Mid 20th Century
164-709: Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes , with a nickname of "The Natural" and is a member of The Sons of Texas. He also appears in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) where he is a double champion: he is currently one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions alongside Sammy Guevara , and one-third of
328-400: A Match of 10,000 Tacks . Originally, this match was signed to be Abyss and Rhino versus Rellik and Black Reign but, due to an injury, Rhino was replaced by Raven for this match. On Impact! , he helped Rellik beat up Kaz . Later the same night, he appeared for an interview, as Dustin Rhodes, without his Black Reign make-up and stated that his "alter ego" has been scaring him since when he was
492-536: A WarGames match . Rhodes lost the title to Steve Austin in a Two out of three falls match at Starrcade , after losing both falls. In March 1994, Rhodes started feuding with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Robert Parker . After Parker introduced Arn Anderson and Terry Funk as adversaries for Runnels, Runnels responded by bringing his father, a former enemy of Funk, back into the ring to team with him again against Parker's Stud Stable. In December 1994, Parker introduced another opponent for Rhodes, The Blacktop Bully . At
656-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
820-585: A fan favorite . In May 1997, Goldust revealed his identity as Dustin Runnels, the son of Dusty Rhodes. In the summer and fall of that year, he joined other wrestlers in their conflict with The Hart Foundation , feuding in particular with Brian Pillman . Goldust defeated Pillman at SummerSlam in which Pillman was forced to wear a dress for a month, then Pillman challenged Goldust again to a match at Ground Zero: In Your House , Goldust agreed that if he lost, he would lose Marlena to Pillman for 30 days, Goldust lost
984-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1148-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1312-770: A No-Contest. On February 4, 2004, he debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as "The Lone Star" Dustin Rhodes, unsuccessfully challenging Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . On February 18, Runnels and El Leon defeated Kevin Northcutt and Legend in a tag team bout. In December 2004, he returned to TNA, once again wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. on the January 7, 2005, episode of Impact, Rhodes and Jeff Hardy defeated Kash and Dallas . On
1476-605: A Street Fight between Batista and Coachman on behalf of Coachman at Taboo Tuesday . Following the event, Goldust once again disappeared from television. In January 2006, Goldust took part in the Royal Rumble match and was assigned once again to the Raw brand until he was released from his WWE contract on June 14, 2006, for no-showing an appearance. Runnels made a short appearance at WrestleMania 22 to give Booker T advice on his match against The Boogeyman where he insinuated that
1640-413: 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
1804-532: 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
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#17328024384831968-519: 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
2132-585: 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
2296-441: A child's bedroom window. The gimmick was reported to have been based on "The Strangers" from the 1998 film noir Dark City . The character was dropped after Turner Standards and Practices expressed concern that this gimmick could be misinterpreted as a child abductor . Upon returning to WCW television, Rhodes removed his costume and delivered a worked shoot in which he mocked unrealistic gimmicks as well as his time as Goldust in
2460-565: A controversial double pin, with Rude initially being awarded the title. The championship was held up two weeks later. After a 30-minute Iron Man Match ended in a 1–1 draw at Beach Blast on July 18, a best-of-three series was set between the two on Saturday Night ; Rhodes lost the first match on August 28, but defeated Rude twice on September 4 and 11 to claim his second United States Heavyweight Championship. At Fall Brawl , Rhodes teamed with Sting , Davey Boy Smith and The Shockmaster to defeat Big Van Vader , Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat in
2624-412: 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 . Champion Carnival The Champion Carnival ( チャンピオン・カーニバル , Chanpion Kānibaru )
2788-407: A director's chair during Goldust's matches, advising him while smoking large brown cigars. A rematch between Goldust and Ramon at WrestleMania XII was canceled after Ramon was suspended, with Goldust instead fighting Roddy Piper in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl . At the end of the fight, Piper stripped Goldust of his ring attire to reveal him wearing women's lingerie ; Runnels revealed in 2018 that it
2952-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3116-410: 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
3280-538: A feud with Bobby Roode and at Lockdown , Rhodes defeated Roode in a 2 out of 3 falls Prince of Darkness cage match. His TNA contract expired in April 2005 and he chose not to renew it, leaving TNA. Runnels returned to World Wrestling Entertainment on October 31, 2005, as a heel and back under the Goldust attire, as Jonathan Coachman enlisted him and Vader to attack Batista. Goldust and Vader unsuccessfully interfered in
3444-651: A feud with ECW newcomers Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft . The duos exchanged victories in singles and tag team competition until the feud came to an end on the February 9 episode of ECW , when Goldust and Tatsu defeated Barreta and Croft in a match to determine the number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship . However, Goldust and Tatsu failed in capturing the titles on the final episode of ECW on Syfy . The team of Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu came to an end when Tatsu signed with
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#17328024384833608-469: A feud with Foundation member Terrence Taylor . In late 1991, Rhodes formed a tag-team with Barry Windham and began pursuing WCW Tag Team champions The Enforcers ( Arn Anderson and Zbyszko). The pair received a title shot at Clash of the Champions XVII , but Windham was (kayfabe) injured prior to the event by the champions when they slammed a car door on his wrist. A returning Ricky Steamboat
