Mid 20th Century
113-462: Chad Collyer (born December 12, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler . Collyer attended Manchester College , where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree . He was an accomplished amateur wrestler , winning multiple championships over an eleven-year period, but decided to turn professional and continue his amateur career at Manchester College during his freshman year. Upon graduation, Collyer traveled to Tampa, Florida to train at
226-508: A First Blood match on March 31, 2006, at Super Card of Honor , which was won by Steel. Collyer made several further appearances with ROH throughout 2006. His final match, on August 13, 2006, at Anarchy in the UK , saw him team with The Kings of Wrestling in a loss to Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuiness and Robbie Brookside . Chad often tours the UK with All Star Wrestling in England , working as
339-561: A Winner Takes All match . MJF defeated Starks to retain the championship and ring. The fifth match was moved up to the October 18, 2023, episode of Dynamite . Like the previous year, there was only one winner of the battle royal, who would then face reigning ring holder MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring on the following week's Dynamite . Juice Robinson won the battle royal. MJF subsequently defeated Robinson to retain
452-435: 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
565-787: A heel . However, his character became a comedic character, with most of his matches being comedy sketches. He has wrestled the likes of Dean Allmark , Marty Scurll , James Mason, the Zebra Kid and Doug Williams . After retiring in 2012, Collyer returned to professional wrestling in July 2015 and wrestled a number of matches for ASW until his final match on September 12. In July 2009, Collyer debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under his Metal Master gimmick, in which he defeated then- OVW Television Champion Jamin Olivencia in
678-528: A masked gladiator . He feuded with Great Sasuke over the NWA World Middleweight Championship, but was unable to defeat the veteran. Collyer also appeared for MPW as The Stealth, and for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and BattlARTS as Chad Malenko, in honor of one of his trainers, Dean Malenko . In the mid-2000s, Collyer wrestled a match for Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling in a winning effort against CM Punk . Collyer debuted in
791-415: 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
904-415: 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
1017-467: A stable consisting of Collyer, Hotstuff Hernandez and Onyx . The Elite Guard were portrayed as a militant and superior antithesis to the 3 Live Kru , who were feuding with Jeff Jarrett and assisted Jarrett in his feud with the Kru. The 3Live Kru and The Elite Guard feuded over the following weeks, culminating in a ten-man Guitar on a Pole match on July 14, 2004, that saw Dusty Rhodes , Larry Zbyszko and
1130-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1243-532: 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
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#17327981731831356-519: 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
1469-585: 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
1582-484: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Battle royal (professional wrestling) In professional wrestling , a battle royal (sometimes battle royale ; plural battles royal or battle royals )
1695-404: 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
1808-410: 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
1921-651: A four way bout for the HWA Cruiserweight Championship. Throughout the remainder of 2001, Collyer wrestled a number of World Championship Wrestling wrestlers who had been assigned to the HWA (a World Wrestling Federation developmental territory) upon the purchase of WCW by the WWF. In January 2002, Collyer lost a best of three series for the number one contendership to the HWA Cruiserweight Championship to Stryker. In late January, Collyer began feuding with
2034-407: A ladder match, where the winner receives a TNA Knockout Championship match and the loser has her head shaved . A women's battle royal may allow women to be eliminated by being thrown through or under the ropes as well as over the top rope, although WWE's first official women's Royal Rumble match in 2018 used the same rules as the men's version. Created by World Championship Wrestling in 1995,
2147-405: 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
2260-799: 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
2373-424: 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
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#17327981731832486-440: 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
2599-542: A non-title match. The Metal Master would eventually win the Television Championship from Mohammad Ali Vaez on September 15, 2010. He held the title for 47 days before losing the title in a rematch. In 2011, Collyer began performing as a magician and mentalist . Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
2712-461: A reverse battle royal begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At the start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royal. The match begins as a multi-woman over-the-top elimination battle royal. Participants are eliminated as they are thrown over the top rope and both feet land on the floor. When two competitors remain, they face each other in
