Mid 20th Century
163-478: Windham Lawrence Rotunda (May 23, 1987 – August 24, 2023), better known by his ring name Bray Wyatt , was an American professional wrestler best known for his tenures in WWE from 2009 until his death in 2023. Rotunda was a third-generation wrestler, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan , his father Mike Rotunda , and his uncles Barry and Kendall Windham . His younger brother Taylor
326-632: A Firefly Inferno match before setting his body on fire. At Fastlane on March 21, 2021, The Fiend returned as a tweener , sporting charred skin and singed clothes; he attacked Orton with a Sister Abigail during his intergender match with Alexa Bliss, allowing Bliss to win by pinfall. Another match between The Fiend and Orton was scheduled for WrestleMania 37 . On the second night of the event on April 11, The Fiend returned and regenerated back to his pre-burned look; however, Bliss appeared during his match and black liquid began to pour down her face, distracting The Fiend and allowing Orton to win with an RKO. After
489-572: A No Holds Barred match . After the pair continued to frequently attack each other, they were suspended for 30 days. Upon their return, Harris defeated Steamboat in a bullrope match to end their feud. On February 2, 2012, Harris and Bo Rotundo defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood to win the vacant FCW Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time. They successfully defended the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship against Antonio Cesaro and Alexander Rusev , but lost
652-404: A Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam on August 18, 2013, which he won following interference from Harper and Rowan. After the match, Harper and Rowan again attacked Kane, carrying him away. Wyatt next targeted Kofi Kingston , who he defeated at Battleground on October 6. Harper and Rowan lost to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series on November 24. The Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in
815-552: A dark match on the February 5, 2009, episode of Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), he would work under the names Alex Rotundo and Duke Rotundo. In June 2009, he began teaming with his brother Bo Rotundo , winning the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship . On June 2, 2010, he joined NXT , a WWE show where a developmental wrestler, named Rookie was paired with a WWE wrestler, called Pro, under
978-507: A feud in FCW with Percy Watson when he attacked Watson while teaming with him in a tag team match, which led to Watson being pinned for the loss. When Harris and Watson faced off in a match, they were both counted out as they brawled out of the arena, which led to a no disqualification match that Harris lost. The feud ended in October, with Harris defeating Watson in a lumberjack match . At
1141-407: A handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15. On the final Raw of 2013, Bryan defeated Harper and Rowan in a gauntlet match so he could face Wyatt, but they interfered for a disqualification and attacked him until Bryan gave up and joined the group. Wyatt punished Bryan after they failed to find success, leading to Bryan attacking the other members of The Wyatt Family on
1304-507: A lamb mask. On the July 8 episode of Raw , The Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane . The Wyatt Family continued their attacks on wrestlers such as R-Truth , Justin Gabriel , Drew McIntyre , Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal while sending cryptic messages to Kane asking him to "follow the buzzards". Following another assault, Kane challenged Wyatt to his first main roster match,
1467-450: A legit injury his title was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion, during which Harris defeated Big E Langston to make it to the final, a fatal four-way match against Dean Ambrose , Leo Kruger and Damien Sandow , which he lost after Richie Steamboat (who was at ringside to aim for Ambrose) performed a superkick on Harris instead. Despite Aksana managing to get Steamboat to attack Harris again, he still won
1630-523: A live event in Italy, Wyatt suffered an injury to his right calf and was pulled off WWE's European tour. His injury prematurely ended the feud. The Wyatt Family returned on the June 20 episode of Raw , starting a feud with WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day , who interrupted Wyatt during his return speech, reverting the group back to heels. The New Day later confronted The Wyatt Family at their compound before
1793-516: A triple threat match against Ambrose and Sandow to earn a match for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship against Kruger, which Harris lost when he was distracted with Steamboat's interference once again. As a result, Harris and Steamboat began feuding, with their first match ending in a no contest . Kruger later defeated the pair in a triple threat match to retain the title. However, Harris defeated Steamboat in
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#17328016053071956-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
2119-412: A "monster". Wyatt went on to accept Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania match, with Cena successfully resisting the urge to become a "monster" and overcoming interference from Harper and Rowan to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, marking Wyatt's first pinfall loss on WWE's main roster. The feud continued after WrestleMania XXX based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena's fanbase, which
2282-413: 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
2445-689: A bigger degree capturing the SmackDown Tag Team Championship , defeating them in a match to become #1 contenders. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4, they won the championship from Heath Slater and Rhyno , marking Wyatt's first title win in WWE. Wyatt and Orton retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against the former champions on the December 6 episode of SmackDown Live but on
2608-443: A brief staredown between The Fiend and Bliss, the lights went out and the pair disappeared. On the following episode of Raw , Bliss declared that she no longer needed him and Wyatt's cheery Firefly Fun House persona returned in a Firefly Fun House segment, stating he was looking forward to a fresh start. This marked Wyatt's final appearance in this stint with WWE, as he was released on July 31. In September 2022, WWE began playing an
