Mid 20th Century
113-750: The Fabulous Rougeaus (also known as the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers ) was the professional wrestling tag team of real-life brothers Jacques and Raymond Rougeau , best known from their time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1986 to 1990. Jacques and Raymond began tag-teaming in the late 1970s in their family's Montreal -based wrestling promotion. They later became major stars in Lutte Internationale . Their most notable feud in Montreal
226-414: A Ghetto Blaster , a type of kick to the back of the head. Not long thereafter, Valentine and Brown were setting Houston up for a double-team move when Houston dodged a running forearm club by Valentine, who instead struck Brown. Brown—playing up his character as an uncooperative loner—was angered and walked out of the match, getting himself counted out. Bass pinned Houston after a running powerslam , evening
339-435: 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
452-415: 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
565-415: 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
678-511: A small package , eliminating The Fabulous Rougeaus from the match. Zhukov hit a reverse diving crossbody on Powers and pinned him to eliminate The Young Stallions, but shortly after, he was pinned by Jannetty with a sunset flip , thus eliminating The Bolsheviks from the match. Hart hit a German suplex on Blanchard, but the referee saw his shoulders down, so he counted the pinfall , eliminating The Hart Foundation. The Rockers began brawling with Blanchard and his partner Anderson. The Rockers and
791-785: A 4–3 advantage. DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil distracted Hercules, allowing DiBiase to pin him with a schoolboy , leaving just team captains Hogan and Savage in the Mega Powers' corner. As DiBiase was taunting Hercules, Savage immediately pinned him with a schoolboy to eliminate him, leaving three members in Twin Towers' corner. Shortly thereafter, Slick (the manager of the Twin Towers) grabbed Elizabeth and—while pulling her away from ringside—began screaming threats at her, prompting Hogan to come to her rescue; Akeem and Boss Man intervened, hitting Hogan before Boss Man handcuffed Hogan to
904-413: 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
1017-532: 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
1130-519: 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
1243-585: 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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#17327942175001356-484: 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 . Survivor Series (1988) The 1988 Survivor Series was the second annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by
1469-404: 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
1582-410: 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
1695-477: A fuming Fuji struck him with his cane from behind. The sufficiently recovered Smash, who had been watching all this, collared the manager and threw him to Ax, who slammed him to the ringside mat, causing Demolition to turn babyface . After Demolition strode away to cheers from the crowd, The Powers of Pain momentarily resumed the match with the Conquistadors, but then they suddenly ceased and stepped out of
1808-405: 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
1921-799: 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
2034-748: A match with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan where the babyface Hogan (who was the WWF's most popular star at the time) was actually booed by the crowd and Rougeau was the fan favorite, despite he and Jimmy Hart doing what they could to get heat from the crowd in attendance. He then began teaming up with Carl Ouellet to win the World Tag Team Championship three times as The Quebecers . He briefly retired, reunited with Ouellet as The Amazing French Canadians in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and appeared sporadically in
2147-514: A megaphone. The megaphone was intercepted by the Rougeaus, who used it to get the pin and win the titles. They were announced as the new tag team champions, but the decision was later reversed and their title win was never recognized by the WWF. Nearly a year after this event, the Rougeaus made a gradual turn to heel. An early indication of this came during a televised match against The Killer Bees , which aired during July 1988. Both teams went into
2260-424: 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
2373-440: 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
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#17327942175002486-746: A psychological edge. The major tag team feud pitted WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition against The Powers of Pain , two teams known for their use of face paint and power brawling style of wrestling. The Powers, previously heels in Jim Crockett Promotions , had been brought into the WWF as babyface mercenaries by previous champions Strike Force ( Rick Martel and Tito Santana ) to avenge both their title loss to Demolition at WrestleMania IV and an injury Demolition had inflicted on Martel back in June. The other main feud pitted WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior vs. The Honky Tonk Man ,
