If you think keeping up with a month-long TV soap opera is tiring, pro-wrestling fans have been watching the same throws and blows non-stop for years. Ahmed Hamdi enters the ring to try to discover the great allure It's probably all fixed and it's not even considered a sport yet pro-wrestling enjoys a fan base in the millions who don't seem to mind. Pro-wrestling's millions around the world fill its arenas not only in the US, where the game was born, but when the behemoths go on tour in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. Its shows are also aired in almost every corner of the earth, including Egypt. When pro-wrestling is mentioned anywhere in the world three letters normally pop to mind: WWE, the world's most famous pro-wrestling company. The popularity of the WWE comes from hiring the most famous and most exciting superstars in the business. Legends Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock have always helped the 58-year-old WWE stay on top despite the competition, starting in the 1990s, from Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The rivalry ended in favour of the WWE when it took in both companies, taking their biggest superstars. In 2002, Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) was established by the former WWE wrestler Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry. In the eight years that followed TNA became the No 1 rival of the WWE after it was joined by former fan favourites WWE superstars Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Hulk Hogan. The WWE still gets higher viewership thanks to stars John Cena, Randy Orton, Egde, Chris Jericho, Triple H and the returning fan favorite Bret Hart who left the company in the late 1990s. Pay-per-views' special types of matches are also one of the main reasons the WWE still tops the charts, making the matches more exciting by adding conditions -- two superstars facing off inside a steel cage; the first to put his opponent on a stretcher and crosses a red line drawn on the ramp wins; and even a No Holds Barred match in which rules are not applied. The divas, the women's division label, can include a bikini contest in which the fans choose who looks best in her bikini, or setting up a summer spectacular in which they wrestle wearing swim suits. The 19th century witnessed the first appearance of what we today call pro-wrestling. Back then, it was part of carnivals' sideshows and music halls. Today, pro-wrestling is an independent business in the US, Mexico and Japan. American companies like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and TNA now compete with companies including Ring of Honor (ROH) in Mexico and the Japanese Pro- Wrestling NOAH. Fans of Egyptian TV soaps can follow the shows for a month at most. A totally opposite situation exists with WWE fans. Unlike the soap audience, they have been getting their treat week after week for decades. "It's like an addiction," said Mohamed Tarek, 21, a video editor. "After you watch it for a few times you find yourself wanting more and you can't stop." Despite the time it takes to keep watching pro- wrestling shows like Raw and Smackdown every week, Sherif Sobhi, 21, a fourth-year dentistry student, thinks it's well worth it. Sobhi has been watching WWE for close to seven years and insists his passion for watching has not decreased. "Every time I sit in front of my television to watch the WWE, I'm as anxious as I was when I first started watching," said Sobhi. "I think it's only natural to want to know how the fights and storylines will end. This is what has kept me watching all this time even though we all know it's already scripted." A storyline in pro- wrestling is like a mini- series that lasts at least a month and is based on the kind of vision the company's board of directors has. It's a story between two superstars, divas or tag teams, teams that consist of two or more superstars or divas, that include drama through promos in the ring, behind-the-stage interviews and face-offs inside and outside the ring between the two rivals. The recent feud between Randy Orton and the WWE champion Sheamus is but one example of storylines. Orton had become the No 1 contender to Sheamus' WWE championship. The heat began between the two when they faced off time and again during the last several weeks, attacking and delivering their finishers, leaving each other flat inside the squared circle. But things will come to an ultimate head when they face off one last time in an official match for the championship at the Summerslam pay-per-view. Whether pro-wrestling is fixed is a source of controversy and endless debate among WWE fans. Mahmoud Abdullah, 51, a taxi driver, does not believe the WWE is based on acting. "I've been watching it for over 10 years and I think it's real. They can't be making up all these stories," said Abdullah. "The wrestling looks real and wrestlers get injured; this can't be fake," he added. Agreeing in part, Heidi El-Sayed, 14, thinks that indeed the in-ring wrestling is real but the promos in between the matches and the feuds are totally fake. "They can't be scripting every single move in every single match but they can make up storylines," El-Sayed said. Sobhi strongly disagreed with Abdullah and El-Sayed. "To prove it is all scripted, watch