2771-408: A cappella version of " White Rabbit " by Jefferson Airplane at live events and during commercial breaks of televised shows, while QR codes were also hidden in various locations on episodes of Raw and SmackDown . Each code led to websites containing imagery, minigames, and riddles that all vaguely referenced Wyatt and were seemingly connected to the upcoming Extreme Rules event on October 8. At
2934-532: 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
3097-519: 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
3260-585: 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
3423-448: A championship division was instituted for these teams, but the concept failed to become widely popular; outside Mexico , multi-man tag matches are seen as a special attraction. Typically, a tag team championship is awarded to and defended by a team of two. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, a dominant trio in the NWA known as The Fabulous Freebirds won several regional tag team championships and were allowed to employ any combination of
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#17328016053073586-550: A chance to enter the Elimination Chamber match. At Elimination Chamber on February 23, The Wyatt Family defeated The Shield. They later interfered in the Elimination Chamber match, which caused Cena to be eliminated. After Elimination Chamber, Wyatt feuded with Cena, with Wyatt wanting to prove that Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" while also trying to turn Cena into
3749-459: 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 . Tag team Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Tag team wrestling
3912-410: 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
4075-440: A feud with Universal Champion Seth Rollins by attacking him on September 15 at Clash of Champions . At Hell in a Cell on October 6, they faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match, but the match ended in referee stoppage after The Fiend was buried under several weapons and hit with a sledgehammer by Rollins. Despite the match ending, The Fiend rose as officials checked on him to chase down Rollins and again incapacitate him with
4238-433: A finishing move that would be referred to as Sister Abigail. Following a hiatus from summer 2018 to spring 2019, Wyatt returned with a change in character. He started hosting the "Firefly Fun House" where he would perform as a friendly-mannered children's television show host, similar to Mr. Rogers. Soon after, he debuted a masked alter-ego called The Fiend, a demon clown who had supernatural characteristics and remembered all
4401-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
4564-524: A handicap match. At WrestleMania 32 on April 3, The Wyatt Family confronted The Rock , who defeated Rowan in an impromptu match in six seconds; the Wyatts were fended off by John Cena and The Rock. On the April 4 episode of Raw , The Wyatt Family attacked The League of Nations , starting an unexplained feud between the two factions and showing signs of a face turn. On April 13, during a match against Reigns at
4727-405: 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
4890-799: 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
5053-458: A match at Backlash , which Orton accepted on the August 30 episode of SmackDown Live . At Backlash on September 11, Wyatt attacked Orton before the match, winning by forfeit. Wyatt then faced Kane in a No Holds Barred match, which he lost when Orton interfered. Orton then challenged Wyatt to another match at No Mercy on October 9, which he accepted and won with the help of the returning Harper. On
Bray Wyatt - Misplaced Pages Continue
5216-425: A member of the brand. After his title victory, Wyatt introduced two new belt designs; the first one, which his Firefly Fun House character held, was a blue-strapped version to signify its move to SmackDown, while the other was a custom belt for The Fiend. The latter design featured his face in place of the center plate and on a black and red worn leather strap, as well as his phrases "Hurt", "Heal" and "Let [Me] In" on
5379-420: A new Wyatt Family member named Braun Strowman , who attacked Ambrose and Reigns. At Night of Champions on September 20, The Wyatt Family defeated Reigns, Ambrose and Jericho. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Wyatt lost to Reigns in a Hell in a Cell match to end their feud; later that night The Wyatt Family attacked The Undertaker and carried him backstage, reigniting their feud. The next night on Raw , Wyatt
5542-462: A new character that claimed to be his "real-life" self, though he gradually reincorporated his previous personalities in addition to new ones. In what would become his only televised match during this return, he defeated LA Knight in January 2023 ; he took a medical hiatus in February due to a COVID-19 infection that exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition, and died of a heart attack in August at
5705-440: 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
5868-556: A new iteration of The Fiend was added to WWE 2K24 in October 2024. Rotunda, in his only film role, also has a brief posthumous voice cameo as a prison guard in the 2023 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever , released a few months after his death. Rotunda married Samantha Pixley in 2012, and they had a daughter in 2010 and a daughter in 2013 before she filed for divorce in 2017. Rotunda and WWE announcer JoJo Offerman were reported to be dating during this time. They later had
6031-473: A non-title match; Wyatt defeated Orton after being helped by Jinder Mahal ending their feud. At Extreme Rules on June 4, Wyatt failed to become the #1 contender for the Universal Championship in a fatal five-way match won by Samoa Joe . After Seth Rollins was unveiled on the cover of WWE 2K18 , Wyatt targeted him and defeated him both at Great Balls of Fire on July 9 and again on
6194-583: A one count. Several of The Fiend's matches were also done under a red lighting. After Wyatt returned in 2022, a new character called Uncle Howdy would appear, based on Richard Kiel 's portrayal of Captain Howdy in the 1983 film Hysterical . Howdy would be portrayed by Wyatt's real life brother Taylor, better known as Bo Dallas . Rotunda had been praised for his character work. Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter voted him as
