Culture | Fake it to make it

“Ringmaster” is a colourful biography of a wrestling impresario

But Abraham Riesman overstates the spectacle’s place in modern America

R060X0 Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant wrestle at The Main Event at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 5, 1988 Photo By John Barrett/PHOTOlink /MediaPunch — In the land of giantsImage: Alamy

Mar 23rd 2023

PART-WAY through “Hannah and Her Sisters”, Woody Allen’s film of 1986, a dyspeptic artist played by Max von Sydow has been flicking through the television channels and grumbles: “Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?” Apparently the character labours under a common snooty misconception. He seems to grasp that professional wrestling is fake—meaning the outcomes of the matches are predetermined—but assumes its fans do not.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Making it by faking it”