It is no longer wrestling. It's sports entertainment. As Vince if it's wrestling. He'll tell you the same thing
The only reason that Vince doesn't refer to his product as "wrestling" is to attract the larger fan base and he's succeeded at that. That's why you'll never hear anybody on Raw, Smackdown!, or ECW referred to as wrestlers, only as "superstars" or "extremists". The W word is like a big no no in the WWE and I'm glad Vince initially did this, because he needed to attract people to a product that wasn't the preconcieved notion of wrestling at the time(two oily guys gripping at eachother in a hot gym down south), and also to get away from the whole steroid trial that was going on. My point is, you can call a dog a cat, but it's still a dog.
Martial arts doesn't become wrestling. Martial arts is martial arts. Wrestling is wrestling. I wouldn't walk into a dojo, slap the figure four on someone and call it martial arts, would I?
Than how do you explain the mass transit of MMA fighters and UFC champs coming into wrestling organizations? It's called evolution man, why can't you grip that? Martial Arts is a very broad term, blanketing hundreds of different styles in one word. The fact is that wrestling has evolved past the amatuer Greco-Roman style (which if you want to be technical is the only "real" wrestling to ever exist) into what you saw in the rings in the mid-80s, into what it is now. Wrestling has incorporated lucha libre, hardcore, MMA, and Ultimate Combat into its style to create what it is not, "Sports Entertainment". And yes, actually you could call a figure four lock martial arts, because all martial arts is, is the art of DEFENSE. There are no strict guidelines as to what is martial arts and what isn't, anything can be martial arts if its taught under that name. Because although its not likely you'll see someone put on a figure four leg lock when defending themselves with martial arts, but you very well would see various punches and kicks, which are part of wrestling are they not?
If it had stayed the same, wrestling fans would be better off today. The fan base would not be as big as when Vince transformed WWF into SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, but as long as quality wrestlers were showcased, I'd be satisfied.
This I have to disagree with tremendously. Half of the people here, very well possibly including you and myself, would not have been exposed to wrestling has it not been for the introduction of "sports entertainment". If it wasn't for Vince's competition from WCW (who were using cutting edge storylines, more hardcore wrestling, and cruiserweight/lucha libre showcases to battle WWF) than there would be no Attitude era, which would mean that Vince would've kept Stone Cold in his "ringmaster" persona, where Austin would've died in gimmick hell. No Stone Cold would mean no Rock, no D-X, no HHH, none of it. Do you really think wrestling would be better if it wasn't for the great matches these guys gave us over the years? Wrestling would NOT be okay if it wasn't for Vince's "sports entertainment". WWF wouldn't have a TV deal, WCW would still be alive and wasting dozens and dozens of talented guys in shitty storylines and no-push matches, and more than half the people on this board wouldn't be here. If it wasn't for Sports Entertainment, you wouldn't be ABLE to watch wrestling anymore.
Why do I have to accept the perceptions perpetuated by Vince McMahon
Trust me, Vince McMahon did not come up with the theory of Evolution. You can't argue with science, everything evolves.