Mid 20th Century
93-582: Big Apple Blizzard Blast was a professional wrestling live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on February 3, 1996. The event was held in the Lost Battalion Hall in Queens , New York City , New York in the United States. Excerpts from Big Apple Blizzard Blast aired on episodes #146 and #147 of the syndicated television show ECW Hardcore TV , while the event
186-639: A double arm DDT onto a steel chair. Following the match, Francine came to the ring and offered to become the manager of the Eliminators. This was revealed to be a trick, with Francine's clients the Pitbulls attacking the Eliminators, delivering a superbomb to Kronus and choking Saturn with a chain before Francine cut his hair off. The fourth bout was another tag team match pitting Raven (the then- ECW World Heavyweight Champion ) and Stevie Richards against Shane Douglas and Tommy Dreamer in
279-446: 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
372-508: A "handler". If a wrestler's character calls for it, a handler is the only person who can manage the behavior of a "wild" wrestler who is prone to "go out of control". A classic example of this was The Undertaker , who in his early Deadman persona could only be controlled by Paul Bearer , through an urn which was said to have all of the Undertaker's powers. A legitimate example is Arnold Skaaland , who not only managed Andre The Giant for
465-413: 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
558-469: 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
651-519: 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
744-585: 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
837-400: A continuation of the long-running feud between Raven and Dreamer. The match ended when Dreamer's valet Beulah McGillicutty tied a frying pan to his boot and he delivered an enzuigiri to Richards, then pinned him. The fifth bout saw WWA World Welterweight Champion Rey Misterio Jr. defend his title against the debuting Juventud Guerrera (substituting for Psicosis , who had missed
930-402: 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 . Valet (professional wrestling) In professional wrestling , a manager
1023-409: A distraction to opposing wrestlers or referees . The role of a valet is a significant part of professional wrestling history, at least within the context of North American industry. Historically, North American women wrestlers often received less attention or recognition compared to their male counterparts and often did not enjoy the same exposure compared to their Japanese or Mexican counterparts. As
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#17327915737061116-410: 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
1209-414: 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
1302-405: 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
1395-799: 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
1488-440: 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
1581-514: A result, the purpose of a valet role is to provide female talent more opportunities as well as visibility within the industry. It is thought that a valet, by virtue of her presence and/or the dynamics of her relationship with her associated wrestler, could contribute an element that amplifies their personas and get their act over. Many valets are not required to cut promos on their associated wrestler's behalf and generally have rather passive roles, since their physical appearance tend to be emphasized at
1674-488: A sellout and a scumbag. As a matter of fact, I was showered by chants of "You sold out, you sold out" on my way out of the ring. The third bout saw ECW World Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck defend their titles against the Eliminators . The match was marked by dissension between Cactus Jack and Whipwreck, with Cactus Jack - who had signed with the World Wrestling Federation and
1767-630: A time but was once assigned by promoter Vince McMahon Sr. as his real life handler. Skaaland was responsible for keeping Andre, known for his alcoholism, out of serious trouble and to ensure that he would reach a venue in time to wrestle a scheduled match. A few managers, like Paul Ellering , are legitimate managers in the truest sense of the word, taking care of the day-to-day needs of their clients by dealing with travel arrangements, rentals, lodgings and even contractual negotiations. Others, such as Jim Cornette or Gary Hart , participate as real-life bookers and/or road agents for their promotions behind
1860-503: 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
1953-586: 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
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#17327915737062046-431: Is a supporting character paired with a wrestler (or wrestlers) for a variety of reasons. A woman accompanying, or "seconding", a male wrestler to a match is sometimes referred to as a valet . Performers who assume this role may be non-wrestlers, occasional wrestlers, older wrestlers who have retired or are nearing retirement, the tag team partner of the wrestler they are managing, or new wrestlers who are breaking into
2139-410: 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
2232-423: Is and going out of their way to find bigger and better opponents to challenge, or rally the audience to chant and cheer in support of their client during matches. Often the very act of aligning with a manager, or conversely breaking away from a manager they've worked with, can change a wrestler's alignment, making them a sudden fan favourite face or a heel. Certain wrestlers employ a specific kind of manager known as
2325-624: 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
2418-776: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
2511-933: The "Three Wise Men" ( Lou Albano , Freddie Blassie , and The Grand Wizard ) in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now the WWE). By the 2000s, major promotions like the WWE have favoured elevating the careers of wrestlers who are able to speak for themselves. As a result, the previously ubiquitous role of a manager has declined in favor of either female valets who occasionally get involved in wrestling matches, or by people who hold on-screen power as General Managers, Commissioners or various corporate officer positions. However, contemporary wrestling personalities such as Paul Heyman and Vickie Guerrero have demonstrated that managers are still effective at drawing heat, and when used judiciously, are capable of changing
2604-584: 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
2697-400: 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