3772-515: A few weeks of Goldust saying that there was a certain wrestler whose "star was shining brighter" than he would like. He eventually revealed the person he was talking about was Rob Van Dam by attacking him on Raw , turning heel in the process. Van Dam defeated him in a singles match at No Way Out on February 17. After the loss, he moved on to the hardcore division, where he won the Hardcore Championship on nine occasions . When
3936-569: A film starring The Rock . In May 2002, Booker T joined the New World Order (nWo) , with Goldust's request to join the faction rejected. In June 2002, Booker T was ejected from the nWo by Shawn Michaels , sparking a feud between the nWo and Booker T and Goldust. Booker T and Goldust went on to compete in the tag team division, winning the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon before being forced to split up on
4100-486: A full-time return on the Raw roster once again on the November 24, 2008, episode of Raw , where he defeated Santino Marella . Goldust participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match and stared down his real-life half-brother, Cody Rhodes , but was eliminated by him later. Goldust participated at WrestleMania XXV as a lumberjack during the tag team championship unification match between The Colóns and John Morrison and
4264-405: 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
4428-403: A little kid. His interview was interrupted by the furious Kaz. This led to a match between the two at Final Resolution where Kaz won. Reign and his partner Rellik then began feuding with Eric Young and his new superhero gimmick Super Eric. At Destination X , Black Reign and Rellik faced Eric Young and Kaz in a losing effort. At Lockdown , Black Reign and Rellik competed in a Six Team Cuffed in
4592-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4756-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4920-565: A mysterious stalker was sending messages to Maryse and Ted DiBiase Jr. , but it was unsure who they were aimed at. On the October 4 episode of Raw , Goldust was revealed as the mystery stalker, but the messages were not directed to Maryse, but at DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship , which he then took. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
5084-440: 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
Dustin Rhodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-487: A point. After all wrestlers have faced each other once, the top two wrestlers advance to the final to determine the tournament winner. Baba himself holds the record for most Champion Carnival wins, having won the tournament seven times. Other notable winners include Abdullah the Butcher , Jumbo Tsuruta , Keiji Mutoh , Mitsuharu Misawa , Stan Hansen , Toshiaki Kawada and Kento Miyahara . Four wrestlers have won both
5412-539: A press conference, delaying this year's Champion Carnival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On May 28, they confirmed that the tournament has been moved to September. The 1973 Champion Carnival is the first edition of the Champion Carnival. It took place from March 17 to April 21, featuring fifteen wrestlers in a single-elimination format. Giant Baba received a first-round bye, and was the inaugural winner of
5576-447: A round-robin format. Giant Baba won the tournament for the sixth time. The 1982 Champion Carnival took place from March 23 to April 18, featuring eighteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. Giant Baba won the tournament for the seventh time. The 1991 Champion Carnival took place from March 23 to April 18, featuring fourteen wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format. The two wrestlers who finished atop each block met in
5740-420: A round-robin format. The tournament was won by Giant Baba , who defeated Abdullah the Butcher via countout in the finals. It was Baba's fifth tournament win. The 1979 Champion Carnival took place from March 3 to April 6, featuring sixteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won by Abdullah the Butcher , who defeated Jumbo Tsuruta in the second of two playoff matches after both men tied atop
5904-460: A single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final. Vader , reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , won the tournament in his first appearance. The 2000 Champion Carnival was held from March 24 to April 15, featuring sixteen wrestlers in a single-elimination format. Kenta Kobashi , reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , won the tournament in his 10th consecutive appearance. The 2001 Champion Carnival
6068-403: A split personality and stated that he was going to embrace it and let it out. TNA presented the interview as being an emotional breakdown on the part of Rhodes. On August 12 at Hard Justice , Rhodes debuted his new ring name, Black Reign, and a "new, darker and bizarre look". At Hard Justice, Harris defeated Black Reign via disqualification when Black Reign attacked several referees. The next week,
6232-671: A tag team with Lance Storm in August 2003. In fall 2003, Booker T began receiving mysterious, haunting messages for a few weeks from somebody. The messages only said "I remember". It was rumored that the messages would be from Goldust, which would have begun a feud between the two. Suddenly, the angle was never mentioned again on television and the company announced on their website that they would not be renewing Rhodes' contract. WWE allowed his contract to expire in December 2003. Following his release from WWE in December 2003, Runnels returned to
6396-452: A team ). Akiyama was unable to participate in the tournament as a result. The 1994 Champion Carnival took place from March 19 to April 16, featuring twelve wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format. Toshiaki Kawada won the tournament in his fourth appearance. The 1995 Champion Carnival took place from March 21 to April 15, featuring eleven wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format. Mitsuharu Misawa won
6560-751: A television taping in Atlanta, Georgia when he defeated Trent Knight. Rhodes' initial WCW run lasted only a few months, as he exited the company two months after his father. After suffering a loss to Butch Reed during a dark match for an NWA Main Event taping in The Omni on February 12, 1989, Rhodes closed out his initial WCW run with a win over Trent Knight in Walterboro, South Carolina on February 24. In March 1989, Runnels toured Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in its annual Champion Carnival , under
6724-503: 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