2825-422: A set time period, usually 90 seconds or two minutes. Elimination occurs in the normal way with the last person standing as the winner, after all participants (traditionally 30) have entered the ring. There is both a men's and women's Royal Rumble match, with the winners getting a world championship match (in their respective divisions) at that year's WrestleMania , which is WWE's biggest annual show. Deviations from
2938-419: A single ring, where the last wrestler remaining wins the match, with the prize being a future championship match. Team variations of battle royals consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers, usually two to a team. There are different types of such matches, and though most follow normal battle royal rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are eliminated from the ring. One notable version
3051-448: A standard one-ring, over-the-top-rope elimination, but includes tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs around the ring's perimeter, onto which losing wrestlers may be thrown. The National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what was described as "bunkhouse gear"—cowboy boots, jeans , T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights, and not only allowed but encouraged
3164-431: A tag team known as "Hellena's Hunks". Over the following weeks, Stryker and Heavenly vied with Shark Boy while Collyer toured Japan. Collyer returned to the HWA in July 2000, wrestling Shark Boy on a number of occasions, yet failing to win the HWA Cruiserweight Championship. On September 30, 2000, Shark Boy defeated Collyer in a last man standing match . On October 27, 2000, Collyer unsuccessfully challenged Race Steele for
3277-503: 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
3390-586: 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
3503-436: 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
Chad Collyer - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-506: Is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner. Typical battles royal begin with a number of participants in the ring , who are then eliminated by going over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor. In a two-ring variation on a battle royal, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in
3729-410: 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
3842-502: Is based on a lottery. Two tag teams start the match, and every 90 seconds, a new team enters. Individual eliminations occur when a wrestler has gone over the top rope and both feet hit the floor; a team is eliminated when both members of the team have been ruled out of the match. The match ends when one wrestler or team is left. The winning tag team earns an AEW World Tag Team Championship match. A variation for three-man teams (referred to as trios by AEW) has also been established, called
3955-427: 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
4068-470: 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
4181-534: Is now only one winner of the 12-man battle royal, who then goes on to face the reigning ring holder from the prior year. Four such matches have taken place so far. The first was on the November 20, 2019, episode of Dynamite, where Adam Page and MJF were the cowinners of the inaugural battle royal. MJF then defeated Page on the following week's episode of Dynamite to win the inaugural AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. Wrestling veteran Diamond Dallas Page presented
4294-707: The AEW Women's World Championship . The first Casino Battle Royale, which was a men's match, was held at Double or Nothing in May 2019. A men's tag team variation of the match, called the Casino Tag Team Royale , was first utilized at Revolution in March 2021. Instead of being contested between 21 individual singles wrestlers, the match features 10-15 tag teams (for a total of 20-30 wrestlers). The rules in terms of entrants also differs. The order of entrants
4407-633: The Casino Trios Royale . Debuting in December 2022 on Rampage , this version features eight trios teams (24 total wrestlers). Two teams start, and a new team enters every 90 seconds. When all three members of a team are eliminated, then the team is ruled out of the match. The winner (or winners if more than one team member is remaining) receives $ 300,000 to be split amongst the team. Established in 2022 by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on their Rampage program, Royal Rampage takes place on
4520-583: The HWA Heavyweight Championship . He defeated Steele on January 26, 2001, thus winning his first title, the HWA Heavyweight Championship. He held the title for just over month before being stripped of it on February 27, 2001, upon embarking upon a six-week tour to England . Collyer returned to the HWA in July 2001. On August 9, 2001, he wrestled at the third annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show , taking part in
4633-629: The Havana Pitbulls for the Tag Team Championship on December 4, 2004, at All-Star Extravaganza II . Following a four-month absence, Collyer returned to ROH on May 13, 2005, at The Final Showdown , teaming with McGuinness in a loss to Colt Cabana and Doug Williams . On August 12, 2005, Collyer and McGuinness unsuccessfully challenged B. J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs for the Tag Team Championship . In November 2005, Collyer began feuding with Ace Steel . The feud culminated in
Chad Collyer - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-601: The Internet pay-per-view CyberClash . Collyer won his third HWA Heavyweight Championship on August 29, 2006, defeating Jon Moxley . He lost the title to Pepper Parks on November 7, 2006. After failing to regain the title in a two out of three falls match on November 18, 2006, at the November to Dismember event, Collyer formed a tag team with Nigel McGuinness. Collyer wrestled his final match took place in April 2012 during