2599-542: A team captained by The Twin Towers ( Akeem and the Big Boss Man ). Hogan and Savage were the survivors of the match. The undercard consisted of three further Survivor Series matches. In 1987, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) debuted a pay-per-view (PPV) titled Survivor Series . The event was characterized by featuring only tag team elimination matches that were dubbed Survivor Series matches . Of
2712-503: 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
2825-586: 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
2938-436: 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
3051-410: 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
3164-427: 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
3277-470: 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
3390-413: The Big Boss Man ) in a tag team match, filled with controversy. During the climax of the match, Akeem threw Savage on top of Elizabeth, knocking her out cold. Hogan picked her up and took her backstage, leaving Savage alone to face the Towers while Hogan tended to Elizabeth. When Hogan came back, Savage slapped him in the face and took the belt in his hand and turned heel by abandoning Hogan. Though he
3503-624: 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
Fabulous Rougeaus - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-595: The The Big Boss Man ), Ted DiBiase , Haku , and The Red Rooster . Savage hit a Savage Elbow on Rooster to pin and eliminate him, giving the Mega Powers a very early edge into the match. Akeem quickly evened the two sides after overpowering Hillbilly Jim and striking him with the Air Africa splash for the pin. Akeem's partner, the Big Boss Man, hit Koko with a Boss Man Slam to give the Twin Towers
3729-645: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on November 24, 1988, ( Thanksgiving night in the United States) at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio for the second consecutive year. Four matches were contested at the event. The main event was a ten-man Survivor Series match between a team captained by The Mega Powers ( Hulk Hogan and WWF World Heavyweight Champion Macho Man Randy Savage ), and
3842-557: 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
3955-431: 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
4068-584: 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
4181-400: 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
4294-460: 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
4407-653: 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
4520-612: The Brain Busters were both disqualified due to brawling in the ring and were eliminated. Dynamite hit Smash on the mat and went to the top rope. He tried to hit a diving headbutt , but Smash got up and clotheslined him and then pinned him to eliminate the British Bulldogs. Initially, Smash was unable to handle the powerful Barbarian of the Powers of Pain, but Demolition eventually gained the advantage when Ax moved out of
4633-675: The Bulldogs in a prank at the Rougeaus' expense, leading to the Dynamite Kid (upset about being incorrectly blamed) slapping Jacques from behind in the locker room in Miami and repeatedly punching him in the face. Tension between Dynamite and the Rougeaus mounted for more than a week until Jacques punched him in the mouth with a roll of quarters in hand before the next TV tapings in Fort Wayne, Ind., causing Dynamite to lose four teeth. After
Fabulous Rougeaus - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-595: The Demolition Decapitation. The other feud that continued to headline was Jake Roberts vs. André the Giant , who continued to feud until WrestleMania V , by which time, the returning Big John Studd (now competing as a face) had involved himself in the feud by being the guest referee for the André-Roberts match. Prior to that, at the 1989 Royal Rumble , André immediately attacked Roberts when
4859-416: The Dynamite Kid taking his revenge, the match was booked so the Rougeaus were the first team eliminated, with Bret Hart pinning Raymond in the bout's opening minutes with a small package. The Bulldogs were kept in the match until they were one of the final four teams remaining. By the time the Bulldogs had been eliminated and made their way back to the locker room, the Rougeaus had already been rushed out of
4972-502: The Foundation's earnings to the Rougeaus as a bonus. The Rougeaus developed a facetiously pro-American gimmick, billing themselves as "soon to relocate to Memphis, Tennessee " and using the theme song "All-American Boys". The theme song, an upbeat rock number sung by the Rougeaus themselves, would further rile the fans by claiming their affinity for " whitebread " things like "preppy" hairstyles and Barry Manilow 's music. The bridge of
