Originally Posted by jayeff

It's not enormously difficult to put down any form of "sport" if that is your intention, but I don't see a problem with some being entertaining on one level and some on another. I think that if I had an issue with the terminology of professional wrestling, it would not be about whether the action is staged, but whether pro wrestling should be called a sport.

"Sport: an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition". Well certainly wrestling involves a lot of physical exertion, but then so does ballet. And it's not competitive in the usual sense, because the winners and losers are determined in advance, more on the basis of marketability than skill.

Regardless of all that, millions find it entertaining and I haven't seen any evidence that those who do are any lower on the evolutionary ladder than those who enjoy watching a pigskin being thrown around, or little white balls being popped into holes in the ground.