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238-653: Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler . As of May 2014, he is signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor ( / ˈ b æ l ər / ). He is a member of The Judgment Day stable and is one-half of the World Tag Team Champions with stablemate JD McDonagh in their first reign as a team and Bálor's third reign individually. Devitt began his career in 2001, before becoming widely known for his tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under

476-513: A mixed tag team match . At Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 on 2 April, Bálor, in his "Demon" persona, lost to Edge in a Hell in a Cell match . During the match, Bálor suffered an injury after getting hit by a ladder thrown by Edge and had to be medically treated in the ring. Bálor would then be selected amongst a group of Raw superstars to participate in a tournament to crown a new World Heavyweight Champion at Night of Champions . On 8 May episode of Raw , Bálor defeated Cody Rhodes and The Miz in

714-628: A stele of c.  375–400 BCE in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy. Athenaeus , writing in 228 CE, mentions the Roman ball game harpastum . Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence. They all appear to have resembled rugby football , wrestling , and volleyball more than what

952-491: A triple threat match in the first round of the tournament, but lost to eventual champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins in the semifinals later that night. After Rollins won the title, Bálor began feuding with him, citing how Rollins costed him the Universal Championship from his injury back in 2016 as a major reason for going after him on 12 June episode of Raw before challenging him to a title match at Money in

1190-446: 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

1428-493: A French XI team in 1920, and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in the same year, winning 22–0. Despite being more popular than some men's football events, with one match seeing a 53,000 strong crowd in 1920, women's football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on association members' pitches, stating that "the game of football

1666-413: 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

1904-556: A calf injury for his first week in Mexico, Devitt made his CMLL debut on 23 March, teaming with Marco Corleone and Rush in a six-man tag team main event, where they faced Mephisto , Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. After pinning Volador Jr. for the win, Devitt challenged him to a match for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship . On 30 March, Devitt defeated Volador Jr. to become

2142-532: 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

2380-442: A caution ( yellow card ) or dismissal ( red card ). A second yellow card in the same game leads to a red card, which results in a dismissal. A player given a yellow card is said to have been "booked", the referee writing the player's name in their official notebook. If a player has been dismissed, no substitute can be brought on in their place and the player may not participate in further play. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while

2618-519: 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

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2856-585: 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

3094-574: A competitive game, and involved the kicking of a mari , a ball made of animal skin. In North America, pasuckuakohowog was a ball game played by the Algonquians ; it was described as "almost identical to the kind of folk football being played in Europe at the same time, in which the ball was kicked through goals". Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on

3332-505: A deadlock; some competitions may invoke replays . A game tied at the end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shoot-outs (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of

3570-423: 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 . Association football Association football , more commonly known as football or soccer ,

3808-702: A double IWGP champion for the second time. Devitt continued his streak of defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against New Japan outsiders, when he successfully defended the title against Taka Michinoku on 20 February and Kushida on 19 March. In May, Devitt took part in the Invasion Tour 2011 , New Japan's first tour of the United States, during which he successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Low Ki on 14 May in New York City and

4046-410: 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

4284-504: A feud with Baron Corbin , whom he defeated on two different occasions—on 15 July at Extreme Rules and on 19 August at SummerSlam under his "Demon King" persona. The next night on Raw , Bálor was finally awarded with his Universal Championship rematch against newly crowned champion Roman Reigns, but was unsuccessful in regaining the title. Throughout the next few months, Bálor would compete in various matches against competitors such as Jinder Mahal , and Bobby Lashley . Bálor then started

4522-441: A feud with Drew McIntyre who saved him from an attack by Lashley only to attack Bálor himself. During that time, Bálor was announced as part of Team Raw for the traditional interbrand five–on–five elimination match at Survivor Series on 18 November, where he was the first man from the team to be eliminated by Rey Mysterio . On 16 December at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Bálor gained revenge over McIntyre, defeating him in

4760-513: A finisher. Devitt has appeared as a playable character in the video games WWE 2K16 , WWE 2K17 , WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 , WWE 2K20 , WWE 2K Battlegrounds , WWE 2K22 , WWE 2K23 , and WWE 2K24 . On 19 August 2019, Devitt married Mexican sports journalist Vero Rodríguez in a private ceremony in Tulum . They had confirmed their relationship in June that year, during an interview at

4998-414: 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

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5236-400: A goal has been scored or not; this was brought in to prevent controversy. Video assistant referees (VAR) have also been increasingly introduced in high-level matches to assist officials through video replays to correct clear and obvious mistakes. There are four types of calls that can be reviewed: mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card, goals and whether there was a violation during

5474-640: A latex bladder for pressurisation, but modern balls at all levels of the game are now synthetic. As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB , the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units . The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though use of imperial units remains popular in English-speaking countries with

5712-405: 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

5950-561: A live event in Lowell, Massachusetts , ending his reign at 292 days. At NXT TakeOver: The End on 8 June, Bálor lost to Joe in the first ever NXT steel cage match in a rematch for the NXT Championship, marking his first TakeOver loss, and subsequently his first loss under his "Demon" persona. Bálor wrestled his final NXT match on 30 July, teaming with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe. On 19 July 2016, Bálor

6188-799: 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

6426-438: A match between the two being scheduled for NXT TakeOver: WarGames on 23 November, where Bálor emerged victorious. Following this, Bálor challenged Adam Cole for the NXT Championship on 18 December episode of NXT , which he lost after a distraction from the returning Johnny Gargano. Afterwards, Gargano challenged Bálor to a match at NXT TakeOver: Portland on 16 February 2020, which Bálor won. On 22 April episode of NXT , Bálor

6664-477: A match between the two on 13 May episode of NXT , where Damian Priest cost Bálor the match by using a nightstick behind the referee's back. Priest then revealed that he was the one who knocked out Bálor three weeks prior, thus turning Bálor face once again. At TakeOver: In Your House on 7 June, Bálor defeated Priest. At NXT TakeOver: XXX on 22 August, Bálor defeated Timothy Thatcher . On 8 September at NXT : Super Tuesday II , Bálor defeated Adam Cole to win

6902-529: A meeting attended by representatives from Eton , Harrow , Rugby , Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club , formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to

7140-440: 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

7378-426: A penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs , goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks. A standard adult football match consists of two halves of 45 minutes each. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. The referee

Finn Bálor - Misplaced Pages Continue

7616-616: A record of five wins and four losses. The rivalry between Devitt and Tanahashi culminated in a Lumberjack Deathmatch on 29 September at Destruction , where Tanahashi was victorious. With the Tanahashi rivalry behind him, Devitt moved onto a new rivalry with Togi Makabe, who played a big part in him losing the Lumberjack Deathmatch. Meanwhile, Devitt also found himself a new challenger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, recent NJPW signee Kota Ibushi, who pinned him

