May Not Be What You Think
Before you brand me a fool. hear me out! I’m not saying this is real. I’ve been watching it for nearly 40 years and always knew it was orchestrated. It’s like stuntmen in movies, except matches sometimes go for longer.
No matter, wrestlers can show you a lot about developing a character (a man was always seen as a Russin was revealed when he died as French Canadian), getting others to care about an upcoming match, and even some basic storytelling (yes, a good match tells a story). There’s much to learn.
Origin of This in my Novel
When I created Rigger, Mortiz, and Shivver decades ago, puns were a huge part of the name choices.
When I created Alex Rigger, I thought of him as a former wrestler, ‘Oil Rigger’.
I’m what folks call a ‘smark’ (a smart mark. Smart enough to know what’s happening, but still a mark for my favorite performers).
Why a Wrestler?
Some people I know would wonder why I’m writing another wrestler (I’ve created a few). Thing is there is a saturation of former boxers and martial artist characters. I’m trying something different.
Style
The fighting style is different. Some of the moves are flashy, but couldn’t be used in the real world. They would cause fatalities if they were.
A lot of real fights would be punches and kicks, with some basic slams thrown in, dropkicks and clotheslines too.
Another interesting thing about fights using wrestling: as with many Kung Fu fights, many wrestlers have a different style. Some of the bigger guys don’t do aerial moves… some of them do, but it’s considered unusual in the US and just looks strange in Japan. In writing, we just strive for uniqueness.
In the hand of a good writer (hope I am), this could be interesting.
I’m going to try to post here more often. I’ll wait until I’ve done a few more to state a schedule, so I don’t let readers down.
