Mid 20th Century
83-498: Joseph Melton James (October 3, 1939 – August 27, 2020) was an American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name , "Bullet" Bob Armstrong . In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States . His four sons, Joseph Scott , Robert Bradley , Steve and Brian Girard , all became wrestlers. Joseph Melton James
166-535: A World Championship Wrestling house show in Canton, Georgia. He lost to Ken Lucas at a Robert Gibson Promotion event in Mobile, Alabama, on February 22, 1997. Afterwards, he retired once again and did not wrestle for a few years. On December 12, 2001, he teamed with Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko to defeat Barry Windham , Ron Reis and Steve Lawler at Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling . Armstrong appeared on
249-435: 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
332-415: 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
415-415: 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
498-413: 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
581-532: 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
664-519: 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
747-585: 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
830-399: 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 . Ken Lucas (wrestler) Ken Lucas (August 20, 1940 – August 6, 2014)
913-404: 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
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#1732793053968996-410: 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
1079-405: 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
1162-799: 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
1245-424: 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
1328-440: 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
1411-503: 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
1494-586: 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
1577-436: 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
1660-410: 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
1743-427: 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
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#17327930539681826-470: 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
1909-624: 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
1992-627: The Stud Stable in Continental Championship Wrestling . He eventually discarded the mask after his surgeries were complete, but retained the nickname "Bullet" for the remainder of his career until retiring in 1988. Armstrong trained each of his sons to wrestle, and formed tag teams with them in the 1980s and 1990s. In the course of his career, he toured both Japan and Korea. Armstrong went into semi-retirement in 1988. In addition to making occasional appearance on
2075-827: The independent circuit in Georgia and Alabama, Armstrong acted as the commissioner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling and worked backstage with Southeast Championship Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Federation. He came out of retirement and wrestled for Smokey Mountain Wrestling between 1992 and 1995 when the promotion closed its doors down. In 1995 he made a few appearances in the United States Wrestling Association . On April 27, 1996, he teamed with his son Brad to defeat Bunkhouse Buck and Lord Steven Regal at
2158-557: 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
2241-558: The kayfabe explanation that the assault at the hands of the LAX had necessitated the surgical repair of Armstrong's knee. At Against All Odds on February 12, 2006, Kip and B.G. James ( The James Gang ) faced the Latin American Exchange, with B.G. intent upon avenging the harm done to his "daddy". The James Gang was victorious, but ambushed by the LAX after the match. They were saved when the returning Bob Armstrong entered
2324-431: 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
2407-584: 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
2490-400: 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
2573-509: 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
Bob Armstrong - Misplaced Pages Continue
2656-653: 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
2739-546: The December 24, episode of Impact! . One week later, Armstrong tried once more to reform the group, this time approaching Konnan. Apparently willing to negotiate, Konnan led Armstrong backstage, only for Armstrong to be ambushed and beaten down by Konnan's newly formed stable , the Latin American Xchange (LAX). Footage from Armstrong's knee surgery earlier that month aired on iMPACT! in January 2006, with
2822-559: The December 3, 2005 episode of Impact! , Armstrong returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, congratulating the newly formed Four Live Kru on their unity. However, at Turning Point on December 11, 2005, the Four Live Kru disintegrated, with Konnan betraying fellow members Kip and B.G. James . Armstrong declared that he would reunite the Kru and unsuccessfully petitioned the fourth former member, Ron Killings , to that effect on
2905-776: The NWA Western States Tag Team Championship, with "Iron" Mike DiBiase . He would win two more with Hans Steiner in 1963, before leaving the Tucson area in 1964. During his time in Tucson, he also made stops in Pittsburgh, Hawaii, and Denver. During his last days in Tucson in 1963, Lucas made a stop in Amarillo, working for Dory Funk, Sr. He remained in the area until 1965. He would also wrestle briefly in Fort Worth. He wouldn't return to
2988-602: The NWA for over two decades, Lucas went back to Texas for Southwest Championship Wrestling in 1982. While there, he won two Tag Team Championships with Ricky Morton , whom Lucas trained four years earlier in Tennessee. In 1984, Lucas joined the American Wrestling Association in Minneapolis. By this time, Lucas was winding down his career, so he was mainly used as a jobber. After a year with
3071-408: 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
3154-488: 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
3237-700: The Southeastern United States, particularly in Alabama and his home state of Georgia . He frequently wrestled for affiliates of the National Wrestling Alliance , and on October 9, 1974, in Miami Beach, Florida , Armstrong unsuccessfully challenged Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . While bench pressing a dumbbell weighing upwards of 180 lb (82 kg) in a gym in Georgia,
3320-649: The area and one NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship . Lucas made a stop in Florida in 1976, working for Championship Wrestling from Florida . While there, he held two Tag Team titles with Mike Graham . Lucas made a brief stop in the Central States area in Kansas City in 1978. While there, he held one Heavyweight Championship and one Tag Team Championship with Kevin Sullivan . After wrestling for
3403-545: The area until 1977. In 1964, Lucas went to the Tri-State area of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, working for Leroy McGuirk . He spent fifteen years in the area, before Bill Watts took the reins in 1979. During his tenure there, Lucas held two NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championships and four NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championships, among other titles. Lucas went to the Gulf Coast area in 1964, and competed in
Bob Armstrong - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-606: The area, before leaving in 1967. He would briefly return to the area in 1969. Lucas joined the Mid-America area ran by Nick Gulas in 1968. When Jerry Jarrett broke away from Gulas to form the Championship Wrestling Association in Memphis, he went back and forth between Nashville and Memphis for three years until Gulas's promotion closed in 1980. He won several Tag Team Championships within
