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Professional Wrestling is usually full of concepts from different types of shows. Each match is roughly choreographed. World Wrestling Entertainment's programs remind one of nothing so much as a Soap Opera for guys, complete with all the emotion, melodrama, and occasional comic relief that that phrase implies. Other organizations, such as Ring of Honor, strive for a more gritty, realistic presentation, but still incorporate many soap opera elements.
The history of pro wrestling is a bit convoluted; until the late '80s/early '90s, promoters claimed that wrestling was a legitimate sport, and attempted to hide the fact that it was scripted at all costs. The truth is the performances are as standardized and stylized as Japanese Kabuki theatre, or commedia dell'arte — each match is a miniature set piece, using stock characters, "plots" and "twists". This has become more obvious in recent years with the increased sense of theatre provided by the major promoters and programs. As more and more wrestling fans grew wise to the fact that wrestling was scripted and choreographed, promoters had no choice but to reveal the secret that everybody already knew by that point anyway. Vince McMahon went so far as to televise a speech on an episode of Monday Night Raw, in which he promised to "stop insulting (fans') intelligence" and referred to Raw as an "action-adventure" series.
However, as many Sit Com plots have implied, Professional Wrestling is very real in the sense that mistimed inexperience can leave someone seriously injured. Professional wrestlers are like stuntmen; they're acting out a scene, but physically, and with the chance of injury. A professional wrestler literally puts his life in his opponent's hands several times in a single match; the slightest misstep could result in a broken bone, a broken neck, paralysis, possibly even death. I guess what we're trying to say here is, Dont Try This At Home.
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Tropes Named
Provides examples of:
- Ascended Extra: ...to anyone over enough with the fans
- Ascended Fanboy: Pick a wrestler who named a famous pro-wrestling event as the reason they got into the business, e.g. Mick Foley, Edge, etc.
- Edge was named "Most Likely to be WWF Champion", was in the audience as WrestleMania VI, won a training camp to become a wrestler by writing an essay, it was destiny.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: All the time.
- B Show: Xplosion to Impact, Thunder to Nitro. People often cite Smackdown as a B-Show compared to RAW, but it's more like a second A-Show in terms of this trope.
- Bad Ass: Take your pick, Stone Cold, Taz, Goldberg, Lesnar...
- Badass Grandpa: Would YOU mess with Harley Race? Or Ric Flair? Or Terry Funk? Or Hulk Hogan? Or, for that matter, the 64-year-old billionaire who lets himself get hit in the head with steel chairs on national television?
- And God help you if you piss off The Undertaker.
- And for that matter, Batista is actually, in real life, a grandfather. Yes, THAT Batista.
- Boring Invincible Hero: A complaint most infamously leveled against Hulk Hogan, currently at John Cena. Tends to get invoked against any Face champion, though.
- Triple H, from 2002-2003 on. Since he was often a heel, the accusations were more along the lines of Villain Sue.
- Ditto for Jeff Jarrett from 2003-2006, so much that fans call him "Triple J" and call for him to "DROP THE TITLE!" whenever he appears.
- Breakup Breakout
- Catch Phrase
- Character Derailment: Normally the result of a poorly-executed gimmick change.
- Cool Old Guy: Any wrestler who's in their late 40s above who cam still kick ass and take a beating.
- Demoted To Extra: The pro-wrestling term for this trope is called bury.
- Defeating The Undefeatable: All the time.
- Notable examples include Tatanka, the Undertaker (moreso early in his career, but even now it's considered a formidable task), Hulk Hogan in the 80's, Rob Van Dam as ECW World Television Champion, Brunno Sammartino's legendary world title reign, and most famously of them all Bill Goldberg.
- So far averted with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. 17-0. It's basically a new gimmick; in the leadup to every Wrestlemania, somebody steps up and claims they're going to end the streak.
- Diabolus Ex Machina: The Montreal Screwjob is the most infamous example.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Can happen alongside Breakup Breakout.
- Do Not Call Me Paul: Triple H and The Big Show have both said this to fans that have called them by their birth names. If you meet a wrestler, it is usually a good idea to address them by their ring name.
- Draco In Leather Pants: The pro wrestling term for this trope is called Popular Heel.
- Easily Distracted Referee: You have to wonder if these referees have ever seen a woman before, given their reactions to a valet shaking what God/their friendly plastic surgeon gave her.
- Hey, have you SEEN Stacy Keibler's ass? Wouldn't YOU stop to stare?
- Ensemble Darkhorse: A side effect of prolongued exposure to the Boring Invincible Hero.
- Evil Foreigner
- Evil Is Cool: Also a type of Popular Heel.
- Evil Is Dumb: Edge has nearly been bent in half by the World's Greatest Tag Team, bloodied in steel cages and forced to wrestle giants with a broken hand and not use his cast. He was still able to win through sheer determination and will to win. As a Rudo, he can hardly win a match without relying on shortcuts, outside interference, manipulation of the general manager or outright cheating.
- Fan Dumb: Like you wouldn't believe. From the people who say that only WWE matters to the elitist snobs who only watch ROH and NOAH, wrestling fandom is filled with back-biting Stop Having Fun Guys and fans who invoke Ruined FOREVER a bit too often.
