Mid 20th Century
118-584: Paul Soren Gruber (born October 26, 1996) is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Wheeler Yuta and is a member of the Death Riders and one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions . He also makes appearances for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former three-time ROH Pure Champion , and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he
236-435: 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
354-415: 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
472-415: 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
590-413: 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
708-532: 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
826-519: 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
944-585: 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
1062-576: A cross-promoted show with NJPW. On first night, he defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the British Heavyweight Championship, and then successfully defended the title against Chris Hero on second night. On January 21, 2017, Shibata made another successful title defense against Matt Riddle at RPW's High Stakes event. He lost the title back to Sabre at NJPW's 45th anniversary show on March 6 thanks to an assist from Minoru Suzuki and Suzuki Gun. Shibata made his return to RPW at
1180-471: A degree from Villanova University . Yuta debuted in 2014. He made his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut in late 2015 and consistently appeared for CZW until late 2016. On October 5, 2017, at One Shot , he made his debut for Major League Wrestling (MLW) in a losing effort to MJF . His last match for the promotion would be in 2019 against Low-Ki . On September 11, 2020 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Yuta made his debut for Ring of Honor (ROH) in
1298-427: 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 . Katsuyori Shibata Katsuyori Shibata ( 柴田勝頼 , Shibata Katsuyori , born November 17, 1979)
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#17327973176631416-404: 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
1534-410: 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
1652-416: A freelancer and has most notably fought for Big Mouth Loud and Pro Wrestling Noah . One of his more famous matches during his freelancing years was a heated confrontation with former amateur wrestler Jun Akiyama . In Big Mouth Loud, Shibata took on several big names including Satoshi Kojima , Kensuke Sasaki , & Taru . In Noah, Shibata teamed with Kenta on several occasions including challenging for
1770-456: A hospital, where it was discovered that he had a subdural hematoma , which required emergency surgery. Shibata's injury was similar to that which killed mixed martial artist Tim Hague a couple of months later. The injury was caused by Shibata's repeated use of a headbutt as a signature move, something he had been doing regularly since the summer of 2016. This, combined with severe dehydration, caused Shibata to also experience some paralysis on
1888-405: 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
2006-622: A match against Cassidy for the AEW All Atlantic Championship , on the November 4 edition of Rampage . In his AEW in-ring debut, Shibata was defeated by Cassidy, the duo shook hands and posed after the match. On March 31, 2023, Shibata made his Ring of Honor debut, in which he defeated Wheeler Yuta at Supercard of Honor for the ROH Pure Championship . Shibata made his televised AEW return on
2124-799: 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
2242-424: 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
2360-440: 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
2478-540: A proper wrestling match, when it was scheduled to be under " catch wrestling rules " with no strikes being allowed. In addition to the United States, through their working relationship with NJPW, he debuted for UK-based Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) at their Summer Sizzler 2016 event on July 10, unsuccessfully challenging Zack Sabre Jr. for the British Heavyweight Championship . In November 2016, Shibata returned to RPW at Global Wars UK,
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#17327973176632596-586: A record of five wins and four losses, with a loss against Hiroshi Tanahashi on the final day costing him a spot in the finals. On September 8, Shibata and Sakuraba took part in the Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event , defeating Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono in a tag team match. On December 7, Shibata made his in-ring return to Noah, defeating Maybach Taniguchi in a singles match. On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome , Shibata
2714-874: A shocking start, Shibata charged across the ring and almost fell through the ropes when Sakurai dodged him, and then unloaded all his offensive with the intention to end the fight early, but Hayato took him down and punished him methodically until the stoppage. After going winless for two years, Shibata would score his biggest victory to date at Dream 8 when he defeated Ikuhisa Minowa by Unanimous Decision. Later that year at Dream 12 , he defeated fellow New Japan Pro-Wrestling alumni: Tokimitsu Ishizawa by TKO. At Dynamite!! 2009 , Shibata lost to Hiroshi Izumi by unanimous decision. Shibata returned to Deep for two appearances in 2010. On June 6, 2010, he lost to Young Choi by unanimous decision. On October 24, he then faced Deep Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshiyuki Nakanishi at Deep: 50th Impact which he lost by TKO. His most recent fight
