By Alex Kroke
 Spartacus, Batista, Commodus,
Ezekiel, Verus, and Kane; remember
these names. Some are Roman
gladiators and the others are WWE
wrestlers, but which is which?
 To begin, one major difference is the
types of injuries that both gladiators
and wrestlers attain during the actions
they partake in, as well as the
consequences of these injuries they
suffer.
 Gladiators suffered from:
 Broken Bones
 Infection
 Death
 Wrestlers Suffered from
 Broken Bones
 Torn Ligaments
 Gangrene is the death of a body tissue
or organ. - Carson-Dewitt (2009)
 Staph Infection is caused by a
bacterium that affects the skin, bones,
and lungs. – McCoy (2009)
 The Anterior Cruciate Ligament is a
major stabilizer of the knee. The
highest degree of stress to the ligament
occurs during: motions with a foot that
is fixed and landing from a jump. –
Schwager (2009)
 Another great difference between the
Roman gladiators and World Wrestling
Entertainment wrestlers resides in the
way that these men are treated.
 Wrestlers
 Paid Multimillion dollar contracts
 Travel the world
 Train religiously
 Gladiators
 Treated like slaves
 Worked extremely hard to survive
 Fought to the death
Image Courtesy of upload.wikimedia,.org
Ancient Gladiator School or
“Ludus”
Image courtesy of lighthousewrestling.com
Weight and Training Facility used by
Wrestlers
 In spite of all these great differences,
WWE superstars and Roman gladiators
are very much alike. Both wrestling and
gladiatorial games were made with the
sole purpose to entertain the masses.
 Gladiatorial Events
 Chariot Races
 Human vs. Human Combat
 Human vs. Animal Combat
Courtesy of sacred-destinations.com
Pollice Verso ("Thumbs Down"), an 1872 painting of
gladiatorial combat
 Wrestling Events
 Television Shows
 Raw
 Smackdown
 ECW
 Superstars
 Pay Per Views
 Royal Rumble
 Summerslam
 Wrestlemania
 Etc.
Courtesy of wwfcharacters.googlepages.com
The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels
makes an extravagant entrance.
 In conclusion, gladiators and wrestlers
come from completely different
universes with separate lifestyles and
situations, and have many similarities
and differences. Are wrestlers modern
day gladiators? You decide.