Mid 20th Century
120-636: Martin Scurll (born 26 July 1988) is an English professional wrestler . He is known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH) as the leader of the stable Villain Enterprises , where he was a one-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship and a one-time ROH World Television Champion , as well as being a former member of the Bullet Club stable. He also worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he
240-435: 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
360-415: 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
480-415: 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
600-779: A Polish promotion, Prime Time Wrestling in February and November 2022. On August 29, 2023, Scurll posted a promotional video on his YouTube channel announcing that he was returning to the Mexican promotion, AAA . In 2012, Scurll appeared on UK dating game show, Take Me Out in which he attempted to find a woman to take on a date with him. His appearance on the show contained vignettes which also featured fellow British professional wrestler Jimmy Havoc . Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
720-438: A TLC match. At TLC 2012 , The Shield ( Dean Ambrose , Seth Rollins , and Roman Reigns ) fought Ryback and Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan ). This was the first TLC match to contain teams of three and was the first TLC match for everyone involved except Kane (competing in his third). It was the first TLC match decided by pinfall or submission and the first in which all the weapons would have to be retrieved from under
840-413: 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
960-532: 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
1080-519: 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
1200-405: A chair shot to the head, Christian and D-Von Dudley hung 20 feet in the air, Bubba Ray Dudley and Matt Hardy jumped off a toppling ladder (pushed over by Rhyno) and crashed through 4 stacked tables on ringside, and Edge speared a hanging Jeff Hardy by jumping off a 20-ft ladder. After TLC I and II, every subsequent TLC match was toned down to reduce the high risks and dangers they posed. TLC III on
1320-585: 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
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#17327985058451440-429: 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 . Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match A tables, ladders, and chairs match , often abbreviated as TLC ,
1560-482: A demented mean streak that saw him win the Progress Championship for the first time in a No Disqualification match against Will Ospreay at Chapter Twenty-Five. Scurll went on to successfully defend the title against Mark Haskins , Chris Hero , and Tommy End in singles competition and against seven opponents in the 2016 Thunderbastard match which he won. He was the first Progress Champion to defend
1680-404: 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
1800-410: 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
1920-750: A four-way match against Noam Dar , Jack Gallagher and Dan Moloney. On 4 April 2015, at a sold-out British Championship Wrestling event in Scotland, Scurll challenged Galloway in a Double Title match for both the Evolve World Championship and the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate Championship , but was defeated. In October 2015, Scurll debuted for Global Force Wrestling (GFW) on their "UK Invasion", losing to GFW Global Champion Nick Aldis in
2040-405: 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
2160-799: 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
2280-424: 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
2400-440: 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
2520-463: A niche market within professional wrestling. Predating the TLC matches, two "Tables and Ladders matches" took place. These were traditional matches won by pinfall or submission, not by climbing the ladder for the belts. However, the term "TLC" itself was trademarked by WWE, thus other promotions give different names to these types of matches despite having an identical setup. In more hardcore-style promotions,
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#17327985058452640-611: A penchant for using ladders, the Dudley Boyz would often use tables as weapons, and Edge and Christian became notable for using steel chairs in tandem against opponents. World Wrestling Federation created and adapted the matches to make it known today as a TLC match. The idea of the TLC match in WWF had its origins in a tag team ladder match for the managerial services of Terri Runnels between Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz ( Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy ), at No Mercy 1999 during
2760-530: A singles match and teaming with Rampage Brown in a losing effort against Doug Williams and Aldis. Scurll returned to the company in March 2016, unsuccessfully challenging Sonjay Dutt for the GFW NEX*GEN Championship. In early October 2017 at What Culture Pro Wrestling's (WCPW) event Refuse to Lose, Scurll won a triple threat match between Joe Hendry and Will Ospreay and himself to become
2880-503: 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