Dustin Rhodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-586: 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
7052-481: A victory over Steve Corino. He appeared with UWF throughout his second tenure with TNA, facing the likes of Scott Steiner , Sabu , David Flair , Andrew Martin , and D'Lo Brown . His tenure in UWF also saw him compete in the often-considered "cross-promotional" War Games match against Team JBL (managed by John Bradshaw Layfield , who was signed to WWE as a commentator at the time) consisting of Steve Corino, C.W. Anderson,
7216-428: Is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname Haru no Saiten ( 春の祭典 , "Spring Festival") and is sometimes abbreviated to CC . Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba , the tournament has been held annually since 1973 and is the longest-running singles tournament in professional wrestling, while also ranking as the most prestigious event in
7380-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
7544-554: Is a parody of the Oscars statuette . Adding to this aspect of the gimmick, Goldust often quoted or made references to classic Hollywood films during his promos. Under the gimmick, Runnels wore a predominately gold jumpsuit (with tads of other colors, such as white and black); black and gold face paint; and during entrances and promos, a glittery gold robe and a platinum blonde wig over his short platinum blonde hair. Years later, Runnels stated that Vince McMahon called him and offered him
7708-410: 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
7872-629: Is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Between WWE, WCW, and ROH, Runnels has won 25 total championships . In WCW, he was a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion , a one-time WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champion , and a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion . In the WWF/WWE, he is a three-time WWF Intercontinental Champion , nine-time WWE Hardcore Champion , one-time World Tag Team Champion , and two-time WWE Tag Team Champion . Runnels has also appeared in
8036-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
8200-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
8364-534: Is not recognized by NWA); the match would air on October 3. They held the belts for about two months before losing them to Steamboat and Shane Douglas in a memorable match on the November 18 edition of Clash of the Champions XXI . Windham turned on Rhodes after the match when Rhodes refused to pin Steamboat after an accidental low blow. In January 1993, Rhodes reached the final of a tournament to decide
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#17328024384838528-522: The ECW brand via a 15-man trade. His debut match for the brand came on the July 14 episode of ECW , in which he lost to Zack Ryder . In the upcoming weeks, he started a feud with Sheamus leading to his first televised singles win in several months on Superstars against Sheamus pinning him using an inside cradle . After several weeks of feuding , Sheamus defeated Goldust in a "No Disqualification" match on
8692-748: The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Al Perez on May 23, 1989, holding it for a month. In December 1988, Runnels debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Rhodes teamed with Kendall Windham in an undercard tag team called The Texas Broncos that saw success against The Cruel Connection and The Commandos. Their first defeat came against The Original Midnight Express at a house show on December 10, 1988, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rhodes's first singles match came two days later at
8856-624: 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
9020-575: The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions alongside Marshall and Ross Von Erich in their first reign both as a team and individually. He is previously known for wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation / WWE from 1995 to 2018 (on and off), under the ring name Goldust . A second generation wrestler, he is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of Cody Rhodes . He
9184-582: The Raw brand after ECW on SyFy was canceled. On March 3, 2010, Goldust joined the SmackDown brand, He made his debut for the brand on the March 4 episode of Superstars in a losing effort against Chris Jericho . The following week on Superstars , he won his first match as a SmackDown star after defeating Mike Knox using his finishing move, the Final Cut, as well as beating William Regal also using
9348-705: The Survivor Series . He then feuded with Razor Ramon , whom he stalked and sent messages to throughout late 1995. The feud culminated at the Royal Rumble on January 21, 1996, where Goldust defeated Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship due to interference from the 1–2–3 Kid . This match also marked the debut of Goldust's valet , Marlena, portrayed by his then wife Terri . With her seductive, coolly unconcerned, mysterious character and fully gold-colored wear, Marlena complemented Goldust. Her gimmick consisted of sitting at ringside in
9512-604: The Uncensored pay-per-view on March 19, 1995, Rhodes lost to The Blacktop Bully in the only King of the Road match in the company's history. The match, which was filmed several days earlier, resulted in both Rhodes and The Blacktop Bully being fired from the company, as the two had bladed during the match after being instructed to by one another, which was against corporate policy at the time in WCW. In August 1995, Runnels returned to
9676-676: The fourth most Royal Rumble matches , at 13. Runnels headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE (then WWF) and WCW during the 1990s. Runnels made his professional wrestling debut on September 13, 1988, as "Dustin Rhodes", defeating Bob Cook in a match for the Tampa-based Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) promotion. The promotion was renamed the Professional Wrestling Federation in February 1989 after Runnels' father, Dusty Rhodes, began wrestling there. Runnels captured
9840-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
10004-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
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#173280243848310168-602: The "Champion Carnival" in 1973 and Inoki creating the World League in 1974, later renaming it G1 Climax . The first Champion Carnival took place only six months after Baba had founded AJPW. The initial tournament was held in a single-elimination format and was intended for AJPW's heavyweight wrestlers such as Hiro Matsuda , Samson Kutsuwada and Thunder Sugiyama. For the tournament, Baba also recruited several foreign wrestlers, such as Baron Scicluna , The Destroyer , King Curtis Iaukea and Mark Lewin . Baba himself won
