Mid 20th Century
126-593: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE . It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw , SmackDown , and 205 Live brand divisions . The event took place on April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah Sports City 's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia . It was the first in
252-435: 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
378-401: A heptagon with a enlarged U.S. flag along with the company's scratch logo located at the top of the main plate in white and black paint. Below the logo is a gold banner with the words “WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT” etched inside. In the center of the main plate is a black banner with the words “UNITED STATES CHAMPION” etched in gold. On the bottom of the center plate, the name plate attaches to
504-535: A ladder match between then-champion The Miz , Seth Rollins , Finn Bálor , and Samoa Joe for the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania 34, The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Rollins in a triple threat match that also included Bálor, thus making Rollins the defending champion. Both Miz and Joe were traded to SmackDown while Rollins and Bálor remained on Raw. On March 26, Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend
630-415: 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
756-415: 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
882-485: A steel cage match as a rematch from WrestleMania 34 . On the Raw following WrestleMania, Reigns expressed frustration about not being told about his future matches and opponents, singling out the steel cage match with Lesnar. Reigns alleged that there was a conspiracy against him. Samoa Joe , who had been out with an injury since January, came out and warned Reigns that Lesnar would beat him again. On March 26, WWE scheduled
1008-413: 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
1134-532: 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
1260-519: 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
1386-585: 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
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#17327798914621512-399: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is
1638-404: 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
1764-410: 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
1890-501: A fourth Spear for a nearfall. Finally, Reigns performed a combo of four chair shots, a fourth Superman Punch and a fifth Spear on Lesnar through a cage wall. Although Reigns touched the floor with both feet first, the referee called for Lesnar to win the match as he technically escaped the cage first, retaining the WWE Universal Championship. Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler began the 50-man Royal Rumble match as
2016-405: 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
2142-721: A live event titled the Greatest Royal Rumble to be held on April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah International Stadium , part of the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia . The event was announced to feature the largest version of the Royal Rumble match to date, aptly named the Greatest Royal Rumble match, having a total of 50 participants, ousting the 2011 Royal Rumble 's 40-man match. The event
2268-799: 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
2394-624: A men's professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE , defended on the SmackDown brand division . It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw . The current champion is LA Knight , who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Logan Paul at SummerSlam on August 3, 2024. The championship
2520-424: 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
2646-497: A near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event. In the following match, Cedric Alexander defended
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#17327798914622772-440: 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
2898-649: A physical championship belt, and later became the first to wear a newly designed belt, which was used up through WCW's closing in March 2001, after being purchased by rival promotion, the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF). When WWF purchased WCW, they used the United States title during the WWF's Invasion storyline. The title was deactivated after being unified with the then- WWF Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series , when United States Champion Edge defeated Intercontinental Champion Test , becoming
3024-472: A series of WWE events held in Saudi Arabia in support of Saudi Vision 2030 , the country's social and economic reform program. At the event, all men's main roster championships at the time were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match , titled the Greatest Royal Rumble match. The card comprised 10 matches. In the main event, Raw's Braun Strowman won the Greatest Royal Rumble match to win
3150-508: A triple threat tag team match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the following SmackDown , The Usos defeated The New Day to earn a title match at Greatest Royal Rumble. A match between John Cena and Triple H was scheduled on March 26. The Undertaker was originally scheduled to face Rusev in a casket match , the first match of its kind in three years. Due to reasons not entirely clear, Rusev
3276-503: 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
3402-586: 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
3528-521: A warning to bin Salman and criticized the WWE event stating that "Disbelieving wrestlers exposed their privates and on most of them was the sign of the cross, in front of a mixed gathering of young Muslim men and women. The corruptors did not stop at that, for every night musical concerts are being announced, as well as movies and circus shows." At the conclusion of the Greatest Royal Rumble, Braun Strowman
3654-489: A wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the titles. Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title. After that, The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the titles after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso. Next, Seth Rollins defended
