Mid 20th Century
111-408: Joseph Carl Bailey Jr. (August 23, 1983 – August 30, 2010) was an American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name J. C. Bailey . He wrestled for numerous American-based professional wrestling promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling , IWA Mid-South , and IWA East Coast. Bailey made his professional wrestling debut in 2001. On March 29, 2003, Bailey defeated Nate Webb to win
222-520: A PNC Bank in Collingswood, New Jersey , on December 22. During the robbery, Wilson, known for wearing a bandana to the ring, unmasked, handed a note to a female employee at the bank demanding money, and got approximately $ 3,000. Following the robbery, Wilson and his girlfriend went to Atlantic City to gamble. Wilson surrendered to authorities on December 31, 2010. On March 15, 2011, Wilson pleaded guilty to second degree robbery and on April 29
333-435: 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
444-617: A brain aneurysm , caused by complications due to multiple concussions and traumas to the brain. His brain was expected to be donated for research at Boston University . Team Ca$ h defended the CZW World Tag Team Championship under the Freebird Rule . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
555-655: A deathmatch involving light tubes . On August 9, at Aftermath , Bailey lost the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship to Sonjay Dutt . He also competed in the fifth annual IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch tournament in August, where he defeated 2 Tuff Tony , Necro Butcher , and Ian Rotten, before losing to Mad Man Pondo in the final. On November 21, Bailey won a three-way match against Dutt and Nate Webb to win
666-415: 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
777-415: 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
888-486: A vigil and filed a complaint to the town of Bardstown. While Bailey was only charged with a misdemeanor , his arrest resulted in his parole being revoked and he spent two years in prison. Bailey was released in December 2009. Bailey was found dead on August 30, 2010, having died in his sleep. Prior to his death, he had complained of headaches and numbness in his hands. The cause of death was later determined to be due to
999-613: A Cage of Death match between the three, which called for the loser of the bout to hang up the boots and retire. Before the match started, Gage's enemy LuFisto came to the ring and entered herself in the match. Gage won by pinning Zandig, forcing the CZW owner into retirement. The next month, Gage was scheduled to face LuFisto in a one on one match, but LuFisto was injured and the match was canceled. Gage would end up facing his brother, Justice Pain, for Pain's CZW Heavyweight Championship at CZW's eight anniversary show, H8. The match ended early due to
1110-445: A Christmas-themed Deathmatch. At the end of the match, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) interfered and attacked Gage. The host of the event, Orange Cassidy, spat mist at MJF's face with Gage doing his finisher to MJF after. During his title reign Gage became the longest-reigning GCW Heavyweight Champion with a record of 722 days, with his reign ending on December 8, 2019, after losing to AJ Gray. Due to his work as GCW World Champion, Gage
1221-482: A No Disqualifications Match. At the event, Gage would lose to Jericho, who wrestled under the guise of his NJPW persona "The Painmaker." In an interview in early 2010, Wilson stated he had been addicted to oxycontin and other painkillers for at least a decade. At the time of his bank robbery in 2010, he was homeless after being evicted from the house where he had lived with his girlfriend and her mother. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet , Wilson noted that he
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#17327936870401332-410: A No Ropes Barbed Wire stipulation. "The Man" has also competed in two consecutive Carnage Cups. At Carnage Cup 2008, Gage defeated Devon Moore in a Fans Bring The Weapons Match in the first round, followed by defeating Prophet in an Ultraviolent Boards Match. However, Nick Gage would lose in the finals to Danny Havoc, in a 4-Way 200 Light Tubes Death Match also involving Freakshow and Corey Shaddix. At
1443-594: A Taped Fist Texas Death Match, but would be defeated by Devon Moore, his rival in CZW at the time, in a third round Pyramids of Pain Death Match, which featured Moore, Gage & "Diehard" Dustin Lee. Less than a year later, Nick would find himself at the 2009 King of the Deathmatches. Nick Gage would lose in the opening round against Thumbtack Jack in a Deep Six Death Match, which consisted of Chains, Fish Hooks, and
