cm_punk_mmaIt seems like an obvious sentiment to probably most adults that pro wrestling is fake and MMA is not. Most of us can remember when we first realized the pro wrestling we saw every Saturday morning on TV was not real. And if you were like me, you were probably a little heart broken. Much like finding out Santa Claus wasn’t real. Or the Easter Bunny or any of that shit.

For many MMA represents everything they wanted pro wrestling to be. They wanted to see real fights between two adults who who were trained in the art of combat. Now while pro wrestlers put a beating on their bodies and often get injured (like John Cena’s recent broken nose), they are not engaged in a real fight to see who is the better man (or woman).

Former WWE superstar turned UFC signee, CM Punk (aka Phil Brooks), pointed out the obvious in a new interview with Rolling Stone:

“Everything I did prior to me training here full-time was to protect the other guy, to put them before me,” he explains. “People get so mad at me when I say this, but [pro wrestling] was fake. This is not. When we do jiu-jitsu, you’re getting hit. That changes everything drastically. When we’re in those situations, I’m too nice. I’m just wired that way, and I think it will work its way out.”

It is a little weird that pro wrestling fans don’t like to hear that what they are watching is fake. I’m sure if you’re a grown man, you like to hear it even less. Because then you have to come to terms with the fact that you’re watching a performance between men in spandex. It’s not a sport, although the performers are athletes and many of them have some real fighting skills. It’s entertainment, and guess what, that is okay.

Even certain pro wrestlers don’t like to hear what they do is fake as evidenced by that Twitter exchange between WWE world champion Seth Rollins and UFC President Dana White last week:

Dana’s wrong about a lot, but he’s right about this. Pro wrestling is extremely physical and the schedules are brutal, but it’s still not a real fight taking place in the ring. And we all know it. Those who like it, like it. And those who don’t, don’t. It’s all okay.

But at least Punk knows the difference between real fighting and make believe and he deserves credit for saying it like it is.

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