Patton Oswalt Defends Pro Wrestling After Joe Rogan Calls It ‘Fake’

May 20, 2020 - by James Walsh

Professional wrestling found a defender this week in Patton Oswalt, who defended the industry after Joe Rogan referred to it as fake. The actor/comedian was on Rogan’s Joe Rogan Experience podcast when the subject of WWE came up during a discussion of politicians. You can see the full video below.

The two were discussing the idea of politicians being dragged for things they’d said years ago, which led to Rogan saying, “Yeah, our expectations of people are different. We’re not under the illusion anymore that they’re not real people because we want them to be presidential or we want them to be a representative. We’re not under the illusions that they’re not real people. It’s almost like when they had to admit that WWE was fake. It’s like, ‘Okay, now we can just enjoy it for what it is. You don’t have to have these arguments with your friends over whether or not it’s fake.’”

Oswalt then launched into a bit of a defense of WWE, saying:

“Yeah, but the thing about WWE that everyone keeps forgetting is, yes, it’s ‘scripted.’ But it’s scripted mayhem and destruction. They are scripting out these people, the men and women going, ‘In this script, you are going to fall 40 feet onto a table of glass.’ Yes, we scripted that to happen. But it’s still a person doing that. Like, there’s a level of adrenaline junkieness and athleticism that goes beyond, I think, athletics. So when people are like, ‘Yeah, wrestling’s fake.’ Yeah, no s**t.’ It’s like when you watch a Jackie Chan film, that’s a scripted film too. Stick around for the end credits, he just got his skull knocked open. They literally punched a whole through his skull doing this stunt. So you’re dismissing something — you’re definition of ‘fake’ needs to be tweaked a little bit in this case.”

Rogan agreed that it’s “another way of looking at it. It’s definitely scripted. It’s not like they’re risking it all because they don’t know what the outcome is going to be. It’s different than an actual athletic event. But it’s still pretty badass, like, as far as what they’re able to do. They don’t get nearly enough credit for it, either.”

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