Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
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Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

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742 Wrestling, Professional 1987 the WWF champion Hulk Hogan was allowed to beat Andre the Giant in front of a record 93,000 fans in Detroit. This enormous financial success piqued the interest of Atlanta businessman Ted Turner, who in 1988 decided to start his own wrestling show. To start his business he bought Jim Crockett Promotions, which had been the mainstay of now much-shrunken NWA. Next he named his new wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Finally he began raiding the WWF for talent. Structurally, WCW attempted to portray an image similar to that of the wrestling seen during the Golden Age of Television. Thus many of the group’s performers wrestled in Spartan attire of boots and trunks, and feuds and angles were reminiscent of the 1950s, where the wrestlers lost due to concern about their sick relatives. The WWF, however, lived on gimmicks. Here anything went—wrestlers were reported involved with other wrestlers’ wives; The Undertaker rose from the dead; women stripped almost naked in the ring; and one wrestler came within seconds of having his penis chopped off by an angry manager. (In a guest appearance, John Wayne Bobbitt, notorious for having his own penis severed during an argument with his wife, came to the wrestler’s rescue.) Although both WCW and WWF featured a handful of highly paid superstars, they had no farm system. Toward correcting this shortfall, schools taught by former wrestlers such as Karl Gotch and Killer Kowalski emerged. Local independent promotions also developed. Known as “indies,” they made little money for anyone but still provided wrestlers with crowd interaction and dreams of stardom. Meanwhile, public perception of wrestlers underwent a metamorphosis. For example, in 1956, Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight showed a punch-drunk, over-the-hill boxer suffering the worst fate imaginable for a once-proud athlete: He became a professional wrestler. As the character played by Jack Palance in the television production and Anthony Quinn in the movie begged his manager: “Maish, Maish don’t make me . . . Maish, Maish I’ll do anything for you but don’t ask me to play a clown!” By the 2000s, however, successful performers in football, basketball, and boxing gleefully took the money offered by the cable companies. For example, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were several ex-NFL players in the WWF and WCW, and boxer Mike Tyson and basketball stars Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone participated in professional wrestling angles and events. Likewise, during the 1950s many an amateur wrestler would have chosen dismemberment over participation in professional wrestling. But that also changed. For example, Bob Backlund, a former NCAA wrestling champ, began a long-term relationship with the WWF in 1974, and Kurt Angle, a WWF champ of the early 2000s, had been an Olympic gold medalist in 1996.

Martial artists also were involved: Early twenty-first-century wrestlers included former world karate champion Ernest Miller and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock. Unlike some of the jûdôka (jûdô players) who tried wrestling during the 1950s and 1960s, they were well received by the fans and apparently considered the move a career decision rather than a letdown. Audiences for WWF and WCW promotions were huge, and by the mid-1980s wrestling had become the third most popular spectator sport in North America. (American football and automobile racing were numbers one and two.) According to wrestler Adrian Adonis, this was because the “American people are sickos who love violence and the sight of blood.” Perhaps. But then why wrestling’s even greater popularity in Japan? Approaching the question from another tack, academics such as Theodore Kemper have claimed that watching wrestling releases testosterone in viewers, thereby giving them vicarious thrills that they don’t get in their deadend jobs (Kemper 1990, 203–204, 214–217). Perhaps. But then how to explain the sales of wrestling action figures to children or market research showing wrestling’s enormous popularity with female viewers? Finally, there are the opinions of academics such as Gerald Morton and George O’Brien, who equate “rassling” with folk theater (Morton and O’Brien 1985, 52–54, 63–64, 74–75). Is wrestling theater in a squared circle, the Shakespeare of sport? That is the most probable explanation. However, there is still no easy way to explain why millions of people enjoy watching professional wrestling and yet dislike watching amateur wrestling. Jeff Archer Joseph Svinth See also Jûdô; Stage Combat; Wrestling and Grappling: India; Wrestling and Grappling: Japan References Alter, Joseph S. 1995. “Gama The World Champion: Wrestling and Physical Culture in Colonial India.” Iron Game History, October, 3–6. Archer, Jeff. 1998. Theater in a Squared Circle. Lafayette, CO: White- Boucke Publishing. Ashe, Arthur R. Jr. 1988. A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African- American Athlete, 1619–1918. New York: Warner Books. Ayoub, Libnan, with Tom Gannon. 1998. 100 Years of Australian Professional Wrestling. Marrickville, NSW, Australia: Topmill Pty. Carlson, Lewis H., and John J. Fogarty. 1987. Tales of Gold. Chicago: Contemporary Books. Crichton, Robert. 1963. “$500 to Any Man Who Can Pin the Masked Marvel!” Argosy, August, 32, 96–101. Desbonnet, Edmond. 1910. Les Rois de la Lutte. Paris: Berger-Levrault. Doberl, Franz. 1948. Ein Leben auf der Ringermatte. Vienna: Trias Verlag A. R. Nowak. Douglas, Kirk. 1988. The Ragman’s Son. New York: Simon and Schuster. Wrestling, Professional 743

