Professional+Wrestling

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Professional wrestling is a form of sports entertainment that trained athletes coordinate a seemingly-violent act in some form of designated area (usually a ring) for an audience. A set of rules are presented to the audience to which the athletes they have come to see are supposed to follow, which are enforced by a referee during the match. Traditionally, "babyfaces" or fan favourites are those who obey these rules and wrestle 'cleanly' during their matches. "Heels" are wrestlers who break the rules (usually behind the referee's back), and wrestle with an attitude.

Matches are decided by:
 * 1) Pinfall - when a wrestler debilitates their opponent that they can cover them for a count of three without them moving or "kicking out".
 * 2) Submission - when a wrestler puts their opponent in such unbearable pain, they have to give up
 * 3) Disqualification - when the referee witnesses one wrestler breaking a rule, he will end the match and award his decision to the other wrestler

Stipulations can be added to make a match seem more interesting to the viewers. Some classic examples are:
 * Ladder Match - a wrestler must climb a ladder and retrieve something suspended from the arena's ceiling to win the match
 * "I Quit"/Submission Match - a wrestler must get his opponent to utter the words "I quit" to the referee to win the match
 * Steel Cage Match - two sides combat within a structure surrounded with a steel cage. A wrestler must be the first to escape the cage in order to win the match.
 * First Blood Match - first wrestler to bleed loses.
 * Hardcore Match - wrestlers are allowed to use any objects as weapons while fighting.
 * Streetfight Match - basically a hardcore match that is fought mostly outside of the ring.
 * Triple Threat Match - 3 wrestlers or 3 tag-teams go at it.
 * Handicap Match - 2 on 1.

=Kayfabe=

Kayfabe is the wrestling world's version of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). In the past, from the 1940s right up to the 1990s, professional wrestling, as an industry, aimed to conceal the behind-the-scenes arrangements it had and aligned itself as a credible sport; everything the audience was seeing was completely real. The athletes were gimmick-free, and you were seeing them as they are and the issues they had with other wrestlers were real//.// During these times, it was taboo for anyone affiliated with pro wrestling to ever publicly stray from their in-ring character. The result of a wrestler to do so would be considered a disgrace to the industry and that performer would be fired and blacklisted.

Due to the unsaid rule of kayfabe, wrestlers found their work environment hostile. Sometimes, "top draws", or the big names that would attract people to come out and buy tickets for pro wrestling events, would physically beat up and injure wrestlers who didn't have the same type of fame they did, and it wouldn't mean anything to them. They were the best in the business and their opponent is supposed to act injured after their match even if he really isn't. Hulk Hogan often tells stories of Andre the Giant and the methods Andre used to "test" his opponent and make sure they 'meant business' in the ring.

When a wrestler needed some time off for a vacation or to recuperate his body, his last match before his time off would be coordinated so that it would seem he'd need time off to rehab an injury. More currently, a need for an extended absence from wrestling would see that wrestler be publicly "fired" on a television show.

The Montreal Screwjob
The WWE, currently the biggest pro wrestling company in the word, was the first to "officially" break kayfabe in November 1997 with the infamous "Montreal Screwjob". In this instance, the WWE champion, Calgary, Alberta-born Bret "The Hitman" Hart's contract with WWE expired on November 10th, 1997 and he had already signed a contract to compete in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotion. The WWE wanted Hart to lose his title to the #1 contender for his championship, Shawn Michaels at a Pay-Per-View that took place in Montreal, Quebec on November 9th, 1997.

At that time, Bret Hart's in-ring character had imitated maybe a subtle part of his real character, as he had portrayed an anti-American. Hart's contract stipulated he had creative control of his character for the last 30 days of his tenure with WWE, and he refused dropping his belt in Canada. He proposed to WWE chairman Vince McMahon Jr. that instead of dropping the belt, the match would end in a disqualification, and then the next day, he would publicly relinquish the belt. This didn't sit well with McMahon as he then instructed the referee for the match, Earl Hebner, to announce Hart's defeat the instance Michaels had slapped on a submission move [above right]. This is what went down and McMahon was at ringside to make sure it happened. The instance it did, Hart spat directly into McMahon's face [left], and then spelled out the letters 'W', 'C', 'W' with his arms.

Since this time, WWE has been the only wrestling promotion that has preferred to drift away from being considered as a credible sport, and has endlessly labeled itself with a more honest title, "sports entertainment". As a further break of kayfabe, WWE now enforces a dress code, where all superstars must dress in business casual attire when arriving and leaving an arena.

