Mid 20th Century
112-397: The American Wolves were a professional wrestling tag team which consisted of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards . They are seven-time world tag team champions being five-time TNA World Tag Team Champions and two-time ROH World Tag Team Champions . The two started out as members of Larry Sweeney 's alliance Sweet 'N' Sour Inc., but forged a tag team on their own. As well as being
224-854: A Street Fight at the Hammerstein Ballroom . Later in the evening, the team attacked the Briscoe Brothers, handcuffing Jay to the ropes while attacking Mark as a storyline cover for an injury he had suffered. ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen and El Generico came to the Briscoes' aid, with Strong and Albright also helping conquer the Wolves. The team picked up their first wins in January 2009, beating Strong twice with different partners, Stevens and Jay Briscoe. This earned them
336-602: A set-top box such as Roku or Chromecast . Following Sinclair's purchase of the Fox Sports Networks (which were divested by The Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of key assets from 21st Century Fox ), Ring of Honor Wrestling began airing on the newly acquired RSN's in November 2019. This brought ROH TV availability in several large markets where Sinclair lacked an over-the-air station. The show's final episode on Sinclair stations aired on
448-446: 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 the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
560-413: 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
672-605: A broken heel in February 2015, The Wolves vacated the championship on March 13. On their return, The Wolves faced Dirty Heels to a Best of 5 Series matches for the Tag Team Championships. The Wolves won the first 2 matches and Dirty Heels won the next two. At Slammiversary, Aries defeated Richards, so he choose the stipulation for the last match of the series, a 30 minutes tag team iron man match. On June 25, 2015 (aired July 1) The Wolves defeated Dirty Heels to win
784-532: 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
896-519: 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
1008-585: 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
1120-532: 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 . Ring of Honor Wrestling Ring of Honor Wrestling (also known as ROH Honor Club TV , and often shortened as ROH Wrestling TV , ROH TV , ROH TV on HonorClub , or ROH on HonorClub )
1232-410: 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
SECTION 10
#17327878434631344-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has 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
1456-420: A half-Boston Crab to Generico through the ladder while Richards climbed over his partner to retrieve the belts. With one rivalry settled, another one quickly reopened as Mark Briscoe had returned from the injury given to him at Final Battle 2008 . A week before Glory By Honor VIII , the Briscoes defeated the Wolves but only by disqualification, by which titles do not change hands. Due to Edwards' broken elbow,
1568-405: 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
1680-744: 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
1792-574: A match for the Tag Team Championship against Kevin Steen and El Generico in the main event of Motor City Madness . During the match Sweeney tried to attack Kevin Steen with his boot, but Albright chased him to the back and the champions retained. Two months later, accompanied by stablemate Chris Hero in a Six-Man Tag match they beat Steen and Generico who had Bobby Dempsey on their team and earned themselves another championship match at Seventh Anniversary Show . Before then, on March 14,
1904-440: 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
2016-552: A rematch. The following month, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) announced that Edwards would make his debut for the promotion as part of the DDT4 tournament on March 4. In the first round of the tag team tournament the Wolves defeated the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma), before losing in the semifinals of the tournament to eventual winners The Young Bucks . On November 18, 2013, Edwards and Richards began
2128-475: A single airing at 11pm. The final episode on Destination America aired on November 25, 2015. On December 2, 2015, Ring of Honor Wrestling debuted on the Sinclair-owned Comet . On July 9, 2017, Ring of Honor Wrestling was moved to Charge! . It was also announced that the show would also be streamed through FITE TV , a mobile app that allows streaming through Wi-Fi to a smart TV or
2240-727: A tag team match. Following their win, the American Wolves received a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, the Briscoe Brothers, on January 18, 2013. At All Star Extravaganza V the American Wolves defeated the Forever Hooligans ( Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero ) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the second time. They lost the title to reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) on August 17. On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI ,
2352-634: A tag team unit, the two wrestlers have had strong singles careers, with Edwards being ROH's first World Television Champion and the first to complete the Triple Crown Championship after winning the ROH World Championship , which he then went on to drop to Richards. They were originally managed by Shane Hagadorn when they portrayed villainous characters, but later abandoned him to become fan favorites . They left ROH in 2013, and debuted for TNA in January 2014, winning
SECTION 20
#17327878434632464-475: A team defeating Chris Sabin and Michael Elgin . Later that month on November 29, they returned to AAW losing to Ethan Page and Josh Alexander . On January 16, 2014, Edwards and Richards appeared in the first week of Genesis special of Impact Wrestling as The Wolves. As part of their debut storyline, they revealed they had signed contracts with a new investor in TNA in a backstage segment with Dixie Carter ;
