Wrestling might not be a sport, but it certainly involves plenty of physical risk, so why isn't treated like a sport in the state? That's the question some are asking lawmakers.
This is all coming about because the state is working to regulate mixed martial arts competitions. And State Senator Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, told the CT Post that some think wrestling should be included in the debate.
Last week, the Department of Public Safety, which oversees boxing, passed a bill to adopt rules for conduct, safety and licensing of MMA events. That would make it possible for events inside the octagon to be held across the state, not just the two casinos on tribal land.
MMA is on board. Marc Ratner, vice president of Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, testified to the committee that they want to establish MMA as a legitimate and sanctioned sport.
But wrestling has always been different.
World Wrestling Entertainment owners Vince and Linda McMahon -- who ran for U.S. Senate -- convinced states in the 1980s that since wrestling is staged, their matches shouldn't be treated the same as sporting events, CT Post reports.
But Daily, who voted for the mixed martial arts bill, isn't convinced that deregulation should still apply.
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"It does involve potential serious harm to peoples' bodies, and they've talked about the brain damage later in life," Daily told the CT Post.
The safety of wrestlers became a big campaign issue last year, as now-Senator Richard Blumenthal hammered McMahon on the safety of her performers, portraying her business as dangerous. In an interview last summer with Hearst Connecticut Media, McMahon said "There's nothing that any state could require that we don't ... We care about our performers and fans a whole lot more than any state or federal government."
So whether the WWE or MMA is more dangerous, will be debated.
Both clearly involve some sort of violence, but Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, told the Post that pro wrestling takes a greater toll over the long term.
"You perform more often," Meltzer said. "A single mixed martial arts match is more dangerous than a single WWE match, but a career in WWE is almost surely more dangerous in the long term. The idea because one is real and one isn't real it is safer and shouldn't be regulated is a fallacy in my mind."
For now, it appears that professional wrestling will remain deregulated despite the push to regulate mixed martial arts.
"We're trying to bring mixed martial arts to Connecticut ... creating economic activity, revenue," Middletown Rep. Matthew Lesser told the Post. "The WWE's already as much in Connecticut as it possibly can be. And for whatever reason, WWE doesn't feel like they need to be regulated."
And despite all the concerns and controversy raised during the campaign, no one has pursued any wrestling regulation legislation.