5085-498: The Giant . The storyline began when Roberts exposed André's extreme fear of snakes on a recent edition of Saturday Night's Main Event XII . Roberts had thrown his snake, Damien, on the frightened André, who suffered a mild (kayfabe) heart attack. André vowed revenge, but Roberts constantly used Damien—either in their matches or by coming to the ring with a sack containing the snake during André's matches against other wrestlers—to gain
5198-408: 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
5311-488: 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
5424-482: The WWF and WCW before retiring from full-time competition. He occasionally wrestles for his own promotion. On March 30, 1998, they reunited with Pierre as they defeated a young Edge , Shawn Stasiak and Tom Brandi in a 6-tag in a dark match for WWF Shotgun Saturday Night . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
5537-589: The Warrior (in a bid to regain the title) and, shortly after their last match aired on Saturday Night's Main Event XIX , began losing his push and was demoted to mid-card matches. Danny Davis would return to refereeing in 1989 on a "probationary basis" after his nearly two-year run as a wrestler and would continue in that capacity until 1995. The Rockers' and Brain Busters' feud would continue both on WWF TV and
5650-401: 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
5763-418: 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
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#17327942175005876-568: The attack, Billington harbored a grudge against the Rougeaus, and it was feared Dynamite might try to get revenge after their 10-team, 20-man elimination match at the Survivor Series 1988 PPV (which was his final match in the WWF). The match had the Rougeaus, Demolition, Brain Busters , The Bolsheviks , and Los Conquistadores vs. The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, The Young Stallions , and The Powers of Pain . For fear of
5989-561: 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
6102-637: The backstage area, which angered Savage. He thought that he was a third wheel and this was the beginning of the breakup of Mega Powers as Savage was angry as to why Miss Elizabeth was used by Hogan as his manager . He confronted her about the issue, but she took Hogan backstage. Problems increased further in the Royal Rumble match , where Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage as he was trying to eliminate Bad News Brown . On February 3 The Main Event II , Hogan and Savage faced The Twin Towers ( Akeem and
6215-489: The building. During the actual match, Dynamite worked with the Rougeaus without incident. The Rougeaus' next big feud was against The Rockers in 1989. The feud began when the Rockers debuted a new theme song for themselves with them singing (this new theme was soon dropped, however). The Rougeaus claimed that the Rockers were "copycats," and hit Shawn Michaels in the throat with Jimmy Hart's megaphone. The teams feuded over
6328-406: The card. It was the second event in the Survivor Series chronology, establishing it as an annual November event, becoming one of the promotions original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania , Royal Rumble , and SummerSlam , which were dubbed the "Big Four". It has also since become the second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania). The 1988 Survivor Series
6441-424: 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
6554-418: 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
6667-423: 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
6780-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
6893-540: 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
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#17327942175007006-405: 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
7119-603: 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
7232-470: 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
7345-443: The former champion who was determined to regain his title. The first match of the event was a five-on-five Survivor Series match between the team of WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior , Brutus Beefcake , Sam Houston , The Blue Blazer (in his pay-per-view (PPV) debut), and Jim Brunzell , and the team of The Honky Tonk Man , Ron Bass , Danny Davis , Greg Valentine , and Bad News Brown ; as such, this match
7458-408: The four matches at the inaugural event, three pitted teams of five wrestlers against each other, while the other featured five tag teams against each other (totaling 10 wrestlers per team), but with the stipulation being that if one member of a tag team was eliminated, both members of that particular tag team were eliminated. The 1988 event followed suit and featured the same four match types that filled