2832-512: A shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by Gallows and Anderson. From July 21 to August 8, Shibata took part in the 2014 G1 Climax , where he finished fourth in his block with a record of six wins and four losses. During the tournament final event on August 10, Shibata and Goto faced off in another singles match, where Shibata was victorious. After entering a rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura and becoming
2950-618: A singles match on October 23, at Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohoma Vol. 2. On November 5 at Power Struggle , Shibata lost the title to Evil. On November 15, Shibata regained the NEVER Openweight Championship from Evil on NJPW's Wrestling World 2016 event in Singapore . He lost the title to Hirooki Goto on January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome . On March 20, Shibata defeated Bad Luck Fale in
3068-555: A tag team match at Invasion Attack 2015 . The two faced off on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall in a match, where Shibata was victorious. From July 20 to August 14, Shibata took part in the 2015 G1 Climax , where he finished in the middle of his block with a record of four wins and five losses. On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 , Shibata won his first singles title in NJPW, when he defeated Tomohiro Ishii for
3186-424: A tag team match. Shibata and Sakuraba, collectively dubbed Laughter7, continued their winning ways at the following two pay-per-views , King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8 and Power Struggle on November 11, both times defeating the team of Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , Shibata suffered his first defeat since his return to professional wrestling, when he
3304-608: A ten-man tag team match, but were defeated. Between February 2024 and June 2024, Yuta was sidelined by an injury. Yuta returned to action in AEW on the 5 June edition of Dynamite . On August 25 at All In , Yuta and Castagnoli teamed with Pac in the Four-way London Ladder match for the AEW World Trios Championship , which they won. After All Out , the stable turned on Danielson and the team
3422-420: A three match losing streak, only to come back and win their four remaining matches, winning their block and advancing to the finals. On December 7, Shibata and Goto defeated Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in the finals to win the 2014 World Tag League. This led to a rematch between the two teams on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome , where Shibata and Goto defeated Anderson and Gallows to become
3540-503: 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
3658-586: 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
Wheeler Yuta - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-428: Is a Japanese professional wrestler , trainer , and former mixed martial artist . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also makes appearances for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH Pure Champion . In professional wrestling, he is known for his hard hitting offense. He spent most of his career with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and trainer. In NJPW, he
3894-436: 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
4012-537: Is a former three-time NEVER Openweight Champion , a one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion (with Hirooki Goto ), and the winner of the 2017 New Japan Cup . He is also a former holder of Revolution Pro Wrestling 's RPW British Heavyweight Championship . From March 2018 to July 2023, Shibata served as the head coach of NJPW's dojo in Los Angeles . Shibata attended Kuwana Kogyo High School in Kuwana, Mie , where he
4130-410: 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
4248-427: 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
4366-470: 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
4484-747: The Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) promoted K-1 Hero's , in his K-1 Hero's debut on March 12, 2007, at Hero's 8 , he defeated Yoshihisa Yamamoto by TKO in 9 seconds. After two victories, Shibata went on a five fight losing streak. He lost to Ralek Gracie at K-1 Hero's: Middleweight Tournament Opening Round by submitting to an armbar. Shibata then lost to Kazushi Sakuraba at K-1 Hero's Tournament Final once again submitting to an armbar. Shibata fought his last K-1 Hero's fight at K-1 Olympia Hero'S 2007 in Korea on October 28, 2007, against Heo Min Seok. Shibata lost
4602-611: The GHC Tag Team Championship and defeating Go Shiozaki and Mitsuharu Misawa where Shibata pinned the future heavyweight champion: Shiozaki. On January 4, 2006, Shibata returned to New Japan at Toukon Shidou Chapter 1 , where he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi. Shibata's final match for nearly six years took place on December 31, 2006, when he defeated Kazuhiro Hamanaka. By January 2007, Shibata left wrestling to focus on mixed martial arts . On December 31, 2011, Shibata returned to professional wrestling to compete on