6357-514: A persona he called "The Fiend" that was here "to protect us". On the July 15 episode of Raw , Wyatt, as The Fiend, attacked previous rival Finn Bálor with a Sister Abigail , re-establishing himself as a heel . At SummerSlam on August 11, The Fiend quickly defeated Bálor. Over the next several weeks, The Fiend attacked several WWE Hall of Famers and legends including Kurt Angle , Jerry Lawler , Kane, and Mick Foley , also adopting Foley's finishing maneuver, The Mandible Claw. The Fiend then began
6520-479: A picture to "express his suppressed feelings", which was a painting of the Wyatt Family compound being burned with Sister Abigail inside—a reference to his WrestleMania 33 feud with Randy Orton. Another featured him having a picnic with expressionless kids, while another revealed that Wyatt was able to control his darkness. He then appeared in more sinister clothing and a demonic mask resembling an evil clown ,
6683-415: A rematch despite Harper and Rowan being banned from ringside. The feud with Jericho ended on the September 8 episode of Raw , when Wyatt won a steel cage match by escaping the cage. Beginning on September 29, vignettes were shown of Wyatt "setting Harper and Rowan free". Wyatt returned alone at Hell in a Cell on October 26 during the main event match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins , costing Ambrose
Bray Wyatt - Misplaced Pages Continue
6846-496: A segment with The Undertaker , in which Undertaker seemingly gave Wyatt his approval in what many called a "passing of the torch" moment. At the Royal Rumble , Wyatt defeated Knight in what ended up being Wyatt's final televised match. After his feud with Knight, Wyatt began a storyline with Bobby Lashley heading into WrestleMania 39 , but he quietly disappeared from television before the event and his storyline with Lashley
7009-495: A self-activating defibrillator ; at the time of his death, he was not wearing the vest, which police found in his car. Many wrestlers paid tribute to Rotunda on social media, such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , Ric Flair , Kane , Braun Strowman , Alexa Bliss , Kevin Owens , Mick Foley , Seth Rollins , and Booker T . The August 25 episode of SmackDown honored both Rotunda and Terry Funk , who had died one day before Rotunda;
7172-449: A single opponent). All other members of the team wait outside the ropes (on the ring apron or the floor) in the team's specified corner. Only an active/legal wrestler is allowed to score a fall or have a fall scored against him/her. But any wrestler, legal or outside, may face disqualification for himself or his team for violating rules. Once a tag is made, the wrestler tagging out has a grace period (typically five to ten seconds) to leave
7335-479: A sinister buzzard puppet, a witch doll, and other toys. Later that month, Wyatt began to appear in pre-recorded segments as the host of a surreal children's program known as Firefly Fun House , sporting different hair and a shorter beard with a leaner physique. The segments featured the aforementioned puppets, called Mercy the Buzzard (a reference to Waylon Mercy , an inspiration for Wyatt's previous gimmick) and Abby
7498-608: A son in May 2019, whose godfather is wrestler Braun Strowman , and a daughter in May 2020. They were engaged from 2022 until his death in 2023. Rotunda died in his sleep at his home in Clermont, Florida , on August 24, 2023 at the age of 36. The cause of death was a heart attack. His death was announced by WWE's chief content officer Triple H , following a phone call he had received from Rotunda's father Mike Rotunda . Rotunda had been dealing with an undisclosed illness since February, which
7661-431: A tag. The tension builds as the legal man is unable to tag out until something happens (a second wind, miscommunication between the opponents or another stroke of luck) that allows the first team to tag and reverse the momentum of the match in their favor. When done well, this results in a large audience reaction, and was the typical climax of tag matches for decades. WWE employs this tactic in nearly every tag team match to
7824-411: A traditional wrestling match, the two faced off in a surreal trip through history as moments from Wyatt's and Cena's history were played out. The Fiend ultimately defeated Cena in the end, marking Wyatt's first and only WrestleMania victory. On the April 10 episode of SmackDown , Wyatt challenged new Universal Champion Braun Strowman, who won the title at WrestleMania. A title match was scheduled between
7987-503: 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
8150-586: 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
8313-410: 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
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#17328016053078476-405: Is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name and identity. In most team matches, only one competitor per team is allowed in the ring at a time. This status as
8639-492: Is also a wrestler under the ring name Bo Dallas . Alongside his brother, he held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice while in WWE's then- developmental territory , Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He wrestled under various ring names between 2008 and 2012 in FCW, and wrestled on WWE's main roster from 2010 to 2011 as a member of The Nexus under the ring name Husky Harris . After returning to WWE's developmental territory, which had been rebranded as NXT , Rotunda
8802-411: The 2019 Hell in a Cell event was universally panned by fans and critics, due to its "horrid" booking and contentious ending that saw the match being stopped by the referee after Rollins attacked The Fiend with numerous weapons, despite Hell in a Cell matches usually ending via pinfall or submission . Some commentators stated that the match had significantly damaged the character of The Fiend. The match
8965-471: The Best Gimmick twice; winning the award in 2013 and 2019. While Rotunda's character work had been widely praised, the in-ring booking of his characters received criticism. Journalist Dave Meltzer said that although his Fun House/Fiend character was "fantastic" and he was a "genius" as a performer, it did not "make his matches great". In particular, his Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins at
