Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling(often referred to aspro wrestling,or simply,wrestling) is a form of athletictheater^[2]that combinesmock combatwithdrama,under the premise (known colloquially askayfabe) that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Although it entails elements ofamateur wrestlingandmartial arts,including genuine displays of athleticism and physicality before a live audience, professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment andshowmanship.^[3]The staged nature of matches is anopen secret,with both wrestlers and spectators nonethelessmaintaining the pretensethat performances arebona fidecompetitions;^[4]this is likened to thesuspension of disbeliefemployed when engaging withfiction,known in the industry as the aforementioned kayfabe.^[3]

Professional wrestlersperform as charactersand usually maintain a "gimmick"consisting of a specificpersona,stage name,and other distinguishing traits.Matchesare the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, orfeuds,between heroic "faces"and villainous"heels".Awrestling ring,akin to the platform used inbo xing,serves as themain stage;additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar toreality television.Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles withchoreography,stunts,improvisation,anddramatic conventionsdesigned to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement.

Professional wrestling as aperforming artevolved from the common practice ofmatch-fi xingamong American wrestlers in the 19th century, who sought initially to carry out gambling-related scams and later to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically ta xing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stuntwork to their performances to further enhance thespectacle.By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre ofsports entertainment.

Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various "promotions",which are roughly analogous toproduction companiesorsports leagues.Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on theindependent circuit,to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in theUnited States,Mexico,Japan,and northwest Europe (theUnited Kingdom,Germany/AustriaandFrance) which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling.^[5]

Professional wrestling has developed its ownculture and community,including a distinctvernacular.It has achieved mainstream success and influence withinpopular culture,with many terms,tropes,and concepts being referenced ineveryday languageas well as infilm,music,television,andvideo games.Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public.

Context

In the United States,wrestlingis generally practiced in anamateurcontext. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists^[6]due to a lack of popularity.^[7]For example,Real Pro Wrestling,an American professionalfreestyle wrestlingleague, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such asIranandIndia,wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places.^[8]A notable example is India'sPro Wrestling League.

In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as:

Professional wrestlingmeans an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise abona fideathletic contest or competition.Professional wrestlingis not a combative sport. Wrestling constitutingbona fideathletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemedprofessional wrestlingunder this Part.Professional wrestlingas used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in aprofessional wrestlingexhibition. All engagements ofprofessional wrestlingshall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches.
— 19 CRR-NY 213.2

In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as aworkedmatch, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". Ashootmatch is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from a carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned.^[9]

History in the United States

From sport to performance art

Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after theCivil War,withcatch wrestlingeventually 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 the wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fi xing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ( "shoot" ) match could sometimes last hours,^{[citation needed]}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 the stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery.^[10]Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked.^[11]

A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For 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 the art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped.^[12]The termkayfabecomes fromcarnyslang.^[13]

By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice:^[11]

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 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 National Police Gazette.July 22, 1905^[14]

The wrestlerLou Theszrecalled 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.^[15]

Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas bo xing endured as a legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make bo xing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged bo xing 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 a victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves.

Cartelization

In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in theEast Coast(outside its traditional heartland in theMidwest). 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.^[16]

The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point 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 the first place.^[17]

"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.^[18]Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such asDick Shikatin 1936. In the trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed.^[19]

The end of shoot matches

By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute,^[20]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 the commission.^[21]The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match betweenJim LondosandJim Browningin June 1934.^[22]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 namedJack Pfeferstarted talking about the industry's inner workings to theNew 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 likeJack Curleywere furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade ofkayfabeas best they could.^[23]

Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by 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."
— Morris Markey.The New Yorker.April 18, 1931^[24]

Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful.^[25]Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans.^[26]The first professional wrestling magazine wasWrestling As You Like It,which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful tokayfabe.

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 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.^[27]^[28]

Deregulation

In 1989,Vince McMahonwas looking to exempt his promotion (theWorld Wrestling Federation) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before theNew Jersey State Athletic Control Boardthat professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes.^[29]Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling.^[30]^[31]The WWF then rebranded itself as a "sports entertainment"company.

The style

In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches wascatch wrestling.Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills.

In the 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as theGold Dust Triointroduced 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.^[32]

By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as eitherfaces(likeable) orheels(villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in the 1930s and 1940s.^[33]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 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.^[34]

Towards 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 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.^[35]

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 the arena's loudspeakers, his beingPomp 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 McMahonmade entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top starHulk Hoganwould delight the audience by tearing his shirt off before each match.^[36]

The promoter cartels

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 includedJack Curley,Lou Daro,Paul BowserandTomand 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 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 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 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 a match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929.^[37]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.^[38]Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Bo xing Association to form theNational Wrestling Association,which in turn crowned 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 theNational 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.^[39]^[40]If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from the NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone.^[41]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 the independent.^[42]By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.^[43]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.^[44]The NWA settled with 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.^[45]

Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself the Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC).^[46]The AAC shut down in 1960.

In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA memberJoe DusekrecognizedVerne Gagneas 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 promoterWally Karboestablished the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior.^[47]Gagne's AWA operated out ofMinnesota.Unlike the NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions,^{[citation needed]}Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him.^[48]

In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in thenorth-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 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 ofcable televisionin 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.^[49]^[50]Before cable TV, a typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels viaUHF broadcasting.^[51]But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show calledAll-American Wrestlingairingon theUSA Networkin September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in 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 a central authority.^[52]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.^[53]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 the promotion's closing in 1991.^[54]

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 onTBS.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 toJim Crockett Promotions(JCP). JCP started informally calling itselfWorld Championship Wrestling(WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During 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 itsWorld 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.^[55]

Industry conventions

In professional wrestling, two factors decide 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 asKurt Angleandhis fictional persona). The actions of 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

Kayfabeis the practice of pretending that professional wrestling 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 wordkayfabeto 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 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 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 the industry was anything but a competitive sport.
— Lou Thesz,Hooker

The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fi xing matches wasJack Pfefer.In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to theNew 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 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, butLou Theszaccepted 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.^[56]

The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence thatkayfabestill mattered to a degree. Vince Russo, the Boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregardedkayfabeby routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans.^[55]

Performance aspects

I watchchampionship wrestling from Floridawith wrestling commentatorGordon Solie.Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve anOscar.
— S. R. Welborn ofHigh Point, North Carolina,question posed to sports Q&A column written byMurray Olderman,1975^[57]

Professional wrestling shows can be considered a form oftheater in the round,with the ring, ringside area, and entryway comprising astage.There is less of afourth wallthan in most theatric performances, similar topantomimeinvolving audience participation. The audience is recognized and acknowledged by the performers asspectatorsto the sporting event being portrayed, and are encouraged to interact as such. This leads to a high level of audience participation; in fact, their reactions can dictate how the performance unfolds.^[58]Often, individual matches will be part of a longer story line conflict between "babyfaces"(often shortened to just" faces ") and"heels"."Faces "(the" good guys ") are those whose actions are intended to encourage the audience to cheer, while" heels "(the" bad guys ") act to draw the spectators' ire.^[59]

In pro wrestling matches, performers often execute a series of pre-planned moves and attacks, ranging from grappling and throws found in some traditionalforms of wrestling,to more spectacular stunts, sometimes involvingpropsandspecial effects.The attacks in these matches are designed to appear dramatic while reducing the risk of serious injury as much as possible. Overall, the performers aim to minimize the actual injurious impact of their moves while maximizing their entertainment value. Shows produced by the largestprofessional wrestling promotionslikeWWEare traditionally performed in indoor venues, flagship events in this profession likeWrestleManiaare sometimes staged at outdoor venues; these shows are generally video recorded for live or delayed broadcasting for an audience all over the world. Additionally filmed footage known as "segments" or "promos" are usually used to accompany the drama in these shows.^[60]

Prior experience in legitimate wrestling is not a requirement for aspiring professional wrestlers, but is seen as an advantageous background. Despite its scripted format, there have been quite a number of performers throughout the history of pro wrestling who have had prior experience in legitimate wrestling, before transitioning to its theatrical form. A popular performer,Kurt Angle,is the firstOlympic gold medalistin professional wrestling history, having won his gold medal at the1996 Summer Olympic Gamesinfreestyle wrestling.Another prominent performer isBrock Lesnar,^[61]a former NCAA Wrestler who won theNCAA Division I National Championshipin 2000.^[62]^[63]

Rules and other dramatic elements

Professional wrestlers nominally compete under rules promulgated by wrestling promotions. However, the rules are not legitimate standards for sporting activity, instead serving as a basis to advance plotlines, similar to the artificial constraints imposed in otherfictional universes.^[64]SociologistThomas S. Henrickshas argued the rules serve as a basis for astructuralistmoral order, serving to advance plot lines involving charismatic heroes applying aninstrumentally rationalistapproach to social conflicts.^[65]

Professional wrestlers do not follow an industry-standard set of rules, unlike most sporting events, which generally have a governing body to regulate competitions. While each promoter can set his own standards, promoters have long understood that fans enjoy professional wrestling more when all matches appear to follow a consistent set of rules. The rules described in this section represent common standards but may not precisely align with the ruleset of any specific promotion.

Structure of performances

Matches are staged between two or more sides ( "corners" ). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are nominally governed by tag team rules. Other matches present under the premise of a free-for-alls, with multiple combatants but no teams. In all variants, there can be only one winning team or wrestler.

Matches generally take place within awrestling ring,an elevated squarecanvasmat with posts on each corner. A cloth apron hangs over the edges of the ring. Three horizontal ropes or cables surround the ring, suspended with turnbuckles which are connected to the posts. For safety, the ropes are padded at the turnbuckles and cushioned mats surround the floor outside the ring. Guardrails or a similar barrier enclose this area from the audience. Wrestlers are generally expected to stay within the confines of the ring, though matches sometimes end up moving outside the ring, and even into the audience.

The standard method of scoring is the "fall", which, is premised as being accomplished by:

Pinningthe opponent's shoulders to the mat, typically for three seconds (though other times have been used)
Forcing the opponent tosubmit
Disqualificationof the opponent
The opponent remaining outside the ring for too long (countout)
Knocking outor otherwise incapacitating the opponent

These are each explained in greater detail below. Pinfalls and submissions must occur within the ring unless stipulated otherwise.

