Mid 20th Century
106-497: Kensuke Shinzaki (新崎 健介 Shinzaki Kensuke , born December 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name , Jinsei Shinzaki (新崎 人生 Shinzaki Jinsei ). He is currently signed to the Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion where he is the promotion's president. He also performs for Michinoku Pro as a wrestler, serving as the sole heavyweight wrestler on
212-531: A World Wrestling Federation tour of Japan. This led to him being offered a contract with the promotion later that year. The promotion was looking for a Japanese wrestler for the roster; Hayabusa had rejected an offer, choosing to work for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling instead, and Shinzaki was given the Japanese wrestler spot. In November 1994, Shinzaki traveled to the United States to wrestle for
318-446: 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 the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
424-524: A TV taping in October). His only pay-per-view appearance was in a dark match at Halloween Havoc , where he was defeated by Tim Horner . His last appearance came on December 7 at a house show in St. Joseph, Missouri , where he wrestled twice, losing to The Juicer and Sam Houston in subsequent matches. Horowitz then traveled to Texas, where he worked for the newly formed Global Wrestling Federation . Competing in
530-609: A WWF star on television, leading to commentator Jim Ross shouting "Horowitz beat him!" into his microphone in disbelief. Horowitz faced Skip on the August 5 episode of WWF Superstars after the Body Donna said that Horowitz could not last ten minutes in a match. Horowitz avoided a pinfall for the ten minutes, leading to a third televised match between them at SummerSlam 1995 . Horowitz won this encounter, gaining his first ever pay-per-view victory. These wins led to Horowitz becoming
636-413: 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
742-469: 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
848-519: 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
954-585: 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
1060-810: A dark match at the pay-per-view. He closed out the year teaming frequently with Fatu and Hakushi and coming out victorious over Skip, Kama , and Yankem on the house show circuit. Horowitz appeared in the 1996 Royal Rumble match, as the 25th entrant, where he was eliminated by Owen Hart . However, despite his elevation in the roster, Horowitz quickly returned to a long losing streak, being defeated by Stone Cold Steve Austin , Hunter Hearst Helmsley , Duke Droese , and Savio Vega in January and February. He rebounded to defeat Isaac Yankem in Hartford, Connecticut on March 15, but then entered another losing streak that would not end until May 28, when he upset Owen Hart after
1166-534: A dark match. A month later, Horowitz gained another pair of victories in television dark matches, defeating Mike Davis and Scott Taylor . In November Horowitz made his pay-per-view debut under a mask at the 1993 Survivor Series as the Red Knight, teaming with Shawn Michaels (who was substituting for Jerry Lawler ) and the Black and Blue Knights to lose to Bret , Owen, Keith , and Bruce Hart . Following
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#17328020732311272-452: 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 . Barry Horowitz Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American professional wrestler , best known for his time in
1378-457: A distraction by The KISS Demon , Horowitz rolled Swinger up for a pinfall victory. Later in the show, Horowitz teased a shot at the World title if he got 50 victories like the one promised to Swinger but when Impact Director of Authority Santino Marella said his next opponent would be against Rhino , Horowitz decided he wanted to take his one victory and leave on top. Horowitz is the subject of
1484-410: 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
1590-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has 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
1696-495: A heel, his first few matches were highlighted by victories over jobbers which included future star Matt Hardy and midcarders like Aldo Montoya , and 1-2-3 Kid . Hakushi brought the wrestling style of lucharesu to the company, utilizing many aerial maneuvers, and stood out for using many of them to finish his matches as opposed to a single, established finishing move. Hakushi had a brief alliance with ninja wrestler Kwang , calling themselves collectively " Shogun ". After losing
1802-491: A house show program against High Energy ( Koko B. Ware and Owen Hart ). Horowitz would remain winless in his WWF return until September 21, 1992, when he finally secured his first pinfall victory by defeating Brad Holman in a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It would be his only victory of the year. In Phoenix, Arizona he teamed with Reno Riggins against The Smoking Gunns on April 5, 1993, in
1908-405: 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
2014-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2120-796: A member of the Iwate Prefectural (state) Assembly. Shinzaki is also the co-founder of the joshi promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling along with joshi wrestler Meiko Satomura. On April 15, 2011, Shinzaki returned to the United States to wrestle for Chikara in the 2011 King of Trios tournament , where he would represent Michinoku Pro with Dick Togo and the Great Sasuke. In their first round match Team Michinoku Pro defeated Team Minnesota ( 1-2-3 Kid , Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin). The following day, Team Michinoku Pro defeated Jigsaw , Manami Toyota and Mike Quackenbush to advance to