9128-569: The College of the Sequoias for two seasons, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore offensive guard at the California junior college . He earned a football scholarship to Troy University , where he played college football for two years. He left Troy 27 credit hours short of earning a bachelor's degree after deciding to become a professional wrestler. Making his debut in
9291-587: The Emirates Stadium . Make-up artist and actor Tom Savini , who worked with Rotunda for the creation of the Fiend gimmick, commemorated him on Twitter. The band Code Orange , who made his later theme songs, also paid tribute to him. John Squires of horror website Bloody Disgusting wrote that Rotunda was a "truly one of a kind talent inside—and outside—the squared circle [...] the 'Eater of Worlds' will go down in history as an all-time great character in
9454-553: The Freebird Rule ), and one-time Raw Tag Team Champion (with Matt Hardy ). After a hiatus from August 2018 to April 2019, Wyatt returned with a new split personality gimmick, which saw him switch between the two characters of a Mr. Rogers -esque children's TV host named Bray Wyatt and a grotesque monster resembling an evil clown called The Fiend . He was released from WWE in July 2021, but returned in October 2022 with
9617-516: The Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4, a disguised Harris and Michael McGillicutty interfered in a match between John Cena and Wade Barrett , and helped Barrett win, forcing Cena to join Barrett's faction The Nexus per the pre-match stipulation, becoming members of The Nexus weeks later. He worked as a member of The Nexus, including when CM Punk became the new leader of the stable until
9780-492: The House of Black paid tribute to Wyatt in their ring entrance, accompanied by tens of thousands of "fireflies", while Buddy Matthews held Wyatt's lantern. Impact's Emergence also opened with a ten-bell salute to commemorate Rotunda and Funk. On August 26, Mark Crozer 's "Broken Out In Love", Wyatt's theme song from 2013 to 2019, was played at half-time during a Premier League football match between Arsenal and Fulham at
9943-624: 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
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#173280160530710106-776: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
10269-584: 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
10432-400: 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
10595-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10758-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
10921-653: 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
11084-485: The August 28 episode of Raw , WWE again paid homage to Rotunda, replaying the tribute video from SmackDown and turning off the arena lights to see the "fireflies" while his rocking chair again sat on the ramp. Several wrestlers would pay tribute to Rotunda, most notably by wearing armbands with his name on it. Seth Rollins mentioned Wyatt during his promo segment, while his World Heavyweight Championship bore side plates with Rotunda's Fiend logo. Becky Lynch wrestled in
11247-414: The December 22 episode of Raw in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight . The feud culminated in an ambulance match on the January 5, 2015, episode of Raw , which Wyatt won to effectively end their feud. At Royal Rumble on January 25, Wyatt competed in the Royal Rumble match at #5 and lasted for almost 47 minutes, eliminating six other contestants before being eliminated by Big Show and Kane . Following
11410-417: The December 27 episode of SmackDown Live , Orton and Luke Harper (who defended the championship under the Freebird Rule ) lost the title to American Alpha in a four corners elimination tag team match. This started dissent between Harper and Orton, who faced each other on the January 24, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live , which Orton won, leading to Wyatt delivering Sister Abigail to Harper, exiling him from
11573-523: The January 13 episode of Raw to signal him breaking free of the group. At Royal Rumble on January 26, Wyatt defeated Bryan. Later that night, The Wyatt Family cost John Cena his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Randy Orton , with The Wyatt Family attacking Cena afterwards. On the January 27 episode of Raw , The Wyatt Family attacked Bryan, Cena and Sheamus during an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against The Shield , meaning Bryan's team won by disqualification and The Shield lost
11736-796: The January 31 episode of Raw , when Harris was written off television after Randy Orton punted him in the head. Following the punt by Orton on Raw , Rotunda returned to FCW and in March 2011 adopted the gimmick of the hockey mask -wearing Axl Mulligan, but the character never made it to FCW TV , and Rotunda continued to play the Husky Harris character on FCW TV . In August 2011, Harris became embroiled in his brother Bo's (then FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion ) feud with Lucky Cannon and Damien Sandow . The two brothers later teamed up to defeat Cannon and Sandow. Later, Harris voiced his displeasure of Bo's relationship with Aksana , and when Bo suffered
11899-597: The Mandible Claw. The finish was noteworthy for the response from the fans in attendance, who booed loudly and chanted negatively. After he was drafted to the SmackDown brand during the 2019 Draft , The Fiend defeated Rollins on October 31 at Crown Jewel in a falls count anywhere match to win the Universal Championship. The title was subsequently transferred to SmackDown, due to Wyatt being
12062-588: The March 19 episode of Raw , after losing to Hardy in an Ultimate Deletion match, Wyatt was pushed into the "Lake of Reincarnation", where he disappeared. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Wyatt returned and turned face after he interfered in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , helping Hardy win. They formed a team and won the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship on April 27 at Greatest Royal Rumble , defeating Cesaro and Sheamus . They lost
12225-616: The May 8 episode of NXT , Harper and Rowan defeated Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey to win the NXT Tag Team Championship . On the July 17 episode of NXT (which was taped on June 20), Harper and Rowan lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Neville and Corey Graves . From the May 27 episode of Raw , WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of The Wyatt Family. The vignettes showed The Wyatt Family's backwoods origins and Rowan wearing