3569-477: The area, on and off, for over two decades. During that time, he would hold eleven NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championships , fifteen NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championships with eleven different partners, five NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championships , two NWA City of Mobile Heavyweight Championships , and two NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championships , among other titles. Lucas went down to Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1965. He would spend two years in
3652-401: 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
3735-418: 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
3818-561: 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
3901-416: The bench that Armstrong was lying upon broke, leading to the weight falling on his face. Armstrong's face was severely damaged and his nose was torn entirely off, and he required $ 38,000 USD worth of plastic surgery to repair it. While undergoing surgery, Armstrong donned a wrestling mask to conceal his disfigured features and began using the ring name "The Bullet". As "The Bullet", Armstrong feuded with
3984-424: 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
4067-418: 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
4150-423: 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
4233-512: 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
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#17327930539684316-540: 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
4399-405: 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
4482-603: 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
4565-470: 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
4648-490: The first weekly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view on June 26, 2002, alongside fellow National Wrestling Alliance veterans Corsica Joe , Dory Funk, Jr. , Harley Race , Jackie Fargo and Sarah Lee. His next appearance was on the August 14, 2002 pay-per-view, where he was introduced as an on-screen authority figure and informed Jeff Jarrett that he would face a mystery opponent one week later. The mystery opponent
4731-610: 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
4814-460: 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
4897-526: 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
4980-480: 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
5063-496: 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
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#17327930539685146-400: The locker room prior. The James Gang (also sent backstage) ran in to help Armstrong. This led to a rematch at Lockdown on April 23, in which Armstrong scored the pin. On the January 18, 2008 episode of Impact! , B.G. chose Armstrong as his tag team partner for his Feast or Fired Tag Title shot. The two lost the championship match. This was his final appearance with TNA. A retirement show
5229-498: 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
5312-437: 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
5395-717: 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
5478-504: The ring and chased LAX away. The confrontation led to a six-man bout between LAX and Armstrong and The James Gang at Destination X on March 12, which was won by Kip James. Despite the two consecutive victories, Armstrong remained hungry for revenge, and challenged Konnan to an arm wrestling contest on the April 8 Impact! . The contest did not finish due to interference from Homicide and the newest LAX member, Hernandez , who had been sent to
5561-440: 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
5644-426: 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,
5727-519: 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
5810-471: 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
5893-535: 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
5976-420: 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
6059-425: 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
6142-624: Was an American professional wrestler who won many tag and singles championships in the southern US National Wrestling Alliance territories between 1960 and 1985, before finishing his career as a jobber in the American Wrestling Association . He trained Ricky Morton to wrestle, and they teamed often in the early 1980s, winning three championships six times. He was from Mesa, Arizona and died at his home in Pensacola, Florida . Ken Lucas began his career in 1960 for Monte LaDue 's territory in Tucson, Arizona. In May 1962, he won his first title,
6225-725: Was born in Marietta, Georgia on October 3, 1939. When he was a child, Joseph James's father took him to see Gorgeous George wrestle. The young James was impressed and intrigued by the flamboyant performer. As a young man, James served in the United States Marine Corps in the early 1960s and was stationed in Korea . During his recruit training in Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on Parris Island, South Carolina , James
6308-488: 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
6391-606: Was diagnosed with bone cancer in his ribs, shoulder, and prostate, he refused treatment as he knew the cancer was terminal. He died from complications of bone cancer on August 27, 2020, at the age of 80. Title was awarded to them sometime in 2005 though the records are unclear as to the exact date and which promotion they wrestled in at the time. List of oldest surviving professional wrestlers Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
6474-654: Was held on May 29, 2009, at The Dothan Civic Center where many past stars came out to honor Armstrong before his match in the main event. In 2010, Bob returned to the ring at the "GOTJ 2010" event, where he defeated former rival "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr. From 2010 to 2015, Armstrong worked occasional matches around Georgia, mainly working for promotions such as All Pro Wrestling, Superstars Of Wrestling and Combat Sport Pro. Armstrong wrestled his last match on May 11, 2019, for Continental Championship Wrestling in Dothan, Alabama, where he defeated The Assassin. In March 2020, Armstrong
6557-555: Was named Honor Man. After leaving the military, he began working for the Fair Oaks (later Cobb County) Fire Department as a firefighter in 1962. He debuted as a wrestler in 1960, adopting the ring name "Bob Armstrong". By 1966, Armstrong had become a popular face in the Savannah, Georgia area, and in 1970 he ceased working as a firefighter and began focusing on his wrestling career. Armstrong achieved considerable popularity in
6640-650: 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
6723-840: Was revealed to be "The Masked Bullet", a masked wrestler who imitated Armstrong's mannerisms (although Armstrong himself came to the ringside during the match, proving that he was not the Bullet). On the August 28, 2002 pay-per-view, Jarrett fought the Bullet to a no contest before striking Armstrong with a chair. On the September 18, 2002 pay-per-view, the Bullet unmasked, revealing himself to be Armstrong's youngest son Brian Gerard James , who would subsequently go by "B.G. James" in TNA. On December 5, 2005, Armstrong underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Despite being advised to refrain from wrestling until March 2006, Armstrong resumed wrestling later that month. On
6806-415: 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
6889-417: 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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