2790-509: 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
2883-411: 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
Big Apple Blizzard Blast - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-653: 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
3069-554: The Blue Meanie unconscious using his Singapore cane , drawing out Raven himself. Stevie Richards then announced that he was suing Missy Hyatt - who had kissed him at Holiday Hell - for sexual harassment (an in-joke referring to Hyatt's legitimate lawsuit against her former employer World Championship Wrestling for sexual harassment). Raven then invited Hyatt to join Raven's Nest , but she refused and instead agreed to become
3162-408: 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
3255-488: 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
3348-457: The Sandman - then came to the ring. Woman, who had signed a contract with rival promotion World Championship Wrestling and had already appeared on WCW Monday Nitro , acknowledged that she was joining WCW and tried to convince announcer Joey Styles and ECW mainstay the Sandman to come to WCW with her. After both men declined, Woman refused to leave the building. 2 Cold Scorpio then came to
3441-402: The Sandman . The match ended when 2 Cold Scorpio pinned Mustafa using a roll-up after spraying hair spray in his eyes. 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
3534-581: The Sandman's manager. The sixth bout, which was not included on the VHS, was a tag team match between the Headhunters and the Pitbulls which was won by the Pitbulls. Paul booked me against RVD and wanted to use the match as our official TV debut. Rob and I had similar styles, similar size, and similar worldwide experience. He'd spent some time overseas and made a name for himself in Japan just as I had. But
3627-695: The WWE. A male performer who accompanies a prominent female wrestler to the ring could be considered a valet as well, though this is exceptionally rare. While they are not managers in the traditional sense, enforcers —full-time wrestlers who accompany another wrestler to the ring—also serve both in and out of storylines to further the interests of a wrestler in their care. They are named after Arn Anderson 's nickname, The Enforcer, whose career has been highlighted by his association with Ric Flair and various members of The Four Horsemen stable. Enforcers appear in storylines where wrestlers need to have their back watched by keeping outside interference from taking place in
3720-401: 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
3813-418: 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
Big Apple Blizzard Blast - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-561: 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
3999-415: The bout by pinfall using a Lionsault . This was Jericho's second match with ECW, and was scheduled to be his first televised match. In what Jericho described as the "Jericho Curse", the match went poorly, with ECW promoter Paul Heyman telling Jericho that the recording of the match was defective as an excuse for not airing it. In 2018, WWE - which acquired the footage following the closure of ECW - added
4092-412: 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
4185-559: The business (or a specific company) and need experience in front of the crowds. The wrestler who is paired with a manager may be referred to as their charge, client, or ward. A professional wrestling manager's portrayal as a wrestler's decision-maker is usually fictional and has nothing to do with a wrestler or promotion's real-world counterpart or road agent . Managers are akin to storyline agents for an actor or an athlete ; they help their client to book matches and appearances, and otherwise work to further and guide their career. Within
4278-424: 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
4371-418: 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
4464-423: 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
4557-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
4650-468: 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
4743-480: The context of storylines , the manager positions their client for title opportunities , generally acts as a mouthpiece on their behalf, decides whom to trust as an ally, or serves as an exposed Achilles' heel to be exploited by their client's opponents. Managers could be utilized by a promotion's booker to instigate and strengthen storylines; their involvement could form the center of a controversy, for instance if they double-cross their clients or inadvertently cause
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#17327915737064836-540: 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
4929-405: 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
5022-519: The exclusion of all other traits; other valets may deviate from convention and assert a dominant role over their wrestlers, if their characters call for it. In spite of their limited wrestling ability, perceived or otherwise, valets are more likely to participate in the occasional wrestling match in comparison to managers, and are frequently booked in mixed tag team matches against rival valets and their associated wrestlers as part of storyline angles. There are also numerous examples of female performers in
5115-603: 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
5208-470: 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
5301-610: 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
5394-460: 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
5487-526: 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
5580-492: 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
5673-480: 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
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#17327915737065766-496: 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
5859-417: The loss or forfeiture of their clients' championship titles. Outside of storylines, a manager's job is to help the wrestler they are paired with get over . The manager would cut promos on behalf of clients who may not be as charismatic (or had gimmicks depicting them as silent, or with limited ability to speak English). As such, successful managers almost invariably had the " gift of the gab ", though it
5952-427: The match sucked worse than a toothless vampire. We were a step off on everything and there was no sign of the chemistry we'd had the night before. The fans turned on us, chanting "This match sucks," "Please go home", "End this match." Even the dreaded "You fucked up" chant reared its ugly head when I screwed up a simple arm drag . The seventh bout was a singles match between Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam . Jericho won
