Mid 20th Century
113-521: Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish/American former professional wrestler and bodybuilder , best known by the ring name Ivan Putski . He was given the nicknames the " Polish Hammer " and " Polish Power ". Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion with Tito Santana . He had a famous feud with Superstar Billy Graham over the WWF Championship , which led to many pose-downs, arm wrestling bouts, and long matches between
226-548: A Harrisburg, Pennsylvania , physician who had been dispensing anabolic steroids and other drugs to wrestlers at WWF events. In 1991, Dr. Zahorian was convicted under the U.S. federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 which prohibited the prescription of steroids for non-therapeutic purposes. This led to WWF owner Vince McMahon Jr. , who admitted to being a steroid user himself, being put on trial on charges of steroid distribution in 1994. The trial concluded with McMahon's acquittal. During this time, Graham personally sued Zahorian and
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
452-649: A fan favorite . After his return, he attacked Backlund, destroying his championship belt. He challenged Backlund for the WWF Championship, but was unable to win the title and left the promotion in April 1983. Graham signed up with the AWA again in October 1983, and by the following year, he had regained his earlier body weight. In April 1984, he began his NWA run with Championship Wrestling from Florida , first as
565-415: 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
678-415: 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
791-401: A strongman career. Putski occasionally made appearances in the ring during the years. In 2010, Putski appeared in a reunion event called "LegendsMania" and he was interviewed. Aside from wrestling, Ivan Putski also competed as a strongman . He participated in the 1978 World's Strongest Man competition, finishing eighth in a field of ten competitors. Putski's son, Scott Putski , is also
904-469: A Legends Ceremony with 24 other WWE legends. On the January 23, 2006, episode of Raw , he promoted his book and DVD. Graham parted ways with WWE in 2009. In November 2015, Graham announced that he had signed a legends contract (a long-term deal to make infrequent, non-wrestling appearances) in a Facebook post. He signed a renewed five-year contract in 2021. Speaking of his legacy, Dave Meltzer of
1017-431: A WWWF Heavyweight Championship vs. NWA World Heavyweight Championship unification match which ended in a one-hour time-limit draw. Graham eventually lost the title to Bob Backlund on February 20, 1978. Another feud Graham had as champion was with Dusty Rhodes, which culminated in a Texas Bullrope match . His confrontations with Rhodes continued after Graham had been forced to drop the belt to Backlund. Rhodes himself,
1130-413: 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
1243-616: A bottle of Clairol . While wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida , the name served both as his ring name and to make him the ( kayfabe ) youngest brother of Jerry and the other Graham Brothers ( Eddie and Luke ). In late December, Graham went north to join Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco promotion, working with Pat Patterson (his tag-team partner), Ray Stevens , Cyclone Negro , and Peter Maivia . Graham's nearly two-year run in central California included
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#17327868590121356-532: 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
1469-470: 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
1582-585: 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
1695-856: A debt collector. In between football engagements, he worked as a bouncer at a bar in Phoenix. In 1961, Coleman was the winner of the West Coast division of the Mr. Teenage America bodybuilding contest ( Frank Zane won the East Coast division), and his photo appeared soon after in Bob Hoffman's Strength and Fitness magazine. Coleman began to train intensively in 1968 at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica , where he worked out with Dave Draper , Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger . At this time he
1808-477: 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 . Superstar Billy Graham Eldridge Wayne Coleman Jr. (June 7, 1943 – May 17, 2023), better known by his ring name " Superstar " Billy Graham ,
1921-404: 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
2034-410: 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
2147-610: A full goatee and dyeing the mustache blond. Graham returned to the WWF one more time in June 1986, now as a fan favorite . After a few appearances, it was diagnosed in August that he required a hip replacement. The footage of Graham's hip replacement surgery was shown on WWF TV on September 27 as a means of promoting his comeback. He returned in mid-1987, but the strain on his hip and ankles proved to be too much. In Syracuse on October 27,
2260-405: 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
2373-732: A long-time friend of Graham's, recalled these matches with Graham in 1978 as among the most exciting and memorable of his career. Disillusioned by the loss of his belt, Graham left the WWWF in December 1978 and accepted an offer to join Paul Boesch's promotion in Houston , Texas , lending himself out for other NWA events in California and Florida as well. In April 1979, he embarked on his third IWA tour of Japan. On October 8, Graham became
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#17327868590122486-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2599-602: A member of Kevin Sullivan 's Army of Darkness and later as the group's opponent after he was tired of Sullivan's abuse of his valet, The Lock, and stopped Sullivan from beating her at ringside. In November, Graham joined Jim Crockett Promotions (Mid-Atlantic Wrestling) in North Carolina, working for Paul Jones in his feud against Jimmy Valiant . It was during this stint, in the summer of 1985, that Graham bulked up further, and returned to his tie-dyed look, growing