3780-547: A wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw , SmackDown Live , and the cruiserweight -exclusive 205 Live . On April 9, Brock Lesnar , who had renewed his WWE contract, was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in
3906-436: 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
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4032-410: 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
4158-424: Is effect change anywhere by staying away from it....While women are not competing in the event, we have had discussions about that and hope that, in the next few years they will be". Women were in attendance for the event, though only if accompanied by a male guardian . This was a major change from previous events, which were only open to men. Associated Press noted that this is due to "a series of social changes" by
4284-427: 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
4410-470: 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
4536-567: The United States Championship by defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match . On the following episode of SmackDown Live , after recapping all of his previous accolades, Ziggler said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him and he dropped the title in the ring and left. After unsuccessful attempts at contacting Ziggler, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared
4662-427: The 2018 Superstar Shake-up , the title briefly returned to Raw when champion Jinder Mahal was drafted to the brand. However, it was immediately returned to SmackDown after Jeff Hardy defeated Mahal for the title and was drafted to SmackDown the next night. The championship definitively returned to Raw in 2019 when reigning champion Samoa Joe was drafted to the brand during that year's Superstar Shake-up . During
4788-624: 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
4914-493: The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Trophy and Championship . In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar retained Raw's Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match . In other prominent matches, SmackDown's WWE Championship match between defending champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura resulted in a double countout, The Undertaker defeated Rusev in a casket match , and in
5040-557: 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
5166-431: 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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5292-584: 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
5418-400: 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
5544-460: 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
5670-406: The 205 pound weight limit. He was then removed from the match and banned from competing on 205 Live until he met the weight requirement. The following week, Kalisto earned a Cruiserweight Championship match at the Greatest Royal Rumble by winning a gauntlet match. The actual pay-per-view opened with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for
5796-637: The American professional wrestling promotion WWE , shown on pay-per-view (PPV) since 1989 and the WWE Network since 2015. The event is highlighted by the Royal Rumble match , a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers. On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised
5922-485: The April 6, 1991, episode of World Championship Wrestling , Nikita Koloff destroyed the classic 1980s United States Heavyweight Championship belt during a post-match brawl with Lex Luger, who was in his fourth reign as champion. Koloff, who claimed to be the true champion, knocked Luger unconscious by striking him with the title belt and then repeatedly smashed the championship belt into a ringpost. Luger would appear without
6048-653: 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
6174-481: The Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman . During the event, WWE aired a promotional video, which included WWE female wrestlers. The Saudi General Sports Authority issued an apology for "indecent material" that aired at the event. In addition to the female wrestlers, wrestler Sami Zayn did not participate in the event as Zayn is of Syrian descent, and Saudi Arabia had strained relations with Syria at
6300-505: The Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title. Next, the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed
6426-521: The Daivari brothers from the ring. Later, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to
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#17327798914626552-595: The Greatest Royal Rumble. On the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff pre-show, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament final to win the vacant title. Two nights later on 205 Live , Buddy Murphy attacked Alexander during his celebration. Murphy was then scheduled to face Alexander for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but he failed his mandatory weigh-in when he weighed 207 pounds, 2 pounds over
6678-416: The Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the following night. At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura . After the match, Nakamura showed his respect to Styles but then attacked him with a low blow and a Kinshasa , turning heel. On April 17, after repeated attacks on Styles by Nakamura, a rematch between the two was scheduled for
6804-587: The Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Balor attempted to retrieve the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and retrieve the title belt, thus retaining the championship. In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts (including Mansoor ) came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari , in his first WWE appearance since 2007, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared
6930-408: 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
7056-488: 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
7182-642: The November 8, 2024, episode of SmackDown , general manager Nick Aldis introduced the women's counterpart to the United States Championship . The design of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship from 1991 to 1995 featured five plates. A center plate on the gold background consisted of a map of the Contiguous United States with a flag shown alongside with an eagle. On top of the plate shows
