wrestling / News

Former NFL Star & Current Heels Actor Responds To ‘Wrestling Is Fake’ Critics

September 7, 2021 | Posted by Blake Lovell
James Harrison Heels Image Credit: Starz

James Harrison, who had a legendary career for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL before retiring and landing a role on Heels, was recently interviewed by Patriots Wire (h/t Fightful), and he discussed the differences between wrestling and football, criticism of wrestling being “fake”, and much more. Here’s what he had to say:

James Harrison on the biggest differences between wrestling and football: “It’s still way harder to be a professional football player than it is to be a professional wrestler, because the person that I’m wrestling with is helping me do the things that I’m trying to do against them. They’re actually helping me to do that and we’re trying to do that as safe as possible and as (painless) as possible. Whereas, when I’m playing NFL football, this guy is not trying to help me with nothing. He’s fighting with every ounce of his being to not let me get my job done, just like I’m fighting with him so he can’t get his job done. Yeah, we’re the opposite. (In wrestling), we’re trying to make it look like it hurt, even though it doesn’t.”

On critics who think wrestling is “fake,” and Stephen Amell’s injury during Heels : “The only thing that’s fake about wrestling is that you know the outcome of that match. You still have to hit that mat. You get those bumps and bruises before you get to that predetermined outcome. And that mat is not soft. It’s not forgiving. We had one of our co-stars — our lead Stephen Amell — he had a compound fracture of his spine in a stunt. He was out for six weeks.”

article topics :

Heels, Blake Lovell