Mid 20th Century
76-611: Anthony Henry is an American professional wrestler , primarily performing for independent circuit. He is best known for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH). He is one-half of the tag team the WorkHorsemen with JD Drake. He is known for his work in independent promotions including Evolve , World Wrestling Network (WWN), Full Impact Pro (FIP), Premiere Wrestling Xperience (PWX), National Wrestling Alliance territories, Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment (AWE) promotions and Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (DPW), where he
152-446: 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
228-573: A Contract Prize match, eventually won by Teddy Stigma. He finished his debut year on June 17 at FIP In Full Force 2017, defeating Maxwell Jacob Friedman . Returning on May 25, 2018 at FIP Ascension 2018 , Henry challenged reigning champion Austin Theory for the FIP World Heavyweight Championship but did not succeed in winning the title. Four months later on September 30 at FIP Accelerate 2018 , Henry defeated Theory in
304-534: A Four-Way Elimination match won by John Skyler against Henry, Corey Hollis and the reigning champion Sami Callihan for the PWX Heavyweight Champion. During a two-night event first held on November 19, Henry competed in the 2016 X 16 Tournament. He would go on to defeat Martin Stone , Trevor Lee , Zack Sabre Jr. , and Ethan Case to become the winner of the 2016 X 16 Tournament. During his return
380-527: A Tag Team Title Four-Way match for the AWE Tag Team Championship against Evan Gelistico and Gary Jay) defeat The Gym Nasty Boyz: (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) and Kerry Awful and Nick Iggy. The following year on June 8, 2018 at Red Wedding, The WorkHorsemen defeated the reigning champions Gelistico and Jay to win the AWE Tag Team Championship for the first time. Their final AWE match was on July 29 at HomeGrown '18 successfully defending
456-686: A Three-Way No. 1 Contendership match for the PWX Innovative Television Championship, but lost to Lance Lude. On March 15 at Enemy Territory: Dawn Of A New Day, Henry teamed with Billy Brash to challenge reigning champions team Los Ben Dejos for the PWX Tag Team Championship but did not succeed in winning the titles. He did not receive any further title opportunities in PWX during the course of 2014 and 2015. On June 18 at Xpect Everything, Henry competed in
532-627: A Three-Way match during which he lost the Heavyweight Championship against JD Drake and Ethan Case . On July 22, Henry formed a team with JD Drake and entered the 2018 Crockett Cup Tag Team Tournament held by PWX which they went on to win. Henry debuted on August 7, 2016 at AWE The Summer Of George event, defeating Jimmy Rave . The following year on July 30, 2017 at the Season 3 Finale event, Henry and JD Drake reunited, rebranding their team name as The WorkHorsemen. They competed in
608-413: 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
684-532: 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
760-519: 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
836-585: 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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#1732801886567912-448: 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 . List of Evolve Wrestling events#Evolve 88 Evolve Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion which
988-410: 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
1064-414: 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
1140-405: 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
1216-799: 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
1292-440: 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
1368-495: A title rematch to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He successfully defended the title on November 30 at FIP Full Force 2018 , defeating A. R. Fox . On February 21, 2020, Henry lost the FIP World Heavyweight Championship to Jon Davis at Everything Burns 2020 . On January 19, 2021, it was reported that he had signed a contract with WWE and would be reporting to
1444-503: 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
1520-586: 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
1596-524: Is a three-time NWA/APW (Alternative Pro Wrestling) North Georgia Champion, one-time Evolve Tag Team Champion , one-time FIP World Heavyweight Champion , one-time PWX Heavyweight Champion, and one-time DPW Worlds Tag Team Champion . He also worked for WWE under the ring name Asher Hale . Henry debuted on May 5, 2012 at Premiere Wrestling Xperience 's PWX Queen City Chaos, losing a singles match against Drew Myers . He returned two years later on February 15, 2014 at Rise Of A Champion IX, where he competed in
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#17328018865671672-410: 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
1748-624: 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
1824-776: 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
1900-526: The WWE Performance Center . On the May 4 episode of NXT, Henry made his TV debut under the new ring name of Asher Hale , in a losing effort to Cameron Grimes . Hale also made his 205 Live debut on the May 14 episode, defeating Ariya Daivari . The following week, he lost against Ari Sterling . The week after, he upset veteran Tony Nese , making him tap out. Hale continued to wrestle through
1976-584: 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
2052-400: 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
2128-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
2204-411: 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
2280-653: 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
2356-688: The GWC Tag Team Titles in a tag match against Awful and Iggy. After signing with the World Wrestling Network, Henry made his first match appearance on October 15, 2016 at Evolve 70 , where he lost to Darby Allin . On July 28, 2017 at Evolve 88 , Henry and Drake defeated team Catch Point ( Chris Dickinson and Jaka ) to win the Evolve Tag Team Championship for the first time. Two months later on September 22 at Evolve 92 , Henry & Drake lost
Anthony Henry (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2432-408: 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
2508-488: 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
2584-553: The Tag Team titles to A. C. H. and Ethan Page . Three months later on December 9 at Evolve 96 , Henry and Drake challenged team Catch Point ( Jaka and Tracy Williams ) for the Evolve Tag Team Championship but did not succeed in winning the titles. The following night at Evolve 97 , Henry and Drake ended their year defeating KTB and Shane Mercer Henry & Drake's next Tag Team title opportunity
