When watching WWE, it seems like when wrestlers fall off the turnbuckle on the ropes, they will land right on their groin. That has got to be rather dangerous, so there must be some way to protect manhood, right?
Well, as in other professional wrestling organizations, WWE shows are not legitimate contests, but purely entertainment-based show auditorium, highlighting storyline-driven, scripted, and partly choreographed duels.
A wrestling cup (also known as a jockstrap or athletic cup) is an underclothes intended to protect wrestlers’ testicles and groin. This kind of safeguarding cup is made up of light metal or solid resistance plastic. It has a smooth side to give the player both support and comfort.
Most professional WWE wrestlers don’t wear cups as they’re not as necessary since most groin shots are angled to miss the groin. On the other hand, most competitive wrestlers do, as this is a contact sport and a combat sport, and the potential for injury is higher than in WWE.
Why WWE wrestlers mostly don’t wear cups?
Professional wrestling in WWE is a sort of wrestling and athletic show wherein athletic performers depict prizefighters fighting in matches with planned outcomes.
They don’t wear cups, as all groin-affected moves make it look like they hurt, but they don’t. Usually, their buttocks or hands stop the initial impact of the movement. For example, they low-blow with their forearms rather than just punching the opponent.
Many wrestling moves are done to create the illusion but the actual area it’s directed is not the one that takes the force.
Professional wrestlers have the saying: “If your junk can’t move, neither can you.”
Except for the reduced mobility, another reason is that no move requires their groin to get mangeled. They usually land on their inner thigh, not their manhood. Although some of them, sometimes, land on their manhood and just take the pain.
Besides, it hurts to wear a cup for a while. And if they bump wrong, wrestlers risk getting their groin pierced. Straddling the ropes sometimes gives them sore buttocks if they don’t do it the right way.
In particular, some guys like Rob Van Dam take extra caution when they rope drop. They have the outline of their junk aimed upward, showing within their tights/trunks/singlet.
A wrestler might wear a cup when injured
Hurt wrestlers sometimes fight while injured. In some instances, this obliges them to wear proper gear under their singlet.
A minor groin injury might result in an athlete wearing a groin cup when he would not otherwise.
It’s also common to find tape or different compression beneath a singlet, supporting muscles that have sustained minor or mild dings throughout the year. For example, a wrestler with a skin rash can fight in a T-shirt to reduce skin-to-skin contact with his contestant if allowed to wrestle at all.
How do wrestlers not get hurt when they get kicked in the balls?
The shows are all predetermined (if not strictly choreographed) to maximize the fans’ entertainment value and reduce the performers’ chances of suffering real-life injuries, like concussions, that could end their careers.
But how do wrestlers pull all that off without wearing cups and don’t get injured?
Let’s start with a groin kick. We rarely see a straight-up punch between the uprights – it’s almost always a mule punch or an uppercut to the groin. The fist and foot never actually make contact. Also, they use the forearm instead of the fist, which is still unpleasant but not a direct shot.
The nearest thing to a straight-up groin kick you’ll see in WWE would be Goldust’s Shattered Dreams, which he does to a rival in the corner and punches the turnbuckle padding.
Rope drop
You might also be wondering how wrestlers hang on the rope in between their legs without getting hurt.
When they land on the rope, they land on one leg or the other, not directly in the middle. Also, they clench their legs together at the right moment before impact.
Low blow in wrestling
An attack to the groin is considered a “low blow” in the literal sense but is the origin of the metaphor.
Often used in self-defense, the technique can be promptly incapacitating due to no small number of sensory nerve endings in the penis and testicles of men and females’ highly innervated vulva. An adequately powerful blow may break the pubic bone of the victim, ending in physical disability.
In most sports, a low blow is seen as unfair or inappropriate and is often thought dishonorable.
In professional wrestling, direct blows to the groin are generally viewed illegal as well, and unofficial rings may consider it shameful. However, in particular “hardcore” duels, the rules are eased, and such attacks are allowed by mutual approval.
Professional wrestlers don’t get hurt when under a low blow attack because the attacker’s forearm wraps around, and a balled fist hits just below the stomach and above the groin. The forearm barely connects as they reach through and try out a bit of air between their groin and opponent’s arm.
I remember watching how Kofi Kingston (one of the industry’s hardest workers) got hurt pretty serious when he took a nutshot from the ring post. It wasn’t a low blow specifically, but still…
To find out more about this, make sure to read Do WWE Wrestlers Get Hurt? Oh Yes, Here’s How.
What do pro wrestlers wear under singlets?
The principal, essential piece of wrestling equipment is a wrestling singlet. It is a specialized uniform worn by professional wrestlers during official matches. It is a one-piece, tight-fitting uniform, usually build of spandex, lycra, or nylon (or a combo thereof).
The design of the singlet is practical. Two-piece outfits used in most martial arts are not that practical for wrestling because it is a full-contact martial art where you win by bodily submitting your opponent. For instance, there are many direct contacts in competitive wrestling, and you cannot succeed unless you grab, push, and pull your opponent.
Wearing a cup could injure a wrestler. If you take a front dump, you risk damaging your pelvis.
So what do wrestlers wear under the singlet if not cups?
Believe it or don’t, a lot of wrestlers really wear thongs. It prevents their stuff from flopping everywhere. It also can prevent their manhood from being exposed in the event a wardrobe malfunction occurs. There are compression tights too. If they don’t wear any of those, then they go commando.
Some of the options wrestlers choose to wear under a wrestling singlet are jockstrap (affiliate link) or briefs (affiliate link).
Do competitive wrestlers wear cups?
Wrestling can either be genuinely competitive or sportive entertainment (professional wrestling). It also comes in different types such as folkstyle, freestyle, Greco-Roman, submission, judo, sambo, etc.
Competitive wrestling is a physical competition between two (seldom more) competitors or sparring partners who strive to gain and preserve a superior position.
For men, a groin cup is a standard addition to the singlet uniform – though, since their appearance in the early 2000s, many wrestlers favor wearing compression shorts. Women will seldom wear female groin protection, but this is less popular.
Women often put on a thicker sports bra to avoid pain in the chest, but firm breast protection cups are too hard to wear while grappling.
When a male wrestler’s vulnerable groin area is adequately protected, it is easier for him to focus on the match. Wrestlers wear thin, skin-tight singlets to compete, meaning they are very exposed, so taking an accidental blow to the crotch is a big worry that can affect performance.
The penis and testicles can also get twisted in unpleasant and painful ways as a wrestler grapples with an opponent – a jockstrap and cup holds them in place and dramatically reduces this risk.
There is no particular skill granted by wearing this protective gear. It guards merely against injury to a male wrestler’s most vulnerable body parts, meaning the athletes can completely perform the physical action of wrestling.
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