7854-416: A relatively recent history of metrication (or only partial metrication), such as Britain. The length of the pitch, or field, for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 90–120 m (100–130 yd) in length and 45–90 m (50–100 yd) in width, provided

8092-463: A rematch for the title on 25 May episode of NXT , but was defeated; his rematch with Kross would mark Bálor's final match in NXT. After a two-month hiatus from television, Bálor made his return on 16 July episode of SmackDown . He would face WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on two occasions, once at SmackDown and the second one at Extreme Rules on 26 September under his "Demon" persona, but he

8330-544: A rematch in the main event of a New Japan event in Korakuen Hall . On 12 September, Devitt returned to Mexico for another tour with CMLL. Devitt wrestled his first match back in CMLL two days later at the 79th Anniversary Show , where he, Atlantis and Místico II were defeated in a six-man tag team match by Dragón Rojo Jr. , Negro Casas and Último Guerrero, when Rojo pinned Devitt for the win. On 21 September, Devitt

8568-573: A rematch, where he lost the title to Lashley following interference from Rush. On 25 March edition of Raw , Bálor defeated Lashley and Jinder Mahal in a handicap match to gain a rematch for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 35 . Bálor, using his "Demon" persona, went on to defeat Lashley on 7 April at WrestleMania and regained the Intercontinental Championship. The following night on Raw , Bálor defeated

8806-439: A rematch. The feud between the two continued throughout the following months and led to another match on 24 September at No Mercy , where Bálor once again defeated Wyatt. The two were also set to face in a rematch between Bálor's "Demon King" and Wyatt's "Sister Abigail" at TLC on 20 October. However, Wyatt was ruled out for the event due to an illness , and was instead replaced by AJ Styles . Bálor defeated Styles, and following

9044-576: A similar ancient game ( cuju , or tsu chu ) was played by women during the Han dynasty (25–220 CE), as female figures are depicted in frescoes of the period playing tsu chu . There are also reports of annual football matches played by women in Midlothian , Scotland, during the 1790s. Association football, the modern game, has documented early involvement of women. In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on

9282-653: A similar fatal four–way match. At SummerSlam on 21 August, Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural Universal Champion and win his first world title . Since then, WWE reported that he sustained a shoulder injury during the match and an MRI revealed a labrum tear that would require surgery, which was successful. Because of this, it was expected that Bálor would be out four to six months, thus Raw General Manager Mick Foley later announced on Twitter that Bálor would be relinquishing his newly won WWE Universal Championship due to his injury after just 22 hours of holding it. While recovering from his injury, Bálor would appear on

9520-444: A singles match after interference by McIntyre's former ally Dolph Ziggler . After the match, Ziggler attacked Bálor backstage after the latter implied that he didn't need his help to beat McIntyre. This sparked a match between the two that took place the following night on Raw , which ended in a no contest as McIntyre would attack both of them. On 17 December tapings of 24 December edition of Raw , Bálor defeated Ziggler and McIntyre in

9758-700: A six-man tag team match after interference from Ripley. On 26 November at Survivor Series WarGames , Bálor lost to Styles. On the following episode of Raw , The Judgment Day defeated The O.C. in an eight-person mixed tag team match to end their feud. At the Royal Rumble on 28 January 2023, Bálor entered the Royal Rumble match at #20 but was eliminated by the returning Edge. Afterwards, Bálor and Priest eliminated Edge with help from Dominik, despite already being eliminated. At Elimination Chamber on 18 February, Bálor and Ripley lost to Edge and Beth Phoenix in

Finn Bálor - Misplaced Pages Continue

9996-514: A six–man tag team match. The following week, the trio officially reunited and formed "Bálor Club", an homage to their former stable . That same night, they defeated Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns and Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan in a six–man tag team match. On 28 January, at the Royal Rumble , Bálor entered his first Royal Rumble match at number 2, lasting over 57 minutes and eliminating four participants before being eliminated by John Cena . Bálor competed for

10234-543: A substitute for the injured Naomichi Marufuji. Devitt managed to win four out of his seven matches in the round-robin stage of the tournament, including a major victory over former four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, but finished fifth in his block and missed advancing to the finals by a single point. On 3 September, Devitt made his second successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating DDT Pro-Wrestling representative Kenny Omega , that he won on 11 November 2012. Omega and Kota Ibushi,

10472-616: A tag team match on 9 November at Power Struggle , where he and Bad Luck Fale were defeated by Ibushi and Makabe. From 23 November to 7 December, Devitt and Fale took part in the 2013 World Tag League , where they finished with a record of three wins and three losses, with a loss against the previously winless Captain New Japan and Hiroshi Tanahashi on the final day costing them a spot in the semifinals. On 4 January 2014 at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome , Devitt's fourteen-month reign as

10710-520: A tag team match. Later in the event, Devitt and Fale were joined by Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga for an attack on Hiroshi Tanahashi. The new group was subsequently named " Bullet Club ". On 24 May, Devitt entered the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors , where he ended up winning his block with a clean record of eight wins, though often using outside help from his Bullet Club stablemates to win his matches. On 9 June, Devitt first defeated Kenny Omega in

10948-517: A tag team named "Prince Prince", a reference to both Devitt's ring name and Minoru's nickname, "Black Prince". In November 2007, TNA made a tour of Japan, during which Devitt and Minoru were defeated by TNA wrestlers Senshi and Christopher Daniels . On 27 January 2008, Devitt and Minoru won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship , this served as Devitt's first major tag title reign. They lost

11186-474: A title match, after he had regained the title from Kota Ibushi. On 21 October, Apollo 55 entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament , defeating Chaos World Wrestling Warriors ( Brian Kendrick and Low Ki) in their first round match. On 2 November, Devitt and Taguchi defeated the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, the Forever Hooligans ( Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), to advance to

11424-527: A total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport. The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game , a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference . The two teams compete to score goals by getting

11662-499: A tournament for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) called "Reclaiming the Glory", which was to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion . The championship had been controlled by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) for several years, but in 2007 NWA had terminated its agreement with TNA. In the first round, Devitt defeated Australian wrestler Mikey Nicholls , but lost in the second round to Bryan Danielson . The day after losing

11900-409: A triple threat match, ending the feud. On 12 January 2019 at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool , Bálor made a surprise appearance as Travis Banks 's replacement in his match against Jordan Devlin , as Banks was attacked by Devlin earlier that day, and subsequently defeated Devlin. On 14 January episode of Raw , after Braun Strowman was removed from his Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at

12138-513: A truce to the nation's civil war in 2006 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké , an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football is widely considered to have been the final proximate cause for the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras . The sport also exacerbated tensions at

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12376-503: 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