Most wrestling matches last for a set number of falls, with the first side to achieve the majority number of pinfalls, submissions, or countouts being the kayfabe winner. Historically, the matches went to 3 falls ( "best 2 out of 3" ) or 5 falls ( "best 3 out of 5" ). For modern wrestling, thegenre conventionis 1 fall. These matches have a time limit; if not enough falls are scored by the end of the time limit, the match is presented as draw. Modern matches are generally given a 10- to 30-minute time limit for standard matches; title matches can go for up to one hour. British wrestling matches held underAdmiral-Lord Mountevans rules(and similar systems across Europe) consist of a series of rounds – typically six rounds each lasting three minutes or until a fall or submission is scored, with a thirty-second break between each round and can either be two-out-of-three falls, one fall to a finish (mostly for low-priority warmup matches) or the wrestler with the most falls wins at the end of the final round.^[66]

An alternativesubgenreinvolves is a match set for a prescribed length of time, with a running tally of falls. The entrant with the most falls at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. This is usually for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, and is commonly called anIron Man match.This type of match can be modified so that fewer types of falls are allowed.

In performances staged with multiple competitors, an elimination system may be used. Any wrestler who has a fall scored against them is forced out of the match, and the match continues until only one remains. It is much more common when more than two wrestlers are involved to simply go one fall, with the one scoring the fall, regardless of who they scored it against, being the winner. In championship matches, this means that, unlike one-on-one matches (where the champion can simply disqualify himself or get himself counted out to retain the title via theChampion's Advantage), the champion doesnothave to be pinned or involved in the decision to lose the championship.Heelchampions often find advantages, not in Champion's Advantage, but in the use of weapons and outside interference, as these poly-sided matches tend to involveno holds barredrules.

Some wrestling performances are staged with unique winning conditions, often to allow athing theoristicplot construction. An example is theladder match.^[67]

In the basic ladder match, the premise is wrestlers or teams of wrestlers must climb a ladder to obtain a prize that is hoist above the ring. The key to winning this match is that the wrestler or team of wrestlers must try to incapacitate each other long enough for one wrestler to climb the ladder and secure that prize for their team. As a result, the ladder can be used as a weapon. The prizes include, but are not limited to, any given championship belt (the traditional prize), a document granting the winner the right to a future title shot, or any document that matters to the wrestlers involved in the match (such as one granting the winner a cash prize). Something that is also common in pro wrestling is thecage matchwhich comes in many variety and is often used as the final battle in a heated rivalry. Another common specialty match is known as thebattle royal.In a battle royal, all the wrestlers enter the ring to the point that there are 20–30 wrestlers in the ring at one time. When the match begins, the simple objective is to throw the opponent over the top rope and out of the ring with both feet on the floor to eliminate that opponent. The last wrestler standing is declared the winner. A variant on this type of match is theWWE'sRoyal Rumblewhere two wrestlers enter the ring to start the match and other wrestlers follow in 90 second intervals (previously 2 minutes) until 30–40 wrestlers have entered the ring. All other rules stay the same.

Almost every professional wrestling match featuresreferee,who is the final arbitrator of the fictional rules, which may vary from promotion to promotion. In multi-manlucha librematches, two referees are used, one inside the ring and one outside.

Due to thelegitimaterole that referees play in wrestling of serving as liaison between the bookers backstage and the wrestlers in the ring (the role of being a final arbitrator is merelykayfabe), the referee is present, even in matches that do not at first glance appear to require a referee (such as a ladder match, as it is no holds barred, and the criteria for victory could theoretically be assessed from afar). Although their actions are also frequently scripted for dramatic effect, referees are subject to certain general rules and requirements to maintain the theatrical appearance of unbiased authority. The most basic rule is that an action must be seen by a referee to be declared for a fall or disqualification. This allows forheelcharacters to gain a scripted advantage by distracting or disabling the referee to perform some ostensibly illegal maneuver on their opponent. Most referees are unnamed and essentially anonymous, though some wrestling promotions, most notably in the presentAll Elite Wrestling,have made officials known by their names (and there are some cases where fans have called their names during matches).

Specialguest refereesmay be used from time to time; by virtue of their celebrity status, they are often scripted to dispense with the appearance of neutrality and use their influence to unfairly influence the outcome of the match for added dramatic impact. Face special referees will often fight back against hostile heel wrestlers, particularly if the special referee is either a wrestler himself or a famous martial artist (such asTito Ortizat the main event atHard Justice 2005).

For dramatic effect, heel referees may assist a heel wrestler.^[64]Several common plot devices involve the heel referee assisting the heel wrestler.

Counting fast whenever the face wrestler is being pinned, while counting slow, faking a wrist or eye injury, or even refusing to count at all, when the heel wrestler is being pinned.
Allowing heel wrestlers to use blatantly illegal tactics that most normal referees would instantly disqualify for, while not extending these relaxed rules to face wrestlers.
Disqualifying the face wrestler for unfair reasons, such as an accidental attack on the referee or a maneuver that appears to be an illegal attack.
Feigning unconsciousness far longer than they would normally otherwise be out, or using convenient distractions to look away from the wrestlers for a prolonged period of time. This allows for greater opportunities for run-ins or use of illegal weapons and tactics, or can be used as an excuse to avoid counting a pinfall or calling a submission in the face's favor. The referee often instantly up the moment the heel wrestler seems to have an advantage, usually the moment the heel goes for the pinfall or applies a submission finisher.
Actually assisting in attacking the face wrestler.

Tag rules

In some team matches, there is a fictional premise that only one entrant from each team may be designated as the "legal" or "active" wrestler at any given moment. Two wrestlers must make physical contact in the corner (typically palm-to-palm) to transfer this legal status. This is known as a "tag", with the participants "tagging out" and "tagging in". Typically, the wrestler who is tagging out has a five count to leave the ring, whereas the one tagging in can enter the ring at any time, resulting in heels legally double-teaming a face.

The non-legal wrestlers must remain outside the ring or other legal area at all times (and avoid purposeful contact with the opposing wrestlers) or face reprimand from the referee. In most promotions, the wrestler to be tagged in must be touching the turnbuckle on his corner, or a cloth strap attached to the turnbuckle.

Some multi-wrestler matches allow for a set number of legal wrestlers; this rule is commonplace in four-way tag team matches, where only two wrestlers are legal in the match, meaning two teams will have both members on the outside at any given time. In these matches, tags can be made between any two teams regardless if they are on the same team or not. As a result of this stipulation, tags between different teams are not usually mutual effort; a non-legal wrestler will usually tag themselves in against the legal wrestler's will. A legal wrestler will only voluntarily tag themselves out to another team if their own partner is incapacitated, or are being held in a submission hold and are closer to another tag team than their own.

Sometimes, poly-sided matches that pit every man for himself will incorporate tagging rules. Outside of kayfabe, this is done to give wrestlers a break from the action (as these matches tend to go on for long periods of time), and to make the action in the ring easier to choreograph. One of the most mainstream examples of this is the Four-Corner match, the most common type of match in theWWEbefore it was replaced with its equivalent Fatal Four-Way; four wrestlers, each for himself, fight in a match, but only two wrestlers can be in the match at any given time. The other two are positioned in the corner, and tags can be made between any two wrestlers.

In a Texas Tornado Tag Team match, all the competitors are legal in the match, and tagging in and out is not necessary. All matches fought underhardcore rules(such as no disqualification, no holds barred,ladder match,etc.) are all contested underde factoTexas Tornado rules, since the lack of ability of a referee to issue a disqualification renders any tagging requirements moot.

Regardless of rules of tagging, a wrestler cannot pin his or her own tag team partner, even if it is technically possible from the rules of the match (e.g. Texas Tornado rules, or a three-way tag team match). This is called the "Outlaw Rule" because the first team to attempt to use that (in an attempt to unfairly retain their tag team titles) was theNew Age Outlaws.

Victory

Although scripted and choreographed, wrestling matches are presented as being legitimate athletic competitions decided on one of several possible outcomes.

Pinfall

A matches fictional premise may allow a score by pinfall, in which a wrestling performer must pin both his opponent's shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times (referred to as a "three count" ). This is the most common form presented a defeat. The pinned wrestler must also be on his back and, if they're lying on his stomach, it usually does not count. A count may be started at any time that a wrestler's shoulders are down (both shoulders touching the mat), back-first and any part of the opponent's body is lying over the wrestler. This often results in pins that can easily be kicked out of, if the defensive wrestler is even slightly conscious. For example, an attacking wrestler who is half-conscious may simply drape an arm over an opponent, or a cocky wrestler may place his foot gently on the opponent's body, prompting a three-count from the referee.

In some promotions, there is a premise that certain pinning methods are disallowed, including using the ropes for leverage and hooking the opponent's clothing. As a plot device, disallowed pinning methods can be depicted as a cheating method forheels.Pins such as these are rarely seen by the referee and are often used by heels and on occasion by cheating faces to win matches. Even if it is noticed, storylines rarely result in a disqualification and instead it simply results in nullification of the pin attempt, so the wrestler rarely has anything to lose.

Occasionally, there are instances where a pinfall is presented as being made where both wrestlers' shoulders were on the mat for the three-count. This situation will most likely lead to a draw, and in some cases a continuation of the match or a future match to determine the winner.

Submission

To score by submission, the performer must make their opponent give up, usually by putting them in a submission hold (e.g. figure four leg-lock, arm-lock, sleeper-hold).

A performer may appear to voluntarily submit by verbally informing the referee (usually used in moves such as the Mexican Surfboard, where all four limbs are incapacitated, making tapping impossible). SinceKen Shamrockpopularized it in 1997, a wrestler can indicate a voluntary submission by "tapping out",^[68]that is, tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent. Submission was initially a large factor in professional wrestling, but following the decline of the submission-orientedcatch-as-catch-canstyle from mainstream professional wrestling, the submission largely faded. Despite this, some wrestlers, such asChris Jericho,Ric Flair,Bret Hart,Kurt Angle,Ken Shamrock,Dean Malenko,Chris Benoit,Bryan Danielson,andTazz,became famous for their fictional depictions of winning matches via submission. A wrestler with a signature submission technique is portrayed as better at applying the hold, making it more painful or more difficult to get out of than others, or can be falsely credited as inventing the hold (such as when Tazz popularized thekata ha jimejudo choke in pro wrestling as the "Tazzmission" ).