7308-510: The Raw Tag Team Championship against The Hardy Boyz ( Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy ). At WrestleMania 34, however, Cesaro and Sheamus lost the titles to Braun Strowman and 10-year-old Nicholas. The following night on Raw , Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles due to Nicholas being a fourth grader. Cesaro and Sheamus demanded their titles back, but Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instead scheduled them to face
7434-577: The United States Championship became officially recognized as a component of the re-established honor. In August at that year's SummerSlam , United States Champion John Cena faced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in a Winner Takes All match , which Rollins ultimately won to become the first wrestler to hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship simultaneously. Rollins held both titles until Cena defeated Rollins in his rematch for
7560-538: The United States Championship belt, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the long-standing scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February. On the July 6, 2020, episode of Raw , after 17 years since the title's reactivation, MVP introduced a completely new belt design for
7686-636: The United States Championship since 2001. The United States Championship began as a regional championship called the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, one of several versions of the title allowed in different territories under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) bylaws. It was created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) run by Jim Crockett Jr. Introduced on January 1, 1975, Harley Race became
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#17327798914627812-420: The United States Championship. The belt now features only three plates. The center plate is an upside down heptagon. The top portion of the center plate features the WWE logo flanked by white stars on a gold background. Below this, "UNITED STATES" is written in red, with "CHAMPION" prominently written below that in blue; eight stars divide the two. Below the word champion is an eagle with its wings spread out across
7938-465: The WCW logo with the two banners reading on the black background "UNITED STATES" along with two stars on each side while the text says "HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION" on the bottom. Both side plates on each side feature one with the U.S. flag with the text "UNITED STATES" while the other shows two wrestlers grappling with the WCW logo on top and the text "CHAMPION" on the bottom. After its minor update in 1995,
8064-401: 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
8190-418: 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
8316-561: 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
8442-408: The belt now featured three plates with the center plate slightly redesigned with the side plates also feature a gold filigree with the text "WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING". This belt would also appear on WWF's programming until November 2001. After its reactivation in July 2003, the newly renamed WWE United States Championship was redesigned. This belt consisted of five plates. The center plate featured
8568-472: The cage. After both men failed to escape the cage, Reigns performed a Powerbomb on Lesnar from the top of a corner into the ring. After some crashes of Lesnar's body into some cage walls, Reigns performed three Spears for a nearfall. Heyman stopped Reigns from escaping the cage by slamming the door on him and Lesnar performed a second F-5 for a nearfall. Heyman threw a chair into the cage, but as Lesnar removed his MMA gloves and attempted to use it, Reigns performed
8694-424: 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
8820-418: 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
8946-648: The championship the only one from WCW to be reactivated as a WWE title (although the WCW Cruiserweight Championship had also become a WWE title, it was not deactivated and reactivated; it replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship during the Invasion storyline). Eddie Guerrero became the first champion after its reactivation by winning a tournament at that year's Vengeance , defeating Chris Benoit in
9072-423: 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
9198-512: 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
9324-406: The criticism: "I understand that people are questioning it, but you have to understand that every culture is different and just because you don't agree with a certain aspect of it, it doesn't mean it's not a relevant culture...You can't dictate to a country or a religion about how they handle things but, having said that, WWE is at the forefront of a women's evolution in the world and what you can't do
9450-471: The current champion's logo; the default plates showed the official logo of Saudi General Sports Authority , which is identical to the national emblem of Saudi Arabia . The plates were on a green leather strap resembling the color of the national flag of Saudi Arabia . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
9576-540: 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
9702-405: 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
9828-603: 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
9954-413: The final match. This was done shortly after the Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart. The first brand extension ended on August 29, 2011, allowing the United States Championship, as well as all other titles, to be defended on both Raw and SmackDown . In 2015, WWE introduced an updated version of its Grand Slam Championship , and
10080-470: 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
10206-417: The first two entrants. Titus O'Neil entered at No. 39 and tripped on his way to the ring. Bryan survived until the final three, beating Rey Mysterio for the longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match of all time at an hour and sixteen minutes. In the end, Big Cass eliminated Bryan and attempted a big boot on Braun Strowman , who countered and eliminated Cass to win the match. Strowman also achieved