3000-453: A variation of a hardcore match , where tables, ladders, and chairs can also be used as legal foreign objects, but the only way to win this variation of the TLC match is by pinfall or submission. The match originates around the tag teams of The Dudley Boyz , The Hardy Boyz , and Edge and Christian . The particular weapons of tables, ladders and chairs were seen as unique to each team's style. The Hardys were seen as high-flying daredevils with
3120-586: 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
3240-436: 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
3360-490: Is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion . From May 2017 to late October 2018, he was a member of the Bullet Club stable, which splintered into the new faction The Elite . The latter left ROH at the end of 2018 which led Scurll to form a new stable with ROH's new signees King and PCO called Villain Enterprises , which debuted during December's post- Final Battle television tapings. He has wrestled for numerous promotions around
3480-410: 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
3600-615: Is a type of professional wrestling match that originated within the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The TLC match is a variation of a ladder match , which is modified to co-emphasize two other weapons: tables and chairs. The goal is to acquire the item (usually championship belts) which starts the match suspended above the ring. A TLC match can be seen as a more complicated ladder match, where tables and chairs, along with ladders, can also be used as legal foreign objects. TLC matches that could also exist as
3720-427: 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
Marty Scurll - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-470: 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
3960-643: The Attitude Era , with the audience giving all four wrestlers a standing ovation at the end of the match. The move catapulted both tag teams to the top of the tag team world. The following months had The Hardy Boyz face The Dudley Boyz , ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ) at the Royal Rumble 2000 , in a violent and chaotic tag-team Tables match , where ladders and chairs were used as much as tables, had similar success. The three teams would be known for their three respective foreign objects, as well as
4080-624: 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
4200-802: The ROH 17th Anniversary Show , Scurll defeated Kenny King , and the following night during the Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Scurll, King, and PCO defeated the Kingdom to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship for the first time. In January 2020, Scurll signed a multi-year contract with ROH, becoming the head booker of the promotion in the process. During the Speaking Out Movement in June 2020, Scurll
4320-547: The ROH World Television Championship . Scurll successfully defended his newly won title against previous champion Ospreay and Dragon Lee in a triple threat match at ROH's biggest pay-per-view, Final Battle 2016 . The beginning of 2017 saw Scurll make many successful defences of his title against Juice Robinson , Donovan Dijak , Sonjay Dutt , Lio Rush and Adam Cole . During a successful defence against Frankie Kazarian , both Hangman Page and
4440-512: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship . This was the first TLC match to not include any member from the three original teams, though Jericho did have TLC experience. A year later, at TLC 2010 , the TLC match, for the first time, was a fatal four-way of the singles variety (III and IV had been fatal-four-way tag team bouts). The match pitted Edge , Kane , Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio against each other for
4560-518: The World Heavyweight Championship . In the end, Edge won the title. This was also Edge's seventh and last TLC match because of his retirement in early April the following year. The next year at TLC 2011 , CM Punk defended his WWE Championship in a first-ever triple threat TLC match against Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. Punk retained the championship, and this marked the second time that all three competitors had competed in
4680-557: 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
4800-431: 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
4920-584: 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
Marty Scurll - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-400: 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
5160-460: 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
5280-592: The American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion announced Scurll's upcoming debut for the promotion. Pro Wrestling Torch reported that Scurll had signed with the company after giving his notice to Evolve the previous month. Scurll made his ROH debut during the promotion's three-day tour of the United Kingdom in November. On 20 November, during the final day of the tour, Scurll defeated Will Ospreay to win
5400-653: 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
5520-574: The Fondu Club in Purfleet, defeating Jimmy Starr by two falls to one. Once under the tutorship of Jon Ritchie, who by this time was in charge at Dropkixx, Marty took part in Dropkixx's Shoot Fighting Tournament. Scurll would go on to win the middleweight tournament, in the process becoming Dropkixx's first middleweight champion. Scurll also competed regularly for Summit Promotions, and at the end of
