Some people wonder why pro wrestlers often grease up their bodies in baby oil before a match, so they enter the ring soaking wet. They say it may be meant to make their body slippery, so the opponent can’t get a grip. (But the opponent is supposed to get a grip!)
Really, why do pro wrestlers do anything in or out of the ring? Because it’s hot. Because the fans like seeing it. Because a wet body can be more interesting to look at than a dry body.
Body-builders apply oil to their skin before a competition because they know the wet look shows off their curves and cuts. With the lights reflecting off the wet skin surfaces like a mirror, every nook and cranny of their bulging physique is highlighted. The oil makes them look more massive.
The same is true for really muscular wrestlers. Just as a body-builder wants to earn extra points with the judges, a wrestler wants to earn extra points with the fans, by putting each and every muscle (which took so much time and energy to grow) on proud display, glistening under the lights like a shiny new car.
Some wrestlers who are playing the cocky, arrogant role (and who aren’t especially huge or muscular) are now applying thick coats of body oil too. Apparently they have come to realize that body oil expresses their vanity, their image of selfishness, to the fans. It’s as if they’re saying: You can tell I love myself because I took the time to rub oil all over myself.
And it used to be that a pro wrestler would apply the oil, then use a towel to wipe off the excess, leaving a sheen that would make his skin glow under the bright lights of the arena. Now, however, some wrestlers don’t bother to towel off, instead strutting to the ring like they just got out of the pool. Oil is dripping down everywhere, really making a mess of their trunks.
I think the major reason wrestlers like to grease up is the erotic reference. Seeing a body lubed up and slippery makes people think of sex. Why, do you think, people like watching oil wrestling?
A wet body is sensual. It makes you think about running your fingers over that slippery skin. Putting oil on another person is considered an intimate act, something that most straight dudes would never do to each other, even if it leads to sunburn, because of the implied sexuality of the action.
So when a pro wrestler enters the arena dripping wet, the crowd wonders what he was doing backstage. Was he in the shower? The hot tub? In an intense, sweaty hook-up? Who rubbed that oil all over him, another wrestler? Having oil glistening on his skin like an after-glow raises some intrigue and inspires unclean thoughts in the minds of the fans.
Fans also want their wrestlers to work hard in the ring, to give it all their energy and effort. If the wrestler is pouring sweat by the end of the match, his body shining and his trunks utterly soaked, you know he worked hard to entertain you. Entering the ring already glistening in oil gives a wrestler a head-start on getting sweaty. Any perspiration he produces will mix with the body oil to really make him look shiny and wet.
Whatever the reasons behind it, I sure like the wet look. So don’t be shy about it — keep dumping that oil on your bodies! Apply it with a paint roller. Let it gush down your stomach and coat your trunks. Stop the match if you need to and bring out another bucketful of oil and a sponge to apply more, or ask the fans to do it.