<strong>Martial</strong> artists also were involved: Early twenty-first-century wrestlers<br />

included former world karate champion Ernest Miller and Ultimate Fighting<br />

Championship (UFC) champions Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock. Unlike<br />

some of the jûdôka (jûdô players) who tried wrestling during the 1950s<br />

and 1960s, they were well received by the fans and apparently considered<br />

the move a career decision rather than a letdown.<br />

Audiences for WWF and WCW promotions were huge, and by the<br />

mid-1980s wrestling had become the third most popular spectator sport in<br />

North America. (American football and automobile racing were numbers<br />

one and two.) According to wrestler Adrian Adonis, this was because the<br />

“American people are sickos who love violence and the sight of blood.”<br />

Perhaps. But then why wrestling’s even greater popularity in Japan? Approaching<br />

the question from another tack, academics such as <strong>The</strong>odore<br />

Kemper have claimed that watching wrestling releases testosterone in viewers,<br />

thereby giving them vicarious thrills that they don’t get in their deadend<br />

jobs (Kemper 1990, 203–204, 214–217). Perhaps. But then how to explain<br />

the sales of wrestling action figures to children or market research<br />

showing wrestling’s enormous popularity with female viewers? Finally,<br />

there are the opinions of academics such as Gerald Morton and George<br />

O’Brien, who equate “rassling” with folk theater (Morton and O’Brien<br />

1985, 52–54, 63–64, 74–75). Is wrestling theater in a squared circle, the<br />

Shakespeare of sport? That is the most probable explanation. However,<br />

there is still no easy way to explain why millions of people enjoy watching<br />

professional wrestling and yet dislike watching amateur wrestling.<br />

Jeff Archer<br />

Joseph Svinth<br />

See also Jûdô; Stage Combat; Wrestling and Grappling: India; Wrestling and<br />

Grappling: Japan<br />

References<br />

Alter, Joseph S. 1995. “Gama <strong>The</strong> <strong>World</strong> Champion: Wrestling and Physical<br />

Culture in Colonial India.” Iron Game History, October, 3–6.<br />

Archer, Jeff. 1998. <strong>The</strong>ater in a Squared Circle. Lafayette, CO: White-<br />

Boucke Publishing.<br />

Ashe, Arthur R. Jr. 1988. A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-<br />

American Athlete, 1619–1918. New York: Warner Books.<br />

Ayoub, Libnan, with Tom Gannon. 1998. 100 Years of Australian<br />

Professional Wrestling. Marrickville, NSW, Australia: Topmill Pty.<br />

Carlson, Lewis H., and John J. Fogarty. 1987. Tales of Gold. Chicago:<br />

Contemporary Books.<br />

Crichton, Robert. 1963. “$500 to Any Man Who Can Pin the Masked<br />

Marvel!” Argosy, August, 32, 96–101.<br />

Desbonnet, Edmond. 1910. Les Rois de la Lutte. Paris: Berger-Levrault.<br />

Doberl, Franz. 1948. Ein Leben auf der Ringermatte. Vienna: Trias Verlag<br />

A. R. Nowak.<br />

Douglas, Kirk. 1988. <strong>The</strong> Ragman’s Son. New York: Simon and Schuster.<br />

Wrestling, Professional 743

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