2576-529: A three-way match, which also included Team 246 ( Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo ). On April 27 at the Sacrifice pay-per-view, The Wolves regained the championship by defeating Robbie E, Godderz, and DJ Z in a two-on-three handicap match . On June 15, 2014 at Slammiversary XII , The Wolves competed in a six-way ladder match for TNA X Division Championship , which was won by Sanada . On June 26, 2014, at Destination X , The Wolves defeated The Hardys to retain
2688-503: 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
2800-586: 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
2912-570: A week-long tryout with WWE at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida . Three days later, they made their NXT debut, losing to NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension ( Konnor and Viktor ) in a non-title match, while billed as "The American Pitbulls" of Derek Billington (Richards) and John Cahill (Edwards). On November 7, 2014, at AAW A Monster's Rage , The American Wolves made their All American Wrestling debuts as
3024-533: A win at April's The Big Bang! PPV. He used this championship opportunity at the next PPV in July, Death Before Dishonor VIII during which Hagadorn tried to attack his opponent with a chair but Richards declined his help and sent him to the back. Once again, on August 16 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Richards refused Hagadorn's help in a contendership match for Roderick Strong's World Title opportunity and lost while dealing with his manager. Tension mounted through
3136-410: 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
3248-510: Is an American professional wrestling television series produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). The series features professional wrestlers competing in matches and conducting interviews . Combined, these elements create and further the storylines of the promotion. The pilot episode was taped on February 28, 2009, and the series premiered on March 21, 2009, airing weekly on HDNet in the United States. The series' 100th and final HDNet episode aired on April 4, 2011. The series would return under
3360-730: The Briscoe Brothers . It would not be until Boxing Day that Edwards and Richards formally wrestled as the American Wolves, unveiled by Sweeney and accompanied by him, competing in a Three-Way Elimination Tag Team match at All-Star Extravaganza IV . Though they eliminated the European Union ( Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli ), they lost the match after a Jay Driller from the Briscoe Brothers. The following day at ROH's annual Final Battle event they teamed with Go Shiozaki on behalf of Sweet N' Sour Inc only to lose again to Strong, Brent Albright and Erick Stevens in
3472-624: 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
American Wolves - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-594: The TNA World Tag Team Championship a month later. In April 2008, Eddie Edwards joined Sweet N' Sour Inc and later in June, Davey Richards attacked his No Remorse Corps teammate Roderick Strong to join the group. Despite being part of the group, the two teamed together for the first time on September 27 in England as part of the independent wrestling supercard, Eve of Indypendence against
3696-734: The TNA World Tag Team Championships . The Wolves returned to Wrestle-1 on July 6, successfully defending the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the Junior Stars ( Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka ), At the Impact Wrestling tapings on September 19, Edwards and Richards lost the championship to The Revolution ( James Storm and Abyss ), but regained the title from the pairing on January 30, 2015. After Edwards suffered
3808-491: The Three-way tag team match against Kurt Angle and Drew Galloway and Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz which saw the Wolves retained the titles. On the January 26 edition of Impact Wrestling, The Wolves was attacked by the newest stable called The Decay consisting of Abyss, Crazzy Steve and the debuting Rosemary and stole the titles. however he retained the titles from them on the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling,
3920-776: 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 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
4032-495: 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 is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
4144-584: 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
4256-400: 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
4368-509: 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
4480-411: 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 the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
4592-727: The American Wolves unsuccessfully challenged the Forever Hooligans for New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . The American Wolves' run in ROH came to an end on November 30, when Richards announced he had parted ways with the promotion. After being awarded Wrestling Observer's Tag Team of the Year award for 2009, other promotions sought out the Wolves in 2010. In March, German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) held an event in Philadelphia and
American Wolves - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-653: 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
4816-453: The Briscoes but lost. Through their manager, Shane Hagadorn, they teamed with The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) who he also managed, to defeat the Briscoe Brothers and The Young Bucks at SoCal Showdown . They went on to have a championship match with the Briscoes in the main event of From The Ashes , which they lost. After this, the two wrestlers began to compete more as solo wrestlers, emphasised by both men entering