1554-413: 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
1665-532: 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
1776-519: 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
1887-585: 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
1998-439: 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 . Nick Gage Nicholas William Wilson (born September 22, 1980), better known by his ring name Nick Gage ,
2109-404: 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
2220-410: 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
2331-554: A feud with Tim Donst. On November 24, 2017, at AIW Hell On Earth 13, Gage defeated Donst to win the AIW Heavyweight Championship. Gage would retain against Donst in the rematch at GCW Rulers Of The World on December 29, 2017. On January 14, 2018, Nick Gage made his Style Battle debut in Episode 8 of Season 1. Gage faced Walter in a no-contest which spilled outside of the ring when both men refused to listen to
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#17327936870402442-405: 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
2553-799: 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
2664-407: A match when he is released from prison. Gage made his in ring return at Proving Grounds 2015 against Drew Gulak. At Tournament of Death 14, Gage returned to Tournament of Death, losing to Conor Claxton in the first round. On April 10, 2015, Nick Gage made his first appearance in wrestling after being released from prison at Jersey Championship Wrestling's Tag Team J-Cup Tournament. Gage interrupted
2775-424: 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
2886-440: 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
2997-565: A part of Team Zandig, to take on the Hi-V.They feuded for nearly one year, and met in the Cage of Death match at Cage of Death V . At the end of the match, Hatred turned on Messiah and rejoined Gage. After reforming, they regained the tag championship, but lost it to The Blackout . At Cage of Death VI , The H8 Club of Nick Gage and Nate Hatred faced the H8 Club of Wifebeater and Justice Pain, with
3108-648: A promo by The Rogues, Jeff Cannonball and Brandon Kirk, hitting Cannonball with a chair and then his boot scrape and giving Kirk a chokebreaker. Gage and Lucky 13 would then lose in the first round to the Beast Squad, consisting of Monsta Mack and Kyle the Beast. After the match Gage turned on Lucky with a series of chokebreakers. With Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) being his new main home since 2015, Nick Gage has declared Absolute Intense Wrestling his 2nd home for professional wrestling debuting in 2015. In 2017 Gage entered
3219-598: A table, by Necro and his use of the Death Valley Driver. At the following show, Gage would interfere in Necro's No Rope Barbed Wire Match with one, J.C. Bailey. Gage, and his brother, Justice Pain's feud with Klein and The Butcher, would carry on all the way until Cage of Death 7. At Cage of Death 7 in the Cage of Death match, with Justice Pain and Zandig on Gage's team and Joker and Toby Klein on Necro's team. After Cage of Death, Gage and Necro Butcher fought in
3330-493: A triple threat no rope barbed wire match with J.C. Bailey for Bailey's Ultraviolent Underground Championship, which Gage captured that night. Gage later became color commentator for CZW DVDs, replacing Eddie Kingston . On July 29, 2006, Nick Gage won Tournament of Death 5 defeating Brain Damage, JC Bailey, and Drake Younger in the final round. After this, Gage began exhibiting strange behavior. He attacked LuFisto after she won
3441-503: 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
J. C. Bailey - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-586: 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
3663-514: Is a Christian and that he prays fairly often. His brother Justice Pain was a wrestler that also worked for CZW. Pain died on January 24, 2020, after jumping off a bridge in Philadelphia after being chased by police. Wilson was arrested in 2005 for possession of stolen property. He pleaded guilty and paid a $ 250 fine as well as court costs. On December 30, 2010, New Jersey authorities announced that they were seeking Wilson for robbing
3774-436: 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
3885-410: 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
3996-753: Is an American professional wrestler wrestling for various promotions on the independent circuit . He is the only man to win the "big three" of American deathmatch tournaments: the CZW Tournament of Death , the IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch , and the GCW Tournament of Survival. Along with being the first-ever CZW World Heavyweight Champion for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), until late 2010, Gage wrestled at nearly every CZW show and competed in more CZW matches than any other wrestler. In addition to these accomplishments, he has held