10332-584: 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
10496-400: 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
10660-509: 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
10824-494: The 28 Japanese AJPW wrestlers with him to form the new Pro Wrestling Noah promotion. Struggling to cope with the loss of the majority of its roster, AJPW eventually hired NJPW wrestler Keiji Mutoh to lead the promotion. Mutoh went on to win the Champion Carnival three times (2002, 2004 and 2007), before leaving the promotion in 2013, after which he was replaced by Jun Akiyama. 2013 also saw Akiyama finally win his first Champion Carnival, twenty years after his debut appearance in
10988-622: The AJPW calendar. It is considered a successor to the World League , held by Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) between 1959 and 1972, predating the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Climax tournament by a year. The tournament is held in a round-robin format, where all participating wrestlers face each other once with the winner being awarded two points and the loser none. A draw results in both wrestlers being awarded
11152-653: 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
11316-631: The Cage match which was won by Kaz and Super Eric. After three months of not showing up on television, Black Reign's profile was removed from the TNA roster page and he was released from his TNA contract. Following his release from TNA in early 2008, Runnels briefly returned to Coastal Championship Wrestling to face the members of Phi Delta Slam ( Bruno Sassi and Big Tilly ) before beginning his fifth stint in WWE in October 2008. On October 26, 2008, Runnels returned to
11480-701: The Champion Carnival and the G1 Climax: Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima , Kensuke Sasaki and Yuji Nagata , with Kojima the only one to win them alongside Fire Festival and Nagata the only one to win them alongside the Global League . From 1959 to 1972, the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), run by Rikidōzan , held a tournament called World League (also known as the "World Big League"), which featured both Japanese and foreign professional wrestlers. Rikidōzan himself dominated
11644-419: The Champion Carnival took place between April 21 and May 7. Yutaka Yoshie suffered an injury and was forced to forfeit the rest of his matches. Takumi Soya was injured after his fifth match and was pulled out of the tournament as well, forfeiting his final match. Jun Akiyama , the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , did not participate due to commitments with Pro Wrestling Noah . The 2013 version of
11808-405: The Champion Carnival tournament took place between April 18 to April 29. The 2014 version of the Champion Carnival tournament took place between April 13 and April 27. Akebono , reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , who was leading his block at the time, was forced to pull out of the tournament on April 22 after being hospitalized with poor health, forfeiting his last two matches (The title
11972-407: The Champion Carnival tournament took place between April 5 and April 12. The 2010 version of the Champion Carnival took place between April 3 and April 11. The 2011 version of the Champion Carnival tournament took place between April 8 and April 13. Kenso suffered an injury and was forced to drop out of the tournament after his first match, forfeiting the rest of his matches. The 2012 version of
12136-769: The February 17, 2007, All Japan Pro Wrestling show in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. On February 15, Rhodes, identified as Gold Dustin, appeared at ringside during a match involving The Great Muta , resulting in a brawl between Rhodes and The Great Muta. On February 17, Rhodes and Jinsei Shinzaki were defeated by The Great Muta and Yoshihiro Tajiri in a tag team bout. On July 15, 2007, Rhodes returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at Victory Road and aligned himself with Christian Cage by helping him defeat "Wildcat" Chris Harris . In an interview on TNA Impact! conducted by Mike Tenay , Rhodes discussed accusations of having
12300-545: The February 3, 2003, episode of Raw by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff for failing to win back the World Tag Team Championship. Following the dissolution of the tag team, Goldust contracted a stutter and Tourette's -like symptoms, upon receiving a shock from a Round Tube during an attack at the hands of Batista and Randy Orton . Goldust appeared in character on The Howard Stern Show in March 2003. He appeared sporadically thereafter, forming
12464-515: The Final Cut soon afterwards. He appeared in a dark 26-man battle royal match at WrestleMania XXVI , but failed to win, although his past ally Yoshi Tatsu won. As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft , Goldust was drafted back to the Raw brand. On the May 3 episode of Raw , Goldust made his re-debut for the brand in a backstage segment with the guest host for that week, Wayne Brady . In late September,
12628-402: The January 14 episode of Impact, Rhodes defeated Chris Candido. At Final Resolution , Rhodes defeated Kid Kash . on the February 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Rhodes and America's Most Wanted defeated Kid Kash, Dallas and Raven in a six-man tag team match. at Against All Odds , Rhodes lost to Raven but got payback at Destination X when he defeated Raven in a bullrope match. He then entered
12792-633: The Latin American Xchange, and Elix Skipper. Runnels was a member of Sgt. Slaughter 's Team Slaughter, along with the Steiner Brothers and the Mack Brothers. Team Slaughter won the bout. Runnels' final appearance with UWF was on September 22, 2007, where he and Abyss were on the losing end of a tag team bout against D'Lo Brown and a local football coach. On January 28, 2007, it was announced that Rhodes would appear at
12956-459: The Miz . On the May 25 episode of Raw , Goldust teamed up with Hornswoggle in a tag team match, where they defeated Festus and The Brian Kendrick . Goldust then teamed with Hornswoggle on multiple occasions, mainly feuding with Kendrick, where they had many matches both on WWE Superstars and Raw . The team of Goldust and Hornswoggle came to an end on June 29, 2009, when Goldust was traded to
13120-408: 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
13284-488: 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