7571-610: 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
7684-460: 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
7797-424: The heels with a 4–2 advantage. Later, Duggan used his 2×4 on Bravo, getting disqualified in the process. Roberts, the only member left on the face team, held his own and when Rude cockily attempted to tag one of his partners into the ring, he caught Rude from behind and hit with a DDT , eliminating him. André quickly got into the ring, applied a chokehold on Roberts, and refused to release it, getting disqualified in
7910-663: The house show circuit through the end of 1988 into 1989. This was Ken Patera's final appearance for the WWF. For The British Bulldogs , this was their last appearance in the WWF as a tag team; the Dynamite Kid was gone for good, while Davey Boy Smith would return in 1991 as a singles competitor known as "The British Bulldog." They left, in part, shortly after a series of practical jokes and altercations with The Rougeau Brothers got out of hand, culminating in Jacques Rougeau knocking several of Dynamite's teeth out with
8023-430: The incident. The Mega Powers were a powerful tag team throughout 1988, but their domination began to end as misunderstanding occurred between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in early 1989. This all began on January 7, 1989 Saturday Night's Main Event XIX , as Hogan was mercilessly beaten by The Twin Towers after his match with Akeem . Savage came out and cleared the ring with a steel chair . Elizabeth took Hogan to
8136-526: 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
8249-480: 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
8362-496: 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
8475-506: The key to unlock his handcuffs, Hogan was tagged into the match after Haku kicked an exhausted Savage into his corner. Hogan quickly dominated Haku and pinned him with a leg drop to score the win for the Mega Powers. After the match, Hogan began acting friendly toward Elizabeth, clearly upsetting Savage, whose reaction was known to the crowd and television audience, but not acknowledged by Hogan; pro-heel color commentator Jesse Ventura also picked up on this and interviewed Savage later about
8588-528: The latter entered the ring during the main event, choking Roberts to the brink of unconsciousness before throwing him out; Roberts recovered within 10 minutes, retrieved his snake, Damien, and scared André from the ring. Following Survivor Series, Rick Rude began targeting The Ultimate Warrior for his WWF Intercontinental Championship , badgering him into a posedown at the Royal Rumble. The Honky Tonk Man , meanwhile, continued to be unsuccessful against
8701-405: The lone member of his team. Bass and Valentine worked over Warrior for a while, but Warrior dodged a double-clothesline attempt and knocked both men down, quickly pinning both men back-to-back—first Bass, then Valentine—with double axe handles to win the match and be the sole survivor. The second Survivor Series match was a 10-on-10 variation of tag teams, in which if a wrestler from a tag team
8814-606: The match as babyfaces, but the Rougeaus won the match by cheating. After the match, fans booed when the Rougeaus offered to shake hands with the Bees, who refused. Also during this period of time, old rivals the Hart Foundation had turned babyface and dumped "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart as their manager. Jimmy became manager of the Rougeaus to solidify their heel turn and to solidify The Hart Foundation's babyface turn. This
8927-498: 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
9040-605: The microphone; briefly as an interviewer for English-language WWF broadcasts, then as host of their French-language TV shows. He came out of retirement in 1996 to face Owen Hart in a boxing match at the Forum and now occasionally wrestles in Jacques' Montréal-area promotion, Lutte International 2000 . Jacques disappeared from the WWF for nearly a year, but was re-branded as The Mountie upon his return in 1991, and went on to singles success with Jimmy Hart as his manager. The Mountie
9153-573: The nickname the " Ragú sisters" for the brothers - this would later be revived after the Rougeaus' eventual heel turn by such face opponents as The Rockers , The Bushwhackers and Demolition who had made their own (face) turn. The Rougeaus actually won the WWF Tag Team Championship on August 10, 1987, at the Forum, in a house show , defeating The Hart Foundation . Jimmy Hart , the Hart Foundation's manager, tried to interfere on their behalf with his signature foreign object ,
9266-437: 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
9379-484: The process. Before André left, he headbutted Roberts. Perfect took advantage and pinned Roberts to win the match. Perfect and Bravo became the survivors for their team. After the match, Roberts recovered, retrieved Damien and chased Andre, Perfect, and Bravo from ringside. In the main event , The Mega Powers ( Hulk Hogan and WWF World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage ), Hercules , Koko B. Ware , and Hillbilly Jim squared off against The Twin Towers ( Akeem and
