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"Just as King Kong thought that Dara Singh had given up, he grabbed his neck and stifled it dramatically, finally pushing him to shout for the referee to intervene. Following the referee's intervention, Dara literally threw Kong out of the ring and claimed the title. The audience was amazed and admired by the strength and skills of Dara. He became famous overnight. "
The above pbadage is from an article in Men's XP on one of the most iconic games featuring the legendary Indian." Wrestler Dara Singh, who died in 2012 at the age of 83, was synonymous with strength for a generation or two of Indians who grew up in the second half of the twentieth century. No one in the world as strong as him If you read an article about Singh's career, it will tell you that he is undefeated in more than 500 professional fights.
What most of these articles will not tell you, c is that these fights had predetermined results Singh was working in the field of professional wrestling, which combines athletics and theater.Professional wrestlers execute their movements with the full cooperation of their opponents and fight so to reduce the risk of injury.
not to say that Singh was a cheater. It's simply never violated the code of struggle, known as kayfabe, referring to the illusion that the characters and scenarios are real. In a pro-fight scenario, there is usually a hero, in other words a "face", and an anti-hero, called the "heel".
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Singh has always been the face of his fights, and the Indian public loved him very much when he was beating his heels, especially when it came to foreign wrestlers. In a way, one could say that Singh has sown the seeds of India 's fascination with the WWE, based in the United States, or WWE, which has become synonymous with the struggle today. pro.
India is currently the largest fan base of WWE on the outside. in the United States, with 335 million unique viewers each year. India is also the world's largest market for WWE in terms of Facebook engagement and YouTube's audience – even bigger than the US. "The Indian public is 10 to 50 years old and older, with the largest group (34%) between the ages of 15 and 30," said a WWE spokesperson. About 40% of the WWE TV audience is women.
So, why fuel this craze for WWE in India? Do Indian fans still believe the fighting is real, 30 years after WWE promoter Vince McMahon let the kayfabe cat out of his bag? "I knew the script was written from the beginning, but I do not like to believe it," said Mallvika Bhadwal, a 30-year-old change management badyst at Accenture. "Even now, if you tell me everything is written in the script, I'll say," No, that's not it. "
Different Types of Fans
There are three types of WWE fans," says Rangeet Choudhury, a 21-year-old engineering student.
The first guy is a person who does not really know that she is scripted.In the WWE world, such a fan is called "Mark." The second guy is someone who knows that it's written in the script but do not think about it too much. and who just loves the show Like Bhadwal, mentioned above The third guy is the one who knows that he is written in the script and regularly discusses scenarios on social media and online forums.This type of fan is called "Smark" (abbreviation of Smart Mark).
"I'm part of the third community, but most Indians are part of the second," said Choudhury. "Most fans treat it as a show of reality TV. "
The viewer that this reality TV show In 2018, the fight has become the most watched "sport" on Indian television, even surpbading cricket, according to a report from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Ernst & Young.
The fight "garnered a 20% share in the total number of sports viewers [in India] cricket approaching 19%," the report says. In the broader category of wrestling, the key properties are the WWE and the Indian Pro Wrestling League. Although the report does not provide a breakdown of the number of spectators between WWE and PWL, it is reasonable to badume that the property has been the most eye-catching.
Why WWE among Indians is fascinating?
"Think of it as if you were watching a show. like Game of Thrones, but it's happening live, "said Choudhury. "Even if it's staged, there's no room for cuts or covers. Anything that spoils a speech or gesture is considered a failure. "
Choudhury believes that WWE's popularity in India also depends on the fact that the larger-than-life scripts and characters are identical to those of Indian films. "Just look at Undertaker," he says. "In the wrestling world, he's like a dead man or a zombie – somebody with mystical powers, but anyway, the WWE manages to do it in such a way that it does not seem so crazy.
Bhadwal remembers admiring the character of Triple H as a teenager: "He had the habit of spraying water from his mouth when entering the ring," he said. she said. "Some stories and rivalries were also interesting, like the one between Kane and The Undertaker." The story goes as though Kane wore a mask because his face had been burned in a fire lit by Undertaker, his half It was fun to watch. "
While Bhadwal stopped watching WWE after her teenage years while she was busy with her academic and professional life, the company made concerted efforts to develop its Indian public since its first installation in the in 2011. The overall strategy was to understand the market and develop the brand in the early years and then locate it.
Today, WWE content is available on Indian television in four languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telegu and English. In March of this year, in anticipation of its flagship annual event called Wrestlemania, WWE launched a weekly digital Hindi show called WWE NOW India. "The show offers a desi version with the latest news, exclusive interviews and the hottest WWE stories that speak of all of India," the spokesman said.
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In 2017, WWE pushed Canadian wrestler Jinder Mahal to become his first champion of Indian descent. That same year, Kavita Devi became the first Indian woman to enter a WWE competition
. However, both wrestlers failed to become as popular in India as WWE hoped. The reign of Maharaja of modern times as WWE champion lasted less than six months. In fact, WWE forced Triple H to beat Mahal during a fight organized in New Delhi in December 2017, which attracted many deaf people who speculated that his time at the summit was over.
"Jinder Mahal was so bad that he could not persist. with him that a lot, "said Choudhury. "I think they made a mistake by making him a stub. He was also a very cowardly character, so he failed to attract the Indians. "
Before Mahal, there was the Great Khali, who was undoubtedly more popular even though he was also a heel. "But he could barely move from time to time," said Choudhury. "He was too old by the time he arrived at the WWE. His knees were too weak. He was a sensation only because of his size and because he was the first Indian wrestler in the WWE. "
Despite these apparent failures in promoting WWE Indian wrestlers, society is not giving up. There are currently nine Indian wrestlers who have signed up with WWE and who are looking for more.
"We are proud to say that the biggest test of the history of the WWE was held in Mumbai [in March]," said the spokesman. Up to 80 athletes, including 20 women from across the country, participated in the test. According to the company, the candidates came from bodybuilding, wrestling, kabaddi, combat sports, basketball and even cricket.
It is unlikely that the fight will prevail over cricket on television in 2019, the year of the Cricket World Cup. but the WWE has different goals. "Our intention is not to become the number one in India," the spokesman said. "Our mission is to put a smile on the faces of our fans … Our flagship programming is related to the fans because we are on the air every week, 52 weeks a year. We do not have low season, no day, unlike other sports. "
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