12614-432: A variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws. The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards . An athletic supporter and protective cup is highly recommended for male players by medical experts and professionals. Headgear

12852-586: 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

13090-660: A win over Jushin Thunder Liger in the final round-robin match of the tournament on 9 June, to finish second in his block and advance to the semifinals of the tournament. The following day, Devitt was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Low Ki. On 8 July, Devitt defeated Taichi to make his first successful defense of the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship. His second successful title defense took place on 29 July, when he defeated previous champion Volador Jr. in

13328-415: Is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch . The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for

13566-424: Is a supporter of English football team Tottenham Hotspur FC . 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

13804-410: 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

14042-594: Is an overall five-time Tag Team Champion in WWE. Fergal Devitt was born on 25 July 1981 in Bray, County Wicklow , the son of Leonie and Fintan Devitt. He has one older sibling and three younger siblings. He attended St. Cronan's School in Bray. Before deciding to become a professional wrestler, he played association football and Gaelic football . While growing up, he enjoyed watching World of Sport and WWF (now WWE ) shows and

14280-428: 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

14518-468: Is governed by FIFA . Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA . Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA in England) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with

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14756-410: Is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by

14994-438: Is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewellery or watches. The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials. A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during

15232-405: Is positioned on each goal line, midway between the two touchlines. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (24 ft) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws. In front of the goal is the penalty area. This area

15470-816: Is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged." Players and football writers have argued that this ban was, in fact, due to envy of the large crowds that women's matches attracted, and because the FA had no control over the money made from the women's game. The FA ban led to the formation of the short-lived English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds. Women's football also faced bans in several other countries , notably in Brazil from 1941 to 1979, in France from 1941 to 1970, and in Germany from 1955 to 1970. Restrictions began to be reduced in

15708-506: Is recognisable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football , the antecedent of all modern football codes , these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking it. Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world, FIFA has described that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The history of football in England dates back to at least

15946-593: Is the dominant region in women's football, with the United States winning the most FIFA Women's World Cups and Olympic tournaments. Europe and Asia come second and third in terms of international success, and the women's game has been improving in South America. Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game . The game is played using a spherical ball of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) circumference, known as

16184-455: Is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is called "additional time" in FIFA documents, but is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time , while lost time can also be used as a synonym. The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion of

16422-435: Is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School . Initially spelt assoccer (a shortening of "association"), it was later reduced to the modern spelling. This form of slang also gave rise to rugger for rugby football, fiver and tenner for five pound and ten pound notes , and the now-archaic footer that was also a name for association football. The word soccer arrived at its current form in 1895 and

16660-404: Is to score goals; defenders , who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders , who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to distinguish them from the goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which

16898-421: The football (or soccer ball ). Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by

17136-594: The Bullet Club stable . Through NJPW's working relationship with Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Devitt also wrestled there, becoming a one-time NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion . He also wrestled for a number of independent promotions , becoming a one-time ICW Zero-G Champion , one-time RPW British Cruiserweight Champion and a two-time NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion . After signing with WWE's developmental system , NXT , and adopting his current ring name, Bálor won

17374-527: The Caribbean and Oceania regions (except Australia ) have yet to make a mark in international football. When it comes to men's national teams, Europeans and South Americans continue to dominate the FIFA World Cup, as no team from any other region has managed to even reach the final. These regional trends do not hold true for the women's game, as the United States women's national team has won

17612-499: The Extreme Rules kick-off show on 14 July, Bálor lost the championship to Shinsuke Nakamura . The following night on Raw , Bálor was assaulted by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt , culminating in a match at SummerSlam on 11 August, where Bálor was defeated by Wyatt. After a near two-month absence from television, Bálor made his return to WWE programming on 2 October episode of NXT , confronting NXT Champion Adam Cole following

17850-886: The MWF Television Championship against the champion Eddie Edwards and R. J. Brewer . He made his television debut on the November edition of MWF Ultra , in a match against Osiris. After impressing many promoters and trainers, he was invited to train in New Japan's main dojo in Tokyo , where, in early 2006, he began training in the Japanese style of professional wrestling . He lost the British Commonwealth Championship to Karl Anderson in March 2006. In June 2007, Devitt participated in

18088-604: The NWA 57th Anniversary Show , Devitt defeated Dru Onyx for his second British Commonwealth title. After the match both participants were invited to the New Japan Inoki Dojo in Santa Monica, California , to train. During late 2005, Devitt also began competing for the U.S.–based Millennium Wrestling Federation (MWF). He made his debut in a triple threat match at Soul Survivor III on 5 November, challenging for

18326-537: The NXT Championship , with his 292-day reign being the longest in the championship's history until March 2020. Also during his time in NXT, Bálor became the first co-winner of the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Samoa Joe . Shortly after arriving on the main roster , Bálor became the first wrestler in WWE history to win a world title in their pay-per-view debut, the second ever Irish world champion in WWE (after Sheamus ) as well as becoming

18564-624: 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

18802-530: The Raw episode of 28 January, Bálor was interrupted by Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush while addressing his loss and was subsequently attacked by Lashley, sparking a feud between the two. On 17 February at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Bálor defeated Lashley and Rush in a two-on-one handicap match to capture the Intercontinental Championship after Bálor pinned Rush. Bálor faced Lashley on 11 March edition of Raw in

19040-445: The Royal Rumble after damaging Vince McMahon 's limo, Bálor was booked in a fatal-four way match against Drew McIntyre, John Cena and Baron Corbin to determine who would take Strowman's place against Lesnar at the pay-per-view, in which Bálor emerged victorious after pinning Cena. On 27 January at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Bálor was defeated by Lesnar via submission. After the match, Lesnar attacked Bálor with three F-5 s. On

19278-484: The Super J Tag Tournament in an attempt to regain the championship, but were defeated in the finals by the team of El Samurai and Koji Kanemoto. On 30 May, Devitt entered the 2010 Best of the Super Juniors tournament and two weeks later finished second in his block with five victories, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On 13 June, Devitt first defeated Taiji Ishimori in the semifinals and then Kota Ibushi in

19516-645: The UEFA Champions League final , and Devitt proposed to Rodríguez the following day. They reside in Orlando, Florida . Devitt holds a first-degree black belt in IBF submission wrestling. He is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Tama Tonga, Jordan Devlin and Dru Onyx. He is an avid comic book reader and collector of Lego , and has worn face and body paint inspired by comic book characters when wrestling. He

19754-513: The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship after interference from Dominik, Ripley and JD McDonagh . With this win, Bálor became the 24th WWE Grand Slam Champion . On 25 September episode of Raw , Bálor and Priest retained their titles in a rematch against Owens and Zayn. However, they lost the titles to Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso at Fastlane on 7 October after McDonagh accidentally hit Priest with his Money in

