The Main Event: The Moves and Muscle of Pro Wrestling
Wrestling has existed for centuries This British watercolor sketch from the early 1800s shows two men at a wrestling
One THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING FROM ANCIENT GREECE TO PAY PER VIEW any believe that wrestling is the world s oldest sport It is simple It takes only two neonle and requires no equipment Early wrestling didn't even have any rules Almost every ancient culture created artwork showing wrestlers Wrestling was especially popular in ancient Greece and Rome Greek mythology is filled with wrestling stories It was said that Theseus the king of Athens Greece first introduced rules in wrestling The first professional wrestlers performed at carnivals in Europe They used a style called catch wrestling The name is believed to have come from the phrase catch as catch can which was a way of saying that a wrestler was allowed to hold any part of his opponent s body Europeans brought the sport to the United States where it quickly caught on Abraham Lincoln was a catch wrestler before he was president of the United States The popular style in the United States soon changed to collar and elbow wrestling Matches began with wrestlers holding each other's collars and elbows
Carnival wrestling grew popular in the United States after the Civil War 1861 1865 The carnival wrestler issued a challenge to wrestle a fan If the fan won he got a prize Other fans bet on the outcome Carnival wrestlers usually let the fan win but the carnival made money from bets WRESTLING BOOM By 1900 interest in sports including wrestling in the Unites States was on the rise The first match between U S champion Frank Gotch and European champ George Hackenschmidt in 1908 drew 30 000 people as did the 1911 rematch Gotch won both matches When Gotch retired in 1913 wrestling went into a slump Ed Strangler Lewis came onto the scene in the 1920s to revive the sport Lewis dominated both in the ring and behind the scenes Lewis his manager Billy Sandow and promoter Joseph Toots Monde became known as the Gold Dust Trio for their ability to make money in wrestling The Gold Dust Trio created the modern pro wrestling show Masked and costumed wrestlers didn't just exchange holds on the mat Instead they punched kicked and slammed each other Flying dropkicks and other exciting moves thrilled the crowd Personalities were as important as victories Outcomes were predetermined The goal was not to win but to entertain the crowd
During the Great Depression 1929 1942 many people were out of work and struggled to feed their families While many sports suffered during this time wrestling fared well People who felt powerless in their lives could cheer when the good guy baby face defeated the bad guy heel In addition wrestling promoters found new ways to make matches more interesting They invented tag team wrestling which put four wrestlers in the ring sometimes all at the same time Shows featured a great variety of competitors Such wrestlers as little people women and sometimes even bears thrilled crowds Wrestlers gave elaborate interviews to win fans or clicit boos In a few years the sport had changed from two men wrestling on a mat for hours to a quick hitting show filled with action and characters WRESTLING COMES TO TV This combination of action and characters made professional wrestling a perfect fit for early network television in the late 1940s Additionally it was cheap and easy to pro duce make and pay for a big bonus for networks Fans who had never paid to see a show could watch for free on TV Lou Thesz high flying Antonio Rocca and other baby faces battled against Gorgeous George Killer Kowalski and other heels in worked matches matches in which winners were predetermined by the wrestling company But as TV matured it no longer needed cheap easy to produce programs Wrestling became less popular By the late 1950s it was nowhere to be found on network TV
