno*caps.
    Your descriptions certainly match much of what I've observed. I bet you did have fun writing about it!

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    1. Haha. No, you don't have to like it. It's like beer or wine...and acquired taste.

      I did have some much fun writing it. I still need to write the end, but it's all there in my head. :)

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  14. My siblings and I used to watch wrestling when we were little. I don't know why we stopped.

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    1. Wrestling is something you can grow out of. There were periods when I watched and when I didn't. Now I have no one to watch it with, so I dont.

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  15. Oh I'm not into wrestling at all except for the one bugs bunny episode. Now if I was a wrestler( HA) I would be all in Blue....sweats and I would be called bodacious blue and my killer move would be running away like a little sad girl

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  16. Hey Chrys,

    I do know that wrestling is "real" and certainly never scripted. I actually went to a wrestling extravaganza that was televised on British Columbia TV, many, many years ago. They wanted to throw me in the ring, which I noticed was actually square.

    I'm now going to wrestle with a few sentences.

    Happy tag team time.

    Gary :)

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    1. Most rings are square, but I know something wrestling companies you different shaped rings.

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  17. Years ago we took our children to Hershey Park. A wrestling match was scheduled for the arena that night. We saw some of the wrestlers at the park with their children. They weren't very tall, but their huge muscles shocked me.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. A lot of the wrestlers are on the short side these days. Not many are these tall giants you'd expect. But there are a few who are super tall.

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  18. Never been much of a wrestling fan, but I still found this post really interesting. Thanks, Chrys.

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    1. Great! I was hoping the non-wrestling fans much be intrigued by this post. :)

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  19. I'm not a wrestling fan, but that sounded like a lot of work to learn everything you needed to know to describe wrestlers accurately and vividly. I salute you.

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    1. It was a lot of work. At least I enjoyed it. :)

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  20. Although I write about murder, (don't laugh) I don't like violence. Great tips on the matches and I can see how some of this could apply to other types face-to-face conflicts. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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    1. I'm not laughing, because I don't like violence either. What good person does? And yes I still write about murder and death, too.

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  21. I grew up watching the WWF. But the moment I realized that all that drama was manufactured (and that they had writers!) I was like, "Um, no."

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    1. That can take the magic our of it, but in my story there's unscripted feuds and fights. ;)

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  22. Great idea, Chrys! I've never written about wrestlers and i don't watch it now but as a child I used to love watching it. It is a skilled sport. Great tips and thanks for the videos.

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    1. It is a skilled spot. Although it's scripted, you have to be very athletic and know what to do to not hurt someone.

      Glad you liked this post and the videos!

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  23. Although I don't watch wrestling as much as I used to, I grew up watching and loving WCW and WWF. I loved The Rock, Heartbreak Kid, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Chyna, Sting, Ray Mysterio, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Lita, the Hardy Boys, etc.

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    1. It's nice to see some old wrestling fans in the blogosphere. :) You listed some of the most memorable wrestlers ever. :)

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  24. I only ever saw wrestling when my brother had it on TV. In the '80s and early '90s.

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    1. Good enough. That was the best time for wrestling.

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  25. I don't really like wrestling; I think it's a little too melodramatic. I do like John Cena, but that's mainly because he's cute. :) I never liked Hulk Hogan though; I think that his attitude towards his daughter is too creepy and possessive, considering he's driven away most of her boyfriends.

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    1. It is a bit melodramatic. :)

      And I have to agree with Hulk Hogan's behavior toward his daughter. It is pretty creepy.

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  26. I used to watch wrestling on TV with my dad all the time in my teens.

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  27. The most exciting time I had writing my novel was the fight scenes. The adrenaline pumped through my veins as my fingers hammered the scene out. It was great fun! I don't watch wrestling but love to watch martial arts.

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    1. I love fight scenes! I used to write a lot of them and just started again. It is great fun. :)

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  28. Okay so this is embarrassing, but In college I actually thought I might become a professional wrestler. Don't ask, it was weird time. I did take a lot of stage combat classes though. Oh youth.

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    1. That's not embarrassing. Being a professional wrestler would be a lot of fun. Or at least I think so. :P

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  29. My dad used to watch wrestling a long time ago. I never really got into it. Seems to be more stage than actual sport, but I do give these guys credit. They do some incredible stunts. And when did the use of ladders become standard? How does they explain away the ref inability to see these constructions being used?

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    1. There is a lot of stage with wrestling, but some of the things the wrestlers do are sport and takes a lot of skill. I can't stand the wrestlers who look and act fake, but there are the ones who are good at it.

      Ladders started to be used many years ago. There is a ref. Usually with Ladder Matches, the person wins when they retrieve the belt hanging from the rafter. Hence the use of the ladder.

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