4720-686: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuyuki Fujita but lost by knockout. One month later, he entered the 2004 G1 Climax and won his block scoring eight points and defeated several former IWGP Champions including Masahiro Chono , Shinsuke Nakamura, and Genichiro Tenryu but would lose in the semi-finals to eventual winner: Hiroyoshi Tenzan . Following the G1, Shibata joined Masahiro Chono's new stable: Black New Japan , where he remained until eventually leaving New Japan in January 2005. In 2005, Shibata left New Japan, becoming
4838-548: The Inoki Genome Federation 's (IGF) Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 year end event. At the event, Shibata teamed with fellow pro wrestler-turned-mixed martial artist Kazushi Sakuraba to defeat the team of Shinichi Suzukawa and Atsushi Sawada. On August 12, 2012, Shibata, alongside Kazushi Sakuraba, returned to NJPW. Shibata and Sakuraba wrestled their return match on September 23 at Destruction , defeating Hiromu Takahashi and Wataru Inoue in
Wheeler Yuta - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-653: The Makai Club wrestling as himself and as Makai #4. From there, he continued to rise in the ranks. In July 2003, Shibata challenged for both the IWGP Tag Team Championship and the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship but failed to win either title. Shibata then entered the 2003 G1 Climax , where he placed 3rd in his block with 5 points. Shibata continued to grow in 2004. On July 19, 2004, he received his first shot at
5074-605: The NEVER Openweight Championship . He made his first successful title defense on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka in a rematch against Ishii. On March 3, NJPW announced that Shibata had signed a one-year deal with the promotion, ending his 11-year run as a freelancer. Shibata made his next title defenses against NJPW veterans, defeating Satoshi Kojima on March 19 and Hiroyoshi Tenzan on April 10. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016 , Shibata lost
5192-624: 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
5310-557: 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
5428-431: 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
5546-400: The "new Three Musketeers ". In 2000, Shibata took part in the 2000 Young Lion Cup , eventually finishing 3rd place with 6 points. During the tournament he was involved in a serious incident when he hit Masakazu Fukuda with an elbow drop during a match. Fukuda was in a coma and died four days later in hospital. Shibata and Wataru worked their way up the junior ranks together, though Shibata
5664-584: 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
5782-400: 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
5900-509: 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
6018-653: 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
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#17327973176636136-641: The Blackpool Combat Club, leading to an Anarchy in the Arena match being scheduled for Double or Nothing , where the Blackpool Combat Club defeated The Elite ( Kenny Omega , Page, Matt Jackson , and Nick Jackson ) after Yuta pinned its leader Omega. At the Forbidden Door event on June 25, Yuta, Moxley and Castagnoli teamed with Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino to take on Page, The Young Bucks, Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii in
6254-543: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but was told by the reigning champion, Kazuchika Okada , to earn his title shot at the 2014 New Japan Cup . In order to win the tournament, Shibata announced he was bringing back his old finishing move, the octopus hold . Shibata, however, failed in his attempt to win the tournament, losing to Shelton X Benjamin in his second round match on March 22. On April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014 , Shibata and Goto received
6372-505: The January 4, 2022, Wrestle Kingdom 16 event, his first official match since April 2017. In this event, Shibata defeated Ren Narita . Shibata departed from NJPW in December 2023 after signing with AEW, ending his 11-year tenure the promotion. In October 2024, it was revealed that the relationship between Shibata and NJPW had soured due to Shibata " going into business for himself " by audibling his Wrestle Kingdom 16 match with Narita into
6490-514: The June 2, 2023 edition of Rampage , defeating Lee Moriarty to retain his ROH Pure Championship. In November, since he returned to Japan, Shibata dropped the title back to Yuta at Rampage . On December 23, 2023, it was announced that Shibata was officially signed to AEW. On the March 16, 2024 edition of Collision , Shibata returned to AEW in a losing effort against Bryan Danielson . Later on in
6608-465: The June 29, 2021 episode of Dark: Elevation , Yuta made his debut for AEW against Karl Anderson , and would consistently appear on AEW's YouTube shows throughout the coming months. He also joined the Best Friends stable, filling in for the injured Trent Beretta in trios matches. On the November 10 episode of Dynamite , Rocky Romero announced that Best Friends would become a sub-group within
