The Main Event: The Moves and Muscle of Pro Wrestling
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
For the next 30 years small wrestling companies grew popular in different regions of the country Many cities had their own promotions TV shows and stars These promotions were often part of a larger organization The country was divided between three large organizations the American Wrestling Association AWA in the Midwest the World Wide Wrestling Federation WWWF present day WWE in the East and the National Wrestling Alliance NWA in the rest of the country Wrestlers performed in one promotion and then moved onto the next The NWA was the biggest with its champion defending his title all over the world But WWE made the most money And it was about to make even more LADIES IN THE RING When most people think of pro wrestling they think of big burly men But women have enjoyed success in wrestling as well The first women's champion recognized by most promoters was Mildred Burke She held the World Women's Championship title from 1937 to 1954 But Burke was not allowed to wrestle in some states because they banned women s wrestling The most famous woman wrestler was Mary Lillian Ellison She began her career as a valet female manager but soon wrestled as the Fabulous Moolah She won her first title in 1956 was still champion in 1985 and won her last match in 2003 at the age of 80 Valets were common in the 1980s with WWE s Miss Elizabeth being the most famous WWE began calling women wrestlers divas in the 1990s Divas appear on both Raw and Smackdown Diva matches have also become a staple of PPV events THE RISE OF WWE The first cable wrestling show debuted first appeared on the TBS station out of Georgia in 1976 In the early 1980s the WWE under the leadership of Vince McMahon became the first 10 MAIN EVENT
successful national promotion By 1984 WWE had two cable shows as well as shows on local stations across the country McMahon was determined to run the competition into the ground He became famous for poaching hiring wrestlers from other promotions including Hulk Hogan from AWA and Roddy Piper from NWA McMahon was always thinking big In 1985 he hatched the idea of a wrestling event broadcast nationwide on closed circuit TV This type of broadcast could be shown in theaters or on the big screens of arenas nationwide Then WWE could sell lots more tickets and make a lot more money McMahon promoted the event on the Music Television MTV network In February 1985 MTV broadcast a match between Hogan and Piper dubbed the Brawl to Settle It All The match drew a record rating on MTV but it was really just a setup for the main event WrestleMania About 19 000 fans flocked to New York City's Madison Square Garden in March 1985 to witness the first WrestleMania A million more watched on closedcircuit broadcast at theaters and arenas across the United States and Canada McMahon knew that he had to give fans a spectacle so he brought in celebrities most notably actor Mr T The idea of mixing celebrities with wrestling has continued in every WrestleMania since McMahon kept finding new ways to bring in money Two years later 1987 s WrestleMania drew more than 90 000 to the live show But McMahon also offered the show to fans at home via a new technology called pay perview PPV PPV allowed fans to pay to have the show broadcast to their own TV sets Once again McMahon had opened up a whole new market and wrestling would never be the same