Under wrestling nominal rules, all contact between the wrestlers must cease if any part of the body is touching or underneath the ropes. As such, many performances will attempt to break submission holds by deliberately grabbing the bottom ropes. This is called a "rope break", and it is one of the most common ways to break a submission hold. Most holds leave an arm or leg free, so that the person can tap out if they want. Instead, they use these free limbs to either grab one of the ring ropes or drape their foot across or underneath one. Once this has been accomplished and witnessed by the referee, the referee will demand that the offending wrestler break the hold and start counting to five if the wrestler does not. If the referee reaches the count of five and the wrestler still does not break the hold, they are disqualified.

If amanagerdecides that their wrestler presented as their client should tap out, but cannot convince the wrestler to do so, they may "throw in the towel" (by literally taking a gym towel and hurling it into the ring where the referee can see it). This is the same as a submission, as inkayfabethe manager is considered the wrestler'sagentand therefore authorized to make formal decisions (such as forfeiting a match) on the client's behalf.

Knockout

Some wrestling performances are presented as resulting in a knockout, mirroring legitimate martial arts and concluding with atechnical knockoutortechnical submission.To determine if a wrestler has passed out in WWE, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops to the mat or floor one or three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to hold it up, the wrestler is considered to have passed out.

A performer can also be presented as winning by technical knockout even if he does not resort to submission holds, but still beats the opponent to the point of unconsciousness or to the impossibility to defend himself. To check for a technical knockout in this manner a referee would wave his hand in front of the wrestler's face and, if this produces no reaction of any kind, the referee would award the victory to the other wrestler.

A wrestler can also request a ten-count from the referee when, under the event's fictional premise, they think an opponent is sufficiently incapacitated to not be able to stand before the count of ten. Except in traditional European promotions where following down on a fallen opponent was prohibited, these knockouts are rarely used or mentioned as logically it makes more sense for a wrestler to actively pin an opponent for three seconds rather than leaving an opponent the chance to stand up before ten. In such European promotions, countouts as described below are treated as a variant of a knockout.

Countout

A performance can be depicted as ending in a countout (alternatively "count-out" or "count out" ), where wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to ten (twenty in some promotions) and thus, under the event's fictional premise, is disqualified. The count is broken and restarted when a wrestler in the ring exits the ring. Playing into this, some wrestlers are depicted as "milking" the count by sliding in the ring and immediately sliding back out. As he was technically inside the ring for a split second before exiting again, it is sufficient to restart the count. This is often referred to by commentators as "breaking the count". Heels often use this tactic in order to buy themselves more time to catch their breath, or to attempt to frustrate theirbabyfaceopponents.

If all the active wrestlers in a match are down inside the ring at the same time, the referee begins a count (usually ten seconds, twenty in Japan). If nobody rises to their feet by the end of the count, the match is ruled a draw. Any participant who stands up in time ends the count for everyone else, while in a Last Man Standing match this form of a countout is the only way that the match can end, so the referee counts when one or more wrestlers are down and one wrestler standing up before the 10-count does not stop the count for another wrestler who is still down.

In most major modern promotions, championships are not permitted to change hands via a countout, unless the on-screen authority figure declares otherwise; this rule varies in some promotions, however. In some storylines, heels are presented take advantage of this and will intentionally get counted out when facing difficult opponents while defending championships.

Disqualification

Disqualification (sometimes abbreviated as "DQ" ) occurs when a wrestler violates the rules established as part of the performance's fictional premise, thus losing automatically. Although a countout can technically be considered a disqualification (as it is, for all intents and purposes, an automatic loss suffered as a result of violating a match rule), the two concepts are often distinct in wrestling. A no disqualification match can still end by countout (although this is rare). Typically, a match must be declared a "no holds barred" match, a "street fight" or some other term, in order for both disqualifications and countouts to be waived.

Disqualification from a match is called when the fictional storyline involves:

Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, hair-pulling, choking or biting an opponent, or repeatedly punching with a closed fist. These violations are usually subject to a referee-administered five count and will result in disqualification if the wrestler does not cease the offending behavior in time. Note that the ban on closed fists does not apply if the attacker is in midair when the punch connects, like withJerry Lawler's diving fist drop orRoman Reigns'sSuperman Punch.
Deliberate injury of an opponent, such as attacking an opponent's eye, such as raking it, poking it,gouging it,punching it or other severe attacks to the eye. This was imposed whenSexy Starwas disqualified for a legitimate injury onRosemaryat AAATriplemanía XXVby popping her arm out of the socket. This type of disqualification can also be grounds for stripping a wrestler of a championship, as AAA overturned the result of thatAAA Women's Championshipmatch, stripping her of the title.
Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. Sometimes (depending on the promotion and uniqueness of the situation), if a heel attempts to interfere but isejectedfrom the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there may not be a disqualification (All Elite Wrestlingis known to use ejections, as AEW refereesEarl HebnerandAubrey Edwardshave ejected numerous wrestlers during events, all for outside interference). In this disqualification method, the wrestler being attacked by the foreign member is awarded the win. Sometimes this can work in heels' favor. In February 2009,Shawn Michaels,who was under thekayfabeemployment ofJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield,interfered in a match and super kicked JBL in front of the referee to get his employer the win via "outside interference".
Striking an opponent with aforeign object(an object not permitted by the rules of the match; seehardcore wrestling). Sometimes the win decision can be reversed if the referee spots the weapon before pin attempt or after the match because a wrestler tried to strike when the referee was either distracted or knocked out.^[69]
Using any kind of "banned" move (see below for details).
A directlow blow to the groin(unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).
Intentionally laying hands on the referee.
Pulling an opponent's mask off during a match (this is illegal in Mexico, and sometimes in Japan).
Throwing an opponent over the top rope during a match (illegal in theNational Wrestling Alliance).
In a mixed tag team match, a male wrestler hitting a female wrestler (intergender), or a normal sized wrestler attacking an opposing midget wrestler (tag team matches involving teams with one normal-sized and one midget wrestler).

In the fictional universe of some promotions, not all rule violations result in a disqualification as the referee may be depicted as using his own judgement and is not obligated to stop the match. Usually, the only offenses that the referee will see and immediately disqualify a wrestler for (as opposed to having multiple offenses) arelow blows,weapon usage,interference, or assaulting the referee. In WWE, the plot convention is that a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification (simply watching the video tape is usually not enough) and the referee's ruling is almost always final, although "Dusty finishes" (named after, and made famous by,Dusty Rhodes) will often result in the referee's decision being overturned. It is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get knocked out during a match, which is commonly referred to by the term "ref bump". While the referee remains "unconscious", wrestlers are free to violate rules until he is revived or replaced. In some cases, a referee might disqualify a person under the presumption that it was that wrestler who knocked him out; most referee knockouts are arranged to allow a wrestler, usually a heel, to gain an advantage. For example, a wrestler may get whipped into a referee at a slower speed, knocking the ref down for short amount of time; during that interim period, one wrestler may pin his opponent for a three-count and would have won the match but for the referee being down (sometimes, another referee will sprint to the ring from backstage to attempt to make the count, but by then, the other wrestler has had enough time to kick out on his own accord). In most promotions, a championship title cannot normally change hands via disqualification; this rule is explicitly enforced in a title match under special circumstances.

In traditional European promotions, severe or persistent infractions of the rules result in a formal caution, called a "public warning" in the U.K., "avertissement" (warning) in France and asoccer-styleyellow cardin Germany. Three of these will result in disqualification (ared cardin Germany). One major North American promotion –Stampede WrestlingofCalgary– also used the German card system from the late 1970s onward.

If all participants in a match continue to breach the referee's instructions, the staged performance may presented as ending in a double disqualification, where both wrestlers and/or teams (in atag teammatch) have been disqualified. The match is essentially nullified and called a draw or in some cases a restart or the same match being held at a pay-per-view or next night's show. Sometimes, in a match to determine the challenger for a heel champion's title, the champion is forced to face both opponents simultaneously for the title. Usually, the double disqualification is caused by the heel wrestler's associates in a match between two face wrestlers to determine his opponent.

Forfeit

Although extremely rare, some fictional storylines involve a match ending in a forfeit if the opponent is depicted as either does not show up for the match, or shows up but refuses to compete. Although the plot premise is that championship usually cannot change hands except by pinfall or submission, a forfeit victory is enough to crown a new champion. A famous example of this happened on the December 8, 1997, episode ofRaw is War,whenStone Cold Steve Austinhanded theWWE Intercontinental ChampionshiptoThe Rockafter refusing to defend the title.

When a pay-per-view match is booked and one wrestler is unable to make it for one reason or another, thegenre conventionis to insert a last-minute replacement rather than award a wrestler a victory by forfeit. Forfeit victories are almost always reserved for when the story the promotion is telling specifically requires such an ending.

Despite being, statistically, an extremely rare occurrence,Charles Wrightis one wrestler who is famous performances in which forfeit victories were turned into his own gimmick. During the late 1990s, Wright called himself "The Godfather" and portrayed the gimmick of a pimp. He often brought multiple women, whom he referred to as "hos", to the ring with him, and offered them to his opponents in exchange for their forfeit.

Draw

A professional wrestling match can be depicted as ending in a draw. A draw occurs if both opponents are simultaneously disqualified (e.g.Brock Lesnarvs.The UndertakeratUnforgiven in 2002), neither opponent is able to answer a ten-count (e.g.Shawn Michaelsvs.Triple Hat theRoyal Rumble in 2004), or both opponents simultaneously win the match. The latter can occur if, for example, both wrestlers pin each other (e.g.MJFvs.Adam ColeatAll In in 2023,before the match was restarted), or one competitor scores a submission victory while the other scores a pinfall victory (e.g.Kurt Anglebeing pinned while successfully applying thetriangle choketo The Undertaker on a 2002 episode ofSmackDown). Traditionally, a championship may not change hands in the event of a draw.

A variant of the draw is the time-limit draw, where the match does not have a winner by a specified time period; a one-hour draw, which was once common, is known in wrestling circles as a "Broadway". In European promotions where wrestling is traditionally timed in rounds, a best of three falls match is stopped and declared a one-fall-each draw if an equalizing pinfall or submission is scored in the final round.