19992-714: 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

20230-651: The WWE Network –exclusive United Kingdom Championship Tournament event. On 22 February 2017, Bálor returned to NXT to assist Shinsuke Nakamura , who was outnumbered by Andrade "Cien" Almas and Bobby Roode. On 10 March, Bálor made his in–ring return at a live event in a six–man tag team match, teaming with Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn to defeat Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Triple H . Bálor made his television return after WrestleMania 33 on 3 April episode of Raw , where he teamed with his former rival Seth Rollins as

20468-584: 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

20706-400: 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

20944-635: The 1960s and 1970s. The Italian women's football league was established in 1968. In December 1969, the Women's Football Association was formed in England, with the sport eventually becoming the most prominent team sport for women in the United Kingdom. Two unofficial women's World Cups were organised by the FIEFF in 1970 and in 1971 . Also in 1971, UEFA members voted to officially recognise women's football, while The Football Association rescinded

21182-509: 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

21420-411: 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

21658-664: The 24-year-old would be a king already. Eventually, Simon Inoki came up with the name Prince Devitt, which Devitt himself also preferred. In May 2006, New Japan started holding brand–exclusive events, and Devitt was assigned to the Wrestle Land brand, debuting under a mask as the second Pegasus Kid, which led to comparisons between Devitt and the original Pegasus Kid, Chris Benoit . During his tour of New Japan in late August and early September, he started competing again as his Prince Devitt identity, utilizing an Irish superstar gimmick. He eventually turned heel and started teaming with

21896-653: 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

22134-604: The Bank , to which Rollins accepted. At the event on 1 July, Bálor was unsuccessful in defeating Rollins for the title after an unintended distraction by Priest, who had just won the Money in the Bank ladder match earlier during the night and seemingly had intentions of cashing in. At SummerSlam on 5 August, Bálor failed to win the title from Rollins despite interference from Priest, Dominik and Ripley. On 2 September at Payback , Bálor and Priest defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to win

22372-644: The Bank briefcase , ending their first reign at 35 days, but they regained the titles in a rematch on 16 October episode of Raw . On 13 November episode of Raw, Bálor and Priest defeated Rhodes and Uso in a rematch to retain their titles after interference from Drew McIntyre . On 24 November episode of SmackDown, Bálor and Priest successfully defended their titles against The Street Profits ( Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford ). The next night at Survivor Series WarGames , Bálor participated in his first WarGames match alongside The Judgment Day (which now included McDonagh) and McIntyre against Rhodes, Rollins, Uso, Zayn and

22610-453: The British Commonwealth Championship, Devitt signed a contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in March 2006. In April 2006, he made his NJPW debut against El Samurai , using the ring name Prince Devitt. Devitt later stated in an interview with PowerSlam Mag that New Japan renamed him Prince Devitt because nobody Japanese could pronounce his actual name. He was originally going to be called King David until people started questioning why

22848-479: The Control Terrorism Unit (CTU) in an apprentice–type role. While teaming with CTU, he began a losing streak, aggravating his teammates to such a degree that they did not want anything to do with him anymore. This led to him being given one final chance on 6 October, where he rose to the occasion and impressed his CTU teammates enough to continue his association with them. To solidify his status with

23086-686: The Evil Eye , an antagonistic character from Gaelic mythology) and The Demon (sometimes the Demon King), a darker and more aggressive otherworldly alter-ego. After Devitt returned to NXT in 2019, he said he will use the character of The Demon less as its overuse had ruined the element of surprise. Devitt uses a double foot stomp named "Coup de Grace" as a finisher. He also uses a lifting single underhook DDT (named " Bloody Sunday " in NJPW and " 1916 " in WWE) as

23324-576: The FIFA Women's World Cup four times, more than any other women's team. Football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. Football has

23562-910: The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association , the Football Association of Wales , and the Irish Football Association . FIFA , the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the IFAB in 1913. The board consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of

23800-467: The Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick . The referee may punish a player's or substitute's misconduct by

24038-475: The IFAB Laws. Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes ), one of whom must be the goalkeeper . Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are

24276-513: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Later in the event, reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada accepted Devitt's challenge for his title on the condition that he first defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against his Chaos stablemate Gedo . On 5 July, Devitt defeated Gedo in his fourth successful title defense, advancing to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match against Okada. The title match between

24514-491: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion came to an end when he lost the title to Kota Ibushi in his fifth defense. Devitt wrestled the entire match in a full face and body paint, which he continued using for his bigger matches for the rest of his NJPW run. The following day, Devitt was attacked by the returning Ryusuke Taguchi, who had been sidelined with an injury for the past seven months, re-igniting

24752-557: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi, avenging the loss from the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match. On 23 January at Fantastica Mania 2011 , a New Japan and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) co–promoted event in Tokyo, Devitt and Taguchi defeated Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, making Devitt

24990-465: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On 3 March, Devitt main evented New Japan's 41st anniversary event, losing to Hiroshi Tanahashi in a non-title match. Following the loss, Devitt began portraying a more cocky and villainous persona, regularly disrespecting both partners and opponents, with the exception of Ryusuke Taguchi, whom he tried to get to go along with his new attitude. On 5 April, Devitt defeated Alex Shelley for his third successful defense of

25228-544: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Two days later at Invasion Attack , Apollo 55 unsuccessfully challenged Time Splitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, after which Devitt turned on Taguchi, ending the longtime partnership between the two, and debuted Bad Luck Fale as his new "bouncer", while also dubbing himself the "Real Rocknrolla". The first match between the former members of Apollo 55 took place on 3 May at Wrestling Dontaku 2013 , where Devitt and Fale defeated Taguchi and Captain New Japan in

25466-542: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the Strong Style Thugz ( Homicide and Low Ki) on 15 May in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . On 26 May, Devitt entered the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors tournament . After losing his opening match against Davey Richards, Devitt went on a seven match winning streak to finish first in his block in the round-robin stage of the tournament. On 10 June, Devitt

25704-629: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to the No Remorse Corps in their first defense. This led to a match on 10 March, where Devitt defeated Davey Richards to make his fourth successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On 14 March 2012, Devitt traveled to Mexico for his first tour of the country with the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre promotion, as part of a working relationship between New Japan and CMLL. After being sidelined from in-ring action due to

25942-545: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to the No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero ). Devitt made the first successful title defense of his second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship reign on 12 November at Power Struggle , defeating Taka Michinoku, and followed that up by defeating the man who had pinned him for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Davey Richards, in his second defense on 4 December. On 23 December, Devitt defeated

26180-466: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On 30 May, Devitt entered the 2009 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. After winning his block in the round-robin stage of the tournament, Devitt advanced to the semifinals, where he defeated Kota Ibushi . In the end, Devitt was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Koji Kanemoto . In December, Devitt entered the 2009 Super J-Cup . After defeating Atsushi Aoki , Danshoku Dino and Yamato , Devitt