13448-570: The September 1 episode of ECW on Syfy to end the feud. Following this loss, he garnered his first number one contender's match for the ECW Championship on the September 15, 2009, episode of ECW on Syfy in a 10-Man Battle Royal where he was the seventh participant eliminated and Zack Ryder earning the title shot in the end. The September 29, 2009, episode of ECW on Syfy saw Goldust win his first match on ECW in an eight-man tag team match where Yoshi Tatsu pinned William Regal to score
13612-408: The WWE at Cyber Sunday under his Goldust persona as part of the three choices (the other two being Roddy Piper and The Honky Tonk Man ) that the fans could choose to face Santino Marella for the Intercontinental Championship . After Honky Tonk Man was chosen and won via disqualification, Goldust and Piper entered the ring and the three candidates fought Marella, afterwards celebrating together in
13776-646: The WWF (now WWE) was against Paul Diamond on WWF on MSG Network on September 21, 1990. In November 1990, Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase in a televised ten-minute challenge match. On January 19, 1991, at the Royal Rumble , Rhodes and his father Dusty lost to Ted DiBiase and Virgil in a tag team bout, and both left immediately after. In February 1991, Runnels joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. He feuded with Larry Zbyszko until April 1991, when he refused to join Alexandra York's York Foundation , thus beginning
13940-688: The WWF, wrestling as a then- villain Goldust, nicknamed "the Bizarre One" because of his somewhat spooky, mysterious, bashful presentation yet sexual suggestiveness turned aggressions. In communications, Goldust frequently took to comical flirtation while maintaining a bashfully deadpan and monotone delivery and presence. Using in-ring psychology to his advantage, Goldust often performed lewd and flirtatious mind games to anger, confuse, and distract his opponents. He engaged in such tactics as groping and excessive physical affection towards his opponent in
14104-474: The WWF. After turning heel upon his return, Runnels began wrestling as "The American Nightmare" Dustin Rhodes, with his nickname a reference to his father's nickname, "The American Dream". "The American Nightmare" nickname would later be used by Runnels' half brother, Cody Rhodes . Rhodes feuded with Jeff Jarrett before feuding with Terry Funk . He was (kayfabe) fired by Vince Russo at Spring Stampede in April 2000 for failing to prevent Terry Funk from winning
14268-452: The World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and the roster was divided into two brands , Raw and SmackDown! , Goldust was assigned to the Raw brand, where he formed a tag team with Booker T . The duo engaged in numerous comedic vignettes, on one occasion hosting a segment titled Booker T and Goldust at the Movies and delivering reviews of The Scorpion King ,
14432-519: The acronym for which reads "EATME" – a thinly veiled joke on the WWF's part. Runnels declared himself a born again Christian , alluding to "his" return, and walking through the crowd with signs reading "he's coming back!". While the return of Christ was clearly implied, Runnels was in fact referencing the return of the Goldust gimmick, which he reprised in October 1998 against Val Venis and then in November 1998, he began feuding with Jeff Jarrett over
14596-400: The annual tournament early on, however, after his death in 1963, the tournament was won six times by Giant Baba and once by Antonio Inoki . JWA folded shortly after both Baba and Inoki left the promotion to create All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), respectively. Both men took the concept of World League with them to their new promotions, with Baba creating
14760-431: The appearance of The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust (a reference to Prince ), managed by Luna Vachon . He began mimicking celebrities and fellow wrestlers with characters such as " Chynadust ", " Dust Lovedust ", " Dustydust ", " Hunterdust ", " Flashdust ", " Marilyn Mansondust ", " Sabledust ", and " Vaderdust " in early 1998. Around this time, he made a legitimate push to management to get breast implants as part of
14924-401: 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
15088-418: 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
15252-502: The attention of his manager, Debra . In early 1999, Goldust feuded with Al Snow , upon stealing the mannequin Head, Snow's mascot, and The Blue Meanie , who had recently renamed himself "Bluedust" and adopted many of Goldust's mannerisms. After Goldust defeated Meanie at St. Valentine's Day Massacre , Meanie became Goldust's apprentice. After Ryan Shamrock became Goldust's valet, Meanie and Shamrock began vying for Goldust's attention. In
15416-561: 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
15580-424: 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
15744-418: 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
15908-423: 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
16072-512: 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
16236-540: 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
16400-405: 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
16564-603: 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
16728-467: The feud and kept her by his side. He also had a ladder match with Shawn Michaels at internet pay-per-view (iPPV) Xperience for the WWF Championship but lost the match. In December 1996, Goldust entered a feud with Hunter Hearst Helmsley , when Helmsley began flirting with Marlena. This feud lead to the debut of Chyna as Helmsley's new bodyguard and marked the first time Goldust became
16892-424: The final, a match that has been called "arguably the greatest Carnival tournament match of all time". For the next several years the tournament was dominated by AJPW's younger wrestlers with Kawada repeating his win, Mitsuharu Misawa winning two tournaments and Kenta Kobashi one tournament. The 1997 tournament ended in a rare three-way draw between Kawada, Kobashi and Misawa, resulting in a round-robin playoff between
17056-420: The final. Jumbo Tsuruta , the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , defeated Stan Hansen in the final. The 1992 Champion Carnival took place from March 20 to April 17, featuring twenty wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format. The two wrestlers who finished atop each block met in the final. Stan Hansen, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , defeated Mitsuharu Misawa in