No contest

A wrestling match may be declared a no contest if, under the fictional storyline, the winning conditions are unable to occur. The storyline may attribute such an outcome to factors such as excessive interference, the loss of referee's control over the match, an injury unrelated to the fictitious storyline, or other fictional circumstances presenting the scheduled match to even begin. A no contest is a state separate and distinct from a draw — a draw indicates winning conditions were met. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in practice, this usage is technically incorrect.

Other dramatic elements

While each wrestling match is ostensibly a competition of athletics and strategy, the goal from a business standpoint is to excite and entertain the audience. Although the competition is staged, dramatic emphasis draws out the most intense reaction. Heightened interest results in higher attendance, increased ticket sales, higher ratings on television broadcasts (greater ad revenue), higherpay-per-viewbuyrates, and sales of branded merchandise and recorded video footage. All of these contribute to the profit of the promotion company.

Character gimmicks

In Latin America and English-speaking countries, most wrestlers (and other on-stage performers) portraycharacterroles, sometimes with personalities wildly different from their own. These personalities are agimmickintended to heighten interest in a wrestler without regard to athletic ability. Some can be unrealistic andcartoon-like(such asDoink the Clown), while others carry more verisimilitude (such asChris Jericho,The Rock,John Cena,Steve Austin,andCM Punk). Inlucha libre,many characters wear masks, adopting asecret identityakin to asuperheroor asupervillain,a near-sacred tradition.^[70]

An individual wrestler may use their real name, or a minor variation of it, for much of their career, such asBret Hart,John CenaandRandy Orton.Others can keep one ring name for their entire career (Shawn Michaels,CM PunkandRicky Steamboat), or may change from time to time to better suit the demands of the audience or company. Sometimes a character is owned and trademarked by the company, forcing the wrestler to find a new one when he leaves (although a simple typeset change, such as changingRhynotoRhino,can get around this), and sometimes a character is owned by the wrestler. Sometimes, a wrestler may change their legal name to obtain ownership of their ring name (Andrew MartinandWarrior). Many wrestlers (such asThe RockandThe Undertaker) are strongly identified with their character, even responding to the name in public or between friends. Proper decorum is for wrestlers to refer to each other by their stage names/characters rather than their birth/legal names, unless otherwise introduced.^[71]A character can become so popular that it appears in other media (Hulk HoganandEl Santo) or even gives the performer enough visibility to enterpolitics(Antonio InokiandJesse Ventura).

Typically, matches are staged between aprotagonist(historically an audience favorite, known as ababyface,or "the good guy" ) and anantagonist(historically a villain with arrogance, a tendency to break rules, or other unlikable qualities, called aheel,or "the bad guy" ). In recent years,antiheroeshave also become prominent in professional wrestling. There is also a less common role of a "tweener", who is neither fully face nor fully heel yet able to play either role effectively (case in point,Samoa Joeduring his first run inImpact Wrestlingfrom June 2005 to November 2006).

At times, a character may "turn",altering their face/heel alignment. This may be an abrupt, surprising event, or it may slowly build over time. It is almost always accomplished with a markable change in behavior. Some turns become defining points in a career, as whenHulk Hogan turned heelafter being a top face for over a decade. Others may have no noticeable effect on the character's status. If a character repeatedly switches between face and heel, this lessens the effect of such turns, and may result in apathy from the audience.Big Showis a good example of having more heel and face turns than anyone in WWE history. Sometimes a character's heel turn will become so popular that eventually the audience response will alter the character's heel-face cycle to the point where the heel persona will, in practice, become a face persona, and what was previously the face persona, will turn into the heel persona, such as whenDwayne Johnsonfirst began using "The Rock" persona as a heel character, as opposed to his original "Rocky Maivia" babyface persona. Another legendary example isStone Cold Steve Austin,who was originally booked as a heel, with such mannerisms as drinking on the job, usingprofanity,breaking company property, and evenbreaking into people's private homes.The fans' response to Austin was so positive that he effectively became one of the most popular antiheroes in professional wrestling. Austin, along with the stable ofD-Generation X,Bret Hart and hisHart Foundation,is generally credited with usheringthe Attitude Eraof WWF programming.

Story

While real exhibition matches are now not uncommon, most matches tell a story analogous to an episode of a serial drama: the face will from time to time win (triumph) or from time to time lose (tragedy), and longer story arcs can result from a couple of matches. Since most promotions have a championship title, opposition for the championship is a frequent impetus for stories. For added stakes, anything from a character's own hair to their job can be wagered in a match.

Some matches are designed to further the story of only one participant. It could be intended to portray an unstoppable force, a lucky underdog, a sore loser, or any other characterization. Sometimes non-wrestlingvignettesare shown to enhance a character's image without the need for matches.

Other stories result from a natural rivalry. Outside of performance, these are referred to asfeuds.A feud can exist between any number of participants and can last from a few days to decades. The feud betweenRic FlairandRicky Steamboatlasted from the late 1970s into the early 1990s and allegedly spanned over two thousand matches (although most of those matches were meredark matches). The career-spanning history between charactersMike AwesomeandMasato Tanakais another example of a long-running feud, as is the case ofSteve Austinvs.Vince McMahon,one of the most lucrative feuds in the World Wrestling Federation during 1998 and 1999.

In theory, the longer a feud is built up, the more audience interest (akaheat) lasts. Themain eventof a wrestling show is generally the most heated. Commonly, a heel will hold the upper hand over a face until a final showdown, heightening dramatic tension as the face's fans desire to see them win.

Throughout the history of professional wrestling, many other elements of media have been utilized in professional wrestling storytelling: pre- and post-match interviews, "backstage" skits, positions of authority andworkedbehind-the-scenes feuds, division rankings (typically the #1-contendership spot), contracts, lotteries, news stories on websites, and in recent yearssocial media.

Anything that can be used as an element of drama can exist in professional wrestling stories:romantic relationships(including love triangles and marriage), racism, classism, nepotism, favoritism, corporate corruption, family bonds, personal histories, grudges, theft, cheating, assault, betrayal, bribery, seduction, stalking, confidence tricks, extortion, blackmail, substance abuse, self-doubt, self-sacrifice; even kidnapping, sexual fetishism, necrophilia,misogyny,rape and death have been portrayed in wrestling. Some promotions have included supernatural elements such as magic, curses, theundeadandSatanicimagery (most notablythe Undertakerand hisMinistry of Darkness,astablethat regularly performed evil rituals andhuman sacrificein Satanic-like worship of a hidden power figure).

Commentators have become important in communicating the relevance of the characters' actions to the story at hand, filling in past details and pointing out subtle actions that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Promos

A main part of storytelling in wrestling is apromo,short for promotional interview. Promos are performed, or "cut" in wrestling jargon, for a variety of reasons, including to heighten interest in a wrestler, or to hype an upcoming match.

Since the crowd is often too loud or the venue too large for promos to be heard naturally, wrestlers generally use amplification when speaking in the ring. Unlike most stage acting, large and highly visible handheld microphones are typically used and wrestlers frequently speak directly to the audience.

Championships

Professional wrestling mimics the structure oftitle match combat sports.Participants compete for achampionshipand must defend it after winning it. These titles are represented physically by atitle beltthat can be worn by the champion. In the case of team wrestling, there is a title belt for each member of the team.

Almost allprofessional wrestling promotionshave at least one title, and some have more. Championships are designated by divisions of weight, height, gender, wrestling style and other qualifications.

Typically, each promotion only recognizes the "legitimacy" of their own titles, althoughcross-promotiondoes happen. When one promotion absorbs or purchases another, the titles from the defunct promotion may continue to be defended in the new promotion or be decommissioned.Behind the scenes,thebookersin a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or those the bookers believe will generatefaninterest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Historically, a world champion was typically a legit shooter/hooker who had the skills to prevent double crosses by shooters who would deviate from the planned finish for personal glory. Lower ranked titles may also be used on the performers who show potential, thus allowing them greater exposure to the audience. Other circumstances may also determine the use of a championship. A combination of a championship's lineage, the caliber of performers as champion, and the frequency and manner of title changes, dictates the audience's perception of the title's quality, significance and reputation.

Kazuchika Okadaheld theIWGP Heavyweight Championship(the former world championship ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling) five times and holds the record for longest reign

A wrestler's championship accomplishments can be central to their career, becoming a measure of their performance ability anddrawingpower. In general, a wrestler with multiple title reigns or an extended title reign is indicative of a wrestler's ability to maintain audience interest or a wrestler's ability to perform in the ring. As such, the most accomplished or decorated wrestlers tend to be revered as legends due to the amount of title reigns they hold. American wrestlerRic Flairhas had multipleworld heavyweight championshipreigns spanning over three decades. Japanese wrestlerÚltimo Dragónonce held and defended a record ten titles simultaneously.

Ring entrance

Melina Perezperforms asplitin order to enter into the ring. This is one of the signature things this wrestler does while doing her entrance

While the wrestling matches themselves are the primary focus of professional wrestling, a key dramatic element of the business can be entrances of the wrestlers to the arena and ring. It is typical for a wrestler to get their biggest crowd reaction (or "pop" ) for their ring entrance, rather than for anything they do in the wrestling match itself, especially if former main event stars are returning to a promotion after a long absence.

All notable wrestlers now enter the ring accompanied by music, and regularly add other elements to their entrance. The music played during the ring entrance will usually mirror the wrestler's personality. Many wrestlers, particularly in the U.S., have music and lyrics specially written for their ring entrance. While invented long before, the practice of including music with the entrance gained rapid popularity during the 1980s, largely as a result of the huge success ofHulk Hoganand the WWF, and theirRock 'n' Wrestling Connection.When a match is won, the victor's theme music is usually also played in celebration.

Because wrestling is predetermined, a wrestler's entrance music will play as they enter the arena, even if they are, inkayfabe,not supposed to be there. For example, in 2012 through 2014,The Shieldwas a trio of wrestlers who were (in kayfabe) not at the time under contract with WWE (hence their gimmick of entering the ring through the crowd), but they still had entrance music which was played whenever they entered the arena, despite the fact that they were kayfabe invaders.

With the introduction of the Titantron entrance screen in 1997, WWF wrestlers also had entrance videos play along with their music.

