The History Of Professional Wrestling In Brief

By Minnie Whitley


Pro brawling is a common form of entertainment that is viewed in terms of sport and performing art in Latin America, Japan, Europe and North America. Critics have often pointed at its scripted nature terming it as a deceitful sport when put in comparison with amateur fighting, boxing and assorted martial arts. Predetermined match outcome is an issue that no major promoter or wrestler has denied of existence. The history of professional wrestling can be summarized as below.

Brawling as a sport sprung out as a consequence of the travelling festival strongman who in most cases would pose a challenge for a fight in the ring or last for only ten minutes. As time went by, the carnies realized that by charging entry fee they could be in a position to make a lot of money instead of relying on the entry fee by fighters. The wrestlers portrayed as villains to the crowd and used fake names so as to encourage betting.

As the nineteenth century neared its end, organizers put events in arenas just like boxing. For some decades, numerous occasions on grappling got held by dissimilar individual promoters. There was presence of championship belts which held no real authority. The National Wrestling Association was formed in 1901 by promoters and it gave a sole belt for championship.

Regional leagues were formed when NWA divided brawling sometime after the world war two had come to a standstill. A gentleman agreement was settled that prohibited tapping of talent from other confederations or enlarging their arena into the agreed confederation. The Northeast federation known by name of World Wide Wrestling Federation turned defiant, immediately after shortening their name to being World Wrestling Federation they broke the informal agreements.

The only remaining longstanding area NWA by 1980s was only operational in the Southeast. It was in real fact called the NWA before it got purchased and its name converted to World Championship Wrestling. It was successful in outdoing the WWF and for a period of time it rose to top level as it was able to entice top talents from rival and hence their rating went higher.

Various factors that included storylines that were poorly conceived and a steroid distribution scandal by the federal investigation brought WWF to its lowest point. It was however able to recover with ingenious angles and wrestlers that were young and talented. In 2001, it bought WCW and took control of wrestlers, video library and trademarks wiping it out of existence.

Another confederation that had a significant influence on professional tussling was the Extreme Championship Wrestling. It was an insignificant league that gathered fans following through late night broadcasts on local networks that aired sports. It featured grizzly styles with audacious and risky moves that seemed totally insane. It did not last for more than five years before it went bankrupt and taken over by the WWF who adapted their popular grizzly styles.

A successful court case by the World Wildlife Fund made WWF shift its name to the World Wrestling Entertainment as a result of the conflicting acronyms. With the incorporation of the hardcore fighting styles in the mainstream, the sport has received a wider audience who enjoy the adrenalin filled matches.




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