4107-427: 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
4218-470: 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
4329-547: The CZW World Tag Team Championship . Team Ca$ h held the championship until February 5, 2005, when Ca$ h and Webb lost to H8 Club ( Justice Pain and Nick Gage ). The same night, Bailey became the first-ever CZW Ultraviolent Underground Champion . He lost the championship to Zandig in July 2005. The following month, on August 13, Bailey defeated Necro Butcher in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Death Match to win
4440-493: The IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch tournament, having competed in four of them. During 2003, Gage entered the tournament during the CZW vs IWA-MS angle, which was going on at the time. Gage was able to take out Dysfunction in the first round, by defeating him in a 4-Corners of Pain Match, followed by defeating "Mean" Mitch Page in a Barbed Wire Canvas & Light Tube Ropes Match in the second round. However, Gage would end up on
4551-546: The IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship . He lost the championship to Michael Todd Stratton on May 24, but regained it a week later on May 31. In June 2003, Bailey, Ian Rotten , and Corporal Robinson "invaded" Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) on behalf of Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA Mid-South). The following month, he competed in the second annual CZW Tournament of Death where he lost to Nick Mondo in
J. C. Bailey - Misplaced Pages Continue
4662-670: The Iron Man title , had incidents with Zandig and Justice Pain, and insulted the fans on many occasions, most notably on commentary. He has since been removed from his commentary position. At Last Team Standing on October 14, he and Justice Pain made it to the finals of the tag team tournament. However, he left the arena before the last match. The next night, he lost the Ultraviolent Underground Championship to Drake Younger. At Night of Infamy 5 , problems between Gage, Lobo, and Zandig continued, leading to
4773-624: 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
4884-547: The World Tag Team , Iron Man , Ultraviolent Underground , and Death Match championships during his CZW career. Gage's late brother, Chris Wilson, was also a professional wrestler; he performed in CZW under the ring name Justice Pain . The brothers even joined a stable known as “The H8 Club” with fellow CZW talent Matt Tremont , Nate Hatred, and Wifebeater . In April 2011, Gage was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree bank robbery. He
4995-557: 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
5106-535: The ring name Justice Pain, though he retired in 2007 and died by suicide in 2020 when he jumped off the Walt Whitman Bridge . Gage is known for being the first ever CZW World Heavyweight Champion and for being part of the H8 Club tag team. Before teaming with Nate Hatred as the H8 Club, Gage won the CZW World Tag Team Championship with Zandig . Gage would also find great success in his run for
5217-431: 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
5328-584: 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
5439-400: 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
5550-509: 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
5661-485: The 2009 Carnage Cup, Gage would pick up a victory over Insane Lane and Freakshow in the first round, advancing himself to the second round. Gage would be defeated, once again, by Thumbtack Jack, in an Ultraviolent Boards & Thumbtack Cinderblocks Death Match. During Tournament of Death 13 in 2014, D. J. Hyde announced that Nick Gage would return and be the first entrant into Tournament of Death 14. At CZW's Tangled Web on October 18, 2014, Matt Tremont challenged Gage to
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#17327936870405772-653: 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
5883-597: The Best , Gage, along with Nate Hatred, would feud with The Best All Around in their hunt to regain the CZW Tag Team Titles . However, the hunt would prove to be a failure as they did not win the titles. The H8 Club would go on to turn heel, as they took up arms with the Switchblade Conspiracy, and attacked the new CZW owner, D. J. Hyde . In response to the attacks, Hyde would replace himself in