5640-605: The May 24, 2001 episode of SmackDown! featured the usual three teams, plus the team of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit , who defended their tag team championship. In the fourth TLC match on the October 7, 2002 episode of Raw , four tag teams had drawn, as a result of " Raw roulette " (where the match type of every match of the card was determined by spinning a wheel), a TLC match. The match saw defending champions Kane and The Hurricane putting their World Tag Team titles up against
5760-408: 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
5880-488: 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
6000-483: The NXT Women's Championship against Candice LeRae in a renamed TLC match—a "Tables, Ladders and Scares match"—renamed to fit the social celebration of Halloween . This match used ladders painted black and orange, and tables painted asphalt black with body chalk outlines on them. This was the first time a TLC match was ever done on an NXT show. In other promotions, the TLC match has quite the following, appealing to
6120-863: The New Beginning in USA event on 30 January 2019. Scurll also participated in the Best of the Super Junior XXVI tournament, ending with 10 points. On 14 December 2019, Scurll made a surprise appearance on NWA 's Into the Fire following a NWA Championship match between Nick Aldis and James Storm . He was scheduled to face Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at the Crockett Cup on April 19, 2020, but
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#17327985058456240-449: The Progress Championship in a match that also included Jimmy Havoc . After being disqualified against Havoc at Chapter 39, the two had a No Disqualification at Chapter 40 where Scurll lost. In 2017 Scurll returned to Progress on Chapter 55 being defeated by Zack Sabre Jr. Scurll made his PWG debut at the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles , where he beat Rich Swann in round one, Trevor Lee in the quarter-finals and lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in
6360-627: The ROH World Television Championship to Kushida , following a distraction from Cole. The Elite, minus Scurll, left ROH after 14 December 2018's Final Battle pay-per-view. During an in-ring promo at the following night's television tapings in Philadelphia, Scurll would be confronted by The Kingdom , which led the former to unveil his new stable, Villain Enterprises , with Brody King and PCO . A brawl ensued which ended with Villain Enterprises standing tall. At
6480-581: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns in the 18th TLC Match. At TLC 2016 , AJ Styles retained the WWE World Championship against Dean Ambrose in the 19th TLC Match. TLC 2017 marked the 20th TLC Match. Originally scheduled to feature the reunited Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) against the team of The Miz, Braun Strowman , Kane and Cesaro and Sheamus , Reigns
6600-591: The World Heavyweight Championship from TLC veteran Jeff Hardy. This marked the first time Jeff Hardy had participated in a singles TLC match. In December 2009, WWE introduced TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs as a new pay-per-view event, which included a tables match, a ladder match, a match in which chairs were legal as weapons and, as the main event, a TLC match. TLC IX in the 2009 event pitted Chris Jericho and The Big Show against D-Generation X ( Triple H and Shawn Michaels ) for
6720-706: The Young Bucks defeated Bad Luck Fale , Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa to win the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship . On 3 May, NJPW announced Scurll as a participant in the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Like the previous year, he finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. On 12 August, at the G1 Climax Finals, Scurll and
6840-535: The Young Bucks lost the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship to Bullet Club OG's Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Taiji Ishimori . Scurll, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi represented The Elite in the pre-show gauntlet at Wrestle Kingdom 13 for NEVER Openweight Six Man Championship number one contendership. They were the first team eliminated. Scurll returned to NJPW for the first time since Wrestle Kingdom on
6960-401: 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
7080-418: 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
7200-561: 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
7320-623: The belt against Mark Andrews at Chapter Thirty-Five, Scurll lost the Progress Championship to Mark Haskins in a triple-threat main event match also involving Tommy End at Chapter Thirty-Six, PROGRESS' biggest show to date, held at the Brixton Academy in London . During the match, Scurll attacked three referees as he became frustrated at not being able to win; before attacking a fourth official Jimmy Havoc returned to attack Scurll, leading to his loss. At Chapter 38, Scurll failed to regain
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#17327985058457440-424: 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
7560-418: 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