Other dramatic elements of a ring entrance can include:

Pyrotechnicssuch as a ring of fire forThe Broodwhen they ascend to the stage, multi-colour fireworks (most notably forEdge), fire forKaneandSeth Rollins,a stage of smoke forFinn Bálorand (for a short period of time) falling fireworks forChristian Cage.
Additional visual graphics or staging props to complement the entrance video/routine or further emphasize the character. For instance,Kane's entrance graphics employ heavy use of fire-themed visuals,The Undertaker's entrance features dark lighting, fire, fog and dry ice, and lightning-themed effects, andGoldusthas been known to use on-screen visual effects in his entrance to simulate the presentation of a feature film (i.e. widescreen, production company credits), as to emphasize his Hollywood-themed film aficionado character.Adam Pageis usually accompanied by humerous sub-headings such as "Anxious Millenial Cowboy", "New Boot Goofin'","Finally Showed Up To Work ", and" For The Love Of God, Give Me A Lower Third This Week Even If It's For 1 Frame ".
A distinct sound or opening note in the music (used to elicit aPavlovianresponse from the crowd). For example, the glass shattering inSteve Austin's entrance theme,The Undertaker's signaturebell toll,sirens, such as used byScott SteinerorRight to Censor,Bret Hart'selectric guitar stinger, theNYSE trading belland a cow's moo in JBL's theme.
Darkening of the arena, often accompanied bymood lightingorstrobe lighting,such as in The Undertaker's,Triple H's, orSting's entrances. Certain colors of lighting have been associated with specific wrestlers; for instance, blue lighting forThe UndertakerandAlexa Bliss,green lighting for Triple H,D-Generation X,andShane McMahon,a mixture of red and yellow lighting forBrock Lesnar,a lot of red forSeth Rollins(mainly for his "Embrace The Vision" character, a.k.a when using his theme named "Visionary" ), a mixture of red and orange lighting forKane,multicolored lighting forJohn Morrison,gold lighting forGoldust,pink lighting forVal VenisandTrish Stratus,and so forth.
Driving a vehicle into the arena. For example,Eddie Guerreroarrived in a lowrider, The Undertaker (in his "American Bad Ass" biker gimmick),Chuck Palumbo,Tara,and theDisciples of Apocalypseon motorcycles,The Mexicoolson riding lawn mowers, JBL in his limousine,Alberto Del Rioarriving into the arena in various luxury cars, Steve Austin driving anall-terrain vehicle,andCamachoandHunicoentering on a lowrider bicycle.Darby Allinin similar fashion rides a skateboard down to the ring, which is occasionally used as a weapon if the match type permits.
Talking to the crowd using a distinctivepatter.For instance, chanting or rapping along with the music (i.e.Road Dogg,R-Truth). Another example isVickie Guerreroentering to no music, but announcing her arrival with the words "Excuse me!".The Acclaimed'sMax Casterwill perform a freestyle rap, usually at the expense of the opponent or a real life figure that has been brought up in recent news.
Alternative forms of announcing one's entrance.Orange Cassidy,whose persona is a carefree individual, has his weight billed as "whatever", and being billed from "wherever". In similar fashion,Danhausen (wrestler)is billed as "claiming to stand 6 ft 7 in. tall, and over 300 lbs", despite being nowhere near either of those statistics.Mr. Kennedywould enter with his theme music, but would notably have a microphone descend from the ceiling when he reached the ring, where he would announce himself, rather than the traditional announcer.Maxwell Jacob Friedmanduring his heel persona would occasionally have the announcer begrudgingly announce him as "He's better than you, and you know it...", generally after a large victory for the character, or being surrounded by henchman of his that threaten to harm the announcer if they do not read off the card verbatim.
Manyheelswith narcissistic gimmicks (Lex Luger,Shawn Michaels,Cody Rhodes,Paul Orndorff,etc.) admired themselves in mirrors on their way to the ring.
Coming through the audience, such asThe Sandman'sbeer drinking and can smashing entrance, orDiamond Dallas Page's exit through the crowd, or Jon Moxley entering through the crowd.
Accompaniment by aringside crewor personal security, as Goldberg did.
Entering the arena by a lift in the stage, such asKurt Angle,The BroodandRey Mysterio.

Special ring entrances are also developed for big occasions, most notably theWrestleManiaevent. For example, WrestleMania III and VI both saw all wrestlers enter the arena on motorized miniature wrestling rings. Live bands are sometimes hired to perform live entrance music at special events.John CenaandTriple Hare particularly notable in recent years for their highly theatrical entrances at WrestleMania.

Subgenres

Women's wrestling

The women's division of professional wrestling has maintained a recognized world champion since 1937, whenMildred Burkewon the original World Women's title. She then formed the World Women's Wrestling Association in the early 1950s and recognized herself as the first champion, although the championship was vacated upon her retirement in 1956. The NWA ceased to acknowledge Burke as the Women's World champion in 1954, and instead acknowledgedJune Byersas champion after a controversial finish to a high-profile match between Burke and Byers that year. Upon Byers's retirement in 1964,The Fabulous Moolah,who won a junior heavyweight version of theNWA World Women's Championship(the predecessor to theWWE Women's Championship) in a tournament back in 1958, was recognized by most NWA promoters as champion by default.

Intergender

For most of its history, men and women rarely worked against each other in professional wrestling, as it was deemed to be unfair and unchivalrous.Andy Kaufmanused this to gain notoriety when he created an Intergender Championship and declared it open to any female challenger. This led to a long (worked) feud withJerry Lawler.

Cathy Davissued theNew York State Athletic Commission(NYSAC) in 1977 because she was denied a bo xing license because she was a woman, and the case was decided in her favor later that year, with the judge invalidating New York State rule number 205.15, which stated, "No woman may be licensed as a boxer or second or licensed to compete in any wrestlingexhibitionwith men. "^[72]^[73]In his opinion the judge cited the precedent set byGarrettv. New York State Athletic Commission(1975), which "found the regulation invalid under the equal protection clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions". The NYSAC filed an appeal of the ruling, but later dropped it.^[74]^[72]

In the 1980s, mixed tag team matches began to take place, with a male and female on each team and a rule stating that each wrestler could only attack the opponent of the same gender. If a tag was made, the other team had to automatically switch their legal wrestler as well. Despite these restrictions, many mixed tag matches do feature some physical interaction between participants of different genders. For example, a heel may take a cheap shot at the female wrestler of the opposing team to draw a negative crowd reaction. In lucha libre, cheap shots and male-female attacks are not uncommon.^[70]

Intergendersingles bouts were first fought on a national level in the 1990s. This began withLuna Vachon,who faced men inExtreme Championship Wrestling(ECW) and WWF. Later,Chynabecame the first female to hold a belt that was not exclusive to women when she won theWWF Intercontinental Championship.Intergender wrestling was uncommon inImpact Wrestling.ODB,had participated in intergender matches and once held theImpact Knockouts Tag Team ChampionshipwithEric Youngfor a record 478 days. Other notable Impact Knockouts that competed in intergender matches includeScarlett Bordeaux;Tessa Blanchard,who became the first woman to win theImpact World Championship;andJordynne Grace,who became the inauguralImpact Digital Media Championship.

Midget wrestling

Midget wrestling can be traced to professional wrestling's carnival and vaudeville origins. In recent years, the popularity and prevalence of midgets in wrestling has greatly decreased due to wrestling companies depriving midget divisions of storyline or feud. WWE has made a few attempts to enter this market with their "minis" in the 1990s and the "junior's league" as recent as 2006. It is still a popular form of entertainment in Mexican wrestling, mostly as a "sideshow".

Some wrestlers may have their own specific "mini me", likeMascarita Sagrada,Alebrije has Quije, etc. There are also cases in which midgets can become valets for a wrestler, and even get physically involved in matches, likeAlushe,who often accompaniesTinieblas,orKeMonito,who is portrayed as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's mascot and is also a valet for Mistico.Dave Finlaywas often aided in his matches by a midget known mainly asHornswogglewhile in WWE, who hid under the ring and gave ashillelaghto Finlay to use on his opponent. Finlay also occasionally threw him at his opponents. Hornswoggle was given a run with theWWE Cruiserweight Championshipand feuded withD-Xin 2009.

Sports entertainment

The termsports entertainmentwas coined by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE) chairmanVince McMahonduring the 1980s as amarketing termto describe the industry of professional wrestling, primarily to potential advertisers,^[75]although precursors date back to February 1935, whenToronto Starsports editorLou Marshdescribed professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment". In 1989, the WWF used the phrase in a case it made to the New Jersey Senate for classifying professional wrestling as "sports entertainment" and thus not subject to regulation like a directlycompetitive sport.

In subsequent years, WWE began to insist that its talent use "sports entertainment", and not "pro wrestling", to describe its business, to the point that the term was sometimes used in other promotions to generateheat.^[76]^[77]WWE moved away from this insistence in 2024 after Vince McMahon's departure from the company, but still uses "sports entertainment" in some contexts.^[76]^[78]

Despite its association with WWE, the term "sports entertainment" is not inherently limited to pro wrestling, and can also encompass other forms of sports-based events. Many represent variants of actualsports,such as exhibitionbasketballwith theHarlem Globetrotters.^[79]Others modify sport for entertainment purposes, such as many of the variousmascot racesheld at numerousMajor League Baseballgames in-between innings.^[80]Roller derbywas presented as a popular form of sports entertainment in the 1970s, though modern versions are legitimate competition.^[81]

Regional variations

The U.S./Canada, northwest Europe (the U.K, Germany/Austria and France), Japan and Mexico are four areas worldwide where there is a huge market and high popularity for professional wrestling, but the fictional styles of each region are different, given their independent development for a long period.

Professional wrestling in the U.S. and overlapping into Canada, tends to have a heavy focus on story building and the establishment of characters (and their personalities). There is a story for each match, and even a longer story for successive matches. The stories usually contain characters likefaces,heels,and – less often – "tweeners" (antiheroes). It is a "triumph" if the face wins, while it is a "tragedy" if the heel wins. The characters usually have strong and sharp personalities. The opposition between faces and heels is very intense in the story, and the heels may even attack the faces during TV interviews. The relationship between different characters can also be very complex.