26418-430: The Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees . In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise. Goal line technology is used to measure if the whole ball has crossed the goal-line thereby determining whether

26656-676: The Laws of the Game. The most prestigious senior international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup . The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games . The two most prestigious competitions in club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League , which attract an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of

26894-479: The Laws of the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks . The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they must use both their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading" with

27132-408: 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

27370-488: 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

27608-647: The NXT Championship. Bálor defeated Owens in a ladder match to retain the title at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on 22 August. Bálor later entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament in August, pairing with Samoa Joe and defeating The Lucha Dragons ( Sin Cara and Kalisto ) in the first round, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in the quarter-finals, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson in

27846-560: The United States Championship to Theory , ending his reign at 49 days. At Hell in a Cell on 5 June, Bálor, AJ Styles and Liv Morgan lost to The Judgment Day ( Edge , Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley ) in a six-person mixed tag team match . On 6 June episode of Raw , Edge introduced Bálor as the newest member of The Judgment Day, turning Bálor heel for the first time on the main roster, however, Bálor, Priest and Ripley suddenly attacked Edge, kicking him out of

28084-480: The United States. A notable exception is New Zealand, where in the first two decades of the 21st century, under the influence of international television, "football" has been gaining prevalence, despite the dominance of other codes of football, namely rugby union and rugby league . The term soccer comes from Oxford "-er" slang, which was prevalent at the University of Oxford in England from about 1875, and

28322-606: The United States. In mid-2002, Devitt, along with Paul Tracey, opened NWA Ireland, his own wrestling promotion based in Ireland. The promotion soon became the sister group of NWA UK Hammerlock as both promoted under the NWA banner. As part of NWA Ireland , Devitt trained future WWE competitor Becky Lynch , future European Heavyweight Champion and ICW Zero-G Champion Andy Roberts and future NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin . On 8 October 2005, in Nashville, Tennessee, at

28560-401: 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

28798-418: 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

29036-561: 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

29274-452: The ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and that only within the penalty area . The team that has scored more goals at

29512-460: The ban that prohibited women from playing on association members' pitches in England. Women's football still faces many struggles, but its worldwide growth has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels, mirroring the men's competitions. The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991: the first tournament was held in China, featuring 12 teams from

29750-410: The beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play: A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Laws of

29988-534: The beginning of the Croatian War of Independence of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade degenerated into rioting in May 1990. Women's association football has historically seen opposition, with national associations severely curbing its development and several outlawing it completely. Women may have been playing football for as long as the game has existed. Evidence shows that

30226-412: 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

30464-404: The buildup, direct red card decisions, and penalty decisions. The ball is spherical with a circumference of between 68 and 70 cm (27 and 28 in), a weight in the range of 410 to 450 g (14 to 16 oz), and a pressure between 0.6 and 1.1 standard atmospheres (8.5 and 15.6 pounds per square inch ) at sea level. In the past the ball was made up of leather panels sewn together, with

30702-424: 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

30940-418: 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

31178-750: The champions of these two club competitions would contest the Intercontinental Cup to prove which team was the best in the world. In the 21st century, South America has continued to produce some of the best footballers in the world, but its clubs have fallen behind the still dominant European clubs, which often sign the best players from Latin America and elsewhere. Meanwhile, football has improved in Africa , Asia and North America , and nowadays, these regions are at least on equal grounds with South America in club football, although countries in

31416-463: The championship in a rematch against O'Reilly on 6 January 2021 at NXT: New Year's Evil . He would also defend the championship against Pete Dunne and Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on 14 February and on 10 March episode of NXT respectively with both times successfully defending it. At NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on 8 April, Bálor lost the championship to Karrion Kross , ending his second reign at 212 days. Balor would face Kross in

31654-555: The championship to Akira and Jyushin Thunder Liger in February, before regaining the title on 21 July. After a near three-month reign they lost the championship to No Limit ( Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro ) in October. Devitt teamed with Ryusuke Taguchi as Apollo 55 ( アポロ・ゴー・ゴー , Aporo Gō Gō ) and on 5 July 2009 at Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul they defeated The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ) to win

31892-423: 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

32130-461: 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

32368-468: 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

32606-425: The course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is five in 90 minutes, with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra-time; the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches . Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at

32844-540: 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

33082-453: The eighth century. The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The Cambridge rules , first drawn up at the University of Cambridge in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge , at

33320-420: The end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in a match. IFAB recommends "that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players in either team". Any decision regarding points awarded for abandoned games is left to the individual football associations. A game is officiated by a referee , who has "full authority to enforce

33558-405: 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

33796-405: The end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared with 1 point awarded to each team, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out . Internationally, association football

34034-603: 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

34272-572: The finals of the three-day-long tournament. On 24 July, Devitt received his rematch for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2011 , but was unable to regain the title from Ibushi. This led to a match on 14 August, where Apollo 55 successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the Golden☆Lovers. On 11 September, Apollo 55 defeated Taichi and Taka Michinoku to make their seventh successful IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship defense, breaking

34510-475: The finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they were defeated by the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida). On 11 November at Power Struggle , Devitt defeated Low Ki to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the third time. On 4 January 2013 at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , Devitt defeated Low Ki and Kota Ibushi in a rare three-way match for his first successful defense of

34748-402: The finals to win the tournament and earn a shot at Naomichi Marufuji's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . On 19 June at Dominion 6.19 , Devitt defeated Marufuji to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Eleven days later, Devitt, Taguchi and Hirooki Goto won the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi , TAJIRI and Kushida in

34986-473: The finals. Devitt made his first successful Junior Heavyweight Championship title defense on 11 July, defeating Pro Wrestling Noah's Atsushi Aoki. Just over a week later, on 19 July, Devitt and Taguchi defeated Koji Kanemoto and El Samurai to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the second time as a team. In August Devitt entered New Japan's biggest tournament of the year, the G1 Climax , as

35224-470: 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

35462-460: The first round, Itami in the semi-finals and Adrian Neville in the finals on 11 February at NXT TakeOver: Rival . Bálor received his title match against Kevin Owens on 25 March, but was unsuccessful. After defeating Tyler Breeze on 20 May at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable , Bálor received another title shot against Owens on 4 July at The Beast in the East in Tokyo , Japan , defeating Owens to win

35700-436: The first time in an Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay–per–view on 25 February, where he entered last but was the second participant eliminated by Braun Strowman . Over the next two months, Bálor started a short feud with The Miz and Seth Rollins over the Intercontinental Championship, which led to a triple threat match at WrestleMania 34 on 8 April (which was also Bálor's Wrestlemania debut) where Rollins won

