Mid 20th Century
103-843: Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi (April 7, 1970 – April 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestler . He was best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), under the ring name Rosey . Anoa'i was a member of the Anoaʻi family , a renowned Samoan wrestling family. Anoa'i, along with his late cousins Eddie Fatu and Matt Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle, Afa Anoaʻi . Following his training, he competed in Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition with Samu as
206-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
309-536: A feud with Billy and Chuck , interfering in their storyline commitment ceremony , and defeating them at the Unforgiven pay-per-view event. Rico , Billy and Chuck's former manager , also began to manage 3-Minute Warning during this time. They competed regularly in Raw's tag team division until June 2003, when Jamal was released from his WWE contract. Later in 2003, The Hurricane "discovered" Rosey's potential as
412-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
515-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
618-564: A superhero and christened him as "Rosey, the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.). Rosey was involved in numerous sketches involving him training to be a superhero, including helping an old lady to cross the street and attempting to get changed into his superhero costume in a phonebox . Rosey and The Hurricane teamed regularly together during this time, wrestling against teams including Chris Jericho and Christian and Evolution . On
721-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
824-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
927-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1030-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1133-419: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Afa Anoa%CA%BBi Gataivasā Afa Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi (November 21, 1943 – August 16, 2024)
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#17327986659661236-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1339-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1442-558: A four way for the ECW World Tag Team Championship against The Eliminators, The Gangstas, and The Bruise Brothers which was won by The Gangstas. From August to October, The Samoan Gangsta Party continued to get shots at the Tag Team Championship but were never able to win them. On September 20, Anoa'i would take on The Sandman but came up short. Anoa'i returned to WXW in 1997, where he held
1545-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1648-546: A losing effort to Hideki Hosaka , Hisakatsu Oya , and Super Leather . After scoring one-on-one wins over Hosaka and Fuji, Anoa'i took part in a round robin tournament for the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship but only finished with 2 points. In the summer of 1999, Anoa'i teamed with Fatu and Super Leather in a round robin tournament for the WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship but missed
1751-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1854-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
1957-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2060-455: A segment was enough before the team appeared to end it. They attacked numerous wrestlers at the orders of Bischoff, including D'Lo Brown and Shawn Stasiak . They also attacked non-wrestlers, including ring announcer Lilian Garcia and retired wrestlers Jimmy Snuka , Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah . They also attacked two lesbians , which Anoaʻi later cited as his favorite 3-Minute Warning run-in . In September, 3-Minute Warning began
2163-768: A team, known as The Hurricane and Rosey . After two years of teaming, they won the World Tag Team Championship , but disbanded shortly after losing the championship. Anoaʻi then did not re-sign his WWE contract in March 2006. Following his stint with WWE, Anoaʻi took time off to spend with his young children coaching his oldest sons teams. Anoa'i then continued his wrestling career, appearing at several independent promotions, including All Japan Pro Wrestling , Great Championship Wrestling, BAW Championship Wrestling, Appalachian Wrestling Federation, and Ohio Valley Wrestling . Aside from professional wrestling, Anoaʻi
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#17327986659662266-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
2369-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
2472-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
2575-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
2678-641: Is also a professional wrestler who works for the WWE under the name Roman Reigns. Anoaʻi inducted the Wild Samoans (his father Sika and his uncle Afa) into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007. Other cousins include The Usos , Solo Sikoa , Rikishi , Tama , Yokozuna , Akane, and Umaga . Growing up, Anoaʻi played football alongside Emmitt Smith at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida. He hoped to play in
2781-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
2884-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
2987-657: The MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions. Kimo (renamed Rosey) and Fatu (renamed Jamal) made their WWE debut on the July 22, 2002, episode of Raw as 3-Minute Warning , a pair of villainous savages. The name Rosey was inspired by Rosey Grier , an American football player. They were "hired" as Eric Bischoff 's enforcers , attacking random wrestlers each week, after Bischoff either gave people three minutes to entertain him before they were attacked or decided that three minutes of
3090-696: The National Football League and played college football for Hawaii. He worked at various nightclubs in New Orleans before deciding to train as a professional wrestler. Anoaʻi trained with his cousin Eddie Fatu at the Wild Samoan professional wrestling school operated by members of their family. When their training was completed, they debuted in their uncle Afa 's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. One of his first matches