=The Territories=

//More to come, if I've got the time.//

=The rise of the WWF's world-wide popularity=

Video killed the radio star... It also killed the wrestling territory system. With the taping and distribution of pro wrestling videos, viewers weren't restricted to watch the wrestling on closed circuit television. Vince McMahon Jr. was the first to use this method, and this set up a national demand to see the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) live. Therefore, Vince took his talent tours that weren't limited to the boundaries of the professional wrestling territories. The following are the main vehicles that sent the WWF to the top.

Hulkamania
Together, Vince McMahon and Terry Bollea orchestrated an in-ring character that would capture every wrestling crowd's imagination; Hulk Hogan. Terry's portrayal of Hulk Hogan was acclaimed for his charisma for his ability for his in-ring performance and his out-of-ring interviews. Every week, Hogan preached to his child fan base, or his 'Hulkamaniacs', to "Train hard, eat your vitamins, and say your prayers". Hogan became a real-life superhero and the crowd ate it up.

Hulk Hogan was the first wrestler to have a line of merchandise: t-shirts, hats, toys, posters, the whole works. As he took time in 1982 to act as the character called Thunderlips, in the movie Rocky III, Hogan initially adapted Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" as his ringside entrance theme. Later on, in 1986 (and ever since), Hogan has used "Real American" by Rick Derringer, a song synonymous with Hulkamania.

To many, the day Hulkamania was officially "born" was January 23rd, 1984; when Hogan defeated the wrestler, the Iron Sheik and became the WWF World Heavyweight Champion. This was the start of Hogan's four year title run, which has yet to be duplicated since.

The Rock'n'Wrestling Connection
In preparation for the on-coming big ticket event, WrestleMania, the WWF wanted more than just in-ring talent to draw the crowd; they wanted star power. With a television timeslot on MTV, celebrities started showing up on WWF programing. Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T were the celebrities that did a considerable amount of presentation.

WrestleMania
Considered the "Grand-daddy of 'em all", the first WrestleMania (WM) was held at Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) on March 31st, 1985. Celebrities who participated in the event were: Mr. T (who tag-teamed with Hulk Hogan), Muhammed Ali, Liberace, Cyndi Lauper, and Billy Martin; actor Danny DiVito sat in the audience.

The success of this event started an annual tradition, where the wrestling world culminates every year. WrestleManias are usually held on a Sunday in late March or within the first couple days in April. Every tenth WrestleMania takes place in the building the event had began, Madison Square Gardens.

WrestleMania 2
To atest to the WWF's popularity, their 2nd annual WrestleMania emanated from three locations: Los Angeles Sport Arena (Los Angeles, CA), the Rosemount Horizon (Chicago, IL), and Nassau Coliseum (New York, NY). Each location had their own main event: LA had "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match, Chicago had a 30 man battle royale featuring 15 stars from the WWF and 15 from the NFL, and NY had Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage Match. The following video is a vignette that aired to promote the Hogan/Bundy match: media type="youtube" key="uoKaEt6Az4M" align="right"

WrestleMania III
On March 29th, 1987, a record setting 93,173 people packed the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michighan for the third WrestleMania. The venue had not even seen that many in attendance for a Rolling Stones concert, or even *free* Mass when Pope John Paul III visited Pontiac.

The main event of the night was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. Andre the Giant had yet to be defeated in the WWF for 15 years at that point.

The massive attendance and overall reaction the WWF recieved after the event was a sheer testament to the WWF officially becoming the #1 brand in professional wrestling.

Attendance Records
Nowadays, it seems every year, the WWE sets new attendance records for the arena's they tour at. The picture to the right is a little glimpse of what 93,173 peole look like.

In many cases, they break attendance records that they, themselves have previously established. One case being in our very Rogers Centre (previously named the SkyDome), where at WrestleMania VI, the WWF set an attendance record of 67,678. Twelve years later, at WrestleMania XVIII, they broke that record with 68,237.

=The Monday Night Wars=

The Monday Night Wars lasted from 1995 to 2001. The term describes the ratings and popularity war that the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling promotions had during this period.

The decline of the WWF's popularity
In 1994, Vince McMahon's company was in the hot seat. There was cycle of low ratings for WWF programming and this was mainly due to a steroid distribution scandle that cost the WWF $5 million at a point that ratings and buy rates were declining. Due to low ratings and low buys, McMahon was forced to cutback names on the WWF talent roster, and had to cut wages earned by those names that stayed on the WWF talent roster.

Monday Night Raw
Though times were rough with the WWF, they still had a weekly show to run. The first Raw episode aired on January 11th, 1993 and was a 1 hour-long program to start off with. At this time the WWF had a broadcasting agreement with USA Network. Initially, Raw was always taped prior to it's airing.