35938-420: The forehead) other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though players may not pass to teammates who are in an offside position. During gameplay, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling , passing the ball to a teammate, and by taking shots at

36176-528: The formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules. These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street , London. The only school to be represented on this occasion

36414-531: The four British associations. For most of the 20th century, Europe and South America were the dominant regions in association football. The FIFA World Cup , inaugurated in 1930 , became the main stage for players of both continents to show their worth and the strength of their national teams. In the second half of the century, the European Cup and the Copa Libertadores were created, and

36652-695: The game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's players is known as a formation . Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager . There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, each containing a collection of stipulations and guidelines. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football for both sexes, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors and people with physical disabilities are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on

36890-610: 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

37128-425: The goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of

37366-460: 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

37604-649: The group and cementing Bálor's heel turn. Bálor and Priest lost to The Mysterios ( Rey and Dominik Mysterio ) on 30 July at SummerSlam and at Clash at the Castle on 3 September, they lost to Rey and Edge, where Dominik turned heel on both of them to join The Judgment Day. At Extreme Rules on 8 October, Bálor defeated Edge in an "I Quit" match following interference from The Judgment Day. On 5 November at Crown Jewel , Bálor, Priest, and Dominik defeated The O.C. (Styles, Luke Gallows , and Karl Anderson ) in

37842-446: The group. The following week, Bálor and McDonagh failed to win the titles after Braun Strowman prevented Carlito from interfering. On 24 June episode of Raw, Bálor and McDonagh defeated Miz and Truth to win the titles after interference from Ripley's former rival, Liv Morgan. At SummerSlam on 3 August, Bálor turned on Priest, costing him his World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther . After several brawls and altercations between

38080-404: The highest global television audience in sport. In many parts of the world, football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans , local communities, and even nations. Ryszard Kapuściński says that Europeans who are polite, modest, or humble fall easily into rage when playing or watching football games. The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure

38318-526: 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

38556-492: 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

38794-480: 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

39032-496: 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

39270-404: The injury, he returned to action, showing great improvement and was touted by fellow CTU teammate, Minoru , as the future winner of the 2007 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. However, when the tournament was held in June 2007, Devitt scored no points and was eliminated early from the competition. Following the folding of CTU in August 2007, Devitt and Minoru joined the new RISE stable, forming

39508-687: The instigation of Alcock. England is also home to the world's first football league , which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor . The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and Northern England . Laws of the Game are determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The board was formed in 1886 after a meeting in Manchester of

39746-596: The lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s, with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup , which was founded by the footballer and cricketer Charles W. Alcock , and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match also took place in 1872, between Scotland and England in Glasgow , again at

39984-413: The latter's title defense against Matt Riddle and officially announced his return to NXT (as it had grown from a developmental territory in Bálor's first stint into a third global brand within WWE). On 23 October episode of NXT , Bálor turned heel when he aided The Undisputed Era by injuring Johnny Gargano and attacking Tommaso Ciampa . Bálor began a feud with Matt Riddle the next month leading to

40222-501: The match, the two showed mutual respect, gesturing the "Too Sweet" hand symbol to each other. At the Survivor Series event on 19 November, Bálor took part in the traditional inter-brand five–on–five elimination match as part of Team Raw where he was the fifth man eliminated by Randy Orton , although his team was ultimately victorious. On 1 January 2018 episode of Raw , Bálor teamed with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to defeat Elias and The Miztourage ( Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas ) in

40460-498: 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

40698-551: The men's tournament is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. Association football is one of a family of football codes that emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity. Within the English-speaking world, the sport is now usually called "football" in Great Britain and most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, whereas people usually call it "soccer" in regions and countries where other codes of football are prevalent, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster), and

40936-464: The nature of the game. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the IFAB. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football. Within the United States, Major League Soccer used a distinct ruleset during the 1990s and the National Federation of State High School Associations and NCAA still use rulesets that are comparable to, but different from,

41174-450: The new Judgment Day (now consisting of Balor, Mysterio, Morgan, McDonagh and Carlito) and the Terror Twins (Priest and Ripley), a match between Bálor and Priest was set for Bad Blood on 5 October, which Bálor lost despite interference from Carlito and McDonagh. After working under his real name, Devitt changed his ring name to Prince Devitt when he went to New Japan Pro-Wrestling because nobody Japanese could pronounce his actual name. He

41412-423: The new NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion. On 3 May at Wrestling Dontaku 2012 , Devitt lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Low Ki in his fifth defense, ending his second reign at 227 days. On 27 May, Devitt entered the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament , which he started off with losses against Kushida and Taichi. Devitt bounced back, winning five out of his six remaining matches, including

41650-426: The offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute, substituted player, and to non-players such as managers and support staff. Rather than stopping play,

41888-399: The original thirteen laws of the game. The sticking point was hacking, which a twelfth club at the meeting, Blackheath FC , had wanted to keep, resulting in them withdrawing from the FA. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, and instead in 1871, along with Blackheath, formed the Rugby Football Union . The FA rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and

42126-420: The other half of No Remorse Corps, Rocky Romero, to make his third IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship defense. On 4 January 2012 at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome , Devitt and Taguchi defeated Richards and Romero to once again regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, starting Devitt's record-breaking sixth reign as one half of the champions. On 12 February at The New Beginning , Apollo 55 lost

42364-432: The pitch does not become square. In 2008, the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (115 yd) long and 68 m (74 yd) wide as a standard pitch dimension for international matches; however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented. The longer boundary lines are touchlines , while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines . A rectangular goal

42602-437: The pitch, making it more socially acceptable for women to play. The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow . In England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895. Women's football has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom. Association football continued to be played by women since

42840-437: The player spends the most time. For example, there are central defenders and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of

43078-400: The players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa . Trailing 1–0 with two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty kick. Villa's goalkeeper deliberately kicked the ball out of play; by

43316-668: 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

43554-439: 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

43792-400: The quickest wrestler in WWE history to win a world title at 27 days following his main roster debut by becoming the inaugural WWE Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2016 . Bálor is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a one-time United States Champion . Bálor became a Grand Slam Champion on September 2, 2023, at Payback , winning the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, and

44030-434: The record for most defenses during a single reign. When Kota Ibushi was forced to vacate the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after dislocating his left shoulder, Devitt, as the previous champion, was ushered into a decision match to determine a new champion. On 19 September, Devitt defeated Kushida to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On 10 October at Destruction '11 , Devitt and Taguchi lost

44268-416: The referee may allow play to continue if doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within "a few seconds". Even if an offence is not penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at

44506-419: The referee. Stoppage time does not fully compensate for the time in which the ball is out of play , and a 90-minute game typically involves about an hour of "effective playing time". The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, towards the end of the half, the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time they intend to add. The fourth official then informs

