The controversy surrounding the terms “skilled wrestling” and “sports entertainment” got here to the forefront once more as “The Ring General” GUNTHER defeated John Cena at Saturday Night’s Important Event. In reacting to the match final result, WWE commentator Michael Cole specifically suggested that there was a difference between the 2 when he remarked that “skilled wrestling destroyed sports entertainment.” Within the eyes of WWE Hall of Famer and AEW star Jeff Jarrett, nevertheless, they’re actually interchangeable.
“It’s definitely a fed line or an approved line, obviously,” Jarrett said on the “My World” podcast. “I do not understand that because skilled wrestling and sports entertainment are the exact same. Vince [McMahon] coined that. No different than ‘They are not WWF wrestlers, they’re WWF superstars.’ It did it for branding, marketing, and ‘sports entertainer’ feels higher once you go to pitch meetings, once you’re in executives or when writing in a newspaper, all that form of stuff. It’s the exact same.”
In 2002, WWF rebranded into WWE, with the “E” putting further emphasis on the entertainment element, which incorporates storylines and in-ring characters, of the corporate’s programming. Nevertheless, Jarrett believes that the physical, wrestling motion has also remained a component of WWE since then, just with the “E” being pushed to the forefront for marketing purposes. After hearing Cole present each as separate entities at SNME, though, Jarrett imagines many fans of the WWE product now being confused.
“So now ‘skilled wrestling destroyed sports entertainment’? We’re not entertainment, however the name of our company is World Wrestling Entertainment?” Jarrett questioned. “I do not know. That is to be determined. I do not get that.”
When you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “My World” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.