2226-440: 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
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#17328020732312332-522: A popular underdog with WWF fans. During this time, the WWF played up Horowitz's Jewish heritage, introducing a Star of David on his wrestling trunks and making his entrance theme an upbeat version of the Jewish folk song " Hava Nagila ". The character was also developed with the portrayal of Horowitz as a stereotypical nerd when not wrestling, showing Horowitz with large glasses, dress shirts buttoned up all
2438-632: A shot at Jeff Jarrett 's Intercontinental Championship . It was a competitive match, but Horowitz lost via submission to Jarrett's figure-four leg lock. On May 25, 1995, in Manitoba he began a house show series against Skip of the Body Donnas, losing to him all seven times. Finally, on the July 9, 1995, airing of Wrestling Challenge , Horowitz received the first push of his WWF career, beginning with pinning Bodydonna Skip to gain his first win over
2544-562: A slow, meditated style, and constantly performed prayers in the ring before every movement. He also came to the arenas in full pilgrimage garments, including white robes and suge-kasa hats, and carried a shakujo staff and a kongo-zue . Jinsei debuted as a silent heel , being introduced by Mr. Yamaguchi as a special member of Super Delfín 's heel unit in order to "curse" The Great Sasuke with his prayers. However, after disagreements with them, Shinzaki turned face in 1994 and joined Sasuke and his allies. In May 1994, Shinzaki wrestled on
2650-529: A spirited brawl. One year later on January 4's Wrestling World In Tokyo Dome 1997 , he faced and defeated Heisei Ishingun member Michiyoshi Ohara , who had a similar gimmick to his, and mimicked everything Shinzaki did. Shinzaki returned to Michinoku Pro Wrestling in October 1996 at the Michinoku Pro 3rd Anniversary event, defeating Hayabusa . Once again aligning himself with The Great Sasuke, Shinzaki
2756-483: A surprise appearance in New Japan Pro-Wrestling , wearing a white mask and causing Kazunari Murakami 's defeat to Keiji Mutoh . Jinsei then unmasked, and Mutoh introduced him as the new member of his personal faction Bad Ass Translate Trading . Shinzaki has been the president of Michinoku Pro Wrestling company since 2003 as a result of Sasuke dedicating more of his time to his political career as
2862-643: A tag team match, Hakushi blamed Kwang and turned on him. Hakushi subsequently defeated Kwang, in the Shogun team’s breakup and blow-off match. This also happened to be the Kwang’s last appearance. Hakushi then feuded with former WWF Champion Bret Hart , wrestling a number of competitive matches against him. He also participated in a three-way feud with perennial jobber Barry Horowitz and Bodydonna Skip . Horowitz, who lost for years on WWF programming to get over new talent, surprisingly used his three-quarter nelson to secure
2968-427: A two-year contract and wrestled primarily on Saturday Night , but also had numerous house show appearances. He sustained losses to Disco Inferno , Wrath , Chris Adams , Alex Wright , Vincent , and others during 1998. He was also part of Bill Goldberg 's undefeated streak, losing to him on January 10, 1998, on WCW Saturday Night and later on May 27, 1998, on WCW Thunder - where he had his first and only shot at
3074-503: 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
3180-586: 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
3286-435: A victory over Skip. Hakushi would also fall to Horowitz soon after because of interference from Skip. His loss was a surprise to the fans, not only given Horowitz's long time losing record, but also given how well Hakushi did during his feud with Bret Hart in what had been Hakushi's first major feud in the company. Hakushi and Horowitz would briefly form a tag team, leading to a face turn for Hakushi. In Survivor Series , Hakushi
Jinsei Shinzaki - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-700: A young Ken Shamrock in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 29. Barry's final match was a loss to Mark Young in Waco, Texas on April 22, 1990, after which he departed for World Championship Wrestling. Horowitz made his debut in WCW a little over a month later at a TV taping on May 23, 1990, at the Georgia Mountains Center in a match with Brian Pillman. He would wrestle in over fifty matches that year, registering one victory (a pinfall of Tommy Angel at
3498-410: 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
3604-536: The All Asia Tag Team Championship from Jun Izumida and Tamon Honda . They retained it until June 1999, when they lost it to Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama . Shinzaki then kept a feud against Mitsuharu Misawa 's Untouchables faction, but his appearances in AJPW became more sparse until ceasing in favour of Michinoku Pro in 2002. In 2001, still as an AJPW representative, Shinzaki made
3710-624: 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
3816-776: 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 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