3193-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
Rosey (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3296-677: The Samoan Gangsta Party . The team had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoaʻi competed in various independent promotions and international promotions including World Wrestling Council and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling , winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoaʻi signed with the WWE and was assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in Cincinnati , Ohio . While situated at HWA, he
3399-580: The Voodoo Murders . On September 17, Anoa'i teamed with Taru , Suwama , and "brother" Yasshi against Taka Michinoku , Taiyo Kea, D-Lo Brown , and Buchanan in a "losing team must disband" match where Anoa'i pinned Kea after Brown and Buchanan turned on Michinoku and Kea. In October, Anoa'i began pursuing Minoru Suzuki and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . On October 29, Anoa'i challenged Suzuki for
3502-712: The WWF Heavyweight Championship on several occasions. They left the promotion in 1980. The Wild Samoans then wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions , before returning to the WWF in 1982 and regaining the WWF World Tag Team Championship in 1983. After Sika suffered an injury, the tag team was supplemented by Afa's son Samu (the relationship was not acknowledged on TV). The trio remained in
3605-1005: The WXW Tag Team Championship as one half of the Samoan Gangstas with his cousin L. A. Smooth on two occasions. They defeated the Love Connection to begin their first title reign on May 24, and the Mad Russian and the Russian Eliminator on September 17 to begin their second. He also returned to the WWC in Puerto Rico during 1997, winning the WWC World Tag Team Championship with Tahiti as The Islanders on June 22 defeating Le Ley and Ricky Santana . They held
3708-650: The World Wrestling Federation , where they were managed by Lou Albano and referred to as "Albano's Wildmen". The "wild" nature of the brothers was conveyed through their unorthodox behavior (which included communicating only in unintelligible grunts and consuming unprepared raw fish , during interviews and while approaching the wrestling ring ). While in the WWF, The Wild Samoans won the WWF World Tag Team Championship . Both members also challenged Bob Backlund for
3811-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
3914-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
4017-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
4120-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
4223-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
Rosey (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4326-527: The 2007 January 4 Dome Show at the Tokyo Dome , where he teamed with Taru , Suwama, and Giant Bernard to defeat Riki Choshu , Manabu Nakanishi , Takashi Iizuka , and Naofumi Yamamoto . On February 17 at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 2 , Anoa'i teamed with Suwama to take on Taiyo Kea and Toshiaki Kawada for the vacant World Tag Team Championship but came up short. Anoaʻi participated in
4429-568: The AJPW 2007 Champion Carnival tournament as a member of Block B, but he finished with two points in the series, coming last in Block B though he did score a win over Kawada. His last match was on March 30 teaming with TARU and Suwama in a winning effort over Akira Raijin , Kiyonari Sanada , and T28 . During 2006 and 2007, he also competed for a number of independent promotions , including Great Championship Wrestling, BAW Championship Wrestling, and
4532-608: The Appalachian Wrestling Federation. He also returned to Heartland Wrestling Association for a few matches from 2006 to 2007 with one of the appearances being him challenging Jon Moxley for the HWA Heavyweight Championship on June 10, 2006, at HWA Road to Destiny . He wrestled a dark match being billed under his real name for WWE on August 20, 2007, before an episode of Raw ; he was defeated by Johnny Jeter . He returned
4635-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
4738-720: The Dynamic Wrestling Alliance defeating "Sexy" Sean Casey at the DWA's Monster Ball event in Cincinnati, which became the promotion's first televised event. His final match was on July 9, 2016, where he reunited with The Hurricane as the two teamed with Vinny Pacifico in a winning effort against Chris Benne, JGeorge, and Steve Scott. Before his death, Rosey was running a wrestling promotion called Epic Championship Wrestling in Florida with his father, Sika. Anoaʻi
4841-511: The July 19, 2004, episode of Raw , Rosey appeared with a new costume, seemingly graduated to a full superhero, officially turning him into a fan favorite . On May 1, 2005, at the Backlash pay-per-view, Rosey and Hurricane defeated La Résistance in the finals of a Tag Team Turmoil match to win the World Tag Team Championship . They were joined for a short while by WWE Diva Stacy Keibler , who they referred to as Super Stacy. Stacy, however,
4944-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
5047-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
5150-506: The Triple Crown Championship but was defeated. He teamed up with Suwama to wrestle in the 2006 World's Strongest Tag Determination League where they placed first with nine points and Anao'i even scored a win over Keiji Mutoh along the way. Due to placing first, they made it to the finals where they were defeated by Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan . He continued to compete for AJPW throughout 2007, including in
5253-448: The WWE as Roman Reigns. Anoaʻi was half- Samoan and half- Italian . His ex-wife, Amanda Vandeberg Schall, current wife of former MMA fighter Kerry Schall , is from Mason , Ohio . They had two sons together, Jordan Iles and Koa Rodney Anoa'i, and a daughter Madison Alani Anoa'i. In January 2014, Anoaʻi was hospitalized due to congestive heart failure (with which he had been diagnosed years earlier) and atrial fibrillation . Anoai's CHF