44744-440: The respective six confederations. The World Cup has been held every four years since; by 2019 , it had expanded to 24 national teams, and 1.12 billion viewers watched the competition. Four years later , FIFA targeted the 32-team 2023 Women's World Cup at an audience of 2 billion, while about 1.4 million tickets were sold, setting a Women's World Cup record. Women's football has been an Olympic event since 1996 . North America

44982-554: The returning Randy Orton in a losing effort. On 18 December episode of Raw, Bálor and Priest successfully defended their titles against the Creed Brothers . At the Royal Rumble on 27 January, Bálor entered the Royal Rumble match at #14, eliminating Carmelo Hayes alongside Dominik before being eliminated by Bron Breakker . On the following episode of Raw, Bálor and Priest defeated DIY ( Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa ) to retain their titles. At Elimination Chamber: Perth on 24 February, Bálor and Priest successfully defended

45220-459: The returning Sami Zayn in an impromptu title defense. On 15 April episode of Raw , he lost a non-title match to the debuting Andrade after interference from Zelina Vega . In the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up , Bálor moved to the SmackDown brand, making his debut on 16 April episode of SmackDown , defeating Ali in a non-title match. At Super ShowDown on 7 June, Balor successfully defended his title against Andrade under his "Demon" persona. At

45458-420: The ring name Prince Devitt . Within the promotion, he is a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion , having held the title twice with Minoru and four times with Ryusuke Taguchi . He is also a two-time winner of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, having won in 2010 and 2013 , as well as being a founding member and the original leader of

45696-420: The rivalry between the two former partners. On 6 April at Invasion Attack 2014 , one year after the break-up of Apollo 55, Devitt faced Taguchi in a singles grudge match. During the match, Devitt repeatedly told The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), the two newest members of Bullet Club, not to interfere in the match, which eventually led to them turning on him. In the end, Taguchi defeated Devitt, after which

45934-469: The rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart. At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2022–23 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.85 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers , or forwards, whose main task

46172-412: The semi-finals and Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the finals on 7 October at NXT TakeOver: Respect to win the tournament. On 4 November episode of NXT , Bálor defended the NXT Championship against Apollo Crews , but the match ended in a no contest after Baron Corbin interfered, attacking both men. Joe came out and chased Corbin away before turning on Bálor and attacking him, which ignited a feud between

46410-411: The semifinals and then Alex Shelley in the finals to win his second Best of the Super Juniors. Following his win, Devitt challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi, while also naming his next goal; becoming the first wrestler to hold the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and IWGP Heavyweight Championships simultaneously. On 22 June at Dominion 6.22 , Devitt defeated Tanahashi with help from Bullet Club to earn his first shot at

46648-441: The sexes are so widely divided are all on the side of emancipation , and I look forward to the time when ladies may sit in Parliament and have a voice in the direction of affairs, especially those which concern them most." Honeyball and those like her paved the way for women's football. However, the women's game was frowned upon by the British football associations and continued without their support. It has been suggested that this

46886-451: The stable, Devitt teamed with CTU leader, Jushin Thunder Liger to take on Wataru Inoue and Ryusuke Taguchi . In a huge twist, Devitt was the one to make the final cover on Inoue following a stiff brainbuster. From then on he was officially recognized as a member of the CTU. His momentum was halted in January 2007, when he suffered a serious knee injury, sidelining him from in-ring action in New Japan until early May of that year. Following

47124-440: 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

47362-425: The team known collectively as the Golden☆Lovers , came back on 11 October at Destruction '10 and defeated Devitt and Taguchi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On 11 December, Devitt made his third successful IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship defense, defeating another New Japan outsider, Davey Richards . On 4 January 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome , Devitt successfully defended

47600-426: 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,

47838-447: The time it was recovered, the clock had run out and the game was over, leaving Stoke unable to attempt the penalty. The same law also states that the duration of either half is extended until a penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed; thus, no game can end with an uncompleted penalty. In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required, various methods may be employed to break such

48076-475: The time of the first recorded women's games in the late 19th century. The best-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies' Football Club . Honeyball is quoted as, "I founded the association late last year [1894], with the fixed resolve of proving to the world that women are not the 'ornamental and useless' creatures men have pictured. I must confess, my convictions on all matters where

48314-399: The title. At the Greatest Royal Rumble event on 27 April, Bálor once again unsuccessfully challenged for the Intercontinental Championship in a fatal four–way ladder match against Rollins, Miz and Samoa Joe. Bálor competed in a Money in the Bank ladder match on 17 June, however, the match was ultimately won by Braun Strowman . After the Money in the Bank pay–per–view, Bálor engaged in

48552-408: The title. Following his win, Devitt accepted a challenge for the title made by his tag team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi. On 3 February, Devitt picked up a big win, when he pinned reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi in a tag team match, where he and Karl Anderson faced Tanahashi and Taguchi. Seven days later, Devitt defeated Taguchi at The New Beginning for his second successful defense of

48790-400: The titles against New Catch Republic ( Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate ). At Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on 6 April, Bálor and Priest lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championship to A-Town Down Under ( Austin Theory and Grayson Waller ) and the Raw Tag Team Championship to The Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth) respectively in a six-pack tag team ladder match , ending their second reign with

49028-422: The tournament or be the champion. Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament, with goals scored in a penalty shoot-out not making up part of the final score. In competitions using two-legged matches , each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from

49266-408: The transmission of cuju outside of China, especially the form of the game popular in the Tang dynasty , the period when the inflatable ball was invented and replaced the stuffed ball. Other East Asian games include kemari in Japan and chuk-guk in Korea, both influenced by cuju . Kemari originated after the year 600 during the Asuka period . It was a ceremonial rather than

49504-428: 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

49742-471: 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

49980-508: The two defeated Owens and Joe in a tag team match. Over the following weeks, Bálor would score victories over Jinder Mahal and Curt Hawkins while also receiving an ominous warning from Bray Wyatt and confronting Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson . On 4 June at Extreme Rules , Bálor competed in a fatal five–way extreme rules match to determine the number one contender for Brock Lesnar 's Universal Championship, in which Bálor lost after he passed out from Samoa Joe's Coquina Clutch . In

50218-439: The two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg they played away from home. If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a penalty shoot-out are required. Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play . From

50456-440: The two men shook hands, ending their rivalry with each other. The following day, New Japan announced Devitt's resignation from the promotion. On 15 May 2014, Devitt was reported to have signed with WWE and would join NXT , then the promotion's developmental territory , once he obtained a visa. On 28 July, WWE officially confirmed Devitt's signing, announcing he would report to NXT that same day. On 24 September, his new ring name