As the talent roster of the WWF got shorter and shorter, the content on Raw became more and more predictable. Low ratings and low buys resulted in the WWF eventually adding a new, more abbrasive talent to their roster and adapting a new attitude in 1997 (later discussed).

World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
WCW was a wrestling promotion Ted Turner once owned. After turner had appointed Eric Bischoff as president of WCW in 1994, TimeWarner had offered Bischoof an open cheque book to ensure top-notch talent, and top-notch content on WCW programming. As the WWF's funding became more and more restricted, the WCW wrestled away WWF's top draws by offering them more money. Their first talent aquisition that broke the ice between the WWF and the WCW was when the then-retired Hulk Hogan signed a contract to compete in WCW. After this happened an unimaginable number of talent made the switch. Some of these big names were: Bret Hart, Macho Man Randy Savage, Ted DiBiasie, Bobby Heenan, and Gene Okerlund.

Monday Night Nitro
To combat with the WWF's Monday Night Raw, the WCW hosted a weekly event called Monday Night Nitro. Both Monday Night shows aired at the same time. In it's prime, the show offered a 3 hour long broadcast that featured a lot of the ex-WWF talent they had aquired over the years.

During the early stages of the Monday Night Wars, WWF Raw was previously taped before being broadcasted. Since WCW Nitro was always broadcasted live, on numerous occations President Eric Bischoff would start off the program by telling the audience exactly what happened on that week's episode of WWF Raw; completely spoiling any element of surprise that the WWF needed to have to gain any type of ratings.

The New World Order (nWo)
The nWo is probably the most dominant faction, or group of wrestlers, in pro wrestling history. At the time, the formation of the nWo brilliantly took the pure character of Hulk Hogan and turned him into the biggest heel, or onscreen villian. Hulk Hogan along with two other wrestlers, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall began their rampage in WCW in July 1997. This faction completely ran the WCW at one point, and audiences were loving it. During the nWo's two years of terror, they helped WCW Monday Night Nitro in beating out WWF's Raw in the ratings 84 weeks in a row.

WWF's "Attitude Era"
Just as Hulkamania has a "birthdate" so to did the WWF "Attitude Era". The Attitude Era started when wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XIV on March 29th, 1998. Austin was the anti-hero that wrestling audiences loved as he constantly assaulted and antagonized his boss, Vince McMahon.

The Attitude Era took the WWF in the direction that the Jerry Springer Show had. Some storylines were written to be considerably sexual in nature, other storylines were physically violent, and just about all of them were verbally profane. Austin along with other characters, such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels, the New Age Outlaws, Mick Foley and The Rock, this new attitude slowly helped the WWF reclaim their acclaimed status.

WWF Raw would finally score higher than WCW Nitro in the ratings on April 13th, 1998, ending its 84 week loosing streak.

At one point, the Attitude Era proved itself to be a little out of hand when, during a Pay-Per-View in May 1999 called Over The Edge, wrestler Owen Hart, who made his ring entrance by ascending from a cable fastened to the rafters of an arena, died when that cable was release prematurely and left Hart on a 24 metre freefall. He landed on the rings turnbuckle and was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Eventually, WWF would pick up some of the WCW's prized talent. Some of these names are: Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio Jr, The Big Show, and Eddie Guerrero.

WWF's Aquisition of WCW
As people were getting tired of WCW programming, WCW ratings went into a similar slump. TimeWarner's board of directers had changed and WCW was no longer a priority of theirs. As WCW talent went on and signed WWF contracts, they signed ex-WWF writer Vince Russo to be the chief storywriter for WCW. This move had cost them dearly, as his storylines were not recieved well by the WCW audience.

In March 2001, Vince McMahon finally bought out his main competitors for an unsaid amount, somewhere around $7 million. The final episode of WCW Nitro was on March 26th.

= = = = = = =The Business Today=

Since 2002, pro wrestling has had two major companies competing for superiority:

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Since their lost lawsuit, the World Wrestling Federation was ordered by British courts to change their 3 digit moniker (WWF) as it violated its agreement with the World Wildlife Fund with regards to the use of "WWF". In May 2002, CEO Linda McMahon announced the change of the WWF to the WWE. During this time the company briefly used the phrase "Get the 'F' Out!" as a tagline. The WWE continued in the same fashion as the WWF had.

Branding
During the dawn of the company as the WWE, they had no major competition; so they started to compete with themselves. They decided to make their two weekly on-air programs, Raw and SmackDown!, into "brands". In the past, the talent roster for these two programs was not set or clearly defined; a fan could see their favourite superstars on both shows. This move to "create" the branding of each show sent specific superstars to specific shows.