9492-717: 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
9605-403: The real RCMP, with litigation forcing Rougeau to use his real life name when wrestling in his home country, though he did continue to wrestle in his Mountie inspired boots, black pants and red shirt. Despite being a heel in the WWF, Rougeau, like a lot of other Canadian wrestlers, was cheered in Canada, especially in his home province of Quebec . At one time during his singles run, Rougeau wrestled
9718-478: The ring and turned heels when they picked Fuji up off the floor, dusted him down and guided him round to their corner. Moments later, Fuji tripped Conquistador #1 with his cane, allowing the Barbarian to hit the masked man with a diving headbutt and pin him to eliminate The Conquistadors, making the Powers of Pain the survivors. After the match, Demolition ran back to the ring and ran Warlord and Barbarian from
9831-463: The ring. In the third Survivor Series match, André the Giant , Rick Rude , Dino Bravo , Mr. Perfect , and Harley Race fought against Jim Duggan , Jake Roberts , Scott Casey , Ken Patera , and Tito Santana . Junkyard Dog was originally scheduled to be a part of Roberts' team, but left WWF. B. Brian Blair replaced the Junkyard Dog to be a part of the team, but he also left WWF, so he
9944-495: The ropes. In the process, Boss Man (the legal man in the ring) was counted out while Akeem was disqualified for shoving the referee and illegally double-teaming Savage. Haku, left as the only member of the heel team, dominated Savage for several minutes as Slick (who remained at ringside) taunted both Hogan and Elizabeth. Eventually, Haku accidentally kicked Slick from the ring apron (after a mistimed illegal double team on Savage) while Hogan clotheslined Heenan. After Elizabeth grabbed
10057-481: The sides at 3-apiece. The Blue Blazer used his speed to daze Valentine, but while attempting to finish the veteran Valentine off with a top-rope move, Honky ran over and pushed Blazer off the ropes; Valentine quickly applied a figure four leglock to force the submission. Beefcake then got the upper hand over Honky and locked on the sleeper hold, but Honky got to and slipped through the ropes, taking Beefcake with him; both men were ultimately counted out, leaving Warrior as
10170-502: The song (in French) admits they are aware the fans despise them, slyly confirming that their ingratiating demeanor is phony and done to mock the fans. To draw even more heat, they would wave comically small American flags and try to start a "U.S.A." chant just to annoy the crowd. The Rougeaus had a real-life altercation with Tom Billington (the Dynamite Kid from The British Bulldogs ) backstage in 1988. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig had framed
10283-440: 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
10396-529: The summer of 1989, producing many excellent, raved-about matches. At SummerSlam 89 , the Rougeaus teamed with fellow Canadian Rick Martel , defeating the Rockers and Martel's former Strike Force tag-team partner Tito Santana in a six-man tag team match. After their initial feuds against the face teams of the era, the Rougeaus quickly devolved into a comedy tag team, often coming out on the short end against The Bushwhackers . Raymond, who suffered from chronic back pain for years, retired in 1990 and moved behind
10509-426: 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,
10622-725: The tournament final for the vacant WWF Championship. DiBiase and André the Giant faced Hogan and Savage at the inaugural SummerSlam in August where the Mega Powers won. DiBiase had bought the contract of André from Heenan at the inaugural Royal Rumble in January. In late 1988, DiBiase bought another contract from Heenan, that of Hercules , who was a powerful force in the WWF. Hercules refused to become DiBiase's slave and turned babyface and started feuding with DiBiase. DiBiase and other heel wrestlers joined The Twin Towers against Hercules, The Mega Powers and other babyface wrestlers. Another major feud pitted Jake Roberts against André
10735-519: 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
10848-471: 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
10961-504: The way of a charging Warlord, who injured his shoulder on the steel corner post of the ring. Both Demolition members took turns to work on Warlord's injured shoulder until the Powers of Pain looked ripe to be defeated. However, at this point, Demolition's manager Mr. Fuji opened the rope, causing his own man Smash to fall from the ring and get counted out, thus eliminating Demolition. Afterward, Ax confronted Fuji, who denied everything, but when Ax shoved him off and turned his back in disgust,
11074-535: 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
