Mid 20th Century
95-615: Wrestling New Classic (WNC) ( レスリング・ニュー・クラシック , Resuringu Nyū Kurashikku ) was a Japanese puroresu or professional wrestling promotion , founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri . WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash , which folded in March 2012. On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to announce the forming of Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first two events on April 26 at Shinjuku Face and on May 24 at Korakuen Hall . The promotion's new financial backer at
190-523: A combat sport . It should be also noted that the term "Puroresu" in Japan refers to all professional wrestling, regardless of country of origin. For example, American promotions WWE and Ring of Honor are referred to as "Puroresu" in Japan. Japanese wrestling historian Fumi Saito noted: "Puroresu is completely Japanese-English, and in the U.S. the same word is used for both pro and amateur wrestling. It may be easier to understand if you think of wrestling in
285-583: A mass exodus to form Pro Wrestling Noah , particularly when Motoko Baba sold her stock to Keiji Mutoh, but Noah would continue to practice ōdō (referred to as Royal Road with Ark by the promotion) in its booking. This element of ōdō has been criticized for its negative influence on professional wrestling, and 1990s All Japan been cited as a cautionary tale in response to legitimately dangerous maneuvers. Meltzer wrote in 2009 that head drops were "never necessary" as Misawa and his peers in AJPW were already "having
380-416: A real fight against Muhammad Ali in 1976 that was watched by an estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide. Many of New Japan's wrestlers, including top stars such as Seiji Sakaguchi , Tatsumi Fujinami , Akira Maeda , Satoru Sayama , Yoshiaki Fujiwara , Nobuhiko Takada , Masakatsu Funaki , Masahiro Chono , Shinya Hashimoto , Riki Choshu , Minoru Suzuki , Shinsuke Nakamura , and Keiji Mutoh , came from
475-522: A big blow off match, which people loved. The WWF broke its way into mainstream entertainment and regularly brought in celebrities for events. The "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" was a period of cooperation and cross-promotion between the WWF and elements of the music industry. The WWF attracting a degree of mainstream attention with Cyndi Lauper joining in 1984 and WWF personalities appeared in her music videos. Hogan gained mainstream popularity for appearing in
570-676: A comment made by final Smash Champion Dave Finlay , who, at the promotion's penultimate event, told Tajiri to "keep wrestling classic" with his new promotion. Several WNC wrestlers also booked and promoted their own events in collaboration with the promotion, including Kana 's Kana Pro, Makoto 's Mako Pro, Syuri 's Stimulus, and Takuya Kito's Kuzu Pro. In late 2013, WNC also established a working relationship with joshi puroresu promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu, as part of which all of WNC's female wrestlers became officially affiliated with both promotions in January 2014. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri held
665-668: A critically acclaimed era with several classic matches authorized by the American wrestling publication Wrestling Observer Newsletter featuring wrestlers such as Manami Toyota , Aja Kong , Kyoko Inoue , Bull Nakano , Mayumi Ozaki , Megumi Kudo , Dynamite Kansai , amongst others. This era was also notable for multiple wrestlers returning from retirement such as Chigusa Nagayo , Lioness Asuka , Jaguar Yokota , Devil Masami , and Bison Kimura , which increased interest. In 2022, New Japan Pro Wrestling inaugurated their own IWGP Women's Championship . Professional wrestling in
760-458: A legitimate martial arts background. This style led to the development of shoot wrestling and the spin-off Universal Wrestling Federation . Sayama developed and founded Shooto , a pioneer mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, in 1985. That same year, Sayama's student Caesar Takeshi founded Shootboxing . Funaki, Suzuki and others would found Pancrase and hold their first event almost two months before UFC 1 . Maeda founded RINGS in 1991 as
855-548: A loose confederation was formed between independent wrestling companies. This was known as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In the late 1940s to 1950s, the NWA chose Lou Thesz to unify the various world championships into a single "World Heavyweight" title. Thesz's task was not easy, as some promoters, reluctant to lose face, went so far as to shoot title matches to keep their own champions popular with
950-694: A more "narrative" style, derived from the American model of professional wrestling as physical storytelling. However, ōdō distinguished itself from American professional wrestling by largely eschewing many of its storytelling devices. Angles and gimmicks were virtually non-existent, as all the storytelling in ōdō occurred through the matches themselves. Blading was also banned outright. Because Baba disliked submissions, they were also eschewed for decisive pinfalls. In 2011, Japanese wrestling magazine G Spirits cited Misawa's July 29, 1993 Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship title defense against Kawada as
1045-552: A more athletically skilled wrestler, enabling the office to negotiate wrestler contracts tremendously in its favor. By the late 1950s, professional wrestling had lost its high ratings, and producers, realizing that they had overexposed it, soon dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which network producers placed as late-night and Saturday and/or Sunday morning/afternoon fillers rather than signature programming. Promoters used localized television as