Due to an outrageous demand for a different type of pro wrestling, WWE revived a brand that they had previously acquired in June 2006, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). ECW was once a wrestling promotion that featured a no-holds-barred imperative; meaning things that would normally result in a wrestler's disqualification would be tolerated. In ECW, wrestlers may attack their opponent with anything they can, steel chairs, sledgehammers, baseball bats, kitchen sinks, etc...

Weekly Programming
Two thirds of WWE's programming pre-existed the WWE 'era'. Monday Night Raw currently airs on USA Network at 9pm. This timeslot, yes, conflicts with Monday night football (NFL), but has been the night for wrestling fans since 1993. In fact, since no week is the same, Raw has aired more episodes than any other television program in history (yes, MORE than the Simpsons!); as of November 25th, 2006, the WWE has aired 705 episodes of Raw.

Talent
A short list of WWE's current top draws:
 * John Cena
 * David Batista
 * Hulk Hogan
 * Edge
 * The Big Show
 * Triple H
 * The Undertaker
 * Kane
 * Shawn Michaels
 * Rob Van Dam
 * Chris Masters
 * Rick Flair
 * Randy Orton
 * Carlito

Pay-Per-View Events
Since the brand split, different shows participate at different Pay-Per-Views. (R) > Raw (SD!) > SmackDown! (E) > ECW
 * January || **New Year's Revolution** //(R)// **Royal Rumble** //(R/SD!/E)// ||
 * February || **No Way Out** //(SD!)// ||
 * March || **WrestleMania** //(R/SD!/E)// ||
 * April || **Backlash** //(R)// ||
 * May || **Judgment Day** //(SD!)// ||
 * June || **One Night Stand** //(E)// **Vengeance** //(R)// ||
 * July || **The Great American Bash //(SD!)//** ||
 * August || **SummerSlam** (R/SD!/E) ||
 * September || **Unforgiven** (R) ||
 * October || **No Mercy** //(SD!)// ||
 * November || **Cyber Sunday** //(R)// **Survivor Series** //(R/SD!/E)// ||
 * December || **December To Dismember** //(E)// **Armageddon** //(SD!)// ||

Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
With the acquisition of the WCW by WWE in 2001, there were a number of (now) ex-WCW talent that vowed to never work (again) for Vince McMahon Jr. One wrestler in particular, Jeff Jerrett has a personal issue with McMahon considering the Owen Hart incident, as Owen Hart was his best friend. It took a year to get it rolling, but in 2002, Jeff Jerrett and his father Jerry Jerrett started up the Orlando, Florida-based Total Nonstop Action promotion. This promotion has operated as the alternative to WWE and arguably features a higher degree of high-risk wrestling. The X-Division of TNA talent features a list of young stars under 220 lbs that perform a lot of high-flying maneuvers.

Going Primetime
At first, TNA programming could be viewed weekly only on Pay-Per-View for about $10 a week. Their buys from these weekly shows simply were not generating profit.

It took TNA two years to make it on cable television. In June 2004, Fox Sports Net (FSN) aired their weekly program named //iMPACT!// until May 2005. Towards the end of their broadcasting deal with FSN, ratings had stagnated at a 0.2 share.

With no TV spot between May to September 2005, TNA streamed //iMPACT!// on their website and made them available on BitTorrent clients.

After Spike TV’s deal with WWE ended in October 2005, they picked up TNA programming. Spike’s timeslot for //iMPACT!// progressed from Saturdays at midnight on a bi-weekly basis, to a weekly slot on Thursdays at 11pm in April 2006. WWE’s move of their Thursday night program //SmackDown!// to Friday nights left TNA in an ideal situation, where the audience that would usually tune into WWE programming now tuned into TNA programming.

In November 2006, Spike finally put TNA programming in the most ideal timeslot they could ask for, Thursdays at 9pm weekly. TNA now enjoys their highest ratings with //iMPACT!// and an increase of Pay-Per-View buys that this new timeslot has allowed them.

Competition?
WWE representatives don’t consider TNA to be their competition; they are more concerned with the ratings and buys that Ultimate Fighting/Mixed Martial Arts promotion generates. The only time WWE programming has aired on TV at the same time as TNA programming was April 1st, 2006, where WWE won in ratings.

However, recently on the November 2nd, 2006 episode of //iMPACT!//, two ex-WWE names Kip & BG James announced their new moniker: the Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM). VKM then announced a “war” on Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWE; VKM vs. VKM. Since this episode, the Voodoo Kin Mafia has appeared and filmed themselves at a number of WWE events to film acts