2660-401: 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
2736-418: 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
2812-561: 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
2888-412: 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
2964-424: 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
3040-418: 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
3116-423: 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
Anthony Henry (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3192-512: 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
3268-468: 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
3344-540: 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
3420-405: 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
3496-603: 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
3572-470: 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
3648-482: The following year on February 19, 2017, Henry wrestled at Rise Of A Champion XII, defeating the reigning champion Jake Manning to become the new PWX Heavyweight Champion , marking his first title reign. He successfully retained the title for the course of the time he remained in PWX, wrestling his final match of the year on October 21 at PWX Unsanctioned, defeating his challenger Fred Yehi . The following year on March 25, 2018 at Rise Of A Champion XIII, Henry competed in
3724-610: 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
3800-460: 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
3876-526: 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
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#17328018865673952-492: 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
4028-480: 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
4104-496: 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
4180-669: The match. On November 9 at Evolve 115 , The WorkHorsemen had the rare opportunity to compete against WWE talent, as they wrestled the guest tag team from WWE NXT and reigning champions the Street Profits ( Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford ) for the Evolve Tag Team Championship , but did not succeed in winning the Tag Team titles. Henry finished the year at Evolve 118 , losing a singles match against WWE NXT guest wrestler Kassius Ohno . Returning on January 18, 2019 at Evolve 119 , Henry defeated Curt Stallion . Henry first appeared on January 8, 2017 at FIP Everything Burns 2017 in
4256-498: 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
4332-476: The months on 205 Live, making his last appearance on the July 30 episode in a losing effort to Drake Maverick . On August 6, Hale was released from his WWE contract. During the September 11 tapings of AEW Dark , Henry made his debut for All Elite Wrestling , facing Eddie Kingston in a losing effort. Henry faced Miro on the July 1, 2023 edition of AEW Collision , losing by submission. On April 1, 2024, Henry
4408-512: 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
4484-717: 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
4560-439: 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
4636-440: 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
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#17328018865674712-426: 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,
4788-519: 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
4864-471: 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
4940-405: 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
5016-535: 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
5092-420: 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
5168-425: 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
5244-1579: Was accompanied by Michael Nakazawa. Evolve 8: Style Battle , was held in Union City, New Jersey at The ACE Arena. The show featured the Style Battle , a one night tournament between eight wrestlers that representing different wrestling style, who was won by A. R. Fox. {{Pro wrestling results table " tournament Final Four " |times= |results= |match1 = Sami Callihan defeated Jigsaw , Rich Swann and Samuray del Sol by submission |stip1= Tournament quarter-final four-way freestyle match |time1 = |match2 = A. R. Fox defeated Jon Davis by disqualification |stip2= Tournament quarter-final match |time2 = 14:02 |match3 = Brian Kendrick and Johnny Gargano defeated The Gentleman's Club ( Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy) (with Dr. Colonel Nolan Angus and The Swamp Monster) |stip3= Tag team match |time3 = 13:59 |match4 = Sami Callihan defeated Chuck Taylor by submission |stip4= Tournament semi-final match |time4 = 8:37 |match5 = A. R. Fox defeated Ricochet |stip5= Tournament semi-final match |time5 = 12:54 |match6 = Arik Cannon defeated Scott Reed (with Caleb Konley , Larry Dallas and Trina Michaels ) |stip6= No Disqualification match |time6 = 7:28 |match7 = The Super Smash Brothers ( Player Dos and Player Uno ) defeated The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |stip7= Tag team match |time7 = 14:14 |match8 = A. R. Fox defeated Sami Callihan |stip8= Tournament final match for
5320-488: 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
5396-580: Was founded in 2010 by former Ring of Honor booker and Dragon Gate USA vice president, Gabe Sapolsky . Over the course of its history, it held 146 events. The inaugural Evolve show, Evolve 1: Richards vs. Ibushi , was held in Rahway, New Jersey at the Rahway Rec Center. Lenny Leonard and Leonard F. Chikarason served as the commentators. In the main event, Davey Richards, accompanied by Kyle O'Reilly and Tony Kozina, faced against Kota Ibushi, who
5472-524: Was held on April 5, 2018 at Evolve 102 , where they competed in a Four-Way Tag Team Scramble match. On May 20 at Evolve 105 , Henry & Drake returned to their team name The WorkHorsemen, challenging the reigning Evolve Tag Team Champions team Catch Point , but did not succeed in winning the titles. On October 28 at Evolve 114 , Henry competed in a Six-Way Ladder Match for the WWN Championship , ending with his tag team partner JD Drake winning
5548-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
5624-463: Was released from his AEW contract; three days later, during a media call, AEW owner Tony Khan said that he would offer Henry a new contract as soon as Henry recovers from a broken jaw. Professional wrestler 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
5700-415: 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
5776-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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