12388-572: The Money in the Bank ladder match and attacked Roman Reigns (who had defeated him in a qualification match on Raw ) as Reigns was close to retrieving the briefcase. At Battleground on July 19, Wyatt defeated Reigns with the help of former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper, reforming the team (without the injured Erick Rowan who soon returned). At SummerSlam on August 23, Wyatt and Harper lost to Reigns and Ambrose. The following night on Raw , Wyatt introduced
12551-408: 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
12714-488: 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
12877-430: The October 25 episode of SmackDown Live , Orton interfered on Wyatt's behalf in his match with Kane and joined The Wyatt Family. At Survivor Series on November 20, Wyatt and Orton were the sole survivors for Team SmackDown in the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match after Orton saved Wyatt from a spear from Roman Reigns. The pair then began focusing on stopping the momentum of American Alpha , and to
13040-491: The Royal Rumble, Wyatt began a series of cryptic promos, referring himself as "The New Face of Fear"; at Fastlane on February 22, Wyatt emerged from a casket and challenged The Undertaker for a match at WrestleMania 31 on March 29, which The Undertaker accepted, but Wyatt was unsuccessful in defeating The Undertaker. Wyatt defeated Ryback at Payback on May 17. At Money in the Bank on June 14, Wyatt interfered in
13203-403: The Universal Championship for the second time. After the match, they were both attacked by a returning Roman Reigns . At Payback on August 30, The Fiend defended the title against Strowman and Reigns in a triple threat match, which he lost after Reigns pinned Strowman to win the title. In September, his ring name was officially shortened to The Fiend – indicating a complete transition into what
13366-585: The Witch, with Ramblin' Rabbit and Huskus the Pig Boy introduced later (the latter a reference to Wyatt's previous gimmick of Husky Harris), as well as one for Mr. McMahon that occasionally appeared. During the initial segment, Wyatt destroyed a cardboard cutout of his old self with a chainsaw, cheerily telling viewers all they had to do for him to "light the way" was to "let me in". The Firefly Fun House segments became more sinister, with one featuring Wyatt painting
13529-601: The Wyatt Swamp Fight. On the July 31 episode of SmackDown , The Fiend attacked Alexa Bliss , who Strowman had an affection for. Two weeks later, after Strowman attacked Bliss with a gorilla press to antagonise the Fiend, the lights went out and the Fiend appeared in the ring in Strowmans place, seemingly to help Bliss. Strowman then appeared on the big screen where he and The Fiend were laughing together. At SummerSlam on August 23, The Fiend defeated Strowman to win
13692-514: The Wyatts defeated them at Battleground on July 24 in a six-man tag team match. In the 2016 WWE draft , Wyatt and Rowan were drafted to the SmackDown brand while Strowman was drafted to the Raw brand. On the August 16 episode of SmackDown Live , Wyatt walked away from Rowan after he lost his match against Dean Ambrose , leaving Rowan's sheep mask on Wyatt's rocking chair. Wyatt confronted Randy Orton , who he called "damaged" and challenged him to
13855-538: The active or legal wrestler may be transferred by physical contact, most commonly a palm-to-palm tag which resembles a high five . The team-based match has been a mainstay of professional wrestling since the mid-twentieth century, and most promotions have sanctioned a championship division for tag teams. The first "World" tag team championship was promoted in San Francisco in the early 1950s. Tag matches with three-man teams were developed, and in some territories,
14018-482: The age of 36. Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born in Brooksville, Florida , on May 23, 1987. His younger brother, Taylor , is also a wrestler who performs under the ring name Uncle Howdy in WWE . He attended Hernando High School , where he won a state wrestling championship at 275 pounds (125 kg) in 2005, the year of his graduation. He also played football as a defensive tackle and guard. Rotunda played at
14181-436: The annals of professional wrestling". B.J. Colangelo of film website /Film described Wyatt as "wrestling's horror icon" and wrote that "over the course of his career in WWE, Bray Wyatt truly became the new face of fear, and incorporated horror into the world of wrestling in a way that no one before him ever could". On April 1, 2024, WWE released a documentary titled Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal. Narrated by Mark Calaway ,
14344-401: 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
14507-418: 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
14670-561: 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
14833-722: The basic tag team match is referred to as Lucha de Parejas (Doubles Fight), a six-man match as a Lucha de Trios , and an eight-man match as a Lucha Atómica (Atomic Fight). A "bookend" tag team is a (sometimes derogatory) term for a tag team where the members look and/or dress alike (e.g., The Killer Bees , the British Bulldogs , Los Conquistadores , the Hart Foundation , etc.). Bookends are common in North America , Europe and Mexico , but not in Japan as
14996-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
15159-424: 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
15322-418: 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
15485-438: The championship to Corey Graves and Jake Carter on March 15. In April 2012, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, who initially associated himself with Eli Cottonwood in FCW. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT , Bray Wyatt debuted on the July 11, 2012, episode of the rebooted NXT taped at Full Sail University , where he defeated Aiden English . In July, Wyatt suffered a torn pectoral muscle and required surgery. Despite
15648-423: 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
15811-429: The closure of the event, Wyatt returned to WWE as a face , accompanied by live-action versions of his Firefly Fun House characters and a new mask, revealing himself as the person behind the "White Rabbit" teases. Wyatt's return included a masked character, Uncle Howdy , portrayed by his real-life brother Taylor (previously known as Bo Dallas). At Raw is XXX , the 30th anniversary of Raw , Wyatt interrupted LA Knight in
