How is pro wrestling

You would mostly find wrestling back then at your local fairs or circus. It was an instant draw that would help sell tickets for years. Back in those times carnies, always protected their product much like they did their sideshows. In fact, the only time they did happen was when there was a grudge match to settle. Other than those rare occasions, it was always fixed. Most of the other major sports always detested wrestling back in those days.

In the late '20s, the major sports would get their wish. It would be made known to the public that wrestling was indeed a sham. To the other sports' surprise and dismay, it survived. Pro wrestling would indeed stay alive and well. Pro wrestling would only get stronger in the 's. As most of you probably already know, the NWA would form.

The NWA would only make the industry tighter and harder to crack. Even in those times if you were a pro wrestler, or even a fan of pro wrestling, you were often frowned upon. Americans in general love three things: politics, drama and sports.

A slight miscalculation can lead to serious injury for the wrestler or his opponent. In , a performer known as Sid Vicious suffered a severely broken leg after attempting a high-flying leap that he wasn't properly trained for.

Piledrivers, a move in which a wrestler drives another headfirst into the mat, are popular because they look dangerous. In fact, they are dangerous. Performed properly, the victim's head comes within inches of the mat, but never touches it.

Miscalculate by a few inches, and serious injury will result. The list of wrestlers who have been hurt by piledrivers is a long one. Watch enough wrestling, and eventually you'll see some performers who don't have the skills to sell their moves properly.

You will notice punches that don't even come close and reactions that are delayed by a second or two. Veteran wrestlers are experts at glancing blows and near misses that look completely real. If wrestlers aren't really getting hurt, then why do they sometimes bleed? Gruesome matches featuring wrestlers drenched in blood known as "the crimson mask" were frequent in the s, and were especially popular in Japan. In many cases, capsules filled with fake blood are used. However, a more popular method is known as blading.

A wrestler hides a small sliver of metal in his glove or in a turnbuckle, which he then uses surreptitiously to inflict a cut on his forehead.

Head wounds bleed profusely, even if the wound itself is minor. However, blading is risky. It leads to scarring, and wrestlers can sever an artery if they don't do it correctly.

The Great Muta, a Japanese wrestler, is known for his gory blading practices. The worst thing that can happen to a wrestler is a botch -- when he fails to perform the move properly. Sometimes it is simply humiliating. At Wrestlemania 19, Brock Lesnar botched a shooting star press see the animation above in the main event match. His victim was too far away and he under-rotated the backflip, landing on his head. Broch escaped with only a concussion, but fans and performers alike still refer to a major botch as "Brocking" the move.

Botches can also lead to severe injuries. The resulting neck injury temporarily paralyzed him. Hart managed to drag Austin on top of him so that Austin could win the match, as per the script. He regained feeling and movement, but remains semi-retired because of the injury. Professional wrestling grew out of the traveling carnival strongman, who would challenge anyone to beat him in the ring, or even to last 10 minutes.

Challengers almost never won the prize money, since the strongman had helpers who would cheat to ensure his victory. Eventually, carnies realized they could make more money off the crowd than the entry fees of the fighters.

They started accepting wagers on the fights, which were always fixed. Sometimes, the local fighter was even in on the fix, helping to hype the fight. These wrestlers used fake names and played up the animosity of the crowd to encourage betting. In the late s, promoters put wrestling events in arenas, much like boxing. For a few decades, many different individual promoters held wrestling events. Although there were championship belts in existence, none of them had any real authority.

In , promoters got together to form a loose organization called the National Wrestling Association , which awarded a single championship belt. These federations were still a part of the NWA -- they had a gentleman's agreement not to steal each other's talent or expand their arena shows into another league's region. Vince McMahon, Sr. McMahon, Jr. He went into direct competition with the regional leagues, stealing their talent, scheduling arena shows on their turf and scoring lucrative cable TV contracts.

Small leagues couldn't compete. By the s, only one of the old regional NWA leagues was still in existence, operating in the Southeast. This league essentially became the NWA. It drew top talent away from the WWF and beat them in the ratings. Several factors, including poorly conceived storylines and a federal investigation for steroid distribution for which McMahon was eventually cleared brought the WWF to its low point.

However, McMahon recovered with creative angles and young, talented wrestlers. In , he purchased WCW, taking control of the wrestlers, trademarks and video library. Today, the WCW no longer exists. A minor league based in a Philadelphia bingo hall, ECW gathered the attention of fans through late night broadcasts on local sports networks.

ECW promoted a "hardcore" style, with wrestlers performing daring, dangerous moves that at times seemed completely insane. Gone were the cartoonish characters of the WWF. ECW featured beer-guzzling lunatics, ladder matches in which the ladder's only function was as a weapon, and an obsession with smashing each other's bodies through tables, usually after a flying leap from the top rope. ECW never made very much money, and it only existed for about five years before the company went bankrupt.

Vince McMahon, Jr. Professional wrestling has seen thousands of performers step between the ropes, but only a few have left a lasting mark on the industry. Here's a sample:. For lots more information on pro wrestling and other topics, check out the links on the next page. To become a wrestler, you have to go to wrestling school. There are several schools scattered throughout the United States and Canada.

Tuition is usually a few thousand dollars, and the training is extremely difficult. Constant endurance and weight training, combined with endless repetition of falls, slams and throws, can break down even the toughest future wrestler. Once a prospective wrestler has completed wrestling school, his instructor will use his contacts to try to place him in the major promotions.

There's no guarantee, however. Many graduates have to pay their dues in smaller promotions and work their way to the top. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. You can switch on a wrestling show and see every kind of person represented, every kind of person telling a story you can immediately understand, pick a side and cheer for.

The difference is the variety of emotions you can feel and styles you can watch on TV or live with thousands of screaming fans, like at WrestleMania. Fans are always finding it or rekindling past love for wrestling. Plus anything can happen. WWE, when I was a kid, women were valets. Subscribe Manage my subscription Activate my subscription Log in Log out.

Regions Tampa St. Letters to the Editor Submit a Letter. Investigations Narratives Pulitzer Winners. Connect with us. About us. You've probably heard of professional wrestling. But do you know what it really is? As a professional wrestler and journalist, let me take you through a few frequently asked questions that make me wonder what the hell they're teaching in schools these days.

No, not the Greco-Roman wrestling you might have seen at the Olympics or in Foxcatcher, where wrestlers try and pin each other to the mat. You're getting closer, but no.

The UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a mixed martial arts competition that features people beating the snot out of each other using whatever fighting style they like.

Today's wrestling was borne out of "catch wrestling", a combat sport combining elements of Greco-Roman and European grappling. Promoters realised that they could make more money if they started rigging elements of the competition to create stars and build anticipation for matches.

But wrestling did spend years pouring energy into extending the illusion of legitimate competition beyond the fourth wall, to the point that rivals were forbidden from travelling together between shows. This made it super awkward when mortal enemies Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik were arrested while travelling in the same car in They were arrested for drug possession, not for breaking "kayfabe". Kayfabe refers to the web of illusion that disguises the contrived elements of wrestling.

Giving away results, publicly appearing out of character or writing articles like this, spoils that illusion and reveals the inner workings of wrestling to outsiders — or breaking kayfabe.