Not content with just getting in the ring and doing their job, many wrestlers like to scale the ropes first, standing on the second rope flexing and looking around like they want to hurt somebody. They seem to enjoy displaying their bodies like a trophy up on a shelf. After all, hiding the rock-hard physique the wrestler has worked so hard to develop would be akin to throwing a tarp over the Statue of David. Why cover up perfection?
The pre-match rope pose is a risky move because the wrestler is celebrating his victory and proclaiming his superiority (or delusions of grandeur) before he’s actually won the match. This would be similar to spiking the football before you’ve scored a touch-down. You’d better be able to cash the check that your cocky posing has written.
The types of wrestlers who tend to strike this pre-match show-off pose are the arrogant, self-centered, sexier-than-thou bad pretty-boy types who think they’re so much better than the rest of us. They don’t even think they ought to be breathing the same air as us common folk, instead lifting themselves onto a higher platform like some ancient emperor whose head had to be located higher than everyone else. Rather than just pulling on the ropes or slapping his shoulders like the humble, no-nonsense good guy, the flamboyant villain demands some pre-match hero worship. It’s human nature at this point to put aside one’s hatred of the cocky bastard’s arrogant actions and, instead, buy into the worship of a great work of art about to go into action.