2712-424: 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
2825-440: 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
2938-649: A no contest. In 1995, Putski was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1995 by his son, Scott . In 1996, he joined International Championship Wrestling , as a face. He won several matches in the company, and he was billed as a tough guy. The father-and-son team returned in July 1997 to defeat Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher on Raw is War . Putski wrestled his last match for NWA New Jersey as he defeated King Kong Bundy by disqualification on February 27, 1999. After his retirement from wrestling, he had
3051-646: A professional wrestler, having previously worked at World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling . From 2000 to 2007, Putski worked as head security guard at Jack C. Hays High School in Buda, Texas . On January 8, 2012, Ivan Putski was inducted into the Cloverleaf Radio Hall of Fame, Class of 2012. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
3164-457: A public awareness campaign regarding the dangers of steroids during this time, including an appearance with McMahon on The Phil Donahue Show in 1992. During the Donahue taping, Graham claimed to have witnessed WWF officials sexually abuse children . McMahon claimed the abuse had never taken place, and Graham later admitted that he made up the allegations, hoping to extort "hush money" out of
3277-607: A stint wrestling in Hawaii in February and March 1972. It was during his Californian period that Graham developed a new aspect of his character; before a match he would stage an arm wrestling contest, encouraging public challenges to his title of "Arm Wrestling Champion of the World". During his time with the AWA, Graham feuded with Gagne, The Crusher , The Bruiser , Wahoo McDaniel , Billy Robinson , Ken Patera and Ivan Koloff ,
3390-475: A swing of nine televised events where he was interviewed by Jonathan Coachman (on December 28) before performing a skit which ended with Coachman getting knocked out. On February 25, 2005, Graham appeared at another live event and was again interviewed by Coachman before knocking him out. Three days later, Graham appeared on Raw , where he encouraged Randy Orton to do something to make himself notable. On October 3 at WWE Homecoming , Graham participated in
3503-536: A tag team with Dusty Rhodes . He left the AWA and returned to the NWA in May 1975, signing up with Red Bastien 's Dallas-based promotion for five months and taking the local "Brass Knucks" title from Mad Dog Vachon on August 8. For most of October, Graham worked for the Mid Atlantic promotion in North Carolina, standing in for Ric Flair , who had just been injured in a plane crash. Graham made his in–ring debut in
Ivan Putski - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-503: 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
3729-586: 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
3842-436: 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
3955-410: 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
4068-427: 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
4181-470: 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
4294-931: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote: "If it wasn't for Billy Graham, this industry would be so much different than it is." Roberta Morgan's 1979 kayfabe book Main Event stated, "Although he is a rule bender, [Graham] has managed to stay very popular with the fans, probably because of his skill, strength, and colorful personality". As a headliner in Madison Square Garden , the WWF's primary arena throughout his tenure, Graham sold out 19 shows. Many wrestlers have based their looks and styles on Billy Graham. Some examples are Ric Flair , Austin Idol , Steve Austin , Scott Steiner , Triple H , Hulk Hogan and Jesse "The Body" Ventura . Graham
4407-954: The Atlantic Coast Football League in 1966. He was a member of the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League in 1967 but did not play in a game. In 1968, Coleman tried out for the Canadian Football League 's Calgary Stampeders , but he was traded to the Montreal Alouettes and only played in five games while there. He played for the Las Vegas Cowboys of the Continental Football League in 1969. He also worked as
4520-522: The Atlas of the Universe . His son Joey was born on March 18, 1975. Joey was born with double pneumonia and an enlarged heart, which was later surgically corrected. Joey's godfather was wrestler Dusty Rhodes . After contracting hepatitis C , Graham received a liver transplant in 2002 from a 26-year-old female donor, who had died in a car crash. He had cirrhosis at the time of his transplant. Graham
4633-750: The Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) World Champion, defeating Pat McGuinness. On November 8, Graham lost the belt to Jerry Lawler in Lexington, Kentucky. Graham wrestled only three matches (one in Windsor, Ontario , Canada and two in Los Angeles) in 1981, and was reported to have died on November 8. However, that report was false and started by Dusty Rhodes as a joke. In 1982, he spent some time competing in Japan and
Ivan Putski - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-624: 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
4859-639: The One Man Gang supposedly retired him from active competition permanently with a running splash on the concrete floor after Graham's win over Butch Reed . In this incident, aired on the November 14, 1987, episode of Superstars , Don Muraco came to Graham's aid, and Graham subsequently became Muraco's manager. Graham's last wrestling match, also against Butch Reed and at 44 years of age, actually took place on November 7, in St Louis, Missouri. Over
