Barthes’ perception on wrestling is that it is meant to entertain the audience and the audience knows well enough that it’s wrestling’s sole purpose to do so. Therefore the motives and consequences of a wrestler’s actions are not important to the viewer. What is important is what the viewer sees the wrestler do in the ring. The portrayal of suffering, defeat, and justice are what keeps the crowd enthralled in the show. The wrestler can use that to his advantage by accentuating certain aspects of the fight that the crowd will enjoy. The match is therefore almost choreographed to the T, filled with justified wins and horrendous defeats. Pitching hero against villain and underdog against heavyweight is only some of the tactics wrestling uses to keep the crowds interest.
The story that David Shoemaker tells in his introduction depicts exactly what the people want out of wrestling. The journalist was able to find out who was going to win the matches without having to go to the fight to report it. When the show ended up being cancelled and the results were posted in the newspaper the next morning people were furious. The people wanted the journalist to be part of the joke that wrestling truly is, not try and act above it all. All the public wants to see is an entertaining show filled with accentuated wrestling moves, a show that doesn’t have one climax but multiple. Barthes’ and Shoemaker share the same perception of wrestling. They are in agreement that each fight is scripted for the audience, not the fighter. The fighter only represents an image that a crowd can follow, an image that can be destroyed or an image that can live in infamy.