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#17328025916791140-458: A new market and establish a new persona, since fans there already knew who they were. Meanwhile, McMahon took advantage of this phenomenon by purchasing promotions all over the continent, in order to produce a widely popular nationwide television program and make the WWF the only viewing choice. To counter the NWA's primary supercard , Starrcade , the WWF created its flagship show, WrestleMania , available on 135 closed-circuit networks . The show
1235-536: A press conference with Keiji Mutoh , where he announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Afterwards, all female WNC wrestlers remained affiliated with WNC-Reina , while six male wrestlers, Tajiri and Akira included, transferred over to Mutoh's Wrestle-1 promotion. WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo 's Shinjuku Face. Puroresu 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Puroresu ( プロレス )
1330-635: A reported record attendance of 93,173 people, is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the period. The episode of The Main Event I is the highest rated professional wrestling television show to date, with a 15.2 rating and 33 million viewers. Both had a main event featuring Hulk Hogan battling André the Giant for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship . Following WrestleMania III, the WWF added to its franchise and created both
1425-538: A reputation for training some of the best wrestlers of the era, including Gotch, known as one of America's first sports superstars. Gotch, regarded as "peerless" at his peak, was the first to actually claim the world's undisputed heavyweight championship by beating all contenders in North America and Europe. He became the world's champion by beating European wrestling champion Georg Hackenschmidt , both in 1908 and 1911, seen by modern wrestling historians as two of
1520-555: A result of the appeal of television. Wrestling fit naturally with television because it was easy to understand, had drama, comedy and colorful characters, and was inexpensive for production. From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcast wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network . Gorgeous George became one of the biggest stars during this period, gaining media attention for his outrageous character, which
1615-519: A result. This made it impossible for the Trio to retrieve it. They responded by calling the Munn-Zbyszko match illegitimate, and reinstated Munn as champion, but quickly had him drop it to Lewis. This left two champions, Ed Lewis and Joe Stecher, who were regarded as the dominant wrestlers of the period. Stecher and Lewis agreed to a unification match years later, in 1928, when Stecher gave in and lost
1710-484: A revival of Pro Wrestling USA. In 1988, the struggling World Class Wrestling Association (formerly known as World Class Championship Wrestling until it withdrew from the NWA in 1986) and Continental Wrestling Federation (known as Continental Championship Wrestling until it was bought out in 1988) would also take part in this alliance, which agreed to unify the WCWA and AWA Heavyweight Titles at Superclash III. Superclash III
1805-512: A second office in their old Dallas headquarters. To fight the WWF's control of the industry, JCP took the NWA's pay-per-view names and used its best talent to draw ratings. Crockett was unable to beat McMahon, who took big bites out of Jim Crockett Promotions by successfully airing the 1987 Survivor Series and 1988 Royal Rumble on the same nights as Starrcade 1987 and the 1988 Bunkhouse Stampede PPV cards. This left him with no viable option other than selling out to media mogul Ted Turner , who renamed
1900-822: A shoot-style promotion, which began transitioning to legitimate MMA competition in 1995. Takada was a co-founder of PRIDE and Rizin . Ōdō ( 王道 , "King's Road"; also translated as "Royal Road") is a style which originated in All Japan Pro Wrestling , and is most closely associated with the Four Pillars ( 四天王 , Shitennō ) , the informal Western fan’s nomenclature for 1990s AJPW wrestlers Toshiaki Kawada , Kenta Kobashi , Mitsuharu Misawa , and Akira Taue . However, matches involving these four have been also referred to in Japan as Shitennō puroresu ( 四天王プロレス ) . As opposed to strong style's European catch wrestling influences, ōdō opted for
1995-435: A star for his cocky persona, his many catchphrases and attractive charisma; Mankind gained popularity for enduring extreme pain, performing dangerous stunts renowned among the industry today; the stable D-Generation X was famous for its adult themes and established star, The Undertaker , added to his fame because of his hardcore matches most notably with Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley , his gimmick which many consider to be
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#17328025916792090-448: A time, allowing long-term angles and feuds to develop. This was the key to their success; they were able to keep wrestlers from their competition, and were able to have regular wrestling cards. Their business succeeded quickly, gaining popularity for its freshness and unique approach to wrestling; a traveling stable of wrestlers. The Trio gained great popularity nationwide during their best years, roughly 1920 to 1925, when they performed in
2185-435: A weapon for eliminating the competition by purchasing airtime from rival territories, effectively putting them out of business. The NWA was the most dominant wrestling body in the 1950s, and a large number of wrestling promotions had been under its leadership. Many promoters, however, viewed it as a crooked tyrant, holding back innovative changes in the sport. It was during this time that several promoters found reason to leave