7680-762: The chairs were often replaced, or were used alongside, chains. One example of a variation of the TLC match is the Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes match. This match is a TLC match with the addition of Singapore Canes . The first and only TLC match was at Guilty as Charged on January 7, 2001 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York , involving Steve Corino , Justin Credible , and The Sandman . TNA Wrestling (TNA) – known as Impact Wrestling from 2017 to 2024 – promotes their own modified version of
7800-478: The championship to Aries, ending his reign at 34 days. In late 2012, Scurll began competing in TNA's newest program TNA Wrestling: British Boot Camp that began airing on 1 January 2013 on Challenge . On 14 February edition of Impact Wrestling , he teamed up with The Blossom Twins (Hannah and Holly) to face the team of Jessie Godderz , Tara and Gail Kim . They were defeated after Gail Kim pinned Hannah. During
7920-423: 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
8040-461: 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
8160-587: The company's February tour. A highly anticipated rematch finally took place between the teams at the 2009 "Sittingbourne Spectacular" after the Leaders' scheduled opponents had to pull out through injury. This time the championships were on the line, and the Leaders won again to claim their first championship gold in IPW:UK. The feud between the Leaders and the Thrillers became the dominant storyline in IPW:UK through
8280-540: 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
8400-515: The dangerous stunts, object destruction, chaotic pace, injuries and length. The second TLC match happened at WrestleMania X-Seven , with each of the three teams joined by a third member who tried to help their team win the match (Matt and Jeff were joined by Lita, who had also been with them for the SummerSlam bout, Bubba Ray and D-Von were joined by their half-brother Spike, and Edge and Christian were joined by Rhyno). Lita hit Spike Dudley with
8520-405: 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
8640-603: 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
8760-583: The final of an eight-man tournament to determine the new IPW:UK British Cruiserweight Champion. On 15 March 2014, Scurll defeated Colt Cabana in a 30 Minute Iron Fist match to become Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. Scurll would go on to successfully defend the championship against the likes of Ricochet , Kevin Steen , Martin Stone , Davey Richards , Doug Williams , Shelton Benjamin , Rocky Romero and others, before losing
8880-486: The finals. On 5 November at Power Struggle , Scurll defeated Will Ospreay to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion . On 4 January 2018, Scurll lost the title to back to Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome in a four-way match, also involving Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida . On 1 April, Scurll failed to regain the title from Ospreay at Sakura Genesis . On 3 May, at Wrestling Dontaku 2018 , he and
9000-470: 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
9120-408: The first round, Cody Rhodes in the quarterfinals, Mark Haskins in the semifinals, and both Will Ospreay and Trevor Lee in a three-way elimination final to win the tournament. On 18 February 2017, Scurll reunited with Sabre, as they attacked Chuck Taylor , only to see Trent? come to Taylor's defence. At PWG Mystery Vortex V on 12 January 2018 Marty was defeated by Trent?. On 22 August 2016,
9240-614: The first women's TLC Match, as Becky Lynch lost the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship to Asuka in a match also involving Charlotte Flair . Also, Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin in a TLC Match, thereby earning a WWE Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble and stripping Corbin of all authoritative power. On the NXT: Halloween Havoc special on October 28, 2020, Io Shirai retained
9360-610: 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
9480-460: 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
9600-463: The hardcore wrestling styles associated therein: the Dudley Boyz often Powerbombed or Death Dropped their opponents through tables during or after matches (usually brought out by Bubba Ray telling D-Von to "get the tables"); the Hardy Boyz, in singles matches, challenged main-event singles wrestlers (such as The Undertaker ) in ladder matches, considered at that time to be the "signature match" of
9720-526: 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
9840-480: 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
9960-496: 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
10080-433: The match, Scurll was injured after performing a suicide dive into the metal railing. Scurll was part of the very first Progress Wrestling show, Chapter One , in a tournament to determine the first ever Progress Champion . He beat Zack Sabre Jr in an acclaimed semi-final match before competing in a four-way match for the title against Mike Mason, El Ligero and winner Nathan Cruz . Scurll went on to challenge Cruz for
10200-498: 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
10320-479: The name The Leaders of the New School. They then feuded with BritRage ( Mark Sloan and Wade Flitzgerald) and The Kartel . Scurll wrestled and lost to Doug Williams in IPW:UK's British National Championship Tournament. In 2009, Scurll and Sabre focused their attention on the IPW:UK tag team division, and picked up a memorable win against tag team champions The Thrillers ( Mark Haskins and Joel Redman ) during