6726-477: The NEVER Openweight Championship against Fish. The following month at King of Pro-Wrestling , Shibata also successfully defended the title against Fish's tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly . After this, he made a brief return to Pro Wrestling Noah as part of their working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with Juice Robinson in a victory against Go Shiozaki and Mayback Taniguchi on October 22 at Autumn Navigation 2016 Day 6, and defeating Go Shiozaki in
6844-541: The NJPW LA Dojo, causing dojo graduate Clark Connors to confront Yuta seeking a title shot, which Yuta granted. The following week, Yuta defeated Connors to retain the Pure title. Post-match Yuta called out LA Dojo trainer, Katsuyori Shibata . On March 30, after successfully retaining the title against Leon Ruffin , Yuta was confronted by Shibata, setting up their title match the following day at Supercard of Honor . At
6962-462: The NJPW stable Chaos and would represent Chaos in AEW. After losing to Bryan Danielson on the March 30, 2022 episode of Dynamite , Yuta walked away from his Best Friends teammates and teased a potential alliance with Danielson's Blackpool Combat Club faction. On the April 8 episode of Rampage , Yuta was defeated by Blackpool Combat Club member Jon Moxley in a hard-fought match that saw him earn
7080-408: 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
7198-488: 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
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#17327973176637316-675: The Premier Athletes Shibata would often act as a cameraman for their attacks. The trio would go on to defeat Jericho, Bill, and Jeff Cobb to a trios match at Forbidden Door . At WrestleDream , Shibata unsuccessfully challenged Jack Perry for the AEW TNT Championship . Shibata debuted in mixed martial arts on May 15, 2004, at JF Jungle Fights 2 where he defeated Webster Dauphiney by an arm triangle choke in Round 1. Shibata returned to MMA in 2007 where he joined
7434-473: The ROH Pure Championship from Garcia at Final Battle , in turn becoming the first person to hold the title on multiple occasions. On January 18, Yuta made his first title defense against Hagane Shinno at The Jay Briscoe Celebration of Life . Following the start of ROH programming on Honor Club , Yuta successfully defended the title against Timothy Thatcher . After the match, Yuta called out
7552-401: 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
7670-418: 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
7788-561: 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
7906-424: 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
8024-418: 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
8142-423: 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
8260-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8378-421: The company's 11th anniversary show on August 26, 2023, teaming with El Phantasmo to defeat Bullet Club War Dogs , David Finlay and Gabriel Kidd . On June 26, 2022, Shibata appeared at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door to save Orange Cassidy from a post-match beatdown from United Empire . Later, on the November 2 episode of Dynamite , Shibata once again saved Cassidy from an attack by Pac , and signed for
8496-540: 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
8614-505: The debuting KENTA . On August 12, on the final night of G1 Climax 29 , KENTA joined Bullet Club, resulting in Shibata rushing the ring to fight him, ultimately ending with Shibata being beat down by KENTA and other members of Bullet Club. This marked the first time Shibata had engaged in physical wrestling since his injury. At Power Struggle , Shibata was once again ambushed by KENTA during the main event of Jay White and Hirooki Goto as he
8732-405: 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
8850-477: The event, Yuta lost the Pure Championship to Shibata, ending his second reign at 111 days. On the November 25 episode of AEW Rampage , Yuta defeated Katsuyori Shibata to win the ROH Pure Championship for a record-setting third time. Yuta retained the title against Tom Lawlor at Final Battle . Yuta lost the title to Lee Moriarty at Death Before Dishonor , ending his third reign at 244 days. On
8968-603: 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
9086-417: The fight by TKO in the 2nd round. In 2008, Shibata began fighting for FEG's new organization: Dream . His first fight at Dream was a loss to Jason "Mayhem" Miller at Dream 3 by TKO. His next fight was against Yoshihiro Akiyama losing to him by Submission. Shibata then fought at Deep where he drew with Yasuhito Namekawa at Deep: 38 Impact. He then lost to Hayato Sakurai by TKO at Dynamite!! 2008 . In
9204-607: The final day. Through NJPW's relationship with Ring of Honor (ROH), Shibata made his debut for the American promotion on August 19 at Death Before Dishonor XIV , where he defeated Silas Young . The following day, Shibata unsuccessfully challenged Bobby Fish for the ROH World Television Championship . This led to a match on September 17 at Destruction in Tokyo , where Shibata successfully defended