17220-446: The final. The 1993 Champion Carnival took place from March 25 to April 21, featuring thirteen wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format. Stan Hansen repeated as tournament champion, a feat that had only been achieved by Giant Baba . Jun Akiyama suffered an arm injury in a tag team match on the first event of the tournament, partnered with Takao Omori against Satoru Asako and Masao Inoue (their first match as
17384-402: The final. Despite losing in the final, the tournament made Misawa a star, someone earmarked to occupy the promotion's top spot. A year later, Hansen again defeated Misawa in the final. The 1993 tournament was also noteworthy for introducing rookie Jun Akiyama . In 1994, Toshiaki Kawada became the first of the "young lions" to win the Champion Carnival, defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in
17548-470: 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
17712-407: The four wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the single-elimination tournament were put into a round-robin tournament , where the wrestler with the best record would be declared the winner. Baba went on to win the tournament for the third year in a row, defeating Gene Kiniski in the final. A year later, the single-elimination portion of the tournament was eliminated and the Champion Carnival
17876-610: 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
18040-411: The gimmick and mentioned " androgynous " several times; Runnels, wanting a separate identity from his father at the time, promptly accepted without knowing what the word "androgynous" meant, then promptly looked it up in the dictionary after getting off the phone with McMahon and shocked to see what it meant said to himself "What did I get myself in to?" Runnels himself admitted that the first few months of
18204-522: The gimmick before being talked out of it by McMahon. By June 1998, Goldust feuded with Val Venis , who had been involved with Terri during their separation. Now going by his real name, Runnels began speaking out (mostly in taped vignettes) on the increasingly edgy WWF product and promoting alternatives to watching the show such as reading the Bible. These vignettes were sponsored by the fictional group, "Evangelists Against Television, Movies and Entertainment",
18368-505: The gimmick was explored even further, saying that Rhodes constantly switched between Rhodes and Black Reign. He was featured at Bound for Glory in a Monster's Ball match against Rhino , Abyss , and Raven , which he lost. Black Reign challenged Abyss to a "Shop of Horrors" match at Genesis and lost. At Genesis, Black Reign's new partner, Rellik (which is "Killer" spelled backwards), made his debut after attacking Abyss. At Turning Point , Abyss and Raven defeated Black Reign and Rellik in
18532-534: The gimmick were uncomfortable for him as it didn't match his personality at all, but decided to work with what was given to him and "run with it". He would defeat Bob Holly at In Your House 3 in a dark match. Goldust won his television debut match on October 22, 1995, against Marty Jannetty at the In Your House 4 pay-per-view. He defeated the departing Bam Bam Bigelow in Bigelow's last WWF match at
18696-460: 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
18860-425: The inaugural tournament, defeating Lewin in the final. A year later, AJPW presented the second Champion Carnival, which most notably introduced former Olympian Jumbo Tsuruta , who eventually went on to become one of the promotion's top names. Baba also won the second Champion Carnival, this time defeating Mr. Wrestling in the final. Heading into the 1975 Champion Carnival, Baba changed the tournament's format. Now
19024-535: The independent circuit for the rest of 2004 and much of 2005, until the first WrestleReunion , teaming with his father and Mike Graham against Abdullah the Butcher , Kevin Sullivan , and CM Punk . After his departure from TNA, he made a few appearances with Dusty for CCW against Phi Delta Slam . Runnels also competed on the Tribute to Starrcade show on November 19 in a match against Terry Funk , which ended in
19188-538: The independent circuit while concurrently competing in his first stint with TNA. He first appeared for the Japanese promotion WORLD-1, as Dusty Rhodes Jr., working three dates in early April, all singles matches and all victories. In July, Runnels returned to the United States and appeared for Full Impact Pro , tag teaming with Barry Windham and defeating the Cuban Assassin and Ryze. Runnels did not appear on
19352-526: 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
19516-480: 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
19680-496: 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
19844-581: The main event. On October 14, he appeared with the UK promotion One Pro Wrestling , under the name Gold Dustin (the name he would use in AJPW) with a victory over Curry Man . While competing for AJPW in 2007, Runnels returned to CCW to feud with Phi Delta Slam, mainly in tag team matches with a variety of partners, including Kip James . In mid-2007, he made several appearances with Hermie Sadler 's UWF promotion to hype his return to TNA, making his debut on March 2 with
20008-481: The match to Pillman and was forced to lose Marlena, had Goldust won, Pillman would leave the WWF. Just before the thirty days were up, Pillman died of heart disease hours before the Badd Blood event on October 5, 1997. In November 1997, Goldust split with Marlena and refused to cooperate with his Survivor Series teammates, which once again turned him into a heel. This led to a feud with Vader in December 1997 and
20172-498: 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
20336-455: The midst of delivering his onslaught. To that end, one of Goldust's trademarks was his exaggerated, suggestively breathy inhalation whilst caressing his own body; this display ended in him exhaling through a startlingly vicious biting sound directed at his adversaries (also said between his catchphrase words You will never forget the name of and Goldust ). The character was portrayed as a drag queen obsessed with films and everything gold, which
20500-634: The name Dusty Rhodes Jr. He returned to AJPW for a ten and a twenty-day tour in the spring and summer of 1990. Runnels began wrestling in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in July 1989. There he feuded mainly with Tony Anthony for Anthony's CWA Heavyweight Championship but never won the belt. He left the USWA in the spring of 1990. Runnels debuted as a fan favorite in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1990, wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. His first match in