10332-431: The floor on Nakamura. After that, The Undertaker fought Rusev (who was accompanied by Aiden English) in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before Undertaker could close the casket, English attacked Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for
10458-610: 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
10584-460: 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
10710-558: The inaugural champion. The title quickly replaced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as the top singles title in the promotion. While the NWA recognized only one World Heavyweight Champion , there was no single undisputed United States Champion as a number of NWA regional promotions recognized their own version of the title and champion. That changed, however, in January 1981; San Francisco -based NWA territory Big Time Wrestling , which
10836-526: 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
10962-480: 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
11088-496: 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
11214-467: The main plate by two screws at the back. One of the side plates featured an light etching of an American bald eagle resting on top of a shield with the WWE logo painted white and red within the shield with an eagleholding a red and white striped banner as well as blue-painted square with a white star at the center is placed above the eagle The other side plate featured an portrait of an Statue of Liberty surrounded by four stars on each corner. In August 2014,
11340-498: 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
11466-557: The most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating out a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12. Post-match, Strowman received a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship . WWE had been criticized for holding the event without female wrestlers, who were unable to perform at the event due to the limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia . Triple H, WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, responded to
11592-499: The new Intercontinental Champion. In July 2003, a year after the first brand extension went into effect in the promotion renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the title was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by then- SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon and with a completely new belt design. It was commissioned to be a secondary championship for the SmackDown! brand, making
11718-712: The only two men to have held both the United States Championship and a world championship simultaneously; in Booker T's case, the world title was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , while Rollins held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (both Lex Luger and Goldberg were the United States Champion when they won their first world championship, but unlike Booker T and Rollins, they vacated
11844-484: The opening bout, John Cena defeated Triple H . The Greatest Royal Rumble match was notable for being Chris Jericho 's final match in WWE. The match was also the last match in The Great Khali 's and Mark Henry 's wrestling career and the last match where Hornswoggle wrestled for WWE. The match was also Hiroki Sumi 's only match in WWE. Since 1988, the Royal Rumble has been an annual January event held by
11970-402: The plate, with the red and white stripes of the American flag beneath its wings. Coming in line with WWE's other championship belts, the belt features two side plates with a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates consist of a gold WWE logo over a silver globe. Following the revival of the United States Championship in 2003, the title
12096-437: 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
12222-717: 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
12348-482: The secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as secondary to the World Championship. WCW began to pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991. On
12474-440: 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
12600-426: 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,
12726-479: The then-WCW United States Championship was defended in the WWF until it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series . After the 2002 brand extension and the promotion being renamed WWE , the championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship in July 2003 as a secondary title of the SmackDown brand. The United States Championship has switched between brands over
12852-555: The time. On the Raw after the event, a storyline excuse was given in where Sami was suffering from vertigo given to him by Bobby Lashley and therefore could not compete. Another subject of criticism was the situation of LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia , as in Saudi Arabia homosexual intercourse is illegal and can be punished by death. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , a militant group offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Yemen , issued
12978-452: The title at Night of Champions the following month. In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension; during the draft , United States Champion Rusev was drafted to the Raw brand. Days later, he successfully defended the title against SmackDown draftee Zack Ryder at Battleground , keeping the title exclusive to Raw. On April 11, 2017, United States Champion Kevin Owens , along with
13104-452: The title vacant and announced a tournament to crown a new champion. The final was originally scheduled to occur at the 2018 Royal Rumble , but was moved up to the January 23 episode of SmackDown Live . However, on the January 16 episode, after Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode won their respective semifinals matches, Roode challenged Mahal to have the final that night and Bryan scheduled it for that episode's main event. The inaugural champion
13230-613: The title was never mentioned again. The base design was similar to the current design of the WWE Championship introduced in 2014, with some differences. Instead of a large cut out of the WWE logo, the center plate was modeled with an Arabic pattern with the WWE logo in the center. Like the WWE Championship belt and other belts introduced since 2016, the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship belt contained two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with removable round sections that could be replaced with