5994-489: The CZW Ironman Title, which he had several brutal matches with the likes of LOBO, The Wifebeater, Nick Mondo & Mad Man Pondo. One of the most notable matches from the time period was the first ever, 200 Light Tubes Death Match against The Wifebeater. He would later team up with Hatred and wrestle such teams as The Briscoe Brothers , VD, and The Backseat Boyz . Together, they won the tag team championship from
6105-501: The IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship for the third time. He held the championship for two months before losing it to Matt Sydal on January 17, 2004. In June 2004, Bailey competed in the sixth King of the Deathmatch where he lost to Mad Man Pondo and Toby Klein, and the following month he participated in the third Tournament of Death where he lost to Wifebeater after defeating Chri$ Ca$ h . On December 11, 2004, he teamed up with Chri$ Ca$ h, Nate Webb and SeXXXy Eddy to win
6216-408: 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
6327-488: 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
6438-637: The Referee. The brawl ended when Keith Lee joined the fray and Clocked Gage in the face with a forearm. July 28, 2018, Nick made his debut in Nova Pro Wrestling, losing a street fight to Tim Donst. The fight saw chair shots, a suplex through a closet door and a pack of light tubes over Gage's head ending the match. On June 3, 2017, Nick Gage won the Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) Tournament of Survival 2, defeating Matt Tremont in
6549-455: The Ultraviolent Underground Championship for the second time. He held the championship for over five months, before losing it to Nick Gage on January 14, 2006. Between 2005 and 2007, Bailey competed in several more hardcore tournaments, including the fourth and fifth Tournaments of Death, seventh and eighth King of the Deathmatch tournaments, and Tournament of Death: Fast Forward . On August 20, 2006, he went to Japan and competed in
6660-401: 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
6771-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
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#17327936870406882-561: 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
6993-424: 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
7104-418: 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
7215-423: 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
7326-512: 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
7437-540: 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
7548-465: The deathmatch scene led him to be the subject of a 2021 episode of the docuseries Dark Side of the Ring . John Pollock of POST Wrestling describes Gage as a "cult figure" of professional wrestling. From February 2022 until October 2024, he was the sole contracted wrestler signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), a promotion where he is a former 4-time GCW World Champion . Nicholas William Wilson
7659-405: 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
7770-603: 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
7881-503: The finals in a 40 Panes of Glass Scaffold Match to become the OHW Death In The Valley Champion. On June 5, Bailey won the 2010 IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch tournament. He defeated Ian Rotten, Nick Gage, and Balls Mahoney en route to the final, where he defeated Devon Moore. On June 26, Bailey competed in CZW's Tournament of Death 9 , where he advanced through the first two rounds, before losing in
7992-745: The finals in the start of what would be a trilogy of matches between the two. On September 16, 2017, Tremont defeated Gage in the 2nd match of the trilogy in the finals of the Nick Gage Invitational II. Gage won the 3rd and final match, along with the GCW Heavyweight Championship, at GCW's 2nd anniversary event "Ready To Die" in a Three Layers Of Hell Match on December 16, 2017. On April 5, 2019, Nick Gage defeated Shinjiro Otani at GCW's Joey Janela's Spring Break 3 Part 1. On April 6, at GCW Orange Cassidy 's Doing Something, Nick Gage defeated UltraMantis Black in
8103-510: The finals of the annual, Tournament of Death , along with the Necro Butcher and CZW owner, John Zandig . In this match, Gage would, figuratively, get set on fire, due to a botched Suplex, which saw Gage deliver it to Zandig, over the top rope and off the apron, onto a flaming board, which incorporated other Ultraviolent qualities. Gage would ultimately lose the match, as a result of being driven through several Panes of Glass, as well as
8214-587: The finals to Vortekz. Bailey's father, Joseph Bailey, ran the Bad 2 the Bone Wrestling promotion in Kentucky, until his death from cancer on June 16, 2013. In September 2006, Bailey was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the first degree, attempted burglary in the second degree, and criminal mischief in the third degree. He was sentenced to one year in prison and