9322-408: The finals to win the 2017 New Japan Cup . Having earned the right to challenge for any heavyweight belt of his choosing, Shibata called out Kazuchika Okada and challenged him to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . On April 9 at Sakura Genesis 2017 , Shibata was defeated by Okada in the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Following the match, Shibata collapsed backstage and was rushed to
9440-797: The finals. On the tournament finals day, Yuta, Ace Austin , Alex Zayne and El Lindaman defeated Robbie Eagles , Yoh , Clark Connors and Titán in a tag-team match. In January 2022, Yuta made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) at the Battle of Los Angeles . He defeated Blake Christian in the first round, but would lose the second round match to Mike Bailey . In his spare time, Gruber enjoys playing steel drums . Gruber currently resides in Orlando, Florida . Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
9558-470: 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
9676-487: The first round of the ROH Pure Tournament , where he was defeated by Jonathan Gresham . At Final Battle , Yuta teamed with Fred Yehi against The Foundation ( Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams ) in the first-ever Pure Rules tag team match. Yuta and Yehi lost the match. Yuta competed in a few Pure Rules matches during 2021 before joining All Elite Wrestling . After AEW owner Tony Khan 's purchase of ROH, it
9794-610: 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
9912-460: 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
10030-467: The group's respect. After the match, he was accepted into the group by its creator and then-manager William Regal . On the March 8, 2023 episode of Dynamite , after his Blackpool Combat Club teammates Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli defeated The Dark Order members John Silver and Alex Reynolds , Yuta joined them in beating down "Hangman" Adam Page , turning heel for the first time in his AEW career. Danielson then returned from his short hiatus to rejoin
10148-526: 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
10266-480: 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
10384-496: 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
10502-498: 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
10620-475: The midst of his recovery, it was announced that Shibata would be the head coach for New Japan's new dojo located in Los Angeles, California , where he trained the likes of Karl Fredericks , Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin . On August 12, Shibata accompanied Hiroshi Tanahashi to ringside for his G1 Climax 28 Finals match against Kota Ibushi where Tanahashi would be victorious. On June 9, 2019, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall , Shibata returned to introduce
10738-433: The new IWGP Tag Team Champions. Shibata and Goto's reign ended in their first defense on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka , where they were defeated by Anderson and Gallows. On March 8, Shibata and Goto once again faced off in the second round of the 2015 New Japan Cup in a match, where Goto was victorious. On April 5, a rivalry ignited between Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba, after Sakuraba submitted Shibata in
10856-425: The number one contender to his IWGP Intercontinental Championship , it was announced that Shibata would be working the full October to November "Road to Power Struggle" tour, his first full tour with New Japan since his return. Shibata received his title shot on November 8 at Power Struggle , but was defeated by Nakamura. Later in the month, Shibata and Goto entered the 2014 World Tag League , where they opened with
10974-437: 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
11092-717: 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
11210-421: The right side of his body. On April 13, Dave Meltzer reported that it was believed that Shibata would never be cleared to wrestle again. It was later reported that while Shibata was "probably" never going to wrestle again, NJPW were looking to sign him full-time as a coach. Shibata made an appearance at the 2017 G1 Climax finals on August 13, tearfully stating "I am still alive! That is all." On March 4, in
11328-587: The show, Shibata saved the Blackpool Combat Club from a post-match attack from Lance Archer and The Righteous. On the May 1 episode of Dynamite , Shibata failed to win the FTW Championship from "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho after interference from Big Bill . Shibata would then find himself aligning with the newly formed Tag Team of Samoa Joe and Hook . During the duo's feud with
11446-440: 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
11564-426: 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,
11682-421: The title on the June 29 episode of Dark , defeating Tony Nese . After the match, Yuta was attacked by 2point0 and Daniel Garcia . This led to a match between Garcia and Yuta for the title at Death Before Dishonor , in which Yuta successfully retained the championship. Yuta lost the title on the September 7 episode of AEW Dynamite to Garcia, ending his reign at 159 days. On December 10, 2022, Yuta regained