20664-581: The number one contender for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship . The champion Rick Rude was stripped of his title that same month, meaning the tournament final would be for the title. Rhodes faced his old partner Ricky Steamboat to win his first United States Heavyweight title. He successfully defended the title the following month at SuperBrawl III against Maxx Payne . Rude returned that April and quickly challenged Rhodes. Their first encounter resulted in
20828-510: The only way he could beat The Boogeyman was to put worms in his anus. After returning to his fourth stint with WWE, Runnels once again disappeared from the indies, but made a special appearance with Jerry Lawler 's Memphis Wrestling on March 3, 2006, as Goldust, in a match against Lawler, which he lost after Lawler hit him with a steel chain. Runnels was released from his fourth stint with WWE on June 14. Two weeks and six days later, on July 1, he returned to WORLD-1, defeating Tully Blanchard in
20992-434: The participation of foreign wrestlers such as Doug Furnas , The Dynamite Kid , Johnny Ace , Johnny Smith and Mick Foley , the 1991 tournament was won by an AJPW veteran Jumbo Tsuruta, who defeated Stan Hansen in the final. The 1992 tournament was booked around the storyline of the "young lions" challenging the veterans for AJPW supremacy. Stan Hansen went on to win his first Champion Carnival, defeating Mitsuharu Misawa in
21156-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
21320-596: The promotion's Heavyweight Championship. He would team up with his father. Competing as Dustin Rhodes, he captured the TCW Heavyweight Championship from Scotty Riggs on January 26, but vacated the title immediately afterwards after it was confirmed that he would be returning to WWF. Following his return to the WWF at the 2002 Royal Rumble, he made two more appearances with TCW, the first in a six-man tag team match with his father Dusty and Ron Studd against Riggs, Fake Goldust, and Jason Sugarmann, and
21484-717: 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
21648-452: The quarterfinals, leaving Yoji Anjo , Gigantes , The Gladiator and Big John Tenta to fight in the first round. Shinya Hashimoto , reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , did not participate, citing prior commitments to his Pro Wrestling Zero1 promotion. The 2004 version of the Champion Carnival took between April 10 and April 20. The 2005 version of the Champion Carnival took place between April 9 and April 20. Kensuke Sasaki ,
21812-426: The reigning AJPW World Tag Team Champions , won the tournament, after having fallen to Mitsuharu Misawa in the 1995 final. The 1997 Champion Carnival was held from March 22 to April 19, featuring thirteen wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format. Due to a three-way tie for first place between Toshiaki Kawada , Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa , a one-night round-robin playoff was contested among them with
21976-579: The ring. The following night on Raw , Goldust appeared again with Piper and the Honky Tonk Man as guest commentators for Marella's match with Charlie Haas . The match ended when Goldust and Piper distracted Marella so that Honky Tonk Man could smash his guitar over Marella's head. Goldust appeared on the celebration of the 800th episode of Raw on November 3, 2008, dancing alongside his father Dusty Rhodes, Lilian Garcia and several other wrestlers. A noticeably slimmer and quicker Goldust finally made
22140-599: The same time period, Goldust won the Intercontinental Championship again from Road Dogg and then lost it to The Godfather two weeks later. He would team up with The Blue Meanie having a few matches against The Hardy Boyz until Goldust left the WWF in June 1999. Runnels returned to WCW on the November 8, 1999, edition of WCW Monday Nitro , filming several vignettes for a fantastical, face-painted character named Seven. These vignettes contained ominous footage of Rhodes in full makeup standing outside
22304-455: The second in a singles victory over Steve Corino . In December 2001, Runnels accepted a buyout from his AOL Time Warner contract and was re-signed by the World Wrestling Federation to a two-year deal. Promos immediately began airing on WWF television advertising the return of Goldust. On January 20, 2002, he officially returned by taking part in the Royal Rumble , reprising his Goldust character. Shortly after returning, promos began airing for
22468-440: 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
22632-399: The standings. The first playoff match resulted in a double-countout, and a second match was held. The 1980 Champion Carnival took place from March 28 to May 1, featuring thirteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won by Jumbo Tsuruta , who defeated Dick Slater in the final. The 1981 Champion Carnival took place from March 27 to April 23, featuring fourteen wrestlers in
22796-426: 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,
22960-482: The three, where Kawada emerged victorious. On January 31, 1999, Giant Baba died, leaving the promotion in the hands of Mitsuharu Misawa. The 1999 Champion Carnival was the first one not booked by Baba. As the new booker, Misawa made a controversial decision to leave Stan Hansen out of the tournament, while giving Vader the win in the final over Kenta Kobashi. Problems between Misawa and Giant Baba's widow Motoko Baba led to Misawa exiting AJPW in 2000, taking 26 out of
23124-535: The top foreign wrestlers in the world, including Billy Robinson , Bruiser Brody , Dick Slater , Jack Brisco , Stan Hansen , Ted DiBiase and Terry Funk . However, after rival promotion NJPW took over as the number one promotion in Japan with a record-breaking business streak, AJPW decided to put the Champion Carnival on hiatus, not wanting the tournament to be overshadowed by their competitors. The hiatus lasted from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, AJPW had overtaken NJPW and
23288-513: The top two scorers in each would advance to a four-man tournament, with Block A's first place finalist facing Block B's runner-up, and vice versa, and the winners wrestling in the final. Despite the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship being vacant as a result of Toshiaki Kawada injuring his knee after his match against Arashi (thereby forfeiting all his other scheduled matches), All Japan decided not to use