4859-828: The Midwestern Heartland Wrestling Association immediately after debuting. In 1998, Collyer teamed with Shark Boy on a number of occasions. In 1999, Collyer and Shark Boy began feuding with "Bad Boy" Bobby Kane and Tarek the Great. On March 6, 1999, and April 3, 1999, Collyer unsuccessfully challenged Kane for the HWA Cruiserweight Championship . Collyer received a third title shot on March 25, 2000, losing to Shark Boy by disqualification after Matt Stryker interfered on his behalf. Stryker and Collyer subsequently aligned themselves with valet Hellena Heavenly, forming
4972-624: 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
5085-557: 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
5198-431: 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
5311-584: 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
5424-400: 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
5537-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5650-495: The 21st and final entrant enters alone. The wrestlers are grouped based on the suit they drew from a deck of cards —spades, diamonds, clubs, or hearts—and the order of when each group enters is based on a random draw of the cards. The 21st and final entrant is the wrestler who drew the joker . The winner receives a world championship match of their respective gender's division—either the AEW World Championship or
5763-536: The 3Live Kru defeat Jarrett, Ken Shamrock and The Elite Guard when Rhodes pinned Onyx. Following the loss, The Elite Guard was removed from TNA television. In Collyer's final TNA match on July 30, 2004, he and Hernandez were defeated by America's Most Wanted in a dark match. Collyer debuted in Ring of Honor at Night of the Butcher , losing to Bryan Danielson . He would then return to defeat Matt Stryker at Revenge on
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#17327981731835876-500: The AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the second time. The third match occurred on the December 8, 2021, episode of Dynamite , with MJF and Dante Martin cowinning the battle royal. The two faced each other at the second annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. For this third year, the ring's design was updated with a new net worth of $ 150,000. MJF defeated Martin by submission to win
5989-404: The AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the third time. The fourth match took place on the December 7, 2022, episode of Dynamite , but with a slight change over the previous three iterations. Due to MJF being the only winner of the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring, he was given a bye with there instead only being one winner for the 2022 Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale who would go on to face MJF for the ring at
6102-653: 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
6215-546: The Bank briefcase). Major League Wrestling 's "Rumble" style battle royal. Participants enter at one minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission or by being thrown over the top rope. Aztec Warfare is the Lucha Underground version of the "Rumble Rules" battle royal. Upwards to 20 participants enter every 90 seconds and elimination occurs by either pinfall or submission and has to take place inside
6328-572: The Cruiserweight Champion Shannon Moore . He conceded several matches before defeating Moore and Stryker in a three way bout to win the HWA Cruiserweight Championship on February 13, 2002. Moore and Collyer subsequently engaged in a best of seven series, with Moore winning the deciding bout and the Cruiserweight Championship on March 24, 2002. On April 7, 2002, Hellena Heavenly claimed that she
6441-480: The Dynamite Diamond Ring for the fifth consecutive year. A WWE women's battle royal with the addition of fetish outfits, such as french maid , lingerie , nurse and schoolgirl. Often the type of outfit is chosen by an audience poll. A battle royal with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in the ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. Participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of
6554-586: The HWA until January 11, 2005, when he defeated Brian Beech for the HWA Television Championship. He lost the title to "High IQ" Quinten Lee on January 18, 2005. Collyer subsequently appeared sporadically with the HWA throughout 2005, wrestling Stryker and James Gibson in technical bouts, and briefly feuding with Cody Hawk in August 2005. Following a lengthy absence, Collyer returned to the HWA on March 19, 2006, wrestling Nigel McGuinness at
6667-564: The HWA's second annual Heartland Cup. Collyer made his first appearance with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the September 23, 2000 episode of Jakked , losing to Perry Saturn . He made two further appearances on Jakked in January 2001 and February 2001, losing on both occasions. On April 5, 2002, Collyer signed a three-year developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation. He
6780-737: The Malenko Pro Wrestling School under Dean Malenko and Jeff Bradley . Collyer began training on August 3, 1997. He debuted on December 6, 1997, at Kahuna's Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg, Florida , facing Jet Jaguar. In 2000, Collyer toured England twice with Scott Conway's Wrestling Alliance . He returned to England in 2001 and September 2002, competing for Brian Dixon's All Star Promotions . In 2002, Collyer returned to Japan , where he had worked previously in 1999, facing Tiger Mask . He wrestled for Michinoku Pro Wrestling between June 2002 and March 2003 as The Metal Master,