6045-522: The match to the WWE Network . The eighth bout was a singles match between Buh Buh Ray Dudley and J.T. Smith. Dudley won the bout in under one minute, pinning Smith following a powerbomb . The penultimate match was a singles bout between Mr. Hughes and Sabu . Sabu won the match by pinfall following a spinning heel kick using a chair. The main event of Big Apple Blizzard Blast was a tag team match between The Gangstas and 2 Cold Scorpio and
6138-498: 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
6231-575: The mid-1990s, managers were very common because they served a secondary purpose: "getting heat ". During the territorial era, most managers did not travel from territory to territory, but instead remained in one territory to provide instant heat to the promotion's new heel acts. Notable examples include "The Mouth of The South" Jimmy Hart in Memphis, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in the American Wrestling Association , Sunny and
6324-512: The premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
6417-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
6510-439: 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
6603-415: The ring and carried Woman out of the building, depositing her in a limousine and instructing the chauffeur to "take that bitch to Atlanta !" (the headquarters of WCW). After Woman had left, the Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards came to the ring to try and convince the Sandman to withdraw from his scheduled match against ECW World Heavyweight Champion Raven at Cyberslam . The Sandman refused and knocked
6696-434: The scenes while performing concurrently as managers. In the early years of pro wrestling , the vast majority of professional wrestling managers were men, and female managers were rare. A number of prominent women like Miss Elizabeth , Sherri Martel and Woman made their debuts during the 1980s professional wrestling boom and went on to have storied careers in several wrestling promotions as wrestling managers. Up until
6789-474: The show). Misterio won a fast-paced lucha libre bout by pinfall after reversing a sitout crucifix powerbomb into a hurricanrana . Following the match, Taz and Bill Alfonso came to the ring, resulting in a confrontation with Misterio that ended with Taz German suplexing Misterio. J.T. Smith then attacked Misterio until being attacked himself by Hack Meyers . Woman - the Manager of 2 Cold Scorpio and
6882-440: 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
6975-440: The tactics depend on several factors, especially alignment. Managers, when used judiciously, can completely change the tone and inner workings of a wrestling match. A heel manager, for example, may instruct their clients to constantly duck tougher opponents or interfere in their matches to secure a win by cheating. A face manager, on the other hand, may spend the majority of their interview time talking about how tough their client
7068-426: 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,
7161-428: The tone and inner workings of a wrestling match by contributing drama and tension. Although "manager" and "valet" are terms sometimes used interchangeably for a woman who accompanies a wrestler to the ring, a major point of difference is that the former is specifically depicted as a professional spokesperson who crafts and/or guides a wrestler's career, while the latter may serve as little more than eye candy and/or as
7254-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
7347-471: 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
7440-405: 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
7533-535: 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
7626-420: 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
7719-443: The wrestling industry who started off as valets and went on to be recognized as marquee competitors in their own right, such as Lita , Trish Stratus , and The Fabulous Moolah . Male supporting characters who fit the original definition of a valet are uncommon in professional wrestling; a recent example was Ricardo Rodriguez , who performed as Alberto Del Rio 's on-screen attendant and personal ring announcer during his tenure in
7812-481: Was Joel Gertner . In the opening bout, Taz defeated The Shark Attack Kid in a squash using the Tazmission . Following the match, Taz challenged 911 to come to the ring. ECW commissioner Tod Gordon came out instead of 911, resulting in a brawl between Gordon and Taz's manager Bill Alfonso . After Taz attacked Gordon, Bam Bam Bigelow made his surprise debut, chasing away Taz and Alfonso. The second bout
7905-425: 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
7998-408: Was a tag team match between the Headhunters and Axl Rotten and El Puerto Riqueño . The match ended when one of the Headhunters pinned El Puerto Ricano following a moonsault . Sure enough, the crowd was hot when I hit the ring with Mikey to defend the belts . [...] We lost the belts that night, and I turned on poor Mikey, who had just wrestled his heart out - further cementing my new image as
8091-488: 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
8184-402: Was facetiously championing hardcore wrestling - repeatedly hindering Whipwreck, including blocking him from applying holds . Whipwreck in turn prevented Cactus Jack from using a broken bottle as a weapon. The match ended when Cactus Jack distracted Whipwreck, enabling the Eliminators to perform Total Elimination on him and pin him. After the match, Cactus Jack turned on Whipwreck, giving him
8277-417: Was not unheard of to see managers paired with wrestlers who had no trouble cutting their own promos. A notable example of this would be CM Punk , who was managed by Paul Heyman from 2012 to 2013. Punk had no trouble cutting his own promos, but Heyman would also cut his own promos alongside Punk in support of his client's act. While the basic goal of a manager to give their wrestlers a push does not change,
8370-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
8463-414: Was released on VHS in 1996. It was made available for streaming on the WWE Network in 2020. Excerpts from the event also featured on A Current Affair , which had a film crew at ringside. The bout between Juventud Guerrera and Rey Misterio Jr. also appeared on the 2007 DVD Rey Mysterio – The Biggest Little Man . The commentator for Big Apple Blizzard Blast was Joey Styles . The ring announcer
8556-415: 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
8649-417: 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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