Mid 20th Century
82-598: All Star Pro-Wrestling is a 2000 professional wrestling video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation 2 . It was the first wrestling games for the PlayStation 2 and was released only in Japan. All Star Pro-Wrestling was released in a period in which Square sought to diversify its catalog by producing various non- role-playing games for the PlayStation 2. The game's control relied entirely on
164-435: 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
246-415: 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
328-415: 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
410-413: 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
492-532: 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
574-519: 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
656-585: 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
738-541: 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 . Yokohama Arena Yokohama Arena ( 横浜アリーナ , Yokohama Arīna ) is an indoor arena located in Yokohama , Kanagawa Prefecture , Japan . The capacity of
820-404: 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
902-410: 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
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#1732791199700984-405: 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
1066-799: 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
1148-424: 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
1230-440: 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
1312-503: 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
1394-586: 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
1476-407: A wrestling game internally as DreamFactory was already working on The Bouncer , another Square title. The game was produced by Yusuke Hirata of Parasite Eve 2 fame, head of Square's Osaka -based fifth production team. The score, which was never released in album form, consists mostly of rock music and was composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito , Kenichiro Fukui , and Kumi Tanioka . Square's aim with
1558-565: A young Japanese idol later in the Tokyo Game Show 2000 Spring at Makuhari Messe (March 31–April 2, 2000). All Star Pro-Wrestling topped the Japanese sale charts in its week of release with 107,331 copies sold, and continued to top the charts for the rest of the month of June. It was the 63rd best-selling video game of 2000 in Japan, with 185,616 copies. The game scored 31 out of 40 in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu , with
1640-410: 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
1722-434: 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 a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are
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#17327911997001804-433: Is closer to other fighting games and assigns pinning to the triangle button, grabbing to the square button, and punches and moves to the cross button. With Type B, the power of each move is determined by the level of pressure applied on the buttons. In both modes, the precise techniques available depend on the position and distance of the opponent, as well as a personal "tension meter" which builds up during battle. At any time,
1886-427: 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
1968-406: The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and resulting tsunami , Yokohama played host as an emergency shelter for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Citizens were allowed the stay the night, and were offered blankets and other amenities. Hideharu Terada, a Yokohama Arena official stated "There has never been a big earthquake like this. [...] People are trickling in. They are all calm." Yokohama Arena
2050-513: The D-pad can be used to change the angle of the camera. Wrestlers return to full health after each match, and the game keeps track of the time of victories and records with the PlayStation 2 internal clock. A memory card can be used to save progress, battle snapshots, and match videos; the latter of which can either be ten-second long instant replays or up to three entire "Best Bout" matches. Hidden features include collectible autograph pictures of
2132-555: The DualShock 2 's analog sticks, although a second mode using the normal buttons was also available. While the quality of the game's graphics was lauded and sales were good during its month of release, the control was received negatively by critics, who felt it was awkward and unintuitive. Nevertheless, the game spawned two sequels, released in 2001 and 2003. All Star Pro-Wrestling is based on Japanese wrestling rather than American. The game can be played in several modes selected in
2214-624: 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
2296-557: 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
2378-431: 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
2460-498: The "Match Make" menu; these include exhibition matches, championships, tournaments, or leagues separated by weight. Depending on the mode chosen, different wrestling rings can be chosen to battle, as well as the referee and the time limit. 26 real-life wrestlers are initially available, notably Jyushin Thunder Liger , The Great Muta , Don Frye , Koji Kanemoto , Antonio Inoki , and Masahiro Chono . Each battle begins with
2542-584: 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
All Star Pro-Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
2624-400: 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
2706-509: 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
2788-653: 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
2870-408: 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
2952-488: 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
3034-471: The PlayStation 2 Emotion Engine . The spectacular ring entrance scenes and the amount of blood visible during battles was also appreciated. One IGN critic noted that the referee is always present on-screen, unlike many other wrestling games. However, the other one said that the outdoor arenas "look like they were ripped out of a [Sega] Saturn game". He also criticized the presence of only two facial expressions for each wrestler; and both IGN reviewers criticized
3116-466: The PlayStation 2. It addressed the controls issue by replacing it with a new, more standard battle system, and included wrestlers from three real-life Japanese wrestling federations: New Japan Pro-Wrestling , Pro Wrestling Noah , and Pro Wrestling Zero-One . The game also scored 31 out of 40 in Famitsu . A third installment, All Star Pro-Wrestling III was released by Square Enix on August 7, 2003 for
3198-494: The annual Nano-Mugen Festival from 2005 until 2014, a rock festival organized by Asian Kung-Fu Generation . The Yokohama Arena has hosted martial arts competitions, including numerous Pride Fighting Championships events, and the K-1 World Grand Prix Final in 2008. On October 7, 2018, Yokohama arena hosted World Boxing Super Series quarter finals between Naoya Inoue and Juan Carlos Payano . After
3280-598: The arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City . It is a five-minute walk from the closest station, Shin-Yokohama Station on the JR / Yokohama Municipal Subway . As one of the largest concert venues in the Kantō region , it is a frequent location for artists to end their tours. The spacious stage allows for more complex set design and lighting, but
3362-401: 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
