Pro Wrestling: Just "Entertainment" or "Sports Entertainment?"

Ben Wyatt never understood the popularity of Lil' Sebastian in Parks and Recreation. Even though he told the people of Pawnee he did, he really didn't.

This past week, WrestleMania 31 was held in Santa Clara, California. It's an event that brings out fans you never thought followed pro wrestling. It's their Super Bowl. I've never understood the popularity of it. I respect it, but I don't get it. It's scripted entertainment, and most fans understand that.

The best way to describe a sport would be that it is an unscripted, unpredictable outcome (unless you are talking about the 1919 Chicago White Sox in the World Series), and that makes it a "sport" in my own, personal definition.

It was interesting to hear Daniel Bryan (or the "Yes" guy in circles outside of wrestling) stating the obvious that what they did was fiction while giving his speech at his WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It's the truth, but it never comes up in conversation. Maybe we can credit that to how well events like WrestleMania and Monday Night RAW are done.

Sports and entertainment go hand-in-hand. We all like to escape reality by watching both for a few hours. Sports go beyond the two or three hours we spend watching them. It becomes a part of our everyday lives. We listen to sports talk radio, watch Sportscenter in the morning, afternoon and even late into the night and we'll argue about them.

Pro Wrestling discussions are like the ones you have about a movie or television show the day after, but it doesn't go any further than that. Why? Because it's just entertainment.

Would you say pro wrestling should be labled as "sports" entertainment, or should it just be called "entertainment" without the sports part?

ESPN has taken an interest in covering pro wrestling lately. The network landed the exclusive interview with Brock Lesnar as he announced he wouldn't sign with MMA and would re-sign with the WWE. Even Bill Simmons appeared on Raw.

It has not been "full-blown" coverage like we've seen with ESPN's coverage of the NBA (sometimes mainly LeBron) or Tim Tebow in the past, but it fuels the argument that pro wrestling could be classified as sports entertainment.

I will label it as just "entertainment." It was described to me as theatre for guys by one person. Well, it does beat going to the opera or a musical if you are a guy. But let's keep the "sport" part out of it.

But as I said earlier...