Although professional wrestling in Mexico (Lucha libre) also has stories and characters, they are less emphasized. Mexican professional wrestling tradition repeats very usually brutal tactics, specially moreaerial holdsthanprofessional wrestlers in the U.S.who, more often, rely on power moves and strikes to subdue their opponents.^[70]The difference in styles is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that wrestlers in thecruiserweightdivision (Spanish:peso semicompleto) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Wrestlers often execute high flying moves characteristic of lucha libre by utilizing thewrestling ring's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds.^[82]Lucha libre is also known for itstag teamwrestling matches, in which the teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the U.S.^[83]

The style of Japanese professional wrestling (puroresu) is also different. With its origins in traditional American style of wrestling and still being under the same genre, it has become an entity in itself.^[84]Despite the similarity to its American counterpart, in that the outcome of the matches remains predetermined, the phenomena are different in the form of thepsychologyand presentation of the sport. In most of the largest promotions, such asNew Japan Pro-Wrestling,All Japan Pro WrestlingandPro Wrestling Noah,it is treated as afull contact combat sportas it mixes hard hittingmartial artsstrikes withshoot style submission holds,^[85]while in the U.S. it is rather more regarded as an entertainment show. Wrestlers incorporate kicks and strikes frommartial artsdisciplines, and a strong emphasis is placed onsubmission wrestling,and unlike the use of involved storylines in the U.S., they are not as intricate in Japan; more emphasis is placed on the concept of "fighting spirit", meaning the wrestlers' display of physical and mental stamina are valued a lot more than theatrics. Many of Japan's wrestlers including top stars such asShinya Hashimoto,Riki ChōshūandKeiji Mutohcame from a legitimate martial arts background and many Japanese wrestlers in the 1990s began to pursue careers in mixed martial arts organizations such as Pancrase and Shooto which at the time retained the original look of puroresu but were actual competitions. Other companies, such as Michinoku Pro Wrestling andDragon Gate,wrestle in a style similar to Mexican companies like AAA and CMLL. This is known as "Lucharesu".

Much of the more serious style of Japanese wrestling derives from wrestling in Europe, particularly the influence of the traditional style ofBritish wrestlingwith its stronger emphasis on pure technical skill (particularly chain sequences of counters/reversals/escapes from holds) and high proportion of clean sportsmanly scientific matches between two "blue-eyes" as babyfaces were called there. This spread across mainland Europe (where it was known as "Catch" in non English speaking countries) but in the Mediterranean south it soon died out after an initial flush of popularity, leaving theU.K.,FranceandWest Germany/Austriaas the three strongholds of European wrestling by the 1980s. In Germany, wrestling shows - particularly major trophy tournaments inGraz,Hamburg,Bremen,Viennaand other cities featuring visiting wrestlers from around the world - were a key part of the celebrations of various cultural festivals. Champion and promoterOtto Wanzmaintained strong links with American promotions, frequently importing U.S. talent and even briefly winning theAWA World Heavyweight Championshipin 1982. Meanwhile, in both the U.K. and France, national television coverage from the 1950s to the late 1980s made household names of top stars.^[86]^[87]In the U.K. in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, the dominantJoint Promotionsunderwent a major boom by rebranding as family entertainment centred around superheavyweight lead blue-eyeBig Daddy.Eventually however the sheer lopsided nature of his victories over heels alienated fellow wrestlers and adult fans alike to the point where both groups defected in droves to opposition promoterAll Star Wrestlingwhich expanded (taking a share of the final two years of TV coverage) until it eclipsed Joint as dominant promotion,^[86]a position it still holds in 2024. During the same period,professional wrestling in Francemoved to a more acrobatic style of action and colourful gimmick-led presentation, as exemplified by lead babyfaceFlesh Gordon (Gerard Hervé)who had learned his craft in 1970s Mexico.^[87]By the beginning of the 1990s in all three countries, local styles of wrestling were largely supplanted in mainstream popular culture by the WWF and WCW. While the traditional styles survive at grassroots level they face stiff competition not only from the major American wrestling corporations but also from homegrown "American style" promotions conforming to the general pattern of the contemporary U.S. independent wrestling scene.^[86]^[87]

Culture and sociology

Frank Gotch,20th century professional wrestler

Professional wrestling has developed its own unique culture.^[88]

Those involved in producing professional wrestling have developed a kind of globalfraternity,with familial bonds,shared languageand passed-down traditions. New performers are expected to "pay their dues" for a few years by working in lower-profile promotions and working as ring crew before working their way upward.^[89]^[90]The permanent rosters of most promotions develop a backstagepecking order,with veterans mediating conflicts and mentoring younger wrestlers.^[91]For many decades (and still to a lesser extent today) performers were expected to keep the illusions of wrestling's legitimacy alive even while not performing, essentially acting in character any time they were in public.^[92]Some veterans speak of a "sickness" among wrestling performers, an inexplicable pull to remain active in the wrestling world despite the devastating effects the job can have on one's life and health.^[93]

Fans of professional wrestling have their own subculture, comparable tothose of science fiction, video games, or comic books.Those who are interested in the backstage occurrences, future storylines and reasonings behind company decisions read newsletters written by journalists with inside ties to the wrestling industry.^[92]^[94]These "rags" or "dirt sheets"have expanded into the Internet, where their information can be dispensed on an up-to-the-minute basis. Some have expanded intoradioshows.^[95]

Some fans enjoy a pastime of collecting recordings of wrestling shows from specific companies, of certain wrestlers, or of specific genres. The internet has given fans exposure to worldwide variations of wrestling they are unable to otherwise see.^[96]Since the 1990s, many companies have been founded which deal primarily in wrestling footage. When the WWE purchased both WCW and ECW in 2001, they also obtained the entire past video libraries of both productions and have released many past matches online and on home video.^{[citation needed]}

Like some other sports,fantasy leagueshave developed around professional wrestling. Some take this concept further by creatingE-feds(electronic federations), where a user can create their own fictional wrestling character, androle-playingstorylines with other users, leading to scheduled "shows" where match results are determined by the organizers, usually based on a combination of the characters' statistics and the players' roleplaying aptitude, sometimes with audience voting.^{[citation needed]}

Mainstream popularity

From the first established world championship, the top professional wrestlers have garnered fame within mainstream society.^{[citation needed]}Each successive generation has produced a number of wrestlers who extend their careers into the realms of music, acting, writing, business, politics or public speaking, and are known to those who are unfamiliar with wrestling in general. Conversely, celebrities from other sports or general pop culture also become involved with wrestling for brief periods of time. A prime example of this isThe Rock 'n' Wrestling Connectionof the 1980s, which combined wrestling withMTV.

Professional wrestling is often portrayed within other works using parody, and its general elements have become familiartropesandmemesin American culture.^{[citation needed]}

Some terminology originating in professional wrestling has found its way into the common vernacular. Phrases such as "body slam", "sleeper hold" and "tag team" are used by those who do not follow professional wrestling. The term "smackdown", popularized byThe RockandSmackDown!in the 1990s, has been included inMerriam-Websterdictionaries since 2007.

Many television shows and films have been produced which portray in-character professional wrestlers as protagonists, such asReady to Rumble,¡Mucha Lucha!,Nacho Libre,and the Santo film series. At least two stage plays set in the world of pro wrestling have been produced:The Baronis a comedy that retells the life of an actual performer known asBaron von Raschke.From Parts Unknown...is an award-nominated Canadian drama about the rise and fall of a fictional wrestler. The 2009South Parkepisode "W.T.F."played on the soap operatic elements of professional wrestling. One of the lead characters on the Disney Channel seriesKim Possiblewas a huge fan of pro wrestling and actually featured it on an episode (with two former WWE wrestlers voicing the two fictitious wrestlers featured in the episode). The 2008 filmThe Wrestler,about a washed-up professional wrestler, garnered several Oscar nominations. The 2017 TV seriesGLOW,based on theGorgeous Ladies of Wrestlingpromotion, gained critical acclaim, including a nomination forOutstanding Comedy Seriesat the70th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Many professional wrestlers have also become mainstream in their own right, includingJohn Cena,Dave Bautista,andDwayne "The Rock" Johnson,mainly for acting in major films, as well asChris Jerichoand"Macho Man" Randy Savagefor their musical ventures.

The 1950film noirNight and the City,directed byJules Dassinand starringRichard WidmarkandGene Tierney,told the story of a promoter inLondontrying to make it big, and featured a match involving real professional wrestlerStanislaus Zbyszko.

Wrestling has also gained a major following onYouTube,withWWEbeing the most subscribed wrestling channel and sixth most subscribed channel in the world. Other promotions, such asAll Elite Wrestling,Major League Wrestling,Impact Wrestlingand theNational Wrestling Alliancehave distributed their own weekly programming on the platform.

Measures of popularity

Professional wrestling has become especially prominent in North America, Japan and Europe (especially the United Kingdom).^[97]InBrazil,there was a very popular wrestling television program that aired from the 1960s to the early 1980s calledTelecatch.^[98]^[99]High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities and evencultural iconsin their home countries.

Although professional wrestling started out as a smallsideshowin travelingcircusesandcarnivals,today it is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from ticket sales, network television broadcasts,pay-per-viewbroadcasts, branded merchandise and home video.^[100]Wrestling was instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such asWrestleMania,All In,Bound for Glory,Wrestle Kingdomand formerlyStarrcadeare among the highest-selling pay-per-view programming each year. In modern day, internet programming has been utilized by a number of companies to air web shows, internet pay per views (IPPVs) or on-demand content, helping to generate internet-related revenue earnings from the evolvingWorld Wide Web.

Home video sales dominate theBillboard chartsRecreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week.^[101]

Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, wrestling constitutesa recurring topic in both academia and the media.Several documentaries have been produced looking at professional wrestling, most notablyBeyond the Matdirected by Barry W. Blaustein, andWrestling with Shadowsfeaturing retired wrestlerBret Hartand directed by Paul Jay. There have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling; the 2008 filmThe Wrestlerreceived severalOscarnominations and began a career revival for its starMickey Rourke.

Currently, the largest professional wrestling company worldwide is the United States–basedWWE,which bought out many smaller regional companies in the late 20th century, as well as primary competitorsWorld Championship Wrestling(WCW) and ECW in early 2001. Other major companies worldwide includeAll Elite Wrestling(AEW) in the United States,Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre(CMLL), andLucha Libre AAA Worldwide(AAA) in Mexico; andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling(NJPW),All Japan Pro Wrestling(AJPW), andPro Wrestling Noahin Japan.