15974-461: 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
16137-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
16300-540: 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
16463-405: 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
16626-603: 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
16789-405: The film examines both Rotunda’s career and personal life and features interviews with his family and various WWE personalities. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with
16952-470: 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
17115-416: The first time as his Firefly Fun House character, defeated Miz. After the match, Bryan, with a buzz cut and short beard, made his return and attacked Wyatt. At Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, The Fiend defeated Bryan in a strap match to end their feud. On the February 7 episode of SmackDown , Hall of Famer Goldberg challenged The Fiend for the Universal Championship during an onscreen interview, which
17278-468: The floor, are employed to maintain order for this type of match. In independent discussion and analysis of matches, certain terms are used to describe specific scenarios involving tag team matches. These are planned and timed to inject drama into a match. One spot common to many tag team match is the hot tag . One member of one team is in the ring, too weakened to move or otherwise impaired, while his partner watches helplessly, struggling to reach him for
17441-403: The following Raw . Wyatt then began a feud with Finn Bálor , resulting in a match between the two at SummerSlam on August 20, which Bálor won under his "Demon King" persona. Wyatt again lost to Bálor at No Mercy on September 24. They were set to have a third match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22, but Wyatt was unable to compete due to an illness concern and was replaced in
17604-610: 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
17767-460: 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
17930-485: The group's members in their title defenses. In kayfabe , this made it difficult for challengers to prepare for their upcoming title fights since the challengers did not know exactly whom they were facing. This was an effective gimmick and is still utilized by other wrestling companies. The stipulation has become traditionally known as the "Freebird Rule". A common storyline is former tag team partners turning on each other with one member usually turning heel or babyface in
18093-543: The group. On January 29, Wyatt entered the Royal Rumble match at #21 and lasted until the final three: Wyatt and Orton cooperated against Roman Reigns, who eventually eliminated Wyatt but was himself eliminated by Orton, who thereby won the match and a title match at WrestleMania. On February 12 at Elimination Chamber , Wyatt won the WWE Championship by defeating John Cena, AJ Styles , The Miz, Dean Ambrose, and Baron Corbin in an Elimination Chamber match ; it
18256-526: 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
18419-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
18582-480: 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
18745-496: 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
18908-498: The injury, Wyatt continued to appear on NXT , founding a faction known as The Wyatt Family in November, with Luke Harper as his first "son" and Erick Rowan as his second. Wyatt had his first match back from injury on the February 21, 2013, episode of NXT , where he defeated Yoshi Tatsu . Wyatt suffered his first loss on the March 13 episode of NXT to Bo Dallas . On the May 2 episode of NXT , Wyatt lost to Chris Jericho . On
19071-533: The main event against Zoey Stark and paid an emotional tribute to Wyatt after the match by holding his armband in the air. In a video posted by WWE's youtube channel Bayley , Drew McIntyre , Kevin Owens , Sami Zayn and others reflect on the incredible impact Bray Wyatt had on their lives, careers and WWE. Other wrestling promotions, including All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling , also paid tribute to Rotunda at their first live shows after his death, which both took place on August 27; at AEW's All In ,
19234-465: The match and end the feud. On the June 13 episode of SmackDown , Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose to qualify for the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship on June 29, which Cena won. The following night on Raw , The Wyatt Family attacked a returning Chris Jericho . This led to matches between Wyatt and Jericho at Battleground on July 20, which Jericho won, and at SummerSlam on August 17, where Wyatt won
19397-615: The match by AJ Styles , bringing the feud between Wyatt and Bàlor to a quiet end. Wyatt returned on the November 13 episode of Raw , facing Jason Jordan in a losing effort. In November, Wyatt began a feud with Matt Hardy , resulting in Hardy's "Broken" gimmick reemerging. The two fought again at Raw 25 Years on January 22, 2018, which Wyatt won. On January 28, Wyatt entered the Royal Rumble match at #8, but failed to win after Wyatt and Hardy eliminated each other simultaneously. At Elimination Chamber on February 25, Wyatt lost to Hardy. On
19560-407: The match, a referee may overlook any of these at his discretion, and during the frenzied action, often will be more lenient with them. In some multi-man tag matches in lucha libre , a wrestler can make himself the team's legal man simply by setting foot in the ring, and his partner then leaves. This allows for action to become nearly continuous. Two referees, one stationed inside the ring and one on
19723-410: The match. In the following weeks, Wyatt taunted Ambrose while offering to "fix" him like he had done with Harper and Rowan. On November 23 at Survivor Series , Wyatt defeated Ambrose by disqualification after Ambrose used a steel chair to attack Wyatt. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Wyatt defeated Ambrose in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match . Wyatt once again defeated Ambrose on
19886-498: 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