4928-871: The Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky on December 9 and 10 in 2010. Beginning in August 2020, after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic , ROH resumed television tapings from the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly known as the UMBC Event Center) in Maryland. On February 25 and 26, 2023, the first tapings of the relaunched program were held at Universal Studios Soundstage 21 in Orlando, Florida ,
5040-408: 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
5152-488: 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
5264-554: The PWR Tag Team Championship. At Ric Flair's Last Match, The Wolves lost to the Motor City Machine Guns. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that
5376-498: The Tag Team Titles. With this victory, The Wolves shared with Beer Money the record of most reigns, with four. They lost the title to Brian Myers and Trevor Lee on July 28, 2015 tapings of Impact Wrestling (aired September 2) only to regain it the next week on September 9 episode of Impact Wrestling , becoming a five time TNA World Tag Team Champions. At Bound for Glory , The Wolves retained their tag team championship in
5488-514: The Wolves and the Kings of Wrestling, exacerbated at the 2010 Survival of the Fittest tournament , where Edwards defeated Hero in the qualifying match, but dislocated his shoulder in the process. Due to this injury he was taken to the back in the final round; after Castagnoli eliminated three wrestlers, Edwards returned and helped Kenny King eliminate Castagnoli before eliminating King himself to win
5600-468: The Wolves attacked Steen's knee at Insanity Unleashed after a title defence; Generico distracted them later in the night causing them to lose their match. On March 21 at the anniversary show, the title match was given a no-disqualification stipulation. During the match Steen sought revenge for his knee injury and attacked Richards' knee with a chair before making him submit to the Sharpshooter . After
5712-488: The Wolves finally winning the ROH Tag Team Championship in a Tables Are Legal Tag Team match. Having become the new ROH Tag Team Champions, the American Wolves made their first title defence on April 18 in a match Pro Wrestling Torch rated as the best American independent circuit match of 2009. Defending against former and future ROH World Champions Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black , respectively,
SECTION 50
#17327878434635824-412: The Wolves were given a match for the wXw World Tag Team Championship. They lost to reigning champions The Switchblade Conspiracy ( Jon Moxley and Sami Callihan ). They were also invited to Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) on April 2 to compete for the 2CW Tag Team Championship. At Living On The Edge they defeated the incumbent champions, Up In Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) to start their reign. After holding
5936-401: 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
6048-418: 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
6160-561: 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
6272-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling 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
6384-424: 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
6496-418: 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
6608-543: The championship for four months, at Live or Let Die on August 22, they lost the championship to The Olsen Twins ( Colin Delaney and Jimmy Olsen ). On January 1, 2011 The American Wolves came to Insanity Pro Wrestling (IPW) for Showdown In Naptown to face the Irish Airborne team of Dave and Jake Crist. Although they lost the match, Richards congratulated Irish Airborne on the victory, and invited them to ROH for
6720-452: The championship the following night. Because of the length and intensity of the rivalry, it was decided that their final match would be only the second Ladder War in Ring of Honor. During the match, Hagadorn once again handcuffed Kevin Steen to the ropes while the Wolves focused on Generico. After Generico freed Steen, tables were used along with ladders and the match ended with Edwards applying
6832-439: The championships in a Submission match at Manhattan Mayhem III with Generico tapping out to a half-Boston Crab. Later that month Steen and Generico beat the Wolves in a Last Chance Contendership match, giving them a final chance to win back the belts at ROH's premiere event of the year Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown . The night before, Edwards wrestled an Anything Goes match to Steen and broke his elbow but still defended
SECTION 60
#17327878434636944-423: 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
7056-461: 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
7168-519: The competition and a future ROH World Championship match. On March 19, 2011 at Manhattan Mayhem IV , Edwards defeated defending champion Roderick Strong to win the ROH World Championship for the first time. On June 26, 2011, at Best in the World 2011 , Richards defeated Edwards to win his first ROH World Championship. The American Wolves reunited on December 16, 2012, at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday , where they defeated Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly in
7280-468: 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 the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
7392-540: 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
7504-846: The end of its television series, after the completion of the promotion's two–year contract with HDNet. The show's final tapings took place on January 21 and 22, with the final episode airing on April 4, 2011. On May 21, 2011, the Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that they had purchased ROH, with Cary Silkin remaining with the company in an executive role. Ring of Honor Wrestling began airing in September 2011 over Sinclair stations, mainly in weekend primetime on their CW and MyNetworkTV stations. On September 9, 2014, ROH announced that Ring of Honor Wrestling would begin being syndicated to stations in non-Sinclair markets, with Gannett Company -owned WATL in Atlanta becoming