4972-677: The SWCW World Tag Team Championship . He worked for International World Class Championship Wrestling from 1986 to 1988. He then retired from the sport. After his run in the WWF, several promotions, and his semi-retirement, Putski returned to the ring in 1991. Putski made an appearance for International World Class Championship Wrestling teaming with his son, Scott to defeat the Masked Iraqis. Also made an appearance for Global Wrestling Federation in 1992 teaming with Gary Young against Tom and Mike Davis in
5085-521: The WWF World Tag Team Championship . They held the title for six months before losing it to The Wild Samoans . Putski worked in the renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s, primarily feuding with Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter . He took a hiatus from wrestling in 1986. He soon returned to the independent circuit, also making occasional appearances in the WWF as a jobber to the stars . His last high-profile feud
5198-900: The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on October 25, 1975, in a tag team match at the Boston Garden, in which he and Spiros Arion defeated WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino and Dominic De Nucci . During this time, The Grand Wizard became Graham's manager . A brief contract with the NWA in Houston , Texas , followed from June to August 1976, after which Graham went on his second tour of Japan, this time accompanied by Ivan Koloff . He feuded with Antonio Inoki during this Japanese run. After returning to America, Graham and Koloff made an unsuccessful attempt to launch their own wrestling promotion in Southern California. In November, on
5311-557: 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
5424-431: 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
5537-584: 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
5650-400: 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
5763-460: 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
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#17327868590125876-424: The AWA, anti-Polish phrases where also a mainstay of lead American television series All In The Family 's patriarch Archie Bunker against his Polish-American son-in-law Michael Stivic . Prior to leaving the AWA, Ivan dropped most of his weight by getting into bodybuilding. Ivan kept himself fairly trim at the 215–220 pound mark. Putski debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1974. While in
5989-653: 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
6102-515: The Hall of Fame after Abdullah the Butcher was inducted, complaining that Abdullah had never wrestled in the promotion. Graham spoke out against Linda McMahon during her 2010 Senate campaign , claiming that she was distancing herself from the racy programming that she profited from while acting as CEO for WWE. Upon learning that his liver condition had worsened, Graham reached out to apologize to
6215-536: The McMahons, even offering to be a spokesman for Linda McMahon's campaign. In July 2015, Graham sent a letter to Vince McMahon requesting to take the position of Dusty Rhodes , who had recently died, at NXT . Graham received criticism from fans due to his timing and opportunism. He defended himself, calling his critics "evil subhumans", and compared a possible reconciliation with McMahon to that of long-time WWE critic Bruno Sammartino , who reconciled with McMahon and
6328-408: 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
6441-488: 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
6554-484: The United States in May, wrestling for a few months with Dr. Jerry Graham , Brick Darrow, Rick Cahill and Ron Pritchard in Arizona before he and Jerry joined the National Wrestling Alliance 's Los Angeles promotion (run by Mike LeBell) as a tag team the following August. He changed his ring name to Billy Graham, as a tribute to the famous evangelist of the same name . Jerry also told him to dye his hair blonde with
6667-430: The United States, adding some martial arts techniques to his repertoire. Graham returned to the now-renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1982. He debuted in the promotion with an entirely new look: leaner, with a bald head and mustache, and sporting black karate pants. Graham later stated that he wanted to retire the "Superstar" character out of frustration with Vince McMahon Sr. for not letting him become
6780-415: The WWF, claiming that they had forced him to take steroids to maintain his position in the company. His lawsuit was unsuccessful, partly because he had been using steroids for a decade preceding his WWF debut. Recalling the lawsuit on a 2003 episode of WWE Confidential , he attributed the litigation to his bitterness and claimed that he was an innovator of steroid use in the organization. Graham went on
6893-598: The WWF. In his autobiography, Graham describes making the allegations as being "my most shameful moment, not only in the wrestling profession, but in my life". Graham wrote an apology to McMahon but received no response until his 2002 liver transplant. Five years after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Graham was released from his consultancy position in WWE. He sold his Hall of Fame ring on eBay to help pay for medical bills and requested that he be entirely removed from
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#17327868590127006-472: The WWWF, Putski feuded with many wrestlers, including Bruiser Brody , Stan Hansen and Ivan Koloff . On June 25, 1976, at Showdown at Shea , Putski defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna . Four years later on August 9, Putski was again victorious at the next Showdown at Shea , defeating Johnny Rodz . He also resumed his feud with Superstar Billy Graham . On October 22, 1979, Putski teamed with a young rookie Tito Santana to defeat Johnny and Jerry Valiant to win