3922-645: The WCW United States Championship . On January 17, 1998, on WCW WorldWide , he beat Hardbody Harrison . On October 20, 1998, Horowitz gained his second victory in his WCW return (albeit via disqualification) in a match against Barry Darsow at a television taping in Mankato, Minnesota. On November 22, 1998, he made his first pay-per-view appearance, wrestling in the three ring, 60 man battle royal at World War 3 . In early 2000, he began his first feud in WCW after losing to Allan Funk on
4028-843: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Horowitz attended Florida State University , where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled . He is Jewish. Horowitz trained as a professional wrestler under Boris Malenko in Tampa, Florida , for 18 months and debuted in 1979 on the Floridian independent circuit . He went on to work for the World Wide Wrestling Federation , Jim Crockett, Sr.'s NWA Mid-Atlantic promotion , and promotions in Canada and Puerto Rico . His first television appearance in
4134-466: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He wrestled as Hakushi (白紙, "White Paper"), a derivation of his Michinoku Pro Wrestling persona. This new character resembled Jinsei Shinzaki, but he was characterized by sporting Buddhist shakyo written all over his skin, in a reference to Japanese folk character Hoichi the Earless . He was also accompanied by a facepaint-wearing cultist named Shinja . Initially
4240-654: The light-heavyweight division, Horowitz (billed as Barry "the Winner" Horowitz) won the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship on two occasions within the space of a month in 1992, defeating Jerry Lynn on February 7 and Ben Jordan on February 28 in Dallas, Texas . He remained in the GWF for two years until it declared bankruptcy. Along the way, Horowitz also returned to the WWF in late 1991, where he
4346-584: 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
Jinsei Shinzaki - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-400: 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
4558-460: 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
4664-411: 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 the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
4770-653: 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
4876-586: The Kid as a last-minute replacement partner. Though the Quebecers prevailed in the match, the Kid would continue to challenge for the tag team titles, albeit with changing partners and without Horowitz. Horowitz would return to teaming with Riggins during 1994, facing The Smoking Gunns and Men on a Mission on multiple occasions. Despite numerous defeats, Horowitz did gain two victories in 1994 by defeating Ben Jordan and Mark Thomas. He also faced Thurman "Sparky" Plugg in
4982-585: The March 11 edition of Saturday Night . Funk defeated Horowitz using a handful of tights. A week later on Saturday Night during a match between Fidel Sierra and Funk, Horowitz came out to the ring and distracted Funk, allowing Sierra to win. Horowitz's final WCW appearance came at the last ever taping of Saturday Night on March 29, 2000, in Beaumont, Texas . He faced Jim Duggan and was defeated after Funk interfered. He then left WCW. After WCW, he returned to
5088-650: The Mexican style of lucha libre before debuting in Hamada's promotion Universal Lucha Libre in 1992, wrestling under a mask and the name of Mongolian Yuga. In 1993, Shinzaki followed The Great Sasuke to his promotion Michinoku Pro Wrestling, becoming one of its founders. In June 1993, Kensuke unmasked and changed his gimmick , re-debuting as Jinsei Shinzaki ("Jinsei" meaning "life" in Japanese), an aruki henro or Shikoku pilgrim . Under this persona, Shinzaki wrestled in
5194-408: 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
5300-488: 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
5406-547: The Ring in the build-up to the match between MJF and Wardlow . During the vignette, Horowitz (billed as a "Legendary Jewish Wrestler") defended fellow Jewish wrestler MJF while poking fun at himself by saying he's a top star and calling Shawn Dean (who had two disqualification victories over MJF) "a jobber". On the episode of Impact Wrestling that aired on February 16, 2023 (taped January 21), Horowitz wrestled Johnny Swinger as part of Swinger's quest to get 50 victories. After
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#17328020732315512-630: The WWWF/WWF was in October 1981 as an enhancement talent named Barry Hart, losing to King Kong Angelo Mosca . He worked with WWF until 1983. Horowitz eventually joined Championship Wrestling from Florida as Jack Hart. On July 23, 1985, in Tampa, he defeated Mike Graham in a tournament final to win the vacant NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship . He held the title until September 2, 1985, when he lost to Kendall Windham . He remained in CWF for two years, and
5618-401: 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
5724-418: 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
5830-561: 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
5936-403: The branding that he ( kayfabe ) left the WWF. Upon leaving his stint in WWF, Shinzaki returned to Japan. He made a single night appearance with New Japan Pro-Wrestling at "Battle Formation" on April 29, 1996, where he wrestled The Great Muta . Shinzaki was introduced as a mystic, supernatural character very much like Muta, who embodied evil while Shinzaki embodied good. Shinzaki was defeated in