20049-458: The name Husky Harris, with Cody Rhodes as his Pro. He was eliminated from the competition on August 17. Harris reappeared in the season finale of NXT with the other eliminated rookies and joined in on the attack on the NXT winner, Kaval. While on NXT , Rotunda continued wrestling in FCW while retaining the Husky Harris ring name. In September 2010 following his elimination from NXT , Harris began
20212-607: The only performer to have won both Best Gimmick and Worst Gimmick with the same character. Rotunda made his video game debut in WWE '12 (as Husky Harris) and later returned, as Bray Wyatt, in WWE 2K15 , WWE 2K16 , WWE 2K17 , WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 , and WWE 2K20 . His alternate persona The Fiend was a pre-order bonus for WWE 2K20 . The final persona of Wyatt and Uncle Howdy were released as downloadable content in WWE 2K23 . Wyatt appeared posthumously in WWE 2K24 . The new attire and appearance Wyatt had planned to use for
20375-406: The point that they fired a referee in 2008 after a botched finish that, while the match produced the intended finish, did not feature a hot tag . A common variation on the hot tag sees both wrestlers from the heel team attacking a face, while his partner protests to the referee about this bending of the rules (and therefore, unintentionally "distracting" the referee away from the heels). Eventually
20538-512: The premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
20701-456: The process, which will invariably ignite a feud . This can be used when one member is being called on to develop a new gimmick . The basic tag team match has two teams of two wrestlers facing off against each other. All standard rules for singles wrestling apply to a team match. However, only one wrestler from each team, called the "legal man" is allowed in the ring at a time (although heels will often flout this rule in an attempt to gang up on
20864-717: 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
21027-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
21190-409: The ring before risking disqualification. Offensive cooperation from a team member is allowed during this time window; thus it is rather commonplace for both members of a team, especially heel teams, to milk this grace period and have two men in the ring simultaneously with only one member of an opposing team The following are standard requisites for making a legal tag: As the ultimate authority over
21353-619: The show opened with a ten-bell salute for the pair. Per WWE tradition, all on-screen talent stood at the top of the entrance ramp during the salute; Wyatt's former tag team partner Erick Rowan , who was not signed to WWE at the time, was also present. Wyatt's iconic rocking chair was placed in front of the ramp while the crowd sang " He's Got the Whole World in His Hands ", a song often affiliated with Wyatt throughout his WWE career. Further tributes and behind-the-scenes footage aired during
21516-593: The show, with Wyatt's final opponent LA Knight wrestling in the main event against Finn Bálor , who was the first opponent of Wyatt's "Fiend" persona. WWE also announced that any further proceeds from Rotunda's merchandise sales would be given to his family. A few months later, Rotunda's father revealed that WWE had signed Rotunda to a Legends contract and arranged for all proceeds from the contract to go to his children. Wrestlers Braun Strowman , Karrion Kross , and Shotzi , alongside WWE's head of long-term creative Rob Fee, got matching tattoos of Rotunda's Wyatt logo. On
21679-440: 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
21842-452: The strap (the word "Me" being represented by The Fiend's face). Wyatt retained the title against Daniel Bryan on November 24 at Survivor Series . After Bryan accepted a rematch on the following SmackDown , The Fiend attacked Bryan and ripped out his hair. With Bryan absent the following week, Wyatt started a short feud with The Miz, culminating in a non-title match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, where Wyatt, wrestling for
22005-426: 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,
22168-513: The titles to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel ) in their first pay-per-view title defense on July 15 at Extreme Rules . On the July 23 episode of Raw , they invoked their rematch clause against The B-Team, but were unsuccessful. Soon after, Hardy took time off to heal his injuries, disbanding the team. The reason WWE disbanded the team was because they grew tired of them both pitching several ideas for their characters. In April 2019, ominous vignettes began airing across WWE programming depicting
22331-417: The torches on their cell phones, which were affectionally referred to as his " fireflies ". He would finish off most of his promos telling opponents and audiences to "follow the buzzards", his signature catchphrase. The character drew comparisons to Robert De Niro 's portrayal of the character Max Cady from the 1991 film Cape Fear and fellow wrestler Waylon Mercy . He would use a swinging reverse STO as
22494-519: 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
22657-399: The true legal man, often from behind. A tag team match involving more than two wrestlers per team is often referred to by the total number of people involved (e.g. a six-man tag team match involves two teams of three), while a tag team match involving more than two teams is referred to by normal qualifiers (e.g. a triple threat tag team match involves three teams of two). In lucha libre ,
22820-471: 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
22983-401: The two at Money in the Bank on May 10, which Wyatt (as his Firefly Fun House character) lost. He returned in a Firefly Fun House segment on the June 19 episode of SmackDown to confront Strowman, reintroducing his original "The Eater of Worlds" gimmick and reinstating their rivalry. On July 19 at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules , Wyatt defeated Strowman in a non-title "cinematic match" called
23146-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
23309-535: 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
23472-407: The weakened face wrestler does make the tag to his partner, who comes in as the fresh man and is able to take on both opponents quite easily. A blind tag is a legal tag made without the legal opponent's knowledge, usually while his back is turned. This allows the team who uses it an opportunity to confuse the legal opponent, who turns to face what he assumes to be his opponent only to be attacked by