Study and analysis

With its growing popularity, professional wrestling has attracted attention as a subject of seriousacademicstudy andjournalisticcriticism. Many courses, theses, essays and dissertations have analyzed wrestling'sconventions,content, and its role in modern society. It is often included as part of studies on theater, sociology, performance, and media.^[102]^[103]TheMassachusetts Institute of Technologydeveloped a course of study on the cultural significance of professional wrestling,^[104]and anthropologistHeather Levihas written an ethnography about the culture of lucha libre in Mexico.^[105]

In the early 20th century, once it became apparent that the "sport" was worked, pro wrestling was looked down on as a cheap entertainment for the uneducated working class,^[92]an attitude that still exists to varying degrees today.^[94]The French theoristRoland Bartheswas among the first to propose that wrestling was worthy of deeper analysis, in his essay "The World of Wrestling" from his bookMythologies,first published in 1957.^[58]^[92]Barthes argued that it should be looked at not as a scamming of the ignorant, but asspectacle;a mode of theatric performance for a willing, if bloodthirsty, audience. Wrestling is described as performed art which demands an immediate reading of the juxtaposed meanings. The logical conclusion is given least importance over the theatrical performers of the wrestlers and the referee. According to Barthes, the function of a wrestler is not to win: it is to go exactly through the motions which are expected of him and to give the audience a theatrical spectacle. This work is considered a foundation of all later study.^[106]

While pro wrestling is often described simplistically as a "soap operafor males ", it has also been cited as filling the role of past forms ofliteratureandtheater;asynthesisofclassical heroics,^[107]commedia dell'arte,^[108]revenge tragedies,^[109]morality plays,^[109]andburlesque.^[110]The characters and storylines portrayed by a successful promotion are seen to reflect the currentmood,attitudes,and concerns of that promotion'ssociety^[94]^[96]and can in turn influence those same things.^[111]For example, wrestling's high levels ofviolenceandmasculinitymake it a vicarious outlet foraggressionduringpeacetime.^[112]The displays of masculinity often incorporatehomoeroticelements, targeting the desires of ostensibly heterosexual male viewers.^{[citation needed]}

Documentary filmmakershave studied the lives of wrestlers and the effects the profession has on them and their families. The 1999 theatrical documentaryBeyond the Matfocused onTerry Funk,a wrestler nearingretirement;Mick Foley,a wrestler within his prime;Jake Roberts,a former star fallen from grace; anda school of wrestling studentstrying to break into the business. The 2005 releaseLipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestlingchronicled the development of women's wrestling throughout the 20th century. Pro wrestling has been featured several times onHBO'sReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel.MTV's documentary seriesTrue Lifefeatured two episodes titled "I'm a Professional Wrestler" and "I Want to Be a Professional Wrestler". Other documentaries have been produced byThe Learning Channel(The Secret World of Professional Wrestling) andA&E(Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows).Bloodstained Memoirsexplored the careers of several pro wrestlers, includingChris Jericho,Rob Van DamandRoddy Piper.^{[citation needed]}

Occupational hazards

Although professional wrestling is choreographed, there is a high chance of injury, and even death.^[113]Strikes are oftenstiff,especially in Japan, and in independent wrestling promotions such asCombat Zone Wrestling.The ring is often made out of 2-by-12-inch (5 by 30 cm) timber planks. There have been many brutal accidents, hits and injuries.^[114]Many of the injuries that occur in pro wrestling are shoulders, knee, back, neck, and rib injuries. Professional wrestlerDavey Richardssaid in 2015, "We train to take damage, we know we are going to take damage and we accept that."^[115]

Some wrestling performersuse steroidsand suffer from associated health issues. American CongressmanCliff Stearnsnoted that, in the period from 1985 to 2006, 89 performers had died under the age of 50.^[116]In addition to premature mortality, steroid abuse may have been a factor inthe 2007 double homicidecommitted by wrestlerChris Benoit.^[116]^[117]

Wrestling performers frequently experience real pain during performances. The sociologist R. Tyson Smith attributes wrestlers willingness to endure occupational injury to thesubstantivismof their socioeconomic viewpoint. From this viewpoint, Smith argues, wrestlers are willing to accept bodily pain by both practicingdenialismand thesociologic embeddeddesire for authenticity, solidarity, and dominance.^[117]

References

Notes

Citations

^Levi, Heather J. (2001).Masked struggle: An ethnography of Lucha Libre(PhD thesis). New York University. p. 57.In the [flying crossbody]... [the defender] lift her arms slightly, in order to catch her opponent and minimize the impact of the technique.
^Eero Laine (2017). "Stadium-sized theatre: WWE and the world of professional wrestling". InChow et al. (2017).Performance and Professional Wrestling,p. 39: "The business of professional wrestling is the business of theatre. Even if on the surface professional wrestling seems anathema to theatrical sensibilities, it is hard to deny the formal similarities. After all, professional wrestling is scripted entertainment performed live in front of an audience by actors portraying characters."
^^a ^b"It's all fake, right? A professional wrestler explains everything".ABC News.2017-10-04.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-11-16.Retrieved2024-01-30.
^Shoemaker (2013).Benjamin,p. 27: "... the people who were clued in were happy to play along to further their enjoyment."
^"Promotions Database".Cagematch.net.12 July 2024.Retrieved12 July2024.
^Cejudo (2012).Wrestling for Dummies.p. 32
^Archer & Svinth (2001).Martial Arts of the Worldvol. 1. p. 743: "...there is still no easy way to explain why millions of people enjoy watching professional wrestling and yet dislike watching amateur wrestling."
^Rudraneil Sengupta (2016).Enter the Dangal
^"Unreal Stories Review In Wrestling Perspective".Wrestling Perspective.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-04-26.Retrieved2015-11-08.
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 39: "[William] Muldoon instituted time limits in his touring matches, a practice that became increasingly common, as a means of keeping his troupe on schedule and to limit the potential for defeat or injury. From this relatively benign alteration, professional wrestling slowly became an exercise in pure entertainment."
^^a ^bBeekman (2006).Ringside,p. 40
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 39–40
^Grasso (2014).Historical Dictionary of Wrestling,p. 162
^"Hart Says He's Champion, Public Ignores His Claim".The National Police Gazette.New York: Richard K. Fox. 22 July 1905. p. 10.
^Thesz (2011).Hooker:"Between 1915 and 1920, pro wrestling went into a tailspin thanks in part to widespread newspaper publicity that for the first time was questioning pro wrestling's authenticity as a legitimate, competitive sport. [...] What they did was simply get rid of competitive wrestling at the professional level. The fans craved excitement and dramatic action, so the promoters decided to give it to them by performing every match."
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 54: "As the controlling force in wrestling, promoters could maximize profits by carefully establishing new stars and through selective scheduling of matches."
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 61
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 59–60
^Fleischer (1936).From Milo to Londos,p. 307:"Charges which were substantiated, were made in court to the effect that most of the big matches, and all of the championship bouts, were fixed affairs, with the challenger chosen by the promoters and the champion assured of victory."
SeeJoe Alvarez v. Richard Shikat and Al Haft, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, No. 1180, April 27, 1936
^Thesz (2011).Hooker:"Most of the contests I saw during my career took place in the gym during workouts, and the ones staged in front of paying customers were done to settle business disputes among rival wrestling groups."
^"Wrestling Placed Under New Status; Commission Rules Clubs Must List Matches as Shows or Exhibitions".The New York Times.April 9, 1930.Archivedfrom the original on May 10, 2023.RetrievedMay 10,2023.:"Professional wrestling under the jurisdiction of the State Athletic Commission yesterday passed into the status of theatrical classification, except in isolated cases. The commission in a bulletin notified clubs that future wrestling bouts must not be advertised as matches but as shows or exhibitions, except in connection with events which have the specific approval of the commission as certified matches. The ruling was passed at a meeting attended by Commissioners William Muldoon and John J. Phelan."
^Hornbaker (2015).Capitol Revolution
^Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle,p. 27:"Traditionalists like Curley were peeved, insistent on protecting the realism of the sport above all else. And through the next fifty-five years or so—more or less until Vince McMahon began admitting to the WWF's illegitimacy to get around state athletic commission fees in the late '80s—they were able to keep up the facade to some extent because the marks were always willing to accept the violence at face value, and the people who were clued in were happy to play along to further their enjoyment."
^quoted in"Is Wrestling Fixed?".The Atlanta Constitution.27 April 1931. p. 6.
^Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle:"In 1931, Grantland Rice recounted how when he wrote a snippet about wrestling for his syndicated columnfifteen years prior,a number of his editors around the country wrote back telling him that they had no interest in printing anything about such a nonsport. "
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 97
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 105: "When the national audience of the early 1950s ebbed, wrestling found itself buoyed by a fan-base similar to that of the pretelevision era. The very young, the very old, blue-collar workers, and minorities became wrestling's core audience."
^Andersen (2017).Fantasyland.chpt. 27: "It had a brief renaissance in the 1950s, thanks to the new medium of TV, which needed content, and all the networks started airing matches. [...] pro wrestling's fakery was still a fundamental problem; it was a niche taste; as TV got flush and respectable, the networks moved on."
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 131
^New Jersey Statutes 5:2A-1 Archived2022-08-06 at theWayback Machine:"Professional wrestling" means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest. "
^Peter Kerr (10 February 1989)."Now It Can Be Told: Those Pro Wrestlers Are Just Having Fun".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 4 April 2021.Retrieved31 July2022.
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p.57
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 76
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 78–79
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 71: "Many worried promoters did not have any wrestlers under contract who combined mat skills with drawing power [...] Faced with declining revenues, the promoters made the fateful decision to focus on developing wrestlers who possessed drawing power, with increasingly little regard given to knowledge of holds. [...] Recognizing that much of the public now viewed professional wrestling as an entertainment form rather than an honest sport, the promoters simply gave the public what they believed it wanted. [...] Matches became more comical and outlandish as promoters introduced gimmick matches and bizarre wrestling personas."
^Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 124–125
^"Sonnenberg, New Mat Champion, To Tour Country".St. Louis Post-Dispatch.1929-01-06. p. 1S.
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 62
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 85
^Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 84
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 98
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 97
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 98: "In October 1956 the U.S. Attorney General's office filed a civil suit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court."
^Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 99
^"American Wrestling Association (New England)".wrestling-titles.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-07-01.Retrieved2023-07-03.
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External links

[1] Levi, Heather J. (2001).Masked struggle: An ethnography of Lucha Libre(PhD thesis). New York University. p. 57.In the [flying crossbody]... [the defender] lift her arms slightly, in order to catch her opponent and minimize the impact of the technique.