6042-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling 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
6148-424: 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
6254-418: 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
6360-423: 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
6466-512: 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
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#17328020732316572-468: 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 the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
6678-540: 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
6784-405: 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
6890-603: 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
6996-503: The first half of 1992, and Horowitz would face and lose to Kerry Von Erich , Owen Hart , Tito Santana , and others at WWF Superstars and WWF Challenge tapings. On June 5, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois, Horowitz rejoined the house show circuit, substituting for the departed Colonel Mustafa in a series against Kerry Von Erich. He also faced Tito Santana, coming out winless on each occasion. In September he began teaming with Skinner in
7102-470: 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
7208-610: 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
7314-460: 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
7420-608: The independent circuit working mainly in Florida until he retired in 2003. Horowitz made a one-night appearance on June 30, 2013 where he won Malenko Memorial Cup Battle Royal. After not wrestling since 2013, Horowitz returned to the ring on March 19, 2022, to face Joey Janela at the WrestlePro Rock And Roll Forever event in Rahway, New Jersey . The match was billed as a Rahway street fight . Horowitz
7526-473: 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
7632-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in 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
7738-480: 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
7844-496: 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
7950-496: The latter team's WWF debut. Horowitz would later lose to Riggins in a Wrestling Challenge dark match on June 14 in Columbus, Ohio. On July 5, 1993, he gained his second victory, defeating Phil Apollo at a Monday Night Raw taping, then followed it up two days later by pinning Chuck Williams in a dark match taping at Wrestling Challenge . After several more losses, Horowitz appeared at SummerSlam when he lost to Owen Hart in
8056-423: The latter's first WWF match. Horowitz entered 1995 still mired in the preliminary ranks and lost to Chris Candido in the soon to be BodyDonna Skip's first match. However, Bodydonna Skip was the catalyst for a career turnaround that summer. Horowitz's schedule began to pick up and he wrestled Henry Godwinn, Mantaur, Shawn Michaels, and others. On the March 13, 1995, episode of Monday Night Raw , Horowitz received
8162-498: 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
8268-565: The pay-per-view, Horowitz began teaming with his old partner, Lombardi, as The Red and Black Knights on the house show circuit, losing to Men on a Mission multiple times in December. Despite his status as a jobber , Horowitz would occasionally wrestle in matches of greater prominence. He was instrumental in starting the feud between reigning tag team champions, The Quebecers , and the “1-2-3” Kid . The Quebecers were set to defend their titles against Horowitz and Riggins, but Horowitz brought in
8374-512: 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 is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
8480-717: 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
8586-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise 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
8692-595: The referee reversed the decision. Horowitz then went on another long streak, falling to Faarooq , Goldust , and Salvatore Sincere . His final televised match came on April 7, 1997, when he teamed with Freddie Joe Floyd against The Headbangers on Monday Night Raw. His last WWF match was in Kuwait City, Kuwait on April 12, 1997, against Floyd. Horowitz's contract was not renewed by the WWF in 1997, and he joined World Championship Wrestling in October 1997, wrestling Disco Inferno on WCW Saturday Night . He signed
8798-673: The roster. Shinzaki is also known for his appearances with other Japanese promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). To American fans, Shinzaki is perhaps most known for his stint in the United States–based World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 1996 under the ring name Hakushi (白紙). A former soccer player, Shinzaki trained in amateur wrestling in high school. He first worked as an actor, but he left for professional wrestling after meeting Gran Hamada . Shinzaki trained in
8904-447: The semifinals of the tournament. On April 17, Team Michinoku Pro was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinal stage by F.I.S.T. ( Chuck Taylor , Icarus and Johnny Gargano ). Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , Shinzaki helped victims in the Tōhoku region by travelling around and providing them with food and drinks. Initial reports falsely noted that Shinzaki himself