23452-643: The tournament to fill the vacancy, citing the time limit for tournament matches (30 minutes as opposed to 60 in championship bouts). The winner, Keiji Mutoh , became the first man in history to win both the Champion Carnival and the G1 Climax, as well as the second man (after Vader ) to win the Carnival in his first appearance. The 2003 version of the Champion Carnival took place between March 22 and March 28. Keiji Mutoh , Satoshi Kojima , George Hines , Johnny Smith , Arashi and Nobutaka Araya received byes to
23616-454: The tournament. In recent years, several outsiders have won the tournament, with freelancer Minoru Suzuki winning it in 2009 and 2010 , NJPW representative Yuji Nagata winning it in 2011 , Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) representative Daisuke Sekimoto winning it in 2016 , freelancer Shuji Ishikawa winning it in 2017 , and Pro Wrestling Noah representative Naomichi Marufuji winning it in 2018 . On April 2, 2020, AJPW held
23780-510: The tournament. This match originally ended in a no-contest on April 10, so a rematch was scheduled for April 14 to determine the 1st finalist with Mark Lewin winning. The finals were contested under best of 3 falls rules, with Baba winning the first fall at 12:49 and Lewin winning the second fall at 16:55. Baba won the third and decisive fall at 19:20, thus becoming the inaugural Champion Carnival winner. The 1978 Champion Carnival took place from March 4 to April 7, featuring fifteen wrestlers in
23944-450: The tournament. There were originally twelve wrestlers scheduled for the tournament, but that number dropped to eleven on March 22 when Steve Williams was suspended from AJPW for one year after being found in possession of painkillers at the airport and returned to the United States . The 1996 Champion Carnival took place from March 22 to April 20, featuring twelve wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format. Akira Taue , one-half of
24108-519: 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
24272-471: 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
24436-549: The vacant Hardcore Championship , against Norman Smiley . Runnels returned to WCW television in January 2001, assisting his father in his feud with Jarrett and, eventually, Ric Flair . He wrestled on the final WCW pay-per-view, Greed on March 18, 2001. In March 2001, WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, but the WWF did not acquire Runnels' contract. In July 2001, Runnels, while still under contract to AOL Time Warner, began wrestling for his father's newly created Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion, winning
24600-535: 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
24764-547: The win for their team. On the November 10 episode of ECW on Syfy , Goldust won his first televised singles match on the ECW brand by pinning Paul Burchill . Goldust participated in an "ECW Homecoming" Match on the December 22 episode of ECW on Syfy to determine who got an opportunity to challenge Christian for the ECW Championship, but was defeated by Vance Archer . In early January, he teamed with Yoshi Tatsu and began
24928-445: The winner claiming the tournament. The 1998 Champion Carnival was held from March 21 to April 18, featuring thirteen wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final. The reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa won the tournament for the second time, also having won in 1995. The 1999 Champion Carnival was held from March 24 to April 16, featuring ten wrestlers in
25092-415: The winner of this edition, was the second man to win both Champion Carnival and G1 Climax tournaments, the first man being Keiji Mutoh. The 2006 version of the Champion Carnival took place between April 7 and April 20. The 2007 version of the Champion Carnival took place between March 26 and March 30. The 2008 version of the Champion Carnival took place between April 5 and April 9. The 2009 version of
25256-420: 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
25420-425: 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
25584-419: Was again the top promotion in Japan, boasting a roster of top foreign wrestlers mixed with top Japanese wrestlers. The 1991 tournament showcased several younger wrestlers, including Kenta Kobashi , Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada , who bypassed the promotion's aging veterans and went on to become the promotion's cornerstones for the next decade. However, despite the emergence of the younger wrestlers and
25748-488: 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
25912-416: Was changed to a pure round-robin tournament, a format it holds to this day. The 1976 tournament was the first Champion Carnival not won by Baba. It was instead won by Canadian Abdullah the Butcher , who defeated Baba in the final. Baba went on to win the tournament four more times, winning a total of seven out of the ten first Champion Carnivals. In early 1980s, AJPW loaded the Champion Carnival with some of
26076-543: Was chosen to partner Rhodes, and the makeshift duo won the WCW World Tag Team Championship . They lost the belts on January 16, 1992, to Arn Anderson and fellow Dangerous Alliance member Bobby Eaton . On a taped edition of WCW Saturday Night on September 2, 1992, Rhodes teamed with Windham to defeat Steve Williams and Terry Gordy for the unified WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship (their NWA title reign
26240-459: Was held from March 23 to April 11, featuring ten wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final. Genichiro Tenryu , reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , won the tournament in his second appearance, his first since 1982. The 2002 Champion Carnival was held from March 23 to April 10, re-introduced the dual-block round-robin format used in 1991 and 1992, this time with seven men in each block;
26404-661: Was his idea just three days before WrestleMania XII to wear a slip and thong underneath his ring attire and to have Piper strip him down, getting the approval from McMahon. Goldust defended his Intercontinental Championship in bouts against Savio Vega and The Ultimate Warrior before losing the title to Ahmed Johnson at King of the Ring on June 23, 1996. In Summer 1996, Goldust briefly gained control over Mankind and feuded with The Undertaker . His attention soon turned to Marc Mero and his then wife Sable . Goldust and Marlena attempted to get Sable to join their team, but Mero won
26568-571: 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
26732-415: 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
26896-417: 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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