[2] Eero Laine (2017). "Stadium-sized theatre: WWE and the world of professional wrestling". InChow et al. (2017).Performance and Professional Wrestling,p. 39: "The business of professional wrestling is the business of theatre. Even if on the surface professional wrestling seems anathema to theatrical sensibilities, it is hard to deny the formal similarities. After all, professional wrestling is scripted entertainment performed live in front of an audience by actors portraying characters."

[:2-3] "It's all fake, right? A professional wrestler explains everything".ABC News.2017-10-04.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-11-16.Retrieved2024-01-30.

[4] Shoemaker (2013).Benjamin,p. 27: "... the people who were clued in were happy to play along to further their enjoyment."

[5] "Promotions Database".Cagematch.net.12 July 2024.Retrieved12 July2024.

[Cejudo2012p32-6] Cejudo (2012).Wrestling for Dummies.p. 32

[7] Archer & Svinth (2001).Martial Arts of the Worldvol. 1. p. 743: "...there is still no easy way to explain why millions of people enjoy watching professional wrestling and yet dislike watching amateur wrestling."

[8] Rudraneil Sengupta (2016).Enter the Dangal

[9] "Unreal Stories Review In Wrestling Perspective".Wrestling Perspective.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-04-26.Retrieved2015-11-08.

[10] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 39: "[William] Muldoon instituted time limits in his touring matches, a practice that became increasingly common, as a means of keeping his troupe on schedule and to limit the potential for defeat or injury. From this relatively benign alteration, professional wrestling slowly became an exercise in pure entertainment."

[Beekman2006p40-11] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 40

[12] Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 39–40

[13] Grasso (2014).Historical Dictionary of Wrestling,p. 162

[14] "Hart Says He's Champion, Public Ignores His Claim".The National Police Gazette.New York: Richard K. Fox. 22 July 1905. p. 10.

[:0-15] Thesz (2011).Hooker:"Between 1915 and 1920, pro wrestling went into a tailspin thanks in part to widespread newspaper publicity that for the first time was questioning pro wrestling's authenticity as a legitimate, competitive sport. [...] What they did was simply get rid of competitive wrestling at the professional level. The fans craved excitement and dramatic action, so the promoters decided to give it to them by performing every match."

[16] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 54: "As the controlling force in wrestling, promoters could maximize profits by carefully establishing new stars and through selective scheduling of matches."

[17] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 61

[18] Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 59–60

[19] Fleischer (1936).From Milo to Londos,p. 307:"Charges which were substantiated, were made in court to the effect that most of the big matches, and all of the championship bouts, were fixed affairs, with the challenger chosen by the promoters and the champion assured of victory."
SeeJoe Alvarez v. Richard Shikat and Al Haft, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, No. 1180, April 27, 1936

[20] Thesz (2011).Hooker:"Most of the contests I saw during my career took place in the gym during workouts, and the ones staged in front of paying customers were done to settle business disputes among rival wrestling groups."

[21] "Wrestling Placed Under New Status; Commission Rules Clubs Must List Matches as Shows or Exhibitions".The New York Times.April 9, 1930.Archivedfrom the original on May 10, 2023.RetrievedMay 10,2023.:"Professional wrestling under the jurisdiction of the State Athletic Commission yesterday passed into the status of theatrical classification, except in isolated cases. The commission in a bulletin notified clubs that future wrestling bouts must not be advertised as matches but as shows or exhibitions, except in connection with events which have the specific approval of the commission as certified matches. The ruling was passed at a meeting attended by Commissioners William Muldoon and John J. Phelan."

[22] Hornbaker (2015).Capitol Revolution

[23] Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle,p. 27:"Traditionalists like Curley were peeved, insistent on protecting the realism of the sport above all else. And through the next fifty-five years or so—more or less until Vince McMahon began admitting to the WWF's illegitimacy to get around state athletic commission fees in the late '80s—they were able to keep up the facade to some extent because the marks were always willing to accept the violence at face value, and the people who were clued in were happy to play along to further their enjoyment."

[24] quoted in"Is Wrestling Fixed?".The Atlanta Constitution.27 April 1931. p. 6.

[25] Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle:"In 1931, Grantland Rice recounted how when he wrote a snippet about wrestling for his syndicated columnfifteen years prior,a number of his editors around the country wrote back telling him that they had no interest in printing anything about such a nonsport. "

[26] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 97

[27] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 105: "When the national audience of the early 1950s ebbed, wrestling found itself buoyed by a fan-base similar to that of the pretelevision era. The very young, the very old, blue-collar workers, and minorities became wrestling's core audience."

[28] Andersen (2017).Fantasyland.chpt. 27: "It had a brief renaissance in the 1950s, thanks to the new medium of TV, which needed content, and all the networks started airing matches. [...] pro wrestling's fakery was still a fundamental problem; it was a niche taste; as TV got flush and respectable, the networks moved on."

[29] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 131

[30] New Jersey Statutes 5:2A-1 Archived2022-08-06 at theWayback Machine:"Professional wrestling" means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest. "

[31] Peter Kerr (10 February 1989)."Now It Can Be Told: Those Pro Wrestlers Are Just Having Fun".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 4 April 2021.Retrieved31 July2022.

[Beekman2006p57-32] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p.57

[33] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 76

[34] Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 78–79

[:1-35] Beekman (2006).Ringside,p. 71: "Many worried promoters did not have any wrestlers under contract who combined mat skills with drawing power [...] Faced with declining revenues, the promoters made the fateful decision to focus on developing wrestlers who possessed drawing power, with increasingly little regard given to knowledge of holds. [...] Recognizing that much of the public now viewed professional wrestling as an entertainment form rather than an honest sport, the promoters simply gave the public what they believed it wanted. [...] Matches became more comical and outlandish as promoters introduced gimmick matches and bizarre wrestling personas."

[36] Beekman (2006).Ringside,pp. 124–125

[37] "Sonnenberg, New Mat Champion, To Tour Country".St. Louis Post-Dispatch.1929-01-06. p. 1S.

[38] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 62

[39] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 85

[40] Shoemaker (2013).The Squared Circle

[41] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 84

[42] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 98

[43] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 97

[44] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 98: "In October 1956 the U.S. Attorney General's office filed a civil suit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court."

[45] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 99

[46] "American Wrestling Association (New England)".wrestling-titles.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-07-01.Retrieved2023-07-03.

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[48] Beekman (2006).Ringside.pp. 102–103

[49] Tim Brooks & Earl Marsh (2003).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows8th edition

[50] Andersen (2017).Fantasyland.chpt. 27

[51] Solomon (2015).Pro Wrestling FAQ.chpt. 6: "The second rise of wrestling, the territorial rise, came with the advent of UHF television, because now instead of having three or four TV stations, you had maybe 10 or 12, but they were all local."

[52] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 122

[53] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 121: "For the other NWA promoters, whose stars only gained national exposure by appearing on the Georgia promotion's show, any attempt to generate countrywide interest in their product as a counter proved impossible. They did not possess the resources, nor could they stomach the idea of breaking the NWA's territorial code. McMahon played on this reluctance, moved into their territories in the wake of his television shows, and picked the NWA promoters off one by one."

[54] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 130

[Beekman_2006_p._138-55] Beekman (2006).Ringside.p. 138

[56] Thesz (2011).Hooker:"However, I cannot condemn the WWF for announcing to the world that pro wrestling is an entertainment, which it did in New Jersey in 1987 when it was trying to escape from the scrutiny of that state's athletic commission. It was a shrewd move for someone in that situation, and it succeeded."

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[67] ROBERTS, JH, and DOMINIC SEVIERI. "The Well-Wrought Broken Championship Belt: Thing Theory in Professional Wrestling Criticism.Archived2024-01-25 at theWayback Machine"THE POPULAR CULTURE STUDIES JOURNAL(2018): 204.

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[77] Parsons, Jim (2022-03-17)."Chris Jericho Trolls WWE By Labeling His New Faction" Sports Entertainers "".TheSportster.Retrieved2022-07-01.

[78] "Company Overview".corporate.wwe.WWE.RetrievedAugust 29,2024.WWE is an integrated media organization and the recognized global leader in sports entertainment.

[79] "The Whistle and Harlem Globetrotters Sign Comprehensive Partnership Agreement".Reuters. Aug 9, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon March 11, 2016.for decades the Harlem Globetrotters have defined family-friendly sports entertainment, "said [Jeff] Urban, the former SVP of Sports Marketing at Gatorade.

[80] Dan Majors (June 19, 2010)."Out at the plate: Pirates dump outspoken pierogi".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Archived fromthe originalon June 21, 2010.

[81] Watson, Adam (May 1, 2011)."Tough Cookies: The Rollicking Resurgence Of Roller Derby".ThePostGame.RetrievedFebruary 2,2019.Forget everything you thought you knew about roller derby. This is not the sports entertainment version that was televised in the '70s and '80s with predetermined winners.

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v t e Professional wrestlingby country
Americas	Professional wrestling in Mexico promotions Professional wrestling in the United States independent promotions women's promotions Professional wrestling in Puerto Rico Professional wrestling in Canada independent promotions
Asia	Professional wrestling in China Professional wrestling in Israel Professional wrestling in Saudi Arabia Professional wrestling in Japan promotions
Europe	Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom promotions Professional wrestling in France Professional wrestling in Russia
Oceania	Professional wrestling in Australia promotions Professional wrestling in New Zealand promotions
Attendance records	Europe Japan Mexico Puerto Rico United Kingdom
Related	Promotions women's South America

v t e Professional wrestlingmaneuvers
Strikes	Dropkick Leg drop
Throws	Backbreaker Brainbuster Chokeslam Cutter DDT Facebuster Neckbreaker Piledriver Powerbomb Powerslam Spinebuster Stunner Suplex
Holds	Boston crab Nelson hold Pin Sharpshooter
Aerial	Moonsault
Double-team	Doomsday device

v t e Years inprofessional wrestling
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025