9010-440: 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
9116-477: The team of Lanny Poffo and Scott Casey on January 26, 1988, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The match would later air on an episode of Primetime Wrestling on February 19, 1988. In 1988, he registered fifteen singles victories, defeating Allen, DJ Peterson , Jose Luis Rivera , Iron Mike Sharpe , and Poffo. Horowitz finished his initial WWF run registering fourteen victories in 1989, including an improbable pin over
9222-426: 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,
9328-519: 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
9434-471: 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
9540-405: 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 a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
9646-535: 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
9752-574: The way, and a pocket protector . Horowitz formed a tag team with the newly turned face Hakushi –whom he attempted to Americanize (as shown in a series of vignettes with Horowitz describing American culture and institutions to Hakushi) after beating him in another upset. At the 1995 Survivor Series , they teamed with Bob Holly and Marty Jannetty in a loss to Skip, Rad Radford , Tom Prichard , and The 1-2-3 Kid . A month later at In Your House 5 Horowitz teamed with Hakushi and The Smoking Gunns to defeat The Body Donnas, Yokozuna, and Isaac Yankem in
9858-420: 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
9964-425: 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
10070-532: Was managed by heels such as Percy Pringle and Sir Oliver Humperdink . Horowitz joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1987. Wearing suspenders and a vest with an outline of a handprint on the back, which he patted as a self-congratulatory measure, he spent three years in the WWF as an enhancement talent (primarily against up and coming babyfaces ). Horowitz occasionally teamed with another preliminary wrestler, Steve Lombardi (the "Brooklyn Brawler"). Although Horowitz's win years later over BodyDonna Skip
10176-469: Was a member of The Underdogs team, but was eliminated after a kick from his enemy 1-2-3 Kid. He also was a competitor in the 1996 Royal Rumble , where he was eliminated by Bret Hart's brother, Owen Hart . During a match on Raw against Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw on the March 6 episode (taped February 19), Hakushi was hit by Bradshaw's branding iron after a loss. That week on WWF Superstars , commentator Jim Ross reported that he had been so humiliated by
10282-488: 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
10388-682: Was defeated after a Tombstone Piledriver and entombed in the mountains of Tohoku. In mid-1997, Shinzaki started appearing in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling helping Hayabusa in his battles against Mr. Gannosuke . They also had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling competing against Rob Van Dam and Sabu . Shinzaki and Hayabusa competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling 's Real Tag League 1998. In January 1999, they won
10494-439: Was living in his car due to losing his home and restaurant. However, this was incorrect as he was really just spending a lot of time traveling to help the needy. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with
10600-487: Was once again used to help put talent over . His first match back came on October 21 at a WWF Superstars taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he teamed with Brian Costello to face The Bushwhackers . For the remainder of 1991, Horowitz only appeared on televised events and came out on the losing end in matches against Legion of Doom, Greg Valentine, and then Intercontinental champion Bret Hart . This continued through
10706-571: 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
10812-638: Was promoted as his first victory, he did have multiple pinfall victories during his first WWF run. The first was in Kitchener, Ontario, on July 22, 1987, over Brady Boone . That year he would gain three more victories, pinning Lanny Poffo , David Sammartino , and Jerry Allen. Horowitz also gained multiple wins in tag-team action as he partnered with Lombardi. In one house show event, Horowitz and Lombardi defeated Jerry Allen and Scott Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts on August 23, 1987. They also defeated
10918-415: 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
11024-417: 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
11130-471: Was undefeated in singles matches until 1997. In October 1997, the Hakushi character was brought up to go against WWF's "Dead Man" The Undertaker . Hakushi was now an undead as well due to having been "killed" in his match with Muta, and was introduced in a coffin by an entourage of Japanese traditional pallbearers, showing in his clothes the same blood stains he had got in said match. He faced Undertaker, but
11236-584: Was victorious in the match. Later that month, Horowitz wrestled at the WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show in Dallas teaming with Dango , Jimmy Wang Yang , nZo , and PCO in a losing effort against Atsushi Onita , Robert Gibson , Ricky Morton , Juice Robinson , and Colt Cabana . On May 11, 2022, Horowitz appeared in a vignette in All Elite Wrestling in a parody of Dark Side of
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