2280-519: Is a Japanese term used for professional wrestling in and outside of Japan . The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "professional wrestling" ( プロフェッショナル・レスリング , purofesshonaru resuringu ) , which in Japanese is abbreviated to “puro” (プロ- “pro”) & “resu” (レス - an abbreviation of “wrestling”). The term became popular among English -speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's activities in
2375-427: Is simply a standard, and may or may not correspond exactly with any given promotion's codified rules. Matches are held between two or more sides ("corners"). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are governed by tag team rules (see below). The match is won by scoring a "fall", which is generally consistent with standard professional wrestling: Additional rules govern how
2470-606: Is usually promoted by companies that specialize in women’s wrestling, rather than divisions of otherwise male-dominated promotions as is the case in the United States (a major exception was FMW , a men's promotion which had a small women's division, but even then depended on talent from women's federations to provide competition). However, joshi puroresu promotions usually have agreements with male puroresu promotions such that they recognize each other's titles as legitimate, and may share cards . All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
2565-744: The Survivor Series , to counter-programming against Starrcade directly on PPV, and the Royal Rumble , to counter-programming against the Bunkhouse Stampede originally on the USA cable networks before transitioning to pay-per-view in subsequent years. The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions I on TBS to compete against WrestleMania IV . Wrestling promotions across the United States feared being forced into bankruptcy by
2660-747: The Third Golden Age of the mid-1990s–early 2000s by the likes of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin , The Rock , and Triple H . Professional wrestling, in the sense of traveling performers paid for mass entertainment in staged matches, began in the post- Civil War period in the late 1860s and 1870s. During this time, wrestlers were often athletes with amateur wrestling experience who competed at traveling carnivals with carnies working as their promoters and bookers. Grand circuses included wrestling exhibitions, quickly enhancing them through colorful costumes and fictional biographies for entertainment, disregarding their competitive nature. Wrestling exhibits during
2755-492: The "hardcore style" in other wrestling promotions, namely WWF and WCW. In 1997, the WWF gained momentum with the start of the Attitude Era . McMahon recast himself as the evil boss, known authoritatively as "Mr. McMahon". While an interesting character, it was McMahon's realistic feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin who had proven to be a huge money making draw for the company and become the company's most popular wrestler at
2850-428: The 1950s, both locally and nationally, reaching a larger fanbase than ever before. This was a time of enormous growth for professional wrestling, as rising demand and national expansion made it a much more popular and lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This was called a "Golden Age" for the wrestling industry. It was also a time of great change in both the character and professionalism of wrestlers as
2945-814: The 1980s, with their televised matches resulting in some of the highest rated broadcasts in Japanese television as well as the promotion regularly selling out arenas. In 1985, Japan's second women's wrestling promotion formed in Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling . The promotion ran their first show on August 17, 1986. It featured Jackie Sato who returned from retirement and future stars such as Shinobu Kandori , Mayumi Ozaki , Cutie Suzuki , and Dynamite Kansai , who would go on to be top stars in LLPW and JWP . In 1992, Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling dissolved, splitting into LLPW and JWP . These promotions worked together with FMW and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to create
Wrestling New Classic - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-501: The 1990s, professional wrestling achieved highs in both viewers and financial success during a time of fierce competition among competing promotions , such as WWF, World Championship Wrestling , and Extreme Championship Wrestling . The nature of professional wrestling changed dramatically to better fit television, enhancing character traits and storylines. Television also helped many wrestlers break into mainstream media, becoming influential celebrities and icons of popular culture . In
3135-754: The AWA, Gagne had built the company off of technical wrestling. Hogan left in 1983, irreparably damaging the AWA. In spite of all this, the NWA as a unit was still on top, and gained huge dominance through Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), becoming the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television in 1979. It aired on the TBS network. By 1981, GCW became the most watched show on cable television. The 1980s represented professional wrestling's greatest period of televised entertainment, reaching widespread popularity among American youth, as well as producing some of its most spectacular characters. In comparison to
