F1 Fanatic

It’s 4:30 in the morning here, and I had this completely random thought: F1 is a lot more like wrestling than it seems at first glance.

How so?

You have your rivalries – there will be the all-timers, but more often than not, the main rivalry changes every year or so.

Wrestling example – There have been rivalries built up between each member of the group of Cena, Orton, Triple H, and Undertaker.
F1 example – There have been rivalries built up between each member of the group of Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, and Schumacher.

Faces and heels – the characters always seem to alternate between the good guys (faces) and the bad guys (heels).

Wrestling example – Randy Orton started as a face, then went heel, then face, then back to heel, and is now a face again.
F1 example – Fernando Alonso started out as a massive fan favorite as he beat Schumi (face), then suddenly turned when he blackmailed McLaren out of a title (heel). He became a favorite again as he ended Renault’s winning drought (face), only for us to find out that Flav fixed the result (heel). I’m sure we can come up with similar examples for Lewis, Vettel (faces-turned-heels), and even Schumi (heel-turned-face).

Authority figure – He’s the guy we usually love to hate and makes sure everything falls into place.

Wrestling example – Mr. McMahon
F1 example – Mr. Ecclestone

Crazy plot twists – They both have them by the bucketload, from the silly (match intervention in wrestling, stewards decisions in F1) to the downright insane (roster breakaway in wrestling, teams breakaway in F1). Sometimes you wonder how F1 isn’t scripted.

Maybe it’s just me, but I wonder if other wrestling fans would see what I mean?

I used to follow wrestling, and I agree!

I think,Journeyer, these similarities can be applied to most sports. Rivalries and likable characters are common in all of them.

oh boy, there’s talking nonsense, and there’s Talking Nonsense. Journeyer, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you “Santa Claus isn’t real”, but if you know how to write and how to post in a forum, you’re probably old enough to know the truth. And at least this thread won’t be so pointless.

Wrestling is not a sport. Formula One is, ok? The difference is that the first one is a soap opera where the events are scripted and the actors-wrestlers know beforehand who’s going to win, how the fight is going to be, what lines to say before and after, etc. There’s no free will. It’s literally a soap opera, or TV series, if you prefer. Formula One and any sport and the outcome depends of the strenght, will and skill of each competitor, be it a car, a driver or a team principal, technical director, etc. In principle, any driver can win or get a DNF or be the last. No one, not even Mr. Bernie Eclestone know what will happen before the race.

Please don’t compare any sport with wrestling, it’s outrageous. And before you make an inflamed post stating how great your dear wrestling is, please, take a deep breath and, if you doubt what I’m saying make a google search to see what grown ups think about it, if you don’t doubt, if you know it’s like that, that’s all what I’m saying, I’m not trying to dismiss or diminishing wrestling, just saying what it is and that can’t be compared with real sports.

EDIT: I’ve noticed your sentence “Sometimes you wonder how F1 isn’t scripted.” implying you don’t believe in Papa Noel after all. If so, kind of devalues my post but shame on you for making the comparation…

I though Nascar was real. Are you sure about that, Doance?

Love the comparisons, Kingshark! I’d say Schumacher is more Undertaker than Triple H – the guy’s been around forever, hated the most in the mid90s, but is actually somewhat liked now. He could also be Ric Flair – the “Dirtiest Player in the Game”, with the most championships in history. Just like Undertaker, relatively loved now. Flair’s also tried a comeback, but most people also agree that wasn’t a good idea.

Somehow, I can easily picture Alonso using (and swinging) a sledgehammer. :D

JJ Lehto, calm down! He just said there are similarities between the two, he didn’t say its real, heck he didn’t even say its a sport. Don’t see why you’ve made a outburst for.

I’d compare Alonso to CM Punk more than anyone else, both characters want everything to be built around them. Hamilton could also be compared to Punk because he likes to rebel against authority.

I’d also compare Barrichello to Hulk Hogan, they’re both old men who just won’t go away, though if Barrichello went, I’d miss him, unlike Hogan.

My final comparison is Kamui Kobayashi to Jeff Hardy, they’re both daredevils in their respective jobs and never pass us a high risk oppotunity.