Shoot Interviews!

The best way to learn about what happens backstage at any wrestling event is from the wrestlers themselves, and that is what makes the shoot interview so important!

According to Atletifo, a “shoot” is something that is “real, outside the realms of kayfabe and not part of the script”. In other words, it is out of character and some behind-the-scenes chat that you’re not really supposed to know about.

If we look at the history of British wrestling, the sport began to become fixed in the early 20th century, although there is no doubt that fights were predetermined in various sports long before that.

When the “work” became a key part of wrestling it gave birth to the “shoot”, and the fake nature of the sport gave birth to what we now call the “shoot interview”.

A shoot interview is the name for a behind-the-scenes interview with a former wrestler, or wrestling personality. It usually occurs once a performer’s career is over and can finally talk about the things that happened to them in their career, without being limited by Kayfabe.

While the first marketed shoot interview was Eddie Gilbert’s offering in 1993, Jack Pfefer declared the business to be a fix in an interview in 1934, so the idea of an out-of-character interview occurred long before the sport was discovered fake by the majority of the country.

Shoot interviews can reveal new truths behind historical moments, spill the beans on backstage dramas you weren’t meant to know about, and uncover truths you never even dreamt could be real.

Click below to read about some of the best moments from shoot interviews about British wrestling and British wrestlers.