11800-415: The title to Yuji Nagata in his fourth defense. Shibata regained the title from Nagata on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall . He made his first successful title defense on July 3 against Tomoaki Honma . From July 22 to August 13, Shibata took part in the 2016 G1 Climax , where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses. Shibata failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Evil on
11918-519: 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
12036-471: 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
12154-535: 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
12272-420: 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
12390-425: 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
12508-620: Was a member of the Chaos stable. Paul Soren Gruber was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 26, 1996, the son of a Japanese mother and an American father from Philadelphia . His parents met while his father was on tour as a master chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy . He moved with his parents to South Carolina , where he graduated from Carolina Forest High School . The family then settled in Philadelphia, where he earned
12626-620: Was a slight step ahead of Inoue throughout their joint rise, and subsequently challenged for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship first against Kendo Kashin on October 28, 2001, but lost. Shibata and Inoue also challenged for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on two occasions both against Jado & Gedo , but lost both times. By 2003, Shibata graduated to the heavyweight division and joined
12744-427: Was announced that Yuta would return to the promotion at the revived Supercard of Honor XV to challenge Josh Woods for the ROH Pure Championship . At the event, Yuta defeated Woods to win the title. On the May 24, 2022 episode of Dark , which aired almost two months after their bout at Supercard of Honor XV, Yuta would successfully defend the ROH Pure Championship against Woods in a rematch. Yuta once again defended
12862-421: Was attempting to aid his former tag partner. On the final night of G1 Climax 31 on October 21, 2021, Shibata wrestled Zack Sabre Jr. in a 5-minute UWF rules exhibition which ended in a draw. Afterwards, Shibata spoke to the crowd and said that he feels good, and the next time he steps in that ring it will be a proper wrestling match. On December 15, 2021, Shibata made the announcement that he would wrestle at
12980-488: 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
13098-537: Was classmates with fellow future professional wrestler Hirooki Goto . The son of former Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance and New Japan Pro-Wrestling competitor Katsuhisa Shibata, Katsuyori was an amateur wrestler during his school days and was competing at national level in 1997. Shibata made his professional wrestling debut on October 10, 1999, facing close friend Wataru Inoue at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event. Alongside fellow rookies Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura , Shibata became known as one of
13216-487: Was defeated by Hirooki Goto, who was returning from an injury, which had kept him sidelined for the past five months. The match ended the rivalry between Shibata and Goto and led to the two forming a tag team. The two quickly entered the IWGP Tag Team Championship picture, defeating the reigning champions, Bullet Club ( Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson ), in a non-title match at New Japan's 42nd anniversary event on March 6. Shibata also expressed interest in challenging for
13334-539: Was defeated by Togi Makabe in a singles grudge match. On January 27, Shibata returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, once again affiliating himself with Kenta. Shibata and Sakuraba returned to their winning ways at the following New Japan pay-per-view, The New Beginning on February 10, where they defeated Hirooki Goto and Wataru Inoue in a tag team match. On April 7 at Invasion Attack , Shibata and Sakuraba suffered their first tag team loss, when they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage, when Sakuraba
13452-407: Was injured and unable to continue the match. Shibata and Goto faced off in a singles match on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013 , which ended in a draw. A rematch between the two took place on June 22 at Dominion 6.22 , where Shibata was victorious. A third match between the two on July 20 ended in another draw. From August 1 to 11, Shibata took part in the 2013 G1 Climax , where he finished with
13570-650: 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
13688-471: Was renamed to The Death Riders. In April 2021, Yuta made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) with the promotion's American subsidiary, appearing on NJPW Strong . On May 1, 2022, Yuta was announced to be competing in the 29th Best of the Super Juniors tournament as part of the B Block. Yuta finished with a record of five wins and four losses, resulting in 10 points, failing to advance to
13806-415: 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
13924-417: 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
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