8325-470: 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
8436-610: 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
8547-460: 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
8658-526: 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
8769-480: 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
8880-496: 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
8991-469: The infamous H8 Club. The H8 Club would go on to face Notorious Inc. at Down With The Sickness, as well as BLKOUT at Cage of Death X. Gage and Hatred would then move on to a bloody feud with Billy Gram's Cult Fiction, Brain Damage & Deranged, which, ultimately, culminated at CZW Tournament of Death 8, when Nick Gage defeated Deranged in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Fire Match. At that very same event, Gage would end up defeating Jon Moxley and Scotty Vortekz in
9102-449: The likes of Drake Younger , Danny Havoc , Devon Moore, Ruckus & Eddie Kingston . However, Gage's run would come to an end at A Tangled Web, in which he lost to Drake Younger in a Tangled Web Death Match, due to interference from Notorious Inc. member, Devon Moore. Gage would face Moore at the following show in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Taipei Death Match. Gage would soon take up arms with his old tag team partner, Nate Hatred, to reform
9213-506: The losing end during the third round when he lost to Mad Man Pondo in a Bed of Nails & Caribbean Spider Web Match. After his return to professional wrestling in December 2007, Gage would return to the IWA-MS for their 2008 King of the Deathmatch. The Future of Hardcore, along with Danny Havoc , would defeat the former photographer, Whacks, in a first round Light Tubes & Ladders Match. The following night, Gage would defeat Freakshow in
9324-784: The main event of The WRLD On GCW to win the GCW Tag Team Championships. On August 13, 2022, The Briscoes won back the Tag Team Championship from the so called “New H8 Club”. At GCW's Fight Club event on October 8, Gage won the GCW World Championship for a third time defeating Jon Moxley in a Title vs. Career match . On October 29, 2024, Gage announced his departure from GCW. On the July 29, 2021, episode of AEW Dynamite , Gage made an appearance when MJF announced him as Chris Jericho 's second "labour" for Fight For The Fallen in
9435-498: 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
9546-521: The original H8 Club of Wifebeater and Justice Pain . Gage and Hatred would break up in 2003 when Hatred joined Messiah 's stable, the Hi-V. Gage and Hatred would embark on a bloody feud against one another, competing in a Tables Match, Cage Match, Dog Collar Match, as well as a 200 Light Tubes Death Match. The two would trade the Big Japan Death Match Title between one another. Gage would take part in Cage of Death V: Suspended, as
9657-437: 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
9768-452: The professional wrestling tournament WRESTLE EXPO 2006 where he lost to 2 Tuff Tony after defeating Mad Man Pondo. On September 16, 2006, he competed in the first Masters of Pain tournament where he lost to the "Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai after defeating 2 Tuff Tony and Corporal Robinson. In December 2009, Bailey returned to CZW at Cage of Death 11 , attacking Thumbtack Jack who had just won a no-ropes barbwire match against Nick Gage . Bailey
9879-717: 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
9990-606: The result of Gage receiving a stinger, as a result of a botched Pain Thriller from his brother. Nick Gage would remain out of action until the end of the year. Gage made his return to CZW at the ninth annual Cage of Death event on December 8. He defeated Messiah and Ruckus in a Triple Threat Match to become a three time CZW World Heavyweight Champion. Gage's third reign as the Heavyweight Champion would last seven months, as he successfully defended his title against
10101-447: The second round, advancing to the third, and final, round, against Thumbtack Jack. Gage would have to be airlifted to hospital after taking a bump onto a light tube , which resulted in a laceration severing an artery in his arm. Gage had made a full recovery and was back at CZW Best of the Best (only 1 week later) and participated in an attack on Thumbtack Jack. Following his injury at TOD, and his attack on Thumbtack Jack at Best of
10212-440: 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
10323-426: 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,
10434-519: 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
10545-471: 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