50694-427: The two took place on 20 July and saw Okada defeat Devitt, despite interference from the rest of Bullet Club, to retain his title. On 1 August, Devitt defeated Okada, with help from Fale, in the main event of the first day of the 2013 G1 Climax . Despite three other big wins over former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima , and Togi Makabe , Devitt failed to advance from his block, finishing with

50932-419: The two. At NXT TakeOver: London on 16 December, Bálor defeated Joe to retain the title. On 1 April at NXT TakeOver: Dallas , Bálor retained the NXT Championship in a rematch with Joe. On 17 April, Bálor became the longest reigning NXT Champion in history (the record has since broken by Adam Cole in 2020) by surpassing Neville's previous record of 287 days. On 21 April, Bálor lost the NXT Championship to Joe at

51170-510: The undisputed titles at 173 days. As Priest won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL, Bálor would begin teaming with McDonagh. They helped Priest retain his title against Jey Uso on 4 May at Backlash France despite Priest asking them not to interfere. On 13 May episode of Raw, Bálor and McDonagh won a fatal four-way match to become the #1 contenders to Awesome Truth's newly renamed World Tag Team Championship after interference from Carlito , who began inserting himself into

51408-447: The vacant NXT Championship for the second time. At NXT TakeOver 31 on 4 October, Bálor made a successful title defense against Kyle O'Reilly . It was revealed he had suffered a broken jaw during the match and was forced to undergo surgery. Bálor made his return on 9 December episode of NXT where he was confronted by O'Reilly, Pete Dunne , Damian Priest and Scarlett (on behalf of Karrion Kross ). Balor would then successfully defend

51646-405: 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

51884-535: 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

52122-402: The weeks leading up to SummerSlam , Bálor began a feud with Elias after he inadvertently interrupted one of his performances. This led to a No Disqualification match between the two, which Bálor lost after interference from Bray Wyatt. This led to a match between the two, where Wyatt defeated Bálor. At SummerSlam on 20 August, Bálor returned his "Demon King" character and defeated Wyatt in

52360-420: 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

52598-457: Was Charterhouse . The Freemasons' Tavern was the setting for five more meetings of The FA between October and December 1863; the English FA eventually issued the first comprehensive set of rules named Laws of the Game , forming modern football. The laws included bans on running with the ball in hand and hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Eleven clubs, under the charge of FA secretary Ebenezer Cobb Morley , ratified

52836-425: 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

53074-403: Was a fan of The British Bulldogs , Shawn Michaels , Mr. Perfect , Rick Rude , Savio Vega , and Koko B. Ware . After training at NWA UK Hammerlock, Devitt made his professional wrestling debut on 23 November 2001. He quickly won the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship . After graduating, his wrestling career started quickly, and he began touring Ireland, the United Kingdom, and

53312-478: Was again pinned by Rojo in a six-man tag team match, where he teamed with Blue Panther and La Sombra to face Rojo, Mr. Águila and Taichi. Afterwards, Devitt accepted Rojo's challenge for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship. On the 28 September CMLL Super Viernes show, Devitt lost the title to Rojo, ending his reign at 182 days. Devitt returned to New Japan on 8 October at King of Pro-Wrestling , challenging IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Low Ki to

53550-488: 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

53788-408: Was defeated. As part of the 2021 Draft , Bálor was drafted to the Raw brand , where he participated in the King of the Ring tournament, being defeated in the finals by Xavier Woods on 21 October at Crown Jewel . On 28 February 2022 episode of Raw , Bálor defeated Damian Priest to win the WWE United States Championship for the first time in his career. On 18 April episode of Raw , Bálor lost

54026-469: Was drafted to the Raw brand as the fifth overall pick in the 2016 WWE draft , later declaring that he should have been the first pick. He made his first appearance for the brand on 25 July episode of Raw (on his 35th birthday), where he won the right to compete for the newly established WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam by first defeating Rusev , Cesaro , and Kevin Owens in a fatal four–way match and then defeating Roman Reigns , who had won

54264-466: Was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by his own tag team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi. On 18 June at Dominion 6.18 , Devitt lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Best of the Super Juniors winner, Kota Ibushi, ending his reign at 364 days. On 23 June, Devitt, Taguchi and Hirooki Goto won their second J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in a row by defeating the team of Giant Bernard , Jushin Thunder Liger and Karl Anderson in

54502-474: Was first recorded as in exercise in the Zhan Guo Ce , a military history from the Han dynasty . Cuju players would pass the ball around, having to avoid it touching the ground at any point. It was then passed to a designated player, who attempted to kick it through the fengliu yan , a circular goal atop 10–11 meter poles. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), cuju games were standardised and rules were established. The Silk Road facilitated

54740-419: Was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca . Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures. The Chinese competitive game cuju ( 蹴鞠 , literally "kickball"; also known as tsu chu ) resembles modern association football as well as a mix of basketball, and volleyball. This is the earliest form of a kicking game for which there is historical evidence. The game

54978-440: Was motivated by a perceived threat to the "masculinity" of the game. Women's football became popular on a large scale at the time of the First World War , when female employment in heavy industry spurred the growth of the game, much as it had done for men 50 years earlier. The most successful team of the era was Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. of Preston, England . The team played in one of the first women's international matches against

55216-403: Was once again defeated in the finals of the tournament, this time by Naomichi Marufuji . On 4 January 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome , Devitt and Taguchi successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Averno and Último Guerrero . On 21 April, Devitt and Taguchi were stripped of the title, after not defending them for 30 days. On 8 May, the two entered

55454-447: Was originally going to be called King David until people started questioning why the 24-year-old would be a king already. Eventually, Simon Inoki came up with the name Prince Devitt, which Devitt himself also preferred. During his time in Japan, Devitt started to use body paint during some matches. When he signed with WWE, Devitt worked under two characters: Finn Bálor (named after the legendary Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and Balor of

55692-523: 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

55930-632: Was revealed to be Finn Bálor, derived from Irish mythological figures Fionn mac Cumhaill and Balor (the latter is also Gaelic for "Demon King"). Bálor made his NXT debut on 6 November, aiding Hideo Itami against The Ascension ( Konnor and Viktor ). In his debut match on 23 October, he and Itami defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd in a tag team match. After feuding with The Ascension, Bálor and Itami defeated them at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution on 11 December, where he also debuted his signature body paint. Bálor then entered an NXT Championship number one contender's tournament, defeating Curtis Axel in

56168-437: Was scheduled to have a match against Velveteen Dream , but Bálor was knocked out by an unknown attacker before he could leave his dressing room. Two weeks later, Bálor concluded that there was a "snake hiding in the long grass back there" and that whoever attacked him wanted a push. Bálor assured the audience that it won't be a push, but rather a squash. Later that night, he got into an altercation with Cameron Grimes , leading to

56406-415: 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

56644-417: 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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