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#17327986659665356-560: The WWF in mid-1995. After leaving the WWF, he began training wrestlers at his Wild Samoan Training Facility, along with Sika. In 1997, both men reunited for one night teaming at IWA Night Of The Legends. On March 31, 2007, the Wild Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Samu and Sika's son, Matt . He was the wrestling trainer for Darren Aronofsky 's 2008 film, The Wrestler . In 2013 and 2014, Afa came out of retirement to wrestle for his promotion World Xtreme Wrestling at age 71. The Wild Samoans appeared at Hell in
5459-493: The WWF until 1984. According to Afa, he lost his job because he missed work to attend the birth of his son . Anoaʻi returned to the WWF for a third time in 1992, as the manager and occasional tag partner of The Headshrinkers (Samu and Anoai's nephew, Fatu ). He wrestled his final match on May 22, 1994, teaming with The Headshrinkers to defeat The Quebecers and Johnny Polo at the Rosemont Horizon . Anoaʻi left
5562-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
5665-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
5768-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
5871-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
5974-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
6077-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
6180-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
6283-479: The crowd, and that he had been carrying Rosey as a tag team partner. On the November 7, 2005, episode, Helms defeated Rosey in their first encounter since teaming together. Shortly after this turmoil, Jamal was rehired by WWE, and he and Rosey were scheduled to reunite 3-Minute Warning. The duo wrestled as a tag team during a dark match before the January 9, 2006, episode of Raw . However, on March 21, 2006, Rosey
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#17327986659666386-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
6489-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
6592-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
6695-460: The fifth episode. Outside of wrestling, Anoaʻi was involved in several business ventures including a restaurant in Cincinnati called Island Boi BBQ but returned to Florida to be closer to his family and was working with his father in Pensacola . Anoaʻi's father was Samoan professional wrestler Sika Anoa‘i and his mother was Patricia Hooker. He was the brother of Joe Anoaʻi , better known in
6798-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
6901-722: The following day for the August 21 SmackDown! taping, where he was again defeated by Jeter. Anoaʻi began wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in September 2007, WWE's developmental territory, although he was not under contract with WWE. He wrestled several tag team matches with Afa Jr. as the Sons of Samoa, before leaving the promotion. He returned to wrestling on the independent circuit, competing for companies including EWF. On Saturday, October 31, 2009, Anoaʻi (wrestling as Rosie – Super Hero In Training) made his debut for
7004-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
7107-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
7210-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
7313-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
7416-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
7519-580: The injured Hurricane later in the match to win the World Tag Team Title from him and Rosey. The loss of the title eventually brought the team to an end, as they began a losing streak caused by Hurricane's injuries. During the October 17, 2005, episode of Raw , Hurricane was assaulted by Kurt Angle at the request of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon . After the beating footage was shown, Hurricane ripped off his mask and struck Rosey (who had come to
7622-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
7725-607: The name Mack Daddy Kane. It was in the Samoan Gangsta Party where Anoa'i won his first title when he and Samu competed in International World Class Championship Wrestling where they won the vacant IWCCW Tag Team Championship in a tournament on December 26, 1995, and ultimately would be the last champions before the promotion shut down. The Samoan Gangsta Party had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling in
7828-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
7931-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
8034-413: The ring to his aid). The following week, Hurricane did not show up for a World Tag Team Title match, leaving Rosey to face the champions Cade and Murdoch alone. During the match, The Hurricane (out of costume) appeared at the top of the entrance ramp, now going by the name Gregory Helms as he watched Rosey get double teamed and defeated. After the match, Helms announced that he was fed up of being funny for
8137-558: The semifinals after losing a decision match to Hayabusa , Masato Tanaka , and Tetsuhiro Kuroda . In May 2000, Anoa'i and Fatu would drop the Armageddon gimmick and began competing as "The Samoans" with Anoa'i changing his name to Matty Samu while Fatu became Eddie Fatu. On June 21, Anoa'i and Fatu defeated Hosaka and Yoshinori Sasaki to win the FMW Hardcore Tag Team Championship . The two would hold
8240-626: The siblings formed a tag team known best as The Wild Samoans . Throughout the 1970s, The Wild Samoans wrestled for the Canadian Stampede Wrestling promotion (where they received further training from Stu Hart ) and for numerous National Wrestling Alliance affiliates. In 1978, The Wild Samoans traveled to Japan to wrestle for International Wrestling Enterprise , winning the IWA World Tag Team Championship . In 1979, The Wild Samoans joined
8343-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
8446-608: The summer and fall of 1996, feuding with various tag teams, including The Gangstas , as well as the Eliminators and the Bruise Brothers . They debuted at Hardcore Heaven on June 22, 1996, taking on Axl Rotten and Hack Meyers which went to a No Contest. They returned on July 12, going a no contest with Big Dick Dudley and Buh Buh Ray Dudley . The following night at Heat Wave , they lost to The Gangstas. On August 3 at The Doctor Is In , Anoa'i and Samu took part in