3230-589: The American public because of widespread doubt of its legitimacy and status as a competitive sport. Wrestlers during the time recount it as largely faked by the 1880s. It also waned due to Gotch's retirement in 1913, and no new wrestling superstar emerging to captivate the audience's attention. Following the retirement of Frank Gotch, professional wrestling—except in the Midwest where legitimate wrestlers such as Michigan's "Poison Ivy" took on all comers at State Fairs—was losing popularity fast. Media attention focused on
3325-454: The Eastern territory, acquiring fans from the highly exposed big cities. The Trio was dealt a severe blow by Stanislaus Zbyszko , when he beat the rookie Wayne Munn for their world heavyweight championship, against the original booking. Munn, who had been recruited to wrestling and pushed to the level of champion in only a few months, was the Trio's new star and main attraction. Zbyszko
3420-444: The NWA could only manage to have a few of its stars at one show at a time, so as to promote the product in every territory. After the WWF gained huge dominance with Wrestlemania, Crockett responded to the success of the WWF and successfully acquired time slots on TBS, and would continue to buy out NWA promotions between 1985 and 1987 as well. The advent of nationwide television also weakened the system. Wrestlers could no longer travel to
3515-410: The NWA. ECW adapted a hardcore style of wrestling, and it exposed the audience to levels of violence rarely seen in wrestling. The unorthodox style of moves, controversial storylines, and intense bloodthirst of ECW made it immensely popular among many wrestling fans in the 18-to-25-year-old demographic. Its intense fanbase, albeit a small constituency, reached near-cultism in the late 1990s and inspired
3610-460: The U.S. as having the same nuance as ' sumo ' in Japanese. You call both 'wrestling' even if it's competitive or professional wrestling." Puroresu has a variety of different rules, which can differ greatly from wrestling in other countries. While there is no governing authority for puroresu, there is a general standard which has developed. Each promotion has its own variation, but all are similar enough to avoid confusion. Any convention described here
3705-589: The United States Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling in the United States , through the advent of television in the 1950s, and cable in the 1980s, began appearing in powerful media outlets, reaching never before seen numbers of viewers. It became an international phenomenon with the expansion of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Throughout
3800-478: The United States , Japanese wrestling is known for many differences from the Western style. Puroresu in Japan is known for its " fighting spirit " ( 闘魂 , tōkon ), and the wrestlers are known for their full contact strikes. Many Japanese wrestlers have some degree of knowledge in many different martial arts and wrestling styles; because of this, there are usually doctors and trainers at ringside for assisting
3895-549: The United States, in the First Golden Age of professional wrestling in the 1940s–1960s, Gorgeous George gained mainstream popularity, followed in the Second Golden Age in the 1980s–early 1990s by Hulk Hogan , André the Giant , "Macho Man" Randy Savage , Ric Flair , "Rowdy" Roddy Piper , Ultimate Warrior , Sting , Dusty Rhodes , Bret "The Hitman" Hart , Shawn Michaels , and The Undertaker , and in
Wrestling New Classic - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-554: The WWF World Heavyweight Title, Gorilla Monsoon famously proclaimed "Hulkamania is here." Around this time, faces and heels became a generally more obvious and important part of wrestling. 'Gimmicks' were more popular, and it widely became a popular sport again. Wrestling was generally seen more as a form of fun and entertainment, however, than an official sport. It was more about building up face/heel feuds such as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper /Hulk Hogan and going into
4085-458: The WWF. Many top WCW stars such as Kevin Nash , Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan missed out on the invasion angle due to them having guaranteed contracts with WCW's parent company, AOL Time Warner . Top WCW talent like Ric Flair and the nWo never came back to the WWF until the invasion angle was over. Despite this, the invasion angle still saw the likes of Booker T and ECW's Rob Van Dam compete in
4180-436: The WWF. They began to unify and conglomerate under more centralized leadership rather than continue independently. Competing promotions aired better talent and attempted to regain their audiences. In late 1987, Continental Wrestling Association wrestler and co-promoter Jerry Lawler had also joined the AWA, and helped establish a relationship between the AWA and CWA, which was formally an NWA territory, that would be somewhat of
4275-682: The amount by 2000. ECW was by this point in dire financial straits and Heyman filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. WCW continued to lose more money and finally folded on March 23, 2001, with McMahon buying out the promotion, after more than 15 years of business. This marked the end of the Monday Night War. During 2001, the WWF aired the Invasion angle , which eventually saw the WCW World Heavyweight Championship as well as other WCW belts be contested in
4370-426: The best matches in wrestling" before they incorporated these maneuvers into their style. Throughout the 1990s, three individual styles— shoot style , lucha libre , and hardcore —were the main divisions of independent promotions , but as a result of interpromoting, it is not unusual to see all three styles on the same card. Pro wrestling done by female wrestlers is called joshi puroresu, or women’s wrestling, and
