(courtesy of WWE)
Amid demonstrations protesting the “Brotherhoodization” of the state and media in Tahrir Square, gatherings protesting President Morsi's 100th day in office, and amid escalating tensions between Israeli and Egyptian military forces in the Sinai, another great spectacle was unfolding in Cairo. For the first time ever, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) held the first (October 18, 2012) of what was to be 3 capacity shows at the Cairo Stadium Complex. Superstars of the professional/pro-wrestling world like the “Big Show”, “The Miz”, Irish dynamo “Sheamus”, “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio, blond adonis “Dolph Ziggler”, Jamaican Sensation “Kofi Kingston” and WWE Divas “Kaitlyn” and “Natalya” transfixed sold-out crowds of Egyptians. The WWE obviously sees Egypt and the Middle East as regions ripe for tapping of fans and has already held sold out shows in Qatar and Abu Dhabi and will presumably return to Egypt based on the success of their inaugural show.
At first blush the presence of the WWE in Egypt seems odd, particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring and the recent ascension of fundamentalist Islam to the pinnacle of power in Egypt. However, many Middle Easterners in general and Egyptians in particular have nonetheless become fanatic fans who follow the drama and action that takes place in the squared circle of pro-wrestling. It is not uncommon to venture into a downtown Cairo coffee shop and see crowds assembled in front of a single television watching larger than life WWE celebrity pro wrestlers pummel each other senseless while hastily reading transcripted Arabic of the English audio commentary.
I recall sitting in a Cairo coffee shop on the day when Amr Moussa and Abdel Monem Fatouh, two leading candidates for the then-undecided presidential race squared off on television for the first and only televised election debate since the ouster of Mubarak. A truly historical television event that was interspersed by rapid flipping of channels back to“WWE RAW”(the WWE’s flagship television show) for several seconds to see if the “Undertaker” had made an appearance and then back to the presidential debates discussing fiscal policy in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Egyptians, particularly adolescent and young adult Egyptians love pro-wrestling. 60% of Egypt's population is under 30 years old.
Wrestling has a historical precedent in the region and written records suggest that it is the oldest sport in the world (See “Grappling Hooks...”). Sumerian records (Sumer, now parts of modern day Iraq and Kuwait) recount the legend of “Gilgamesh”, a mythical king of Sumeria who won an epic wrestling match. The national sport of Turkey is oil/grease wrestling (See “Oil Wrestling...”) and according to Houchan Chehabi an Iranian historian; freestyle wrestling is often characterized as “the first sport” of the Islamic Republic of Iran (See “The Ancient Roots...”). Egypt has the distinction of fielding the first Arab-Muslim sumo wrestler from the “African continent and Arab world” (See “First Arab-Muslim...”), Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan or more commonly known by his ring name “Great Sandstorm”, and countries in the region routinely send wrestlers to compete in the Olympics.
Given this precedent, the phenomena of pro-wrestling in Egypt is not as odd as it may initially seem. After all, one might just as well ask how The Undertaker and his fellow superheroes have won the hearts and minds of American fans. Egyptians embrace Islam and their own culture, but like most Middle Easterners, they tend to love things that are Western/American (as opposed to disliking Western/American foreign policy). From blockbuster Hollywood films to McDonald’s to Apple IPhones. The average Egyptian makes in the neighborhood of 300 to 500 Egyptian pounds (l.e.) if they are fortunate enough to be employed. An average Egyptian cannot afford to attend a WWE show (3000 l.e.), buy an IPhone (8000 l.e.) or even regularly eat at McDonalds (20-25 l.e.), yet they still love Western materialism, consumerism and culture. The theatrical morality play which unfolds in the ring captures the Egyptian imagination just as it has captured that of America on a mass scale since the first televised wrestling events started in the 1950s. Pro wrestling is of course essentially more entertainment than sport.
Marketing research in wrestling (See “How Viewing...”) points out that the targeted audience for pro-wrestling are adolescents and adults 18-34 years old. Elements that appeal to this demographic are violence and sex (See “How Viewing...”). The sex and violence angle in pro-wrestling is obvious (though in recent years there have been attempts to lessen the sex angle within WWE shows). It is interesting that governments like the Islamic Republic of Egypt, and other Islamic nations (Qatar and Abu Dhabi) are embracing, or at least tolerating, edgy sports entertainment like pro-wrestling. The traditional Muslim reaction to the introduction of American pro-wrestling illustrates the power of framing. Had the Muslim Brotherhood chosen to object to pro-wrestling, they could easily have framed the WWE event as decadent and scandalous, as violating Muslim standards of modesty, as exploitation of poor Egyptians by unscrupulous Western businessmen, etc. Clearly, the Muslim Brotherhood and other other powerful traditional institutions chose to ignore-- or at least to avert their gaze -- to the arrival of The Miz, The Big Show and the rest of pro-wrestling's gaudy entourage onto sacred Egyptian soil. It's hard to imagine that fundamentalist and traditional Muslims could warmly embrace the scantily-clad sexually-overt Divas and Superheroes of the WWE. However, the Muslim Brotherhood is clearly sensitive to charges of censorship and religious coercion, and may well be deferring its objections to a later day, choosing its battles carefully.