7616-405: 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
7728-603: 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
7840-413: The first non-Sinclair station to air Ring of Honor Wrestling on September 13, 2014. On May 27, 2015, ROH announced a 26-week television deal with Destination America , beginning on June 3. The program originally aired twice on Wednesdays; first at 8pm and then a replay at 11pm. However, after struggling to gain viewers, Ring of Honor Wrestling lost their primetime slot in late July and was reduced to
7952-470: 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
8064-540: The following week, The Wolves continue the feud and challenge them to a hardcore Monster's Ball match which was won by the Decay. On the March 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Wolves dropped the titles to Beer Money, Inc. ( James Storm and Bobby Roode ). In March, Richards suffered an ACL injury and Edwards started his singles run by feuding with TNA X Division Champion Trevor Lee . In July at Destination X , Richards
8176-610: 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
8288-460: 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
8400-526: 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
8512-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in 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
8624-480: 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
8736-496: 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
8848-516: The investor was later revealed to be MVP . The Wolves made their in-ring debut in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Samoa Joe to defeat The BroMans ( Jessie Godderz and Robbie E ) and Zema Ion . On February 23, The Wolves won the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the first time by defeating The BroMans. After a week-long reign, The Wolves lost the championship back to The BroMans at Wrestle-1 's Kaisen: Outbreak event in Tokyo , Japan in
8960-760: The match flooring the referee and then invited new signee to TNA, Moose to the ring, who had a confrontation with Lashley. On January 5, 2017, Richards made his return to TNA, helping Edwards retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , by stopping Lashley from hitting Edwards with the title. Richards faced Lashley on January 6, 2017 at One Night Only: Live in a losing effort. On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling , Richards turned heel by costing Edwards' his TNA World Heavyweight Championship rematch against Lashley. Afterwards, Richards and his wife Angelina Love attacked Edwards and his wife Alisha Edwards , thus ending The Wolves in
9072-472: The match saw the Wolves working smoothly as a team to combat Danielson and Black's individual prowess ending with the first time-limit draw in an ROH tag team match. Later that month, El Generico underwent an MRI scan that revealed he would need to take time off with a knee injury. This led to Steen choosing Jay Briscoe and later Danielson as his partners in a failed attempt to win back the championships. Finally on June 13, Generico and Steen had their rematch for
9184-471: The match the Wolves, with the help of Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey from Sweet N' Sour Inc, tied Steen to the ropes and attacked Generico, putting him through a table. With the rivalry escalating, the American Wolves began mocking Steen and Generico on ROH's new weekly television programme Ring of Honor Wrestling , until Steen put their manager Hagadorn through a table. This set up the show's first championship match on April 10 (airing on delay May 30), with
9296-424: The matches themselves varying as Riccaboni is paired with a variety of partners. It was speculated that this revamp was done in order to drive growth for Honor Club , where the promotion had begun to stream its television tapings live. Upon Ring of Honor's return to promoting events following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hiatus, the series format was revamped beginning on the September 12, 2020 episode. During
9408-498: 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
9520-404: The process. Richards' character then went through a complete transformation, sporting new theme music, trunks, being infatuated with Love and calling himself "The Lone Wolf". On the February 16 episode of Impact Wrestling , Richards faced Edwards in a Street Fight, however the match ended in a no-contest. On the March 9 episode of Impact Wrestling , Richards brawled with Edwards at the beginning of
9632-717: 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
9744-625: The promotion's hiatus after Final Battle in December 2021, the show was revamped to focus on archival footage, "Best of" specials, and highlights from recent events. All but six episodes of the HDNet run were taped at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Arena is frequently used as a professional wrestling venue, and is known prominently for formerly hosting many Extreme Championship Wrestling events. ROH held television tapings at
9856-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise 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
9968-539: The relaunched Honor Club streaming platform. The series returned on March 2, 2023. Ring of Honor (ROH) first announced its partnership with HDNet in an article posted to its website on January 26, 2009. The article stated that HDNet would air a weekly ROH television series titled Ring of Honor Wrestling . They subsequently announced their first television tapings would take place at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . Ring of Honor Wrestling began airing weekly on March 21, 2009, on HDNet . On July 1, 2009, it