13356-511: The title, moved to SmackDown as a result of that year's Superstar Shake-up . Owens was already scheduled to defend the title against Chris Jericho at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30. Then-SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared that regardless of who won at Payback, the United States Championship would remain on SmackDown; Jericho defeated Owens for the title at Payback and he transferred to SmackDown. During
13482-519: 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
13608-471: 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
13734-442: The victory. In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a Steel Cage match. As Reigns attempted a Superman Punch, Lesnar reversed it into four German Suplexes and an F-5. As Lesnar attempted a second F-5, Reigns reversed it into three Superman Punches. As Reigns attempted a Spear, Lesnar reversed it into a second F-5 attempt, but Reigns avoided it by climbing
13860-535: 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
13986-623: The winner of the four-team Tag Team Eliminator tournament for the vacant titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble. "Woken" Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the tournament by defeating Titus Worldwide ( Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil ) and The Revival ( Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson ). Cesaro and Sheamus were then traded to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up. At WrestleMania 34, The Bludgeon Brothers ( Harper and Rowan ) defeated defending champions The Usos ( Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso ) and The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston in
14112-420: 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
14238-570: The years, usually as a result of the WWE Draft ; the 2023 draft moved the title back to SmackDown. Of WWE's currently active championships, the United States Championship is the only one that did not originate in the promotion. It is the second-oldest active title in the company, behind the WWE Championship (1963), but the third longest-tenured championship, behind the WWE and Intercontinental Championships (1979), as WWE has only owned
14364-480: Was Harley Race . There have been 102 different champions, with Ric Flair having the most reigns at six. The longest-reigning champion is Lex Luger , who held the title for 523 days from May 22, 1989, to October 27, 1990. "Stunning" Steve Austin 's second reign was the shortest, lasting approximately five minutes. Dean Ambrose is the longest-reigning champion under the WWE banner at 351 days, lasting from May 19, 2013, to May 5, 2014. Booker T and Seth Rollins are
14490-425: 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
14616-696: Was livestreamed on the WWE Network, as well as traditional pay-per-view in the United States and internationally. The event was also the first WWE pay-per-view with Arabic commentary. In the weeks leading up to the event, WWE held tryouts in Saudi Arabia. From these tryouts, eight were selected to receive training by WWE, which would include an opportunity to earn a spot at the Greatest Royal Rumble event itself. The card comprised 10 matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains , heroes , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in
14742-510: Was awarded a trophy and a Greatest Royal Rumble Championship belt. According to The Sportster , "the likelihood is that nothing that took place in the main event will have any effect on anything once WWE arrives back in the United States and resume normal service." Although WWE.com had originally listed Strowman as the Greatest Royal Rumble Champion after the event, he never appeared with the belt at any other event and
14868-488: 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
14994-482: Was designated to SmackDown. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following list indicates the transitions of the United States Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The tournament for the vacant WWE United States Championship was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003 for the SmackDown! brand, with the final being at Vengeance (2003) . At Clash of Champions 2017 , Dolph Ziggler won
15120-577: Was established on January 1, 1975, as the version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Jim Crockett Promotions , and later assumed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which eventually seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Harley Race was the inaugural champion. After WCW was purchased by the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001,
15246-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
15372-415: 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
15498-464: Was temporarily replaced by Chris Jericho —this was explained with Rusev's wife Lana complaining about her husband competing in a casket match—but eventually reinserted back into the match. Jericho was restored to his original participation in the Greatest Royal Rumble match. At WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal won the United States Championship. Mahal was then traded to Raw and lost the championship to Jeff Hardy and Mahal invoked his rematch clause for
15624-417: 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
15750-704: Was the first in a 10-year strategic multi-platform partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030 , Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. On March 19, 2018, WWE scheduled matches for all seven of their main roster male championships across the Raw , SmackDown , and 205 Live brands at the time: Raw's Universal Championship , Intercontinental Championship , and Raw Tag Team Championship , SmackDown's WWE Championship , United States Championship , and SmackDown Tag Team Championship , and 205 Live's Cruiserweight Championship . The event
15876-585: Was the last remaining promotion outside the Mid-Atlantic territory that recognized its own United States Champion, ceased operations around that time, leaving the Mid-Atlantic version as the only remaining United States Championship. The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The United States title then became
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