7119-762: The World Bodybuilding Guild's Pro Mr. America contest in New York City , where his 22-inch biceps won first place in the Best Developed Arms division. At the peak of his wrestling career in 1977, Coleman weighed 275 lbs. From 1978, he gained more weight and in 1980, at 325 lbs, he took part in the World's Strongest Man competition in Great Gorge, New Jersey. He finished seventh in this contest in spite of injuring himself in one of
7232-401: 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
7345-418: 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
7458-502: 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
7571-424: 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
7684-418: 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
7797-423: 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
7910-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8023-540: 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
8136-421: The dangers of steroids. His autobiography, Tangled Ropes , was released by WWE on January 10, 2006. WWE also released a DVD about Graham's career, titled 20 Years Too Soon: The "Superstar" Billy Graham Story . Graham had a new DVD released in 2013 through Seriocity Productions titled "Superstar" Billy Graham: Full Disclosure . In the early 1990s, U.S. federal agents were investigating Dr. George Zahorian ,
8249-405: 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
8362-537: The events. On December 6 of the same year, Coleman hosted the U.S. Invitational Powerlifting Championship in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1969, Coleman was encouraged by football player and occasional professional wrestler Bob Lueck to train with Stu Hart for the latter's Stampede Wrestling promotion . He trained under Hart in Calgary before debuting on January 16, 1970, in a match with Dan Kroffat . After wrestling briefly under his real name, Coleman traveled back to
8475-603: 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
8588-602: The feud would also occur when anti-Polish phrases were being frequently spouted by Archie Bunker against his irreligious Polish-American son-in-law Michael Stivic on lead American television series All In The Family . In September and October 1974, Graham took leave from the AWA to join the International Wrestling Enterprise 's "Super Wide Series" tour of Japan, where he fought such local stars as Mighty Inoue , Animal Hamaguchi and Rusher Kimura . Following his return from Japan, Graham formed
8701-470: 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
8814-610: 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
8927-460: 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
9040-526: 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
9153-480: 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
9266-496: 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
9379-743: The invitation of Dusty Rhodes , Graham joined the NWA promotion in Florida, beating Rhodes for the Florida heavyweight title on November 22 at the West Palm Beach Auditorium. His work in this period included occasional visits to St Louis , Missouri , where he took on NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race . Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on April 30, 1977, in Baltimore , Maryland , after putting his feet on
9492-435: The latter becoming his tag-team partner. By this time, Graham was integrating into his performances not only arm wrestling contests but also weightlifting challenges (mainly involving ex-Olympian Ken Patera) and posing routines. One of his most memorable and violent feuds was against McDaniel, with whom he wrestled numerous bouts between 1973 and 1974. In the AWA, he also began his career feud with "Polish Power" Ivan Putski ;
9605-498: 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
9718-549: The next year, in between bouts of surgery, Graham worked for the WWF as a commentator. On March 14, 2004, Graham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 , the night before WrestleMania XX , by then- World Heavyweight Champion Triple H , whom Graham had helped inspire to become a professional wrestler. Graham later sold his WWE Hall of Fame ring to purchase anti-rejection medications to help treat his liver transplant. Several months later, Graham joined WWE on
9831-437: 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
9944-483: The professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style. Coleman was born into a working-class family in Phoenix, Arizona , on June 7, 1943. His father Eldridge was from Mississippi and drove phone poles into the ground for a power company but developed multiple sclerosis and was reassigned to light office work. His mother Juanita, who claimed Cherokee ancestry, was from Arkansas . Coleman
10057-717: 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
10170-534: The ropes. During his reign, he wrestled across America and Japan, facing challengers such as former champion Bruno Sammartino, Jack Brisco , Dusty Rhodes , Pedro Morales , Don Muraco , Mil Mascaras , Strong Kobayashi , Carlos Rocha and Riki Choshu . On January 25, 1978, in Miami , Florida , at the Orange Bowl football stadium, Graham wrestled against then- NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race in
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
10396-426: 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,
10509-519: 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
10622-471: 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