10080-621: The rematch against Brian Myers and Trevor Lee. During October and November (taped in July), Both Edwards and Richards participated in the TNA World Title Series as one of the Group Tag Team Specialists, where Richards and Edwards faced each other in the match which resulted a time limit draw with the two partners receiving 1 point. meanwhile Richards faced Matt Hardy only into the losing effort while Edwards
10192-399: The rematch was delayed until ROH's first live pay-per-view event, Final Battle 2009 . Despite Edwards feigning a reinjured arm, the Wolves lost the match and their titles to the Briscoes, ending their 253-day reign after nine successful defences. Going into 2010, the Wolves faced The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) on February 8 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling for a rematch against
10304-406: The rest of the year on Ring of Honor Wrestling , with Hagadorn taking responsibility for Richards' previous success and trying to control who Edwards defended his World Television Championship against. This led to an in-ring confrontation on November 1 where Richards started attacking Hagadorn only to have the Kings of Wrestling save him before Edwards joined in the fray. This led to a rivalry between
10416-497: The same title, airing on television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group on September 24, 2011; such stations being affiliates of The CW and MyNetworkTV . Following the acquisition of Ring of Honor from Sinclair by All Elite Wrestling president and co-founder Tony Khan in March 2022, the show eventually ceased broadcasting on Sinclair's stations; the final episode aired on April 15, 2022. Khan later announced in December 2022 that weekly programming will be aired on
10528-652: The show, but the two were separated by security guards. On the April 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , Richards defeated Edwards in a Last Man Standing Match. At Slammiversary XV , Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards defeated Davey Richards and Angelina Love in a Full Metal Mayhem match , ending the feud. On October 30, 2021, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards reunited as The American Wolves at the Tales From The Ring event produced by The Wrestling Revolver, where they defeated Infrared (Logan James and Tyler Matrix) to win
10640-440: 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
10752-426: 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,
10864-540: The tournament for ROH's newly created ROH World Television Championship for their Ring of Honor Wrestling show. Both Richards and Edwards made it through the three-round tournament and into the final against each other, with Edwards defeating Richards to become the inaugural champion. Richards, meanwhile, earned himself into contendership for the ROH World Championship by entering the Pick 6 rankings with
10976-519: 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
11088-471: 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
11200-405: 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 a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
11312-535: 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
11424-477: The weekend of April 15, 2022. In an interview with Busted Open following his purchase of the company, Tony Khan announced plans to relaunch the weekly series. On December 10, 2022, after Final Battle , Khan announced that the program would relaunch on Honor Club, beginning in 2023. During the December 16, 2023 TV tapings, Tony Khan debuted a new ROH Women's World Television Championship . An episode typically features matches as well as interviews from
11536-420: 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
11648-422: The wrestlers regarding their upcoming matches or current storylines. The show typically ends after the main event (the final match on an episode) and goes to a closing graphic. Beginning in August 2019, the show's format was changed to feature highlights of recent events, with Ian Riccaboni and Quinn McKay hosting from backstage. The show featured one full-length main event match, with the color commentary during
11760-425: 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
11872-488: 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
11984-650: 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
12096-519: Was reported that Ring of Honor had cancelled television tapings scheduled for July 17 and 18; it was reported to be a decision made by HDNet, and not Ring of Honor. On July 27, 2009, ROH announced that the show would be moving to Monday nights beginning on August 17, with a repeat airing later that night. On February 11, 2010, it was announced that Ring of Honor Wrestling would be airing in Italy on Dahlia TV . On January 11, 2011, Ring of Honor announced
12208-434: Was seen on a TNA broadcast for the first time in months, when he joined Edwards at ringside in a run-in with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley in the build-up to their match later that evening. Richards confirmed on the broadcast that he was there to support Edwards in his landmark match, although was still "A way off being in a condition to compete." Eddie's match resulted in a no-contest when Mike Bennett interfered in
12320-415: 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
12432-417: 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
12544-436: Was unsuccessful in qualifying of other matches and didn't make it to the round of 16. However, Richards himself receive 4 points by defeating Robbie E to advance the round of 16 when he defeated Bram and then however he did not make it to semifinals when he was later defeated by Ethan Carter III and was therefore eliminated from the tournament afterwards. At One Night Only Live. The Wolves defended their world tag titles in
#462537