8549-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
8652-638: The titles for a month and made two successful title defenses before dropping the titles back to Hosaka and Sasaki on July 28. Anoaʻi, along with Fatu, signed developmental contracts with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and were assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), adopting the tag team name The Island Boyz , and with Anoaʻi using the ring name Kimo. They won the HWA Tag Team Championship in November 2001, by defeating Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore . They also competed for Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), holding
8755-770: The titles for two months before losing them to The Youngbloods by forfeit on August 16. Anoa'i and Smooth then went to the National Wrestling League where they won the vacant NWL Tag Team Championship by defeated The Grungers on December 12, 1997. They held the belts for three months until they were vacant in March 1998 In March 1999, Anoa'i traveled to Japan to wrestle for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). He originally teamed with Fatu as "Armageddon" with Fatu as Armageddon I and Anao'i as Armageddon II. He debuted on March 20, 1999, during FMW's Round Robin Tag League tour teaming with Fatu and Ricky Fuji in
8858-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
8961-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
9064-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
9167-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
9270-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
9373-771: Was a Samoan-American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager . He is best known for performing with his brother Sika as The Wild Samoans . He operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion after he retired from pro wrestling in 1995, and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Center in Minneola, Florida . Gataivasā Afa Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi was born in Leone, American Samoa , on November 21, 1943, to Reverend Amituana'i Anoa'i and Tovaleomanaia Ripley-Anoa'i. When he
9476-542: Was a contestant in the ABC reality series, Fat March in 2007. The show featured 12 overweight people attempt to walk about 570 miles (920 km) in nine states, in order to lose weight and get fit, while competing for a prize pool of US$ 1.2 million. A press release for the show stated that Anoaʻi was participating because "it wasn't safe for him to compete" as a professional wrestler, and he needed to "lose weight to return to his career". Due to knee injuries, he quit during
9579-515: Was a featured contestant on the reality television series Fat March where he lost 100 pounds but further injured his left knee. Anoaʻi is part of the Anoaʻi family . He is the son of former Samoan professional wrestler Sika Anoa‘i , who competed as one half of the Wild Samoans, and Patricia Hooker. His younger brother, Joe Anoaʻi , was the starting defensive tackle for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and
9682-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
9785-562: Was for the World Wrestling Council (WWC) promotion in Puerto Rico . Competing under the name "Kuhio", he had two matches for the promotion in November 1995. He first challenged Pulgarcito for the WWC Television Championship on November 24 and then took on future WWC Television Champion Jim Steele on November 25 but lost both. He later began teaming with Samu as the Samoan Gangsta Party , using
9888-465: Was placed in tag team competition, alongside Fatu, and the duo won the HWA Tag Team Championship . After signing with WWE in 2002, Anoaʻi and Fatu were called up to the Raw roster. Known as 3-Minute Warning , they were utilized as enforcers for then-General Manager Eric Bischoff . Following the release of Fatu in 2003, Anoaʻi was "discovered" by The Hurricane and from there on they competed together as
9991-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
10094-444: Was related to weight gain as he struggled with a chronic knee injury that also caused hip issues. He died on April 17, 2017, 10 days after his 47th birthday, in Pensacola, Florida , due to complications related to congestive heart failure. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
10197-534: Was released from his WWE contract, and the hinted return of 3-Minute Warning never made it to television. Anoaʻi began competing for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 2006, using the name RO-Z. He made his debut on June 25, 2006, during the Crossover tour as a member of RO&D where he teamed with Taiyo Kea in a winning effort against Arashi and Satoshi Kojima with Anoa'i scoring the win over Arashi. Two months later, Anoa'i betrayed RO&D and defected to
10300-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
10403-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
10506-487: Was then drafted to the SmackDown! brand. On September 5, 2005, Rosey and The Hurricane were defeated by Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch , during their debut match on Raw . This match earned the pair a tag team title shot at Unforgiven . During the title match, Murdoch delivered an elevated DDT on The Hurricane to the outside. The DDT caused Hurricane to suffer a storyline " stinger " and allowed Cade and Murdoch to beat
10609-754: Was young, his family relocated to San Francisco , California, in the United States, where his father established the First Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa. At the age of 17, Anoaʻi enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps . Upon leaving the Marine Corps, Anoaʻi began training as a wrestler under his uncle Peter Maivia and cousin-in-law Rocky Johnson . He later received supplementary training from Kurt Von Steiger . He wrestled his first match in 1971 in Phoenix, Arizona . He then trained his brother Sika , and
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