Ric Flair's farewell promo that was shown on Raw. All the wrestlers jumped into the ring to greet Flair, including Vince McMahon, the WWE chairman, who in the storyline was Flair's rival and the reason he retired." In the Flair vs McMahon story of 2009, McMahon wanted to get rid of Flair from the WWE so he used his authority as the chairman to stipulate a condition: if Flair loses, he retires. Despite surviving for awhile, Flair finally tasted defeat at the hands of his good friend Shawn Michaels, who retired as well, at Wrestlemania 24, the biggest pay- per-view of the year. A farewell party was thrown for Flair the following day on Monday Night Raw when all the superstars from Raw and Smackdown made their way down to the ring to congratulate Flair, including his rival in the storyline Mr McMahon. The chairman then raised Flair's arm in a victory sign and hugged him. That was done off-air in an attempt to keep the audience in the storyline mood but still the video of the act was posted on youtube.com. Despite their disagreements, all three interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly agree that the real or fake debate does not in any way lessen their passion for watching pro-wrestling. "None of the TV soap operas are real but we enjoy them all the same. Why wouldn't we enjoy wrestling even if it's fake?" asked Abdullah. Whether pro-wrestling is fixed, Egyptian WWE fans now get a glimpse of the action through the various ways of presentation offered by a variety of TV channels. Regarding the original show airing with English commentary, fans tend to tune in to either Showsports4, a sports channels owned by Orbit ShowTime Network, or MBC Action. Arabic commentary lovers tune to Al-Darbah Al-Qadyah aka The Knockout Punch presented by Mamdouh Farag, a former Egyptian wrestler, on Nile Sports. Farag is an ex-World Catch Federation champion who became a wrestling show presenter, after his retirement, on the Arab Radio and Television Network (ART). Later, Farag went to the Modern Sport channel, then settled in Nile Television Network's channel, Nile Sports. The difference between watching the original shows directly and watching them on Farag's programme is not only the language according to Mai Hossam, 20, a fresh graduate. "Farag mispronounces the names of the wrestlers and he makes up storylines," Hossam claims. "He has turned wrestling into a comedy show." Agreeing in part with Hossam's concerns, Tamer Sarhan, a 10th grader, believes that despite Farag's pronunciation mistakes and made up storylines, he is quite entertaining. "He gives spirit to the matches even if they are boring and he is in fact funny," said Sarhan. "I never watch wrestling except on his shows since he began in ART," Sarhan added. Naturally, pro-wrestling moves and the terminology are an integral part of the game. Basically, there are two types of moves: striking and grappling. Striking moves are split into three categories -- standing, running and flying. Standing strikes are like open-hand punches and kicks while running is akin to the clothesline, when a wrestler runs towards another and hits him with his arm on the upper chest and neck area. The flying strikes are used mostly by lightweight superstars like Rey Mysterio, 175 pounds, and Evan Bourne, 183 pounds. This type of strike thrills fans since it always adds to the excitement of the matches. It comprises moves like the Crossbody from the top rope, in which the wrestler climbs to the top rope of one of the corners of the ring and flies with his abdominal area on another wrestler's abdominal area to take him down. Grappling moves differ from one wrestler to another based on the wrestler's technique. Wrestlers like John Cena, known for his powerhouse technique, uses grappling moves like his finisher, The Attitude Adjustment, where he lifts his opponent on his shoulders, then throws him on his back to the ring. High-flying ring technicians, though, do not use many of the grappling moves but like the DDT where the wrestler holds his opponent's head and buries it into the mat. The passion embodied in young WWE fans is not restricted to watching WWE shows and following its news but also in playing its computer games. Amr Hossam, 20, owner of an ironing shop, has been buying the most popular wrestling game, Smackdown vs Raw, with all its versions, since 2006. "Whenever a new version is released I buy it right away," Hossam said. Mona Yehia, 20, a senior computer science student, has also been a WWE games' lover. Yehia has the old WWF Smackdown game belonging to Playstation 1 that was released before the initial change that turned the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) into WWE due to a copyrights infringement with a foundation that had the same initials. Despite the change, Yehia still finds great pleasure in playing the game. WWE fans in Egypt would love to see a live WWE show right here. But they might have to wait longer than they already have. In the past 20 years, the WWE has toured just about every spot on earth but has never come to Egypt. "It is a dream for me to watch my favorite superstars perform here in Egypt," said Sobhi. But the live WWE schedule of shows this year does not include Egypt. Adds Sobhi: "But if it ever comes true, I'll be the first to buy a ticket."