11187-420: 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
11300-425: 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
11413-591: Was a corrupt member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who would often boast that he "always gets his man" in the ring. Rougeau's greatest singles success as The Mountie was when he won the WWF Intercontinental championship from Bret Hart in January 1992. He would only hold the title for two days however, losing it to Rowdy Roddy Piper at the Royal Rumble . The Mountie gimmick caused some controversy in Canada with
11526-551: Was abandoned by Savage, Hogan managed to pick up the win. Mega Powers disbanded as Hogan and Savage feuded with each other. At WrestleMania V , Hogan defeated Savage in a match that was billed "The Mega Powers Explode" to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship , ending Savage's reign of 371 days . The feud between Demolition and the Powers of Pain took on its new twist, as now Demolition
11639-629: Was against the Garvin brothers, Ron Garvin and Jimmy Garvin (who were not actually brothers ); the climax of their feud was a match in front of close to 20,000 fans at the Montreal Forum . They were signed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contracts in February 1986, and debuted as clean-cut faces , The Rougeau Brothers . The Rougeaus were often matched against heel teams such as The Dream Team and Demolition . The latter team coined
11752-496: Was also done in part because the Rougeau Brothers were not getting over with fans, and Vince McMahon felt they might be more successful as heels. The Rougeaus began calling themselves The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and feuded with the Hart Foundation during the fall of 1988 into early 1989, with the storyline being that Jimmy Hart still had a contract with the Hart Foundation, and was subsequently giving his percentage of
11865-488: 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
11978-654: Was eliminated, his partner was also eliminated. The match pitted the Powers of Pain ( The Warlord and The Barbarian ), The Rockers ( Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty ), The British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid ), The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ), and The Young Stallions ( Paul Roma and Jim Powers ) against WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition ( Ax and Smash ), The Brain Busters ( Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard ), The Bolsheviks ( Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov ), The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau ), and The Conquistadors . Hart pinned Raymond with
12091-434: Was mainly among Intercontinental Championship contenders, and low to mid-card wrestlers. Don Muraco was originally scheduled to be a part of Warrior's team, but left the WWF, so he was replaced by Jim Brunzell. Beefcake scored the first victory of the night for Warrior's team, using a sleeper hold to force Davis to submit at the 1:18 mark. Brown evened the odds for the heel team about four minutes later, hitting Brunzell with
12204-571: 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
12317-716: Was replaced by Scott Casey. Rude hit Patera with a Rude Awakening at 8:18 mark and pinned Patera to eliminate him, leaving Roberts' team with 4 members. A minute later, André's team member Bravo hit Casey with a side suplex and pinned Casey to eliminate him. Roberts' team was left with only three members, while André's team had still five members. However, Santana hit Race with a flying forearm smash and then pinned him to eliminate Race, leaving André's team with 4 members. Heel team captain André came in and quickly used his massive height and weight to crush and eventually pin Santana, leaving
12430-619: Was scheduled to be held on November 24, 1988, ( Thanksgiving night in the United States) at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio . The main feud heading into Survivor Series pitted The Mega Powers ( Hulk Hogan and WWF World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage ), Hercules , Koko B. Ware , and Hillbilly Jim against The Twin Towers ( Akeem and the Big Boss Man ), Ted DiBiase , Haku , and The Red Rooster . Hogan and Savage formed this alliance at WrestleMania IV in March 1988 after Hogan helped Savage in defeating DiBiase in
12543-415: 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
12656-417: 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
12769-526: Was the face team and the Powers of Pain were the villains. Mr. Fuji constantly interfered in his team's matches against Demolition, and eventually, a 2-on-3 match was signed for WrestleMania V, with Fuji joining the Powers of Pain. At WrestleMania, Demolition was able to gain their final revenge on Fuji when—after his mistimed attempt to throw salt in Smash's eyes—he was caught in Demolition's finishing move,
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