10440-437: 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
10560-717: 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
10680-477: The quarter-finals of the first Super Strong Style 16 tournament in 2015, beating Eddie Dennis on Day One and Dave Mastiff in the quarter-finals before losing to Zack Sabre Jr on Day Two, and was runner-up to Mark Haskins in the 2015 Thunderbastard match at Chapter Twenty. He lost to Kris Travis at Chapter Twenty-One, Travis' final match before his retirement from wrestling and death from stomach cancer. Scurll turned firmly villainous following this match; gaining
10800-574: The returning Matt Sydal returned. On 29 April 2017 at ROH Masters of the Craft Scurll successful retained the ROH World Television Championship against Ken Anderson . On 12 May 2017, during the third night of the NJPW and ROH co-produced War of the Worlds tour, Scurll was revealed as the newest member of Bullet Club , replacing Adam Cole. Two days later, on the final night of the tour, Scurll lost
10920-481: The ring. At TLC 2013 , WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena in a TLC match for both the WWE and World Heavyweight titles. Orton won to become the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This was the first TLC match for Orton and the second for Cena. At Extreme Rules (2014) , a "WeeLC match" was contested between El Torito and Hornswoggle, the first TLC match to involve midget wrestlers and
11040-399: The second to be decided by pinfall or submission. The tables, ladders and chairs that the midget wrestlers used in this match were far smaller than the normal sized tables, ladders and chairs. At TLC 2014 Bray Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose in the 17th TLC Match. This was also the third TLC match in which victory would be achieved by pinfall or submission. At TLC 2015 , Sheamus retained
11160-450: The semi-finals. Scurll then suffered a string of singles losses; losing to Ricochet at All Star Weekend 11 Night One and to Timothy Thatcher on Night Two, to Kyle O'Reilly on All Star Weekend 12 Night One and to Chuck Taylor on Night Two. At Prince , he won a match against Mark Andrews and at Thirteen , gained victory over Sami Callihan . In September, Scurll participated the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles , defeating Pentagón Jr. in
11280-694: The sixth and final WCPW champion, before the company rebranded as Defiant Wrestling. On 4 December at Defiant Wrestling's iPPV, titled WeAreDefiant, Scurll was given the new championship belt by General Manager Stu Bennett , and had a confrontation with the debuting Austin Aries at the beginning of the show. In the main event of the evening, Scurll successfully defended the championship in a triple threat match between himself, Joe Hendry and Martin Kirby. However, on 5 December at Defiant's first episode of their new weekly show (uploaded 15 December on YouTube ), Scurll lost
11400-440: 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
11520-466: The summer, culminating in the Leaders winning a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match against their rivals in September. The Leaders have enjoyed an unbroken reign as champions since that time. Scurll and Sabre competed in the first match of the newly re-launched Frontier Wrestling Alliance in August 2009, beating Northern Xposure (NX) at "New Frontiers". On 28 April 2012, Scurll defeated Sami Callihan in
11640-408: The team (as they were both high-flyers, they specialized with high spots , and doing them off the top of ladders amplified their effectiveness), while Edge and Christian developed the "con-chair-to", which involved the two hitting an opponent's head simultaneously, on opposite sides, with chairs. Eventually, the three teams were brought together in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000 , in what
11760-409: The teams of Christian and Chris Jericho, Bubba Ray Dudley and Spike Dudley , and Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam . Being the veterans that they were to the match itself, general manager Eric Bischoff allowed Hardy, Christian and Dudley to choose their own partners, as their former partners Matt Hardy , Edge , and D-Von Dudley were unavailable as SmackDown! wrestlers. Prior to the match, The Hurricane
11880-426: 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,
12000-443: The title in a Two Out of Three Falls match at Chapter Two, failing to capture the title. Competing regularly for Progress, he was notably part of a four-way match for the Progress Championship at Chapter Twelve, facing Rampage Brown , El Ligero and then-champion Jimmy Havoc , and fighting again for the title at Chapter Eighteen against Will Ospreay , Noam Dar , Dave Mastiff, Paul Robinson and champion Jimmy Havoc . Scurll reached
12120-530: The title overseas – successfully defending the belt against Will Ospreay at WrestleCon SuperShow 2016 in Dallas, Texas and against Zack Gibson in Italy for Power Wrestling Entertainment. Scurll lost the title to Pastor William Eaver at Chapter Thirty-Two and regained it a month later at Chapter Thirty-Three, making him the first person to ever win the Progress Championship more than once. After successfully defending