10735-646: The two. Other rivals included The Iron Sheik , Ivan Koloff , and Jesse Ventura , who would refer to Putski as "Puduski" when commentating for the WWF. Putski was the first Polish wrestler to perform in the WWF (now WWE). Putski was born in Kraków in Poland and immigrated to the United States at a young age. He and his family arrived in Texas , where Putski began his professional wrestling career. He stood 5 ft 10 in and weighed around 225 lbs. In his earlier days, he
10848-535: 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
10961-420: 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
11074-425: 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
11187-479: Was able to bench press 605 lbs (the world record, held by his friend Pat Casey, was 616 lbs). One of Coleman's photo shoots with Schwarzenegger was featured that year in Joe Weider 's Muscle Fitness magazine. When Coleman decided to become a professional wrestler two years later, he had the inspiration of marrying wrestling to bodybuilding. As a wrestler, he weight-trained continually, and in 1975 prepared for
11300-479: Was able to yank the leather strap from his father's fingers; his mother also hit him with a brick on his head “because he was too big to hit with anything else.” Coleman attended North High School , where he was a track and field star and a shot put champion. He also dabbled in amateur and professional boxing, participating in the 1959 Golden Gloves . Coleman played for the Waterbury Orbits of
11413-803: Was again hospitalized on May 24, 2006, due to a bowel obstruction from an earlier surgery. In July 2010, Graham was hospitalized due to liver problems. Afterward, he announced that he probably only had one year left to live without another liver transplant. He reserved a burial spot at the Green Acres cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona, next to Eddie Guerrero . On March 31, 2011, The Phoenix New Times reported that Graham's doctor, Hector Rodriguez-Luna, acknowledged that Graham's advanced fibrosis may have been early cirrhosis and that he could live for two more years if he took Interferon —a drug to help slow his hepatitis C—and stayed in shape. By 2012, Graham
11526-538: Was also famous for his characteristic use of the word "brother" in his promos, referring to either commentators or fellow wrestlers. This stems from his background attending evangelical revival meetings , where everybody referred to each other as "brother" or "sister" (in Christ ). Graham's use of the word caught on, and since then countless wrestlers have also used "brother" in their own respective promos, most notably Hulk Hogan . Graham often lectured young athletes on
11639-541: Was an American professional wrestler . He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWF Heavyweight Champion from 1977 to 1978. He was a three-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions . As an award-winning bodybuilder , he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger . He was most remembered for revolutionizing the interview, which resembled the interviewing style of boxer Muhammad Ali , and physique aspects of
11752-401: Was attracted to weight lifting in the fifth grade. As a teenager, he was an avid reader of bodybuilding magazines, his idols being Steve Reeves and John Grimek . As a teenager, he became a devout Christian and traveled to religious revivals where he incorporated feats of strength into his sermons. Wayne was often beaten by his father due to his jealousy of Wayne's physique, but one day, he
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
11978-423: Was diagnosed with third-stage liver disease and cirrhosis. On January 17, 2013, Graham was hospitalized with double pneumonia and possible heart failure. He was re-hospitalized for a liver complication in October 2014. On August 2, 2016, Graham was hospitalized while undergoing a medical procedure due to internal bleeding; he underwent surgery the next day to identify the cause of the issues. In June 2022, it
12091-504: Was in 1984 with Jesse Ventura . In November 1985, Putski lost to Randy Savage in the opening round of the Wrestling Classic . His final appearance was in 1987 teaming on television with Junkyard Dog and Superstar Billy Graham in tag team matches. Putski began to slow down his career in the 1980s. He won his last tag team championship in May 1981, teaming with Wahoo McDaniel to defeat Dory Funk, Jr. and Larry Lane for
12204-401: Was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2013 . As stated in his autobiography Tangled Ropes , Graham and his wife Valerie Belkas, whom he married in 1978, were never able to have children. Graham has two children from a previous marriage to Madelyn Miluso; he was also married to Shirley Potts. His daughter Capella was born on June 8, 1972. She was named after a star he read about in
12317-532: Was often introduced as a former concentration camp survivor, only adding to his sympathetic appeal to audiences of all ages. In the early 1970s, Putski worked for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he was a fan favorite. It was during this time in the AWA that Putski also first clashed with Superstar Billy Graham, with the two feuding over who was the strongest wrestling in the AWA;. During "Polish Power" Ivan Putski's time in
12430-650: 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
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
12769-688: Was weighed in at the 250 lb mark. Putski won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with José Lothario twice in 1973. Putski was a fixture on the Dallas-Ft. Worth wrestling scene and was one of its most popular personalities. He was routinely the feature act at the Sportatorium , a wrestling-only arena in an industrial section near Downtown Dallas. Putski's act consisted of being a happy-go-lucky, often aloof buffoon, who would "miraculously" pin his opponent. Putski
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