6893-619: The May 12 episode of WWE's ECW , where he jobbed to Vladimir Kozlov . Collyer debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the October 18, 2003 episode of TNA Xplosion , losing to Chris Sabin . He went on to appear on the November 12, 2003 episode of Xplosion , losing to Sonjay Dutt . On the January 28, 2004 weekly TNA pay-per-view , Collyer, Eric Young , Matt Stryker and Shark Boy lost to Team Mexico in an eight-man tag team bout. Collyer returned to TNA on June 16, 2004, as one-third of The Elite Guard,
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#17327981731837006-408: 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
7119-408: 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
7232-537: The Prophecy in January, 2003. He appeared with ROH sporadically over the following 16 months, wrestling Stryker on a number of occasions. On June 12, 2004, at World Title Classic , Collyer faced Hydro , Superstar Steve and Ray Gordy in a Four Corner Survival match, with the stipulation being that the winner would take part in the Pure Wrestling Championship tournament in July 2004. The match
7345-470: The World War 3 battle royal had three rings and 60 competitors. 20 wrestlers started in each ring, where they wrestled under regular battle royal rules. When 30 competitors remained (except in 1997, where the number was 20), all competitors entered the center ring and continued under regular rules until only one was left standing. In this version - unlike traditional battles royal, where all wrestlers begin
7458-450: The annual Winter Is Coming television special , but moved up to October in 2023. The original rules featured 12 wrestlers competing in a standard battle royal, but ended when there were two wrestlers remaining, with the co-winners then facing each other in a singles match on the following week's episode for the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. The winner of the championship ring held it until the following year's battle royal. Since 2022, there
7571-401: 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
7684-418: 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
7797-561: 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
7910-494: The bringing of weapons . In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede , headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match in a cage . The Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is held once a year as part of their weekly television program, Dynamite —the inaugural match took place in November 2019, and then from 2020 to 2022, it was held in December to coincide with
8023-424: 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
8136-418: 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
8249-423: 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
8362-512: 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
8475-540: 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
8588-405: 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
8701-603: 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
8814-470: 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
8927-508: The first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament . The two-ring version was held in World Championship Wrestling's 1991 Starrcade event. Subsequent Battlebowl matches occurred under normal battle royal rules. This format uses any number of wrestlers in
9040-610: 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
9153-460: 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
9266-526: 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
9379-480: 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
9492-496: 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
9605-448: The match in the ring - only the first two competitors begin the match. The rest enter at timed intervals, according to numbers they draw, until the entire field has entered. Former wrestler and longtime WWE official Pat Patterson is credited with inventing this variation. WWE 's Royal Rumble is the original battle royal to use this format. It begins with two wrestlers in the ring, with the remaining participants introduced one by one at
9718-498: 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
9831-631: The numbers 1 and 2 and the remaining participants enter the match one-by-one every 2 minutes. There are also five random numbers that allow those entrants to carry a weapon of their choice into the ring. As with battle royals, participants are eliminated when thrown over the top rope with both feet landing on the floor. The winner receives a briefcase that entitles them to a match for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at any time and place of their choosing for up to one year, after which it becomes invalid (like WWE's Money in
9944-556: The place, and for the title of the winner's choosing. Square Go! is Insane Championship Wrestling 's (ICW) own hybrid of WWE's Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank matches, and is named for the Glaswegian term for a street fight. It features 30 competitors that compete in an over-the-top-rope battle royal, with the winner earning the Square Go! Briefcase. It has mostly the same rules as WWE's Royal Rumble, where two competitors draw
10057-437: 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
10170-717: 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
10283-522: The ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit the current Hardcore champion made that participant the interim champion. Whoever held the title at end of the time limit was declared the winner and official champion. A Last Blood battle royal is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match . The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. Generally used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling,