All Star Pro-Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-418: 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
3526-561: 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
3608-424: 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
3690-418: 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
3772-423: 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
3854-512: 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
3936-540: 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
4018-439: The defeated wrestlers; and a few unlockable characters, among whom are two female models in bikinis. All Star Pro-Wrestling was announced in January 1999 as part of Square's desire to expand into more diverse game genres on the PlayStation 2 than their usual role-playing games . While DreamFactory developed most of Square's previous fighting games (namely Tobal No. 1 , Tobal 2 , and Ehrgeiz ), Square decided to develop
4100-405: 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
4182-603: 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
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#17327911997004264-470: 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
4346-466: The four reviewers highly praising the graphics but feeling that the controls, while not bad, could have been better implemented. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot rated the game 4 out of 10, and criticized the battle system more severely along with IGN , which stated that the default analog controls are "mind-boggling"; with pins being very difficult to execute whereas some other maneuvers can be chained with single button presses. The second type of controls
4428-610: 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
4510-460: 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
4592-426: The inconsistent collision detection and the lack of diversity in the crowd, who sometimes "look like they were made out of Legos ". Gerstmann added that the walking looks particularly unrealistic, in contrast with the other animations. While both IGN reviewers noted the sparcity of the audio commentary and crowd shouting, one critic felt the sound was adequate albeit less impressive than the graphics. GameSpot called
4674-526: 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
4756-480: 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
4838-496: 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
4920-498: 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
5002-625: 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 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
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#17327911997005084-717: 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
5166-726: The reasonable size makes it easier to sell out than the Tokyo Dome . The Yokohama Arena was opened on April 1, 1989. At the exact day was held the opening celebration concert where performed renowned Japanese singer-songwriter Yumi Matsutoya , and the three upcoming days were additional dates of her concert tour. Many notable Japanese music acts performed at the arena, alphabetically: AKB48 , Namie Amuro , Aqours , B'z , Babymetal , Band-Maid , Buck-Tick , °C-ute , Gackt , Dir En Grey , The Gazette , Gen Hoshino , Glay , Ayumi Hamasaki , Hide , Hinatazaka46 , Hi-Standard , who recorded their live album 'Live at Yokohama Arena 20181222' at
5248-407: The same platform. It included a create-a-wrestler feature. Both sequels added multiplayer tag team and battle royal modes, playable using a multitap with up to 5 players at a time (4 wrestlers and the referee ). Tsuyoshi Sekito returned to score the two soundtracks. The All Star Pro-Wrestling II Original Soundtrack was published by DigiCube on January 23, 2002, while the third game's soundtrack
5330-408: The sound decent and well executed. Finally, the omission of features such as weapons and modes such as "create-a-wrestler", steel cage match , battle royal , and multiplayer tag team , was felt as a very noticeable weak point compared to American wrestling games present on the market ( WWF SmackDown! as an example). A sequel titled All Star Pro-Wrestling II was released on November 22, 2001 for
5412-403: The speed of an "underwater soccer match", with smooth moves coexisting with simple, three-second long movements. The second IGN critic noted that the game is more of a wrestling simulation than an arcade title focused on entertainment. Still, both GameSpot and IGN lauded the realism of the wrestlers' appearances, their faithfulness to those of their real-life counterparts, and the efficient use of
5494-440: 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
5576-426: 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,
5658-481: The title was to create some of the most realistic wrestlers seen in video games, with accurate details such as a faithful replication of body-muscle physics and facial expressions. Screenshots of the game were shown during the Square's "Millennium Event", a show held in January 2000 at Yokohama Arena (along with a playable version of Driving Emotion Type-S ) and a battle was played in demonstration by Hirata itself and
5740-519: 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
5822-471: 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
5904-851: The venue. Ikimono-gakari , L'Arc-en-Ciel , LiSA , Luna Sea , Misia , Nana Mizuki , NICO Touches the Walls , Momoiro Clover Z , Chisato Moritaka , Morning Musume , Mr. Children , Nogizaka46 , One Ok Rock , Ai Otsuka , Yutaka Ozaki , Scandal , Silent Siren , Southern All Stars , Hikaru Utada , X Japan , as well humanoid projection Hatsune Miku . International artists also performed there, like Guns N' Roses , JKT48 , Mariah Carey , Paula Abdul , Whitney Houston , Bobby Brown , Steve Winwood , Frank Sinatra , Super Junior , Girls' Generation , Shinee , Big Bang , Beast/Highlight Kara , 2NE1 , BLACKPINK , TVXQ , F.T. Island , CNBlue , Junho ( 2PM ), f(x) , BTS , iKon , Seventeen , Exo-CBX , Twice , Red Velvet and IU . The venue also held
5986-535: 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
6068-420: 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
6150-440: The wrestlers' entrance sequence. Two types of controls can be chosen to fight. The default one uses the DualShock 2 's analog sticks exclusively; the left one being pressed for movements and the right one for attacks. Pins are executed by tilting both sticks up; and pressing both sticks grabs the opponent, who can then be attacked or thrown depending on the way the right stick is tilted. The second type of controls, called "Type B",
6232-425: 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
6314-488: 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
6396-399: Was judged easier to play with by IGN, although one reviewer felt that it wears out the thumb quickly. On the contrary, Gerstmann felt that the second type is even more difficult to use than the default one. The number of moves available has been described as low even compared to lackluster titles such as WWF Attitude . Regarding the game's fluidity, Gerstmann and one IGN critic compared it to
6478-516: Was not published in album form. 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 the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches
6560-650: 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
6642-415: 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
6724-417: 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
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