12240-604: The title to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) wrestler AJ Styles at the 2015 Summer Sizzler event on 14 June 2015. Scurll debuted for Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion in late 2014, unsuccessfully challenging Kenny Williams for the ICW Zero-G Championship before continuing to appear for the promotion in 2015, culminating in a main-event non-title loss to reigning ICW World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway . Scurll scored his first win in ICW in
12360-519: 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
12480-471: 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
12600-535: 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
12720-576: The world - such as the U.S. based Impact Wrestling and ROH partner Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), the UK 's Progress Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Germany 's Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), and the Australia based World Series Wrestling (WSW). Marty started training at Frank Rimer 's Dropkixx training school which would also produce wrestlers like Martin Stone , The Kartel and Paul Robinson. Marty made his debut for Dropkixx at
12840-420: 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
12960-819: The year formed a tag team with Paul Robinson as 'The Party Boys' (or 'The Midnight Ravers', as they were sometimes billed). Scurll would go on to appear for Premier Promotions and this would be the place where he would meet Phil Powers , who he ended up wrestling many times in the summer season on the holiday camps circuit. During the rest of the year, Scurll debuted for the likes of IPW:UK and RQW, wrestling Jonny Storm , Taiji Ishimori , Bubblegum and many others. On 5 June 2007, Marty made his debut for All Star Wrestling by defeating Jimmy Starr at Gravesend. Marty competed regularly for All Star, including main eventing Fairfield Halls, Croydon against Pro Wrestling NOAH's Shuhei Taniguchi and Tsutomu Hirayanagi . In IPW:UK, Marty would reform his tag team with Zack Sabre Jr. , but under
13080-425: 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
13200-507: Was accused of taking advantage of an inebriated 16-year-old girl in 2015. Scurll released two statements in which he did not deny the allegations, but claimed the encounter was consensual. ROH subsequently announced that they had launched an investigation concerning the allegations. Scurll did not take part in TV tapings after ROH returned from a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and his profile
13320-488: 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
13440-655: Was forced to cancel the event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 22, 2021, Puerto Rican promotion CWA announced Scurll would take part in their Halloween Fan Fest event on October 23. The match, which was against Star Roger, was Scurll's first since the accusations made against Scurll during the Speaking Out movement in June 2020. Prior to the event, Scurll told Contralona that he would be working in Puerto Rico and CWA long term. He also made appearances at
13560-540: Was in his first ever Ladder match of any kind. It was the first TLC match to be held in singles competition and the first to have the WWE Championship on the line. TLC VI at Unforgiven 2006 saw John Cena winning the WWE Championship from Edge. TLC VII was held at One Night Stand 2008 saw Edge winning the vacant World Heavyweight Championship , defeating The Undertaker and ( kayfabe ) banishing him from WWE. TLC VIII at SummerSlam 2009 saw CM Punk winning
13680-523: 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
13800-406: Was removed from the company's website in October. In January 2021, ROH announced that Scurll was no longer under contract after the two parties mutually agreed to part ways. On 3 May 2017, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced Scurll as a participant in the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to
13920-608: Was removed from the match due to a legitimate illness. Kurt Angle replaced Reigns, making the match Angle's first in WWE since 2006. This was the first handicap TLC Match and the fourth decided by pinfall or submission. Angle, Strowman, and Cesaro were competing in their first TLC match. On the December 10, 2018 episode of Raw Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship in a TLC match against Baron Corbin . A few days later, TLC 2018 marked
14040-415: 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
14160-434: Was taken out backstage causing Kane to defend the titles by himself. A previous match that same episode caused Jim Ross to call the match by himself, where Kane successfully overcame the handicap to retain the titles. On the January 16, 2006 episode of Raw , WWE held its fifth TLC match, the first in over three years. Edge, who was in his fourth TLC match successfully defended his WWE Championship against Ric Flair , who
14280-417: 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
14400-456: Was the forerunner of the TLC in terms of the spots involved (tables were involved in some of the major spots, including Jeff's big Swanton Bomb on Bubba Ray far from the ring, even though it was technically a ladder match). The first official TLC match was contested between these three teams using the weapons that they had made famous at SummerSlam 2000 . These matches frequently involved members of these three teams, and are largely remembered for
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