Wrestling was already a sport as early as 3000BC. Major empires like the Babylonians, the Greeks and even the Romans also promoted it. Among these empires though, the Greeks are said to have taken the sport a notch higher. On the other hand, the history of professional wrestling is traced to the early twentieth century.
Wrestling is mainly categorized into two. There is the Greco-Roman type, which is considered the oldest and was the most practiced and the catch style (where some things which were initially prohibited in the rules of the game were allowed). For instance, catch style allowed the wrestler to grapple below the waist, a thing that was not permitted in the Greco-Roman style. Nonetheless, both of the styles were legit games where victory was earned.
The beginning of twentieth century marked a turn in how the sport was done. Promoters resorted to professional fighting where the match outcomes were predetermined and contests, heavily scripted. It was all in an effort to increase the entertainment value of the sport. The game therefore borrowed a lot from catch style and its rules. The main idea was to contract and train performers. Ideas such as tag teams and use of distraction to win contests were also introduced.
By definition therefore, the sport is a stage-managed fight with known results. The trick is however to make the audience convinced that it is real through trained reactions to the predetermined loss or win. There are cases where professional wrestlers would display feuds just to make their performance against each other more thrilling. Mostly though, the fight would follow a storyline that resembles a real situation and thus maximize the entertainment.
There are those who would credit the introduction of television and cable as the beginning of the professional sport as it practiced today. With the former being introduced in the early 1950s and the latter in the early 1980s, many say that that was the golden age of the sport. It is during this time that the games were promoted on national televisions and associations such as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) got the much-needed publicity for their stars.
Though NWA was the most known promoter of pro fighting, other regional outfits who felt they could not fit under their banner, formed their own promotional umbrellas. For instance, there was the American Wrestling Associating and the World Wide wrestling federation based in Minnesota and New York respectively. They however failed to capture the moment due to what was considered inferior storyline and scripting. They also could not build a star to compete with the likes of Lou Thesz from NWA.
The situation was worsened by the fact that the sport was being introduced nationally and the professional type needed to look convincing. These, as mentioned before, were the areas where the splinter groups failed. There were also allegations of misuse of enhancing drugs by some of their performers. All these brought disagreements between these bodies.
Though there were difficulties through the history of professional wrestling, it survived it all and grew in popularity. Its popularity also goes beyond borders. Countries like Australia, Japan and Mexico are just examples. People in these nations now love the sport and own it like their own.
Wrestling is mainly categorized into two. There is the Greco-Roman type, which is considered the oldest and was the most practiced and the catch style (where some things which were initially prohibited in the rules of the game were allowed). For instance, catch style allowed the wrestler to grapple below the waist, a thing that was not permitted in the Greco-Roman style. Nonetheless, both of the styles were legit games where victory was earned.
The beginning of twentieth century marked a turn in how the sport was done. Promoters resorted to professional fighting where the match outcomes were predetermined and contests, heavily scripted. It was all in an effort to increase the entertainment value of the sport. The game therefore borrowed a lot from catch style and its rules. The main idea was to contract and train performers. Ideas such as tag teams and use of distraction to win contests were also introduced.
By definition therefore, the sport is a stage-managed fight with known results. The trick is however to make the audience convinced that it is real through trained reactions to the predetermined loss or win. There are cases where professional wrestlers would display feuds just to make their performance against each other more thrilling. Mostly though, the fight would follow a storyline that resembles a real situation and thus maximize the entertainment.
There are those who would credit the introduction of television and cable as the beginning of the professional sport as it practiced today. With the former being introduced in the early 1950s and the latter in the early 1980s, many say that that was the golden age of the sport. It is during this time that the games were promoted on national televisions and associations such as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) got the much-needed publicity for their stars.
Though NWA was the most known promoter of pro fighting, other regional outfits who felt they could not fit under their banner, formed their own promotional umbrellas. For instance, there was the American Wrestling Associating and the World Wide wrestling federation based in Minnesota and New York respectively. They however failed to capture the moment due to what was considered inferior storyline and scripting. They also could not build a star to compete with the likes of Lou Thesz from NWA.
The situation was worsened by the fact that the sport was being introduced nationally and the professional type needed to look convincing. These, as mentioned before, were the areas where the splinter groups failed. There were also allegations of misuse of enhancing drugs by some of their performers. All these brought disagreements between these bodies.
Though there were difficulties through the history of professional wrestling, it survived it all and grew in popularity. Its popularity also goes beyond borders. Countries like Australia, Japan and Mexico are just examples. People in these nations now love the sport and own it like their own.
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