4465-459: The camera. Professional wrestlers themselves began to change. As popularity grew during the mid-1950s, many more wrestlers joined the ranks of the business, and the number of professional wrestlers grew to over 2,000, far more than ever before. Many new wrestlers began fresh without notions of athletic sportsmanship that was popular in competitive arenas, however; they began with dreams of becoming televised superstars. This proved especially true as
4560-490: The company went out of business. NWA President Bob Geigel also withdrew from the NWA by December 1987, and attempted to revive his Heart of America Sports Attractions as a national promotion known as World Wrestling Alliance, but would go out of business by 1989. After WrestleMania III, Crockett also acquired the Universal Wrestling Federation—which broke from the NWA in 1986—and would also establish
4655-432: The declining support of media outlets during the 1960s and 1970s, professional wrestling, notably the emerging World Wrestling Federation (WWF; abridged from WWWF in 1979), received great exposure through its reappearance on network television. The WWF expanded nationally through the acquisition of talent from competing promotions and, because it was the only company to air televised wrestling nationally, became synonymous with
4750-526: The development of shoot wrestling and has been closely related to mixed martial arts (MMA) starting with Shooto and Pancrase , organizations which predate the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), along with influencing subsequent promotions such as RINGS and PRIDE . It is common for pro wrestlers and mixed martial artists in Japan to cross over . Despite some similarities to the popular style of professional wrestling in
4845-572: The fans. The first pro wrestling studio television show was taped on December 18, 1942, at WRBG-TV in Schenectady, New York , at a time when few Americans owned television sets. The earliest successful recurring wrestling program was Hollywood Wrestling in Los Angeles , which debuted on KTLA in 1947 and was syndicated in numerous U.S. cities by 1952. From the advent of television , professional wrestling matches began to be aired during
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#17328025916794940-447: The film Rocky III , reaching to an even greater level of celebrity. In 1985, Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling , an animated television series starring the character of Hogan, expanded Hogan's young fanbase. Meanwhile, the NWA's renowned and highly successful territory system was slowly dying, with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) becoming the center of the entire NWA. While the WWF had their major stars at almost all of their shows,
5035-567: The first match in the Shitennō style, and the 1993 World's Strongest Tag Determination League final, in which Misawa and Kobashi wrestled Kawada and Taue , was referred to as the "completed form" of the style by Tokyo Sports in 2014. According to Kawada, ōdō matches, which placed a heavy emphasis on fighting spirit , were about "breaking the limit you set in the last". AJPW referee Kyohei Wada , who recounted that Baba told his talent "whatever you want to do, do it, and whatever you can show
5130-427: The first of the more comic book-like characters known to professional wrestling today was Antonino Rocca . Comparatively weak in wrestling ability, his marketable personality and barefoot acrobatics attracted fans and made him a national superstar, especially popular among Italian and Hispanic fans. The New York Wrestling office used him to revive the promotion on television, and found him far easier to exploit than
5225-437: The first wrestling show to air prime time since 1955. ESPN also began airing professional wrestling for the first time, first airing Pro Wrestling USA shows—which were created as an alliance between the NWA and AWA in 1984, in an effort to counter the national success the WWF was gaining—and later AWA shows, after Pro Wrestling USA fell apart by 1986. The WWF also became an international success too. WrestleMania III , with
5320-515: The formation of the heel stable, the New World Order . They helped WCW gain the upper hand when they became the most powerful group in professional wrestling. WCW also came up with more legitimate, edgy storylines and characters over the WWF's cartoon style. While the WWF and WCW rivalry was brewing a third promotion was growing in prominence. NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling renamed itself " Extreme Championship Wrestling " (ECW) and left
5415-528: The greatest in the history of professional wrestling and because of his overall dominance in the period in which he helped to put over new talent like Kane and win three world championships in this era. Through the collective success of these characters, the company had finally refocused itself in the 18–25 demographic. By the start of 1999, both shows were consistently getting ratings of 5.0 or higher, and over ten million people tuned in to Raw and Nitro every week. Wrestling continued to grow, as wrestlers made
5510-426: The illegitimacy of wrestling instead of its athleticism, and without a superstar like Gotch, no major personality reached a wide fanbase. In response, three professional wrestlers, Ed Lewis , Billy Sandow , and Toots Mondt , joined to form their own promotion in the 1920s, modifying their in-ring product to attract fans. The three were referred to as the "Gold Dust Trio" due to their financial success. Their promotion
5605-434: The impact of television was not well planned for during this period. Promotional spots , which are now used as pre-match rants by wrestlers to warm up the crowds, were often used for simple greetings and welcomes to the local crowds, missing in-ring personality boosts and character skits during this period. No one would discuss promos before shooting them, and promoters usually would not spend time helping wrestlers in front of