10396-422: The ring to MJF. Then-AEW Executive Vice President and wrestler Cody Rhodes stated that the original ring was valued at US$ 42,000. The second match occurred at the inaugural Winter Is Coming event, which aired as a special episode of Dynamite on December 2, 2020. MJF and Orange Cassidy were the co-winners. They faced each other on the following week's episode of Dynamite, where MJF defeated Cassidy to win
10509-406: The ring, with additional wrestlers entering on a set time period. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and to the floor until two wrestlers are left, at which point a standard singles match begins. The prize for winning this match (which in recent years has become intergender and held at Impact's biggest annual show Bound For Glory ) is getting a championship match at the time,
10622-421: The ring. There are no count-outs and no disqualifications. As of April 2019, four Aztec Warfare matches have occurred—one in each season of Lucha Underground . The Casino Battle Royale is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a modified rumble rules battle royal that features 21 entrants. It begins with a group of five wrestlers, and every three minutes, another group of five wrestlers enters, while
10735-511: The same concept, as well as traditional Royal Rumble matches. On March 3, 2021, Unagi Sayaka won the inaugural "All-Star Rumble" at Stardom All Star Dream Cinderella . The first "Stardom Rambo" match took part on November 20, 2022, during Historic X-Over , which was won by Mirai . The Call Your Shot Gauntlet (originally called Gauntlet for the Gold) is the "Rumble" style battle royal used by TNA Wrestling . In this version two wrestlers begin in
10848-443: The same night as their Dynamite : Blood and Guts event because of the two ring setup used for the eponymous match. A modified Rumble rules battle royal, Royal Rampage involves two rings and 20 competitors. It starts with two wrestlers in each ring, with a new wrestler entering every 60 seconds to their assigned ring, until all 20 wrestlers have entered (10 in each ring). The two final wrestlers from each ring then consolidate into
10961-440: 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
11074-426: 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,
11187-494: The third annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. Ricky Starks won the battle royal. Prior to the battle royal, Starks had also won a tournament to become the number one contender for the AEW World Championship , also held by MJF. It was in turn decided that at Winter Is Coming, MJF would defend both the AEW World Championship and the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring against Starks in
11300-469: The traditional 30 wrestler field include the original 20-man Royal Rumble in 1988 , the 40-man 2011 Royal Rumble and the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018. Ring of Honor (ROH) also periodically features the "Rumble" style of battle royal on their shows, billing it as the Honor Rumble . New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's annual "Rumble" battle royal takes place on the pre-show of the first night of
11413-519: 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
11526-471: 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
11639-508: The two-night Wrestle Kingdom show on January 4. Participants enter at one-minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission, or by being thrown over the top rope. Typically leaning towards light comedy, the match includes past stars as surprise entrants. It is also known as the "New Japan Ranbo", the Japanese word ranbo meaning "to run riot". Similar to NJPW Rambo match, its sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom also uses
11752-535: 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
11865-420: 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
11978-425: 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
12091-488: 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
12204-422: Was pregnant, with numerous wrestlers claiming that they were the father. Over the following weeks, Collyer faced each of the claimants. Collyer was subsequently largely inactive in the HWA until 2003. On May 2, 2003, Collyer won a Royal Rumble match with the HWA Heavyweight Championship on the line. He lost the title to Nigel McGuinness on September 6, 2003. Following his loss, Collyer appeared intermittently with
12317-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
12430-415: 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
12543-608: Was subsequently assigned to the Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory. While under contract, Collyer furthered his training under Les Thatcher and Tom Prichard , although he was skeptical of the WWF's request that he take acting classes. He was released by the WWF in July 2002. Despite being released, Collyer made several appearances for the now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2003 and 2004, jobbing on Heat , Velocity and in dark matches . In 2009, Collyer appeared on
12656-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
12769-516: Was won by Hydro. In late 2004, Ricky Steamboat , an advocate of technical wrestling, began feuding with Mick Foley , a proponent of hardcore wrestling , with Collyer taking the side of Steamboat along with other mat-based wrestlers such as Nigel McGuinness . On October 16, 2004, at Joe vs. Punk II , Collyer and McGuinness (accompanied by Steamboat) defeated B. J. Whitmer and Dan Maff (accompanied by Foley). Collyer and McGuinness subsequently teamed on several occasions, unsuccessfully challenging
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