10656-403: The upcoming Tournament of Death: Rewind, and in his place would be Nick Gage, who would take on the former owner of CZW, John Zandig . Gage would defeat Zandig in the opening round in a Panes of Glass Match, but would come up on the losing end to MASADA in the second round in a Home Run Derby Death Match. "The Future of Hardcore" would cross paths with Thumbtack Jack once more before the end of
10767-535: 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
10878-461: The winners winning the right to the H8 Club name. That night, Nick Gage and Justice Pain turned on their partners joined each other. They would then win the tag team championship and hold it for many months before losing to Necro Butcher and Toby Klein. Even after the loss of the Tag Titles, Gage and his brother would continue to feud with The Tough Crazy Bastards. Gage would find himself in
10989-420: 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
11100-597: The year, as they faced one another for Jack's Ultraviolent Underground Championship , in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Match at Cage of Death XI. Jack would come out the victor in the contest, only to be attacked by a returning, J.C. Bailey. In May 2010, Gage went to Japan and wrestled for Big Japan Pro Wrestling after an interval of nearly 10 years. Gage, as a member of the stable CZW Japan originally created around 2000, competed at BJW 15th Anniversary Show, teaming with Jun Kasai and D. J. Hyde . Apart from his performances in CZW's Tournament of Death , Gage has also taken part in
11211-425: 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
11322-688: Was accompanied in this attack by 'Halfbreed' Billy Gram who in turn revealed that Bailey was the new member of The Cult Fiction stable led by Gram. Bailey and Gram were soon joined by tHURTeen, the returning Brain Damage and Masada in The Cult Fiction, and began a feud against fan favorites Danny Havoc , Drake Younger , Scotty Vortekz and Eddie Kingston who were dubbed The Suicide Kings. On May 15, 2010, Bailey competed in Ohio Hatchet Wrestling's "Death In The Valley" Deathmatch Tournament; where he defeated Drake Younger in
11433-705: Was born in National Park, New Jersey , on September 22, 1980. He was raised by his mother. As a child, he idolized NFL player Lawrence Taylor . He wanted to be a professional wrestler at a very young age, and later recalled watching NWA as a kid and calling WWF "corny". In the early 1990s, he was starting to lose his love for wrestling when ECW got him back into it. He would begin wrestling in backyard hardcore matches, making makeshift rings out of barbed wire, and wrestling his older brother Christopher and their friends. He and Christopher trained as professional wrestlers together. Christopher would become known by
11544-488: 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
11655-588: Was named by Sports Illustrated as the 10th ranked Wrestler of the Year in 2019. At the Spring Break event in April 2021, Gage defeated Rickey Shane Page to win the GCW World Championship for the second time, making him the only person to hold the championship more than once. On July 24, 2021, Gage lost the title to Matt Cardona at GCW Homecoming. In January 2022, Gage and Matt Tremont defeated The Briscoes in
11766-650: 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
11877-475: Was released on parole on August 31, 2007. Two months later, Bailey and another man were arrested while attempting to steal a 27-inch Samsung television from a Wal-Mart in Bardstown, Kentucky . Bailey was admitted to the hospital shortly afterward due to injuries suffered during the arrest. After pictures of Bailey's mugshot showing him covered in blood were released to the public, a local activist group held
11988-490: Was sentenced to five years in prison. His guilty plea was part of an agreement for a lesser sentence. He was eligible for parole on March 31, 2015, after serving 85% of his five-year sentence. He was released on parole in April 2015 but violated parole and was re-incarcerated. He was released again in November 2016. Wilson was also ordered to pay compensation to both the bank and the female employee from whom he had demanded
12099-415: 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
12210-417: 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
12321-476: Was ultimately released in 2016. After his release, he became an infamous name in the deathmatch indie scene and gained a cult following known as the Murder-Death-Kill Gang (often shortened to MDK). In his entrances, he is introduced as "representing The M.D.K Gang, The H8 Club, and all his comrades in prison, eastern block". His infamy as a "folk hero" of both independent American wrestling and of
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