23635-420: 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
23798-518: The wrongdoings that others had inflicted on Wyatt in the past. During The Fiend's entrance, he would carry a severed head resembling Wyatt's old cult leader self with a lantern inside its mouth and used a heavy metal cover of his old theme music by Code Orange . He also adopted the mandible claw as a finishing move. During in-ring bouts, The Fiend was presented as having unnatural endurance and strength, being able to withstand multiple finishing moves, weapon attacks and more, before kicking out of pins at
23961-425: 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
24124-417: Was repackaged as Bray Wyatt. Portrayed as the villainous leader of a bayou -dwelling cult called The Wyatt Family , he returned to the main roster alongside Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in 2013. He subsequently became a one-time WWE Champion , two-time WWE Universal Champion , one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion (alongside Harper and brief Wyatt Family member Randy Orton under
24287-488: 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
24450-516: Was confronted by former rival Kane, who was attacked by the Wyatts and also carried backstage. On the November 9 episode of Raw , The Brothers of Destruction returned and attacked The Wyatt Family. At Survivor Series on November 22, Wyatt and Harper lost to The Brothers of Destruction. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, The Wyatt Family defeated Team ECW in an eight-man tag team elimination tables match . Wyatt and Luke Harper lost to Brock Lesnar at Roadblock on March 12 in
24613-457: Was dropped, with reports later indicating that it was due to Wyatt dealing with a real-life illness. On August 19, it was reported that Wyatt was closing in on a return after spending most of his time since February battling a life-threatening illness. Five days later, it was announced that he had died unexpectedly at the age of 36 from a heart attack triggered by a COVID-19 infection. In the April 2024 documentary Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal , it
24776-514: Was dubbed The Wyatt Sicks . Wyatt's character from 2012 to 2018 was a villainous cult leader who believed himself to be the "nagging conscience of an immoral world". As the leader of The Wyatt Family , he had main subordinates in Luke Harper and Erick Rowan , as well as Braun Strowman for a brief time. Wyatt used a lantern to light the way in the dark arena during entrances; he would invariably be accompanied by fans in attendance lighting
24939-471: Was exemplified by Wyatt leading a children's choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of Raw , with the children later putting on sheep masks. At Extreme Rules on May 4, Wyatt defeated Cena in a steel cage match after repeated interference from the rest of The Wyatt Family and a "demonic" child. Cena's feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback on June 1, where Cena buried Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win
25102-546: Was formerly perceived to be Wyatt's alter ego. The Fiend returned on the October 2 episode of SmackDown and attacked Kevin Owens . After attacking Owens, he extended his hand to Alexa Bliss, which she took and smirked as they disappeared. The Fiend had his first match on SmackDown the following week, defeating Owens. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, The Fiend was drafted to the Raw brand . He soon reignited his old feud with Randy Orton , and at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 20, Orton defeated The Fiend in
25265-656: Was named Worst Match of the Year by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . It was also voted the Gooker Award winner for the year on wrestlecrap.com. Additionally, various critics opined that Wyatt's constant losses were harmful to his character and mystique. In 2020, readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recognized The Fiend as the Worst Gimmick of the year, making Wyatt
25428-650: 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
25591-416: Was reportedly life-threatening. Just days before his death, reports were published stating that he was making progress in his recovery. Shortly after his death, it was revealed that the illness was due to an earlier COVID-19 infection, which had exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition. He had been hospitalized for a heart issue one week before his death, and was advised to wear a specialized vest containing
25754-473: Was revealed that Wyatt had been planning to revive the character of The Fiend with a new mask, outfit, and props. After two months of teases implying that WWE intended to honor Wyatt's vision of leading a faction with wrestlers portraying real versions of his Firefly Fun House puppets, Wyatt's brother Taylor (Bo Dallas) returned as the Uncle Howdy character in June 2024 and began leading said faction, which
25917-520: Was revealed to be a ruse as Orton destroyed The Wyatt Family compound, including Sister Abigail's grave, two weeks later, and defeated Wyatt for the title at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, ending Wyatt's reign at 49 days. On April 10, Wyatt was moved to the Raw brand as a part of the Superstar Shake-up ; his title rematch at Payback on April 30, billed as a House of Horrors match, was changed into
26080-464: Was scheduled for the Super ShowDown event on February 27, where The Fiend character suffered his first loss to Goldberg, ending his reign at 118 days. The following night on SmackDown , The Fiend confronted a returning John Cena and challenged him to a match at WrestleMania 36 that Cena accepted–a rematch from 2014's WrestleMania XXX . On the second night of the event on April 5, rather than
26243-415: 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
26406-417: 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
26569-569: Was the first singles title in Wyatt's wrestling career, and the first world title of his career. This raised the possibility of Orton challenging his teammate Wyatt but on the following SmackDown Live , after Wyatt successfully defended the WWE Championship in a triple threat match involving John Cena and AJ Styles (despite a pre-match attack by Harper), Orton pledged allegiance to Wyatt and refused to face him at WrestleMania 33. However, this
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