5700-442: The industry during the years of 1996 to 1998. The WWF was forced to change itself to overcome its competition, remodeling itself with added bloodshed, violence, and more profane, sexually lewd characters. This new "Attitude Era" quickly dominated the style and nature of wrestling to become far more teen-oriented than ever before, and made the WWF regain its status as wrestling's top company. The image of WCW changed when Eric Bischoff
5795-445: The industry, monopolizing the industry and the fanbase. The WWF's owner Vince McMahon revolutionized the sport by coining the term " sports entertainment " to describe his on-screen product, admitting to its fakery as well as enhancing its appeal to children. The WWF became the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand to children because of its child-oriented characters, soap opera dramaticism and cartoon-like personas. Most notable
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#17328025916795890-603: The interest in money-making among the three groups, wrestling became a business-oriented entertainment venue, distinguishing itself further and further from its authentic amateur wrestling background. Wrestling performers were arranged in a pyramid hierarchy of fame and money, based strictly on athletic talent. The lowest were the journeymen, young performers with promise and some skill, but who relied mainly on showmanship to gain fans. The actual wrestlers, called "shooters" because of their ability to " shoot ", or fight real matches competitively, were more successful and less common. At
5985-420: The late 19th century were also shown across the United States in countless "athletic shows" (or "at shows"), where experienced wrestlers offered open challenges to the audience. It was at these shows, often done for high-stakes gambling purposes, that the nature of the sport changed through the competing interests of three groups of people: the impresarios , the carnies, and the barnstormers . Impresarios were
6080-796: The lead promotion with Gagne winning the World Heavyweight Championship of Omaha . After unsuccessfully lobbying for a title match with the NWA Champion, however, Gagne broke away from the NWA in 1960, renaming his promotion the American Wrestling Association, and making it the dominant organization of the 1960s. Named the AWA World Heavyweight Champion soon after, Gagne was the top wrestler, and engaged in many feuds with heel wrestlers, most notably Nick Bockwinkel , and
6175-454: The mainstream media. From November 1998, the momentum was in the WWF's favor for the remainder of the War, with Raw dominating Nitro in the ratings. WCW continued its decline as their main eventers were in their 40s or pushing 40 and younger talent were never given the chance to be elevated to main event status. Their attempts at improving failed to turn the ratings tide, with Raw getting double
6270-424: The majority of wrestling was still competitive, and it was immensely popular. In fact, wrestling's popularity was second only to baseball from 1900 to the early 1920s, launching trading cards and competitive wrestling programs in colleges, high schools, and athletic clubs, legacies that have endured to the present day. Wrestling's popularity experienced a dramatic tailspin in 1915 to 1920, becoming distanced from
6365-451: The managers who chose how a wrestler could gain fame and interest among the fans, creating personas and improvising matches to make them more interesting. Carnies, who traveled and wrestled at these events, used tricks to protect their money and reputations during competitions, devising little-known and often dangerous wrestling moves, called "hooks". Hooks are illegal in conventional amateur wrestling, but have high rates of success against even
6460-424: The most athletic and experienced of competitors, essentially removing rules from professional wrestling. In addition, some spectators capable of beating the carnies roamed the country to compete in open challenges, setting side bets to make money. The barnstormers competed as traveling wrestlers did and often cooperated with the carnies to stage the matches, providing enormous profits for both sides in betting. Through
6555-464: The most significant matches in wrestling history. The popularity of wrestling during the early 20th century was highest in the Midwest , where ethnic European communities, many of them German , Polish , Czech , Hungarian , Greek, and Scandinavian in ancestry, continued to carry on fighting styles practiced in their home nations. At this time, during the late 19th century, and early 20th century,
6650-459: The online Usenet community. Growing out of origins in the traditional US style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. Japanese pro wrestling is distinct in its psychology and presentation of the sport and how it functions based on Japanese culture. It is treated closer to a legitimate competition, with fewer theatrics ; the stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighter's spirit and perseverance. Pro wrestling in Japan led to
6745-594: The organization, managing to find niches in the United States. The most prominent of these were the American Wrestling Association (AWA), which became the most popular wrestling promotion during the 1960s, and the New York-based World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), renamed WWF in 1979. As a top wrestler in the 1950s, Verne Gagne formed his own promotion in the NWA in 1957, which soon became
