So THAT’S What “Shipping” Means!

I keep noticing people online saying they “Ship” other people, as in: “Did you ship Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham” or: “I never shipped Gilligan and the Skipper.”    I finally wondered what this term meant enough to Google “shipping”.  Here is what Wikipedia says:

“Shipping, derived from the word relationship, is the belief that two characters, fictional or non-fictional, are in an intimate relationship, have romantic and/or sexual feelings that could potentially lead to a relationship, or have another form of less intimate relationship, which may involve platonic friendship, or even violence.”

So if I ship two people, I guess it means that I think they’re doing it, or ought to do it.

Shipping two people seems to be a salacious wish, that they ought to enter into a sexual pairing (and that we would love to watch.)  People seem to enjoy shipping, creating intimacy, love, and romance where it may not exist.  Therefore, two characters in a movie or show can easily create interest in the audience by flirting with one another — by giving the viewers a reason to ship them.

I believe shipping can apply to many Tag Team partnerships.  They dress the same, they work effectively together and move in harmony, they adopt a single team name like “The Rockers” or “The Assassins.”  All of this is intended to get the audience to ship them and thereby add some sex appeal and heat.

Even before the term “shipping” was invented, pro wrestlers have long understood that getting the viewers to ship them will boost ratings.

When two wrestlers work together to beat up a third guy, their teamwork implies that some chemistry exists between them.

When the man outside the ring worries about the health and safety of his partner, we’re led to understand he has feelings for the suffering Face-In-Peril.

The whole design and presentation of Tag Team wrestling seems to exist primarily to get us to ship the dudes involved.

And the members of the Tag Team can use many tricks and techniques to get the audience to ship them: a long, whispered conversation before the bell rings, a look of shock or concern when the partner suffers a brutal attack, a hug (held for just a bit too long) after a grueling victory.

Shipping is good for ratings because it adds sugar and spice to the story.  This is why many TV shows feature long, stormy romances where we are left wondering if the couple are ever going to finally get it on, and then if they are ever going to finally get married.  The relationships between the characters are more important than the things that happen to them.

A Tag Team also may have relationship problems and often is seen in the process of “breaking up” (a term normally reserved for romantic relationships.)  The depiction of their anger, resentment, jealousy, and hurt feelings as their partnership dissolves causes us to ship them just as much as when they’re happy and loving to one another.

Shipping in pro wrestling is not limited to Tag Teams either.  There have been rivalries where the two “enemies” sure seem very interested in each other — and sure seem to get in the ring together an awful lot — shirtless and ready to tussle.

And when the two bitter rivals do square off, they fight with passion and emotion.  And when they’re tearing it up in the ring, they seem to end up in the most suggestive, compromising positions.

The shipping of two opposed wrestlers is seen as a more hateful and passionate relationship compared with the supportive, mutually rewarding relationship between Tag Team partners.