In recent years, professional wrestling has been scrutinized for its lack of attention to sport. This tendency is exactly at what Schiavone was hinting. When audiences watch an episode of Nitro or the World Wrestling Federation's Raw is War, they witness a montage of sex and violence — and occasionally an actual wrestling match.

To the inexperienced fan, this may sound like an episode of The Jerry Springer Show, but ask any wrestling diehard and he will tell a different story.

More than ever, wrestling fans are more interested in issues such as the stalking of WWF owner Vince McMahon's family than in how Bret "Hitman" Hart executes "The Sharpshooter" in the ring.

It is the stories surrounding the matches that capture the fans' attention.

The good old days

Things haven't always been this way.

Professional wrestling has been around for almost 100 years. Its roots spring from such places as Australia, where it was solely classified as sport, with athletes often fainting due to the pain they experienced from their opponents' punches. During the 1960s, women began to wrestle along with men, starting the tradition of scantily clad costuming seen today.

In the 1980s, Hulkamania took the wrestling world by storm. Soon, however, interest in professional wrestling began to dwindle because the wrestling itself just didn't hold people's attention. Producers began to add other entertainment elements such as extraneous violence and melodrama.

Wrestling's corporate honchos have targeted the college market aggressively, hoping to reintroduce former Hulk Hogan fans to the new breed of wrestlers.

In 1995, when The Bryce Jordan Center was only a fledgling arena, the WWF came to break it in. This was one of the first wrestling events of its kind to come to central Pennsylvania. By 1998, wrestling events ranked third on the center's top 10 list, bringing in 36,000 spectators in five shows by last July. The only acts that out-grossed wrestling were Garth Brooks and the U.S. Hot Rod Monster Jam.

Not in Kansas anymore

Nowadays, wrestling has been likened to melodrama because much of it doesn't actually occur in the ring.

"You know, it's like watching a soap opera," said WCW wrestler Steve "Sting" Borden in an interview with CNN. "I've never seen (a soap) but they're addicting, I guess, and wrestling is sort of the same thing."

The truth of the matter is without the story lines, the wrestling matches would be over before they began. Producers entertain viewers with dramatic additives and sexual content. According to a content analysis of 12 hours of WCW's "Nitro" — an average month's worth — only about 34 percent of each three-hour episode actually shows wrestling. An analysis of eight hours of WWF's Raw is War shows Raw depends even more on the soap opera approach to get viewers, with only about 27 percent of each two-hour program devoted to actual wrestling.

So what happens when people aren't wrestling? Two words: plot development. It's important to explain exactly why the matches are occurring.

"Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera can put on a 15-minute lucha libre clinic (a technical Latino match), but without the background stories, it will get old very quick," said Gordon W. Holmes III, a retired independent cruiserweight wrestler.

Holmes, a Penn State graduate, wrestled under the name "Hurricane Holmes" for independent wrestling organizations. As a self-described "sorta hardcore" cruiserweight, he competed against smaller wrestlers in the sport. He is now an on-air personality at WQWK-FM (97.1).

"I know how hard it is to execute a vertical suplex, and I know how hard it is to keep an audience interested in a 20-minute match," he said.

Holmes said federations create other ways to hook their viewers.

"Some people love to watch Mankind (Mick Foley) being beaten to death with a steel chair, some people will tune in to see how much skin Sable (the WWF's blonde bombshell and women's champ) is showing," Holmes said.

"In the Monday night wars, the ratings have gone to the federation who has created the better scenario."

Giving the viewers what they want

Craig Bossong (junior-prelaw) watches the WWF's Raw is War instead of competing programs because he feels it has better story lines and wrestlers.

"I watch WWF because it's interesting," Bossong said. "I think that without the sex and extra violence I would still watch."

Bossong said he thinks wrestling has become such a success because it appeals to many groups of people.

"Women love the sexy wrestlers, children love all of the action and the toys that come from it, and men not only like the violence, but also the clean sex appeal. The talent the wrestlers possess is also a very impressive part of this sport that makes it very interesting and exciting," he said.

As Bossong noted, it's not only men who prefer this spectacle.

Erin Wheatley, a freshman at Washington State University, said although she dislikes soap operas she enjoys watching wrestling because of the stories it creates.

"It is the allure of the never-ending story line," Wheatley said. "It is the entertainment aspect, as well as the great wrestling, that keeps me coming back for more."

Wheatley added she also watches because she enjoys watching the more attractive wrestlers in action.

"But that's just an added bonus," she said.

Ratings soar higher than Paul "The Giant" Wight

For whatever reason, the fans are watching.

Ratings for WCW and WWF programs have been sky-high since January. Programming devoted to professional wrestling has dominated the Neilsen ratings for basic cable programming, with as many as 10 million viewers tuning in every Monday night.

Steve Schroeder, a writer for "The Shooters," a World Wide Web site devoted to professional wrestling commentary, said the current wrestling scene overemphasizes the soap opera angle.

"The soap opera elements are a gimmick to get people to watch the wrestling action," Schroeder said.

He added he would like to see more emphasis on the actual wrestling, but he wouldn't be surprised if companies keep the extraneous elements for business reasons.

Live, local and leg-breaking

Professional wrestling will make its return to State College on April 29, when WCW "Thunder" comes to the Jordan Center. Tickets are still available. For more information, please call (814) 863-5555.