6840-594: The outcome of the match is to take place. One such example would be the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation , as it does not allow pinfall victories in favor of submissions and knockouts; this is seen as an early influence of mixed martial arts , as some wrestlers broke away from traditional wrestling endings to matches in favor of legitimate outcomes . Another example is that most promotions disallow punches, so many wrestlers utilize open handed strikes and stiff forearms; this rule
6935-711: The people, show it", would later compare his job officiating these matches to "conducting a symphony". However, this escalation eventually manifested through the use of dangerous maneuvers that focused on the head and neck, particularly during the finishing stretches of ōdō matches. The physical consequences of this style, or at least its use of head drops, has often been cited as the underlying reason for Misawa's death after an in-ring accident in 2009. Professional wrestling journalist and historian Dave Meltzer noted, after his death, that Misawa "regularly took psychotic bumps", including back suplexes where he would land on his head. AJPW would steer away from ōdō after Misawa led
7030-471: The product began to lose athletic talent, relying on blood and acrobatic performance. Wrestling's competitiveness was degraded by television, a fact regarded by many in the business as a natural effect of television over competition. The New York wrestling office (an early precursor that would eventually evolve into what is now WWE ) soon became dominant. It refused to use competitive wrestlers, and instead focused on attracting televised entertainment. Perhaps
7125-407: The product from athletics to performance. His legacy was the enormous change in wrestling personas he inspired. Before him, wrestlers imitated "ethnic terrors" ( Nazis , Arabs , etc.), but his success birthed a more individualistic and narcissistic form of character. He was also among the first to use entrance music. Television changed the on-screen product in many other ways as well. Originally,
7220-475: The promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and continued to challenge McMahon's monopoly of the industry. Turner promised a more athletic approach to the product, making Ric Flair the promotion's marquee wrestler and giving young stars big storylines and championship opportunities. During the mid-1990s, the faltering WWF was being hindered by competing brands and nagging legal troubles. The largest troubles came from WCW, which competed for fans and dominated
7315-405: The rise of Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka , known as the " Crush Gals ", who as a tag team achieved a level of unprecedented mainstream success in Japan, unheard of by any female wrestler in the history of professional wrestling all over the world. Their long running feud with Dump Matsumoto and her "Gokuaku Domei" ("Atrocious Alliance") stable would become extremely popular in Japan during
7410-479: The time that made the company finally dominate its competition. This was probably among the best of McMahon's storylines, and it came at a time when Bischoff was losing his vigor in WCW's affairs. The WWF gained infamy for its more sexually explicit, profane, and violent characters. Austin was the top superstar in the company, portraying a foul mouthed beer swilling anti-hero who regularly defied his boss; The Rock became
7505-401: The time was Tsutomu Takashima, the executive director of real estate company Avance Avant Corporation. WNC continued Smash's working relationship with Finnish professional wrestling promotion Fight Club Finland . Unlike Smash, which held, on average, one event per month, WNC had a more regular schedule, producing three events in its official opening month, May 2012. The promotion is named after
7600-697: The title to Lewis. By this time, the Zbyszko double-cross had already caused irreparable damage, detracting from the Trio's dominance over the wrestling industry. In addition, the build-up of Munn followed by such a humiliating loss had devalued his title and credibility as a major wrestling superstar permanently. In March 1887, Evan Lewis defeated Joe Acton for the American Catch-as-Catch-Can championship in Chicago. Soon, every wrestling promotion had created its own championship , which
7695-445: The top were the elites, or the hookers, named for their ability to use arcane wrestling hooks to inflict damage and serious injury on the competition without much effort. Wrestlers considered themselves among a select group, and often kept the fact that their sport was commonly faked—to an extent—in high secrecy. They used a jargon of their own (often shared with carnies) to communicate so the audience would not understand them, including
7790-402: The word " kayfabe ". During the late 19th century-early 20th century, wrestling was dominated by Martin "Farmer" Burns and his pupil, Frank Gotch . Burns was renowned as a competitive wrestler, who, despite never weighing more than 160 pounds during his wrestling career, fought over 6,000 wrestlers (at a time when most were competitive contests) and lost fewer than 10 of them. He also gained
7885-421: The wrestlers after a match. Most matches have clean finishes and many of the promotions do not use any angles or gimmicks . Japanese wrestling is also known for its relationship with fellow mixed martial arts promotions. Puroresu remains popular, and it draws huge crowds from the major promotions. With this and its relationship with other martial arts disciplines, the audiences and wrestlers treat puroresu as