Obviously, the appeal of pro-wrestling is different than that of traditional wrestling. The enduring popularity of competitive spectator sports, including pro-wrestling, is that fans participate in ritualistic “In-group identity”(a concept derived from social identity theory; the idea that anything that makes a group look better enhances the esteem of not only the group but the members of the group as well; anything that denigrates an out group enhances the esteem of the in-group and its members [See “Social Identity”]). Clearly, in any kind of competition where there is a winner and loser, the esteem of winners and supporters of the winner are enhanced. In the pro-wrestling system, where the characters (the heel and the hero) and outcomes are already pre-defined, the crowds know who to support and who to revile, and as a result are usually on the winning side of the faux-competition in the end. “This system is pleasurable because it requires little work on the part of the consumer to understand who is good and who is evil in the grand melodrama that is professional wrestling” (See “Speaking in Images...”).
There is also a long history of mythology in wrestling on which pro-wrestling draws , particularly on framing and narratives based Judeo-Christian/Islamic culture and religion, such as the duality of good and evil. The old testament has a number of wrestling metaphors, of which the story of Jacob wrestling an angel/God in Genesis is an example [See "Jacob wrestling..."]). Wrestling is an archetypal metaphor for struggle, catharsis and illumination as well as a metaphor for striving to know God. The Bible and Qur’an personifies villains (for example, Satan, the ultimate villain) and heroes (e.g., Angels, the Prophets). According to noted philosopher and semiotician Roland Barthes (See “The World of...”), pro-wrestling embodies a ritualistic casting out of evil where the pure hero of the melodrama fights an evil villain. The hero faces trials and tribulations; a journey within and without the ring akin to Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth or hero’s journey”(“Campbell held that numerous myths from disparate times and regions share fundamental structures and stages” [See “Monomyth”]), ultimately triumphing against the evil in most cases. Crowds participate through the wrestlers, vicariously “stoning the witch” and triumphing over evil.
Pro-wrestling is a scripted drama, a modern day morality play that taps into universal, fundamental, deeply psychological themes which resonate strongly in American and Arab culture (witness the sell out crowds), and they probably resonate all over the world with people. Pehaps the most interesting lesson of a pro-wrestling morality play is that for all our varied cultures and differences, human nature remains essentially the same.
Works Cited:
Barthes, Roland. “The World of Wrestling.” Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://www.tcnj.edu/~miranda/classes/theory_practice/barthes_wrestling.html
Bering, Jesse. (March 11, 2010). “If Darwin were a Sports Psychologist: Evolution and Athletics.” Scientific American. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/2010/03/11/if-darwin-were-a-sports-psychologist-evolution-and-athletics/
Bernthal, Matthew. (nd). “How Viewing Professional Wrestling May Affect Children.” The Sport Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://thesportjournal.org/article/effect-professional-wrestling-viewership-children
Fisher, Max. (August 9, 2012). “The Ancient Roots of Iran’s Wrestling and Weightlifting Olympic Dominance.” Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/the-ancient-roots-of-irans-wrestling-and-weightlifting-olympic-dominance/260919/
“First Arab-Muslim Sumo Wrestler Faces Challenges in Japan.” (April 9, 2012). Al Arabiya. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/09/206441.html
“Grappling Hooks: The Biological Appeal of Wrestling.” Wrestlers Without Borders. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://www.wrestlerswob.com/legacy/history_allure.htm
“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.” Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_wrestling_with_the_Angel
“Monomyth.” Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
“Oil Wrestling.” Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_wrestling
“Professional Wrestling as the Ideal Metaphor for Modern Life.” Dante and The Devil. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://danteandthedevil.com/professional-wrestling-as-the-ideal-metaphor-for-modern-life/
“Social Identity.” Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Identity
Staunch, Michael. (nd). “Speaking in Images: The Increasing Sublety of Manipulation in Wrestlemania XX.” Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://infohost.nmt.edu/~xchanges/old_xchanges/xchanges/4.1/stauch.html
Warrick, Joby. (March 3, 2011). “Clinton: U.S. Losing Global Public Relations Battle to Baywatch and Wrestling.” The Washington Post. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/02/AR2011030206898.html
Very interesting post. The cynic in me sees many similarities between WWE and modern politics. Indeed, given the choice, I suspect that most Americans would prefer to watch a WWE performance over any presidential debate.
ReplyDelete