- Fan Hater: Yes, we know it's staged! You can stop "informing" us.
- We'll stop informing you once you guys stop being stupid and claim that we can do certain that on the mat! We don't care that much anymore about the staging, (since almost every Federation/Assoscation has admited to it)
- Fascinating Eyebrow: Thanks to The Rock
- Foe Yay
- Fun With Acronyms: Rosey, Super-Hero In Training, The S.H.I.T?
- Also, in WCW for a short time, Lance Storm held the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title.
- Terri Runnels also ran the Terri Invitational Tournament in 1999.
- TNA. That is all.
- The Gambler: Kinda. Wrestling had a The Gambler, but he wasn't very lucky.
- Game Breaking Injury: Submission artists employ this tactic all the time. They will use a variety of locks and holds that target a specific part of the human body until it will become too painful to use. Not actually referring to Triple H's quad tears.
- George Jetson Job Security
- The Giant
- Good Is Dumb: Generally played straight, sometimes Wall-Bangingly so, although occasionally subverted. Batista, who turned face when he heard his stablemates plotting against him and who displayed above average keeness as a face, is the biggest of those.
- The most egregious example? Sting, who is commonly referred to as "the dumbest man in wrestling".
- Hello Nurse
- Hope Spot
- Hot Blooded
- Ho Yay
- I Am Hero Hear Me Roar: The Hurricane's
 recent return to ECW was topped off with a roar powerful enough to flatten his opponent and force him out of the ring.
- Its Personal
- Large Ham
- Mostly the wrestlers, but more than a few of the announcers are guilty of this, especially when dealing with a wrestler or faction they show particular favoritism towards.
- Leotard Of Power: An older wrestling costume design that still shows up nowadays every once in a while.
- Lets Fight Like Gentlemen: Have you seen the build-up to some of these high-profile matches?
- Lovable Rogue: The Rock, Ric Flair, Eddie Gurerro at the end of his life.
- Masked Luchador: See Cool Mask.
- Monster Clown: Doink The Clown's shtick while a heel.
- My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours
- My Name Is Inigo Montoya
- No Holds Barred Beatdown: Employed against faces to build heat, and against heels when they get their comeuppance.
- Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught
- Painted On Pants
- Popularity Power: Wrestling runs on this.
- Power Stable
- Punch Punch Punch Uh Oh
- The Quisling: Usually American heels who sides with an Evil Foreigner.
- Real Life Writes The Plot: Wrestlers' real-life issues often provide fodder for their self-based characters' wrestling storylines. One of the most famous examples is the Matt Hardy/Edge feud: Edge stole Matt's girlfriend (Lita) while he was out with an injury (and subsequently released by WWE); when Matt returned, his first feud was with Edge, and much ado was made of the Edge/Lita/Matt triangle.
- Redemption Demotion
- Reviews Are The Gospel: There are people (at least the smart marks) who swear by Dave Meltzer's (of the Wrestling Observer) reviews of matches.
- Ring Oldies
- Rule Of Cool
- Rule Of Funny
- Serious Business: There is absolutely no situation that cannot be resolved with a wrestling match on PAY PER VIEW! ORDER NOW!
- Kayfabe, in the old days, was major Serious Business, with at least one instance of a wrestler losing a court case because he would not break kayfabe, even under oath.
- Then there's the Fan Dumb. Everything from what qualifies as a "world title" to how seriously wrestling should take itself. The fact that wrestling draws upon the framework of a sport while actually being entertainment creates a lot of this thinking, since fans often try to see some kind of order or hierarchy that doesn't exist.
- Seven Year Rule
- Spotlight Stealing Squad
- Spot Monkey
- Tag Team Twins
- Take That: Especially during the Monday Night Wars.
- Talk Show With Fists
- Tear Jerker: Ric Flair's retirement match at Wrestlemania 24? Mick Foley's 1998 King of the Ring match, which should have ended in the first five minutes. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero winning their main event matches and hugging at Wrestlemania XX.
- Three Month Rule
- Throwing Down The Gauntlet
- Ten Minute Retirement
- Tonight In This Very Ring
- Underwear Of Power: You want a list? Too many to count.
- Ultimate Job Security
- Unnecessary Roughness
- Unpleasable Fanbase: The Internet Wrestling Community
- Unrelated Brothers
- The Wesley: Happens to wrestlers who the fans feel gets overpushed.
- Wild Card: The pro wrestling term for this trope is called Tweener, which previously served as the Trope Namer.
- World Of Ham: Wrestling is home to so many enormous slices of ham. When someone as hammy as John Cena looks fairly normal by comparison, you know you're in a World Of Ham.
- Wrestling Doesn't Pay
Professional Wrestling promotions of note:
USA:
Japan:
Mexico:
- AAA
- CMLL (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre)
Known wrestling fansites:
Miscellaneous:
- Chris Benoit - Following his death, he became one of the most controversial figures in professional wrestling history.
- Dwayne Johnson, better known to wrestling fans as The Rock.
- Eddie Guerrero
- Vince Russo - The most controversial figure in professional wrestling history.
- Wrestle Mania - WWE's signature show and the biggest professional wrestling event of the year.
Fictional works featuring Professional Wrestling:
Anime and Manga
Film
Literature
Webcomics
Western Animation
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