7980-552: Was a huge success with Hogan, who won in the main event, going on to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated . After the swimsuit issue, it was the magazine's best seller, and following WrestleMania, four WWF programs were among the ten most watched shows on cable television. Professional wrestling began to become mainstream, thanks, in large part, to the appeal of Hulkamania among children. Large television networks also took wrestling into their weekly programming, including Saturday Night's Main Event , premiering on NBC in 1985,
8075-563: Was also applied in the early stages of Pancrase . New Japan Pro-Wrestling , headed by Antonio Inoki , used Inoki's "strong style" approach of wrestling as a combat sport, influenced strongly by the styles of catch wrestlers such as Lou Thesz , Karl Gotch , and Billy Robinson . Wrestlers incorporated kicks and strikes from martial arts disciplines, and a strong emphasis was placed on submission wrestling . Inoki became known for "different styles fights" which were predetermined matches against practitioners of various martial arts. This led to
8170-419: Was appointed Executive Vice President of WCW in late 1993. He signed former WWF stars and departed from their focus on in-ring action in favor of the WWF's approach. The WWF began to suffer immediately and started building new stars. The Monday Night War began in 1995, when WCW started Monday Nitro , a show that ran directly against Monday Night Raw . While starting fairly even, the war escalated in 1996 with
8265-459: Was considered each company's pride and glory. As promotions were attempting to become nationally renowned, acquiring rival championships marked victory. In the 1930s and 1940s, small wrestling promotions had fierce competition with each other, often stealing talents and "invading" enemy companies to win over fans. With inter-promotional matches occurring nationwide, the promotions were vying for dominance. In 1948, wrestling reached new heights after
8360-636: Was described as flamboyant and charismatic. Already popular among wrestling fans, he became renowned after comedian Bob Hope noticed his performance in the Hollywood Legion Stadium in 1945 and 1946, and began to use him for jokes on his radio station. The publicity brought many people into wrestling events, bringing his stardom to a high point where promoters and television stations alike were paying generously for his performances. Gorgeous George's impact on wrestling has been interpreted in many ways, demonstrating how fast television changed
8455-539: Was no longer the top promotion after the WWWF rejoined the NWA. The AWA reached new heights, however, after powerhouse wrestler Hulk Hogan gained nationwide attention from starring in Rocky III , and became a solid fan favorite. Despite Hogan being the AWA's top draw, Gagne would not let him be champion, believing technical wrestlers, like Gagne and Nick Bockwinkel, should be the focus of a wrestling company. Since founding
8550-614: Was not a success, however, and the second Pro Wrestling USA alliance soon fell apart. CWA co-promoter Jerry Jarrett then bought out the WCWA and renamed the unified company as the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). Jerry Lawler also took his AWA Title to Jarrett's promotion, and the belt was renamed as the USWA Heavyweight Title. The AWA was able to create a new belt, but the end of 1990, company profits had dwindled so badly that
8645-403: Was supposed to lose to Munn, but refused to follow along, beating Munn so decisively and thoroughly that the referee awarded him the title to prevent a riot. In addition, Zbyszko quickly dropped the title to Joe Stecher , a rival of Ed Lewis, making the situation worse for the Trio. Stecher, although an able booker, was afraid of losing his championship, refusing to wrestle many contenders as
8740-409: Was the AWA's top draw until his retirement in 1981. Bruno Sammartino carried the WWWF during the 1960s and 1970s. His brawling, power moves, and personal charisma helped him become the most popular American wrestler during this time period. During the period when MSG was the WWWF's primary arena, Sammartino headlined more Garden cards than any other wrestler (211), including 187 sellouts. The AWA
8835-408: Was the dominant joshi organization from the 1970s to the 1990s. AJW's first major star was Mach Fumiake in 1974, followed in 1975 by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda, known as the " Beauty Pair ". The early 1980s saw the fame of Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami , major stars of the second wave of excellent workers who took the place of the glamour-based "Beauty Pair" generation. That decade would later see
8930-572: Was the first to use time-limit matches, "flashy" new holds, and signature maneuvers. They also popularized tag team wrestling, introducing new tactics such as distracting the referee, to make the matches more exciting. The Trio's lasting legacy, and perhaps their greatest innovation within professional wrestling, was the use of a regular group of wrestlers for a packaged show. Rather than paying traveling wrestlers to perform on certain dates and combining wrestlers in match-ups when they were available, they decided to keep wrestlers for months and years at
9025-503: Was the muscular Hulk Hogan, who marked the 1980s with his "all-American" persona. His sheer size, colorful attire, charisma and extravagance made his main events into excellent ratings draws. By January 1984, Hogan's legions of fans and his dominant role in the industry was termed "Hulkamania". Hogan sold-out arenas all across the United States and earned the WWF millions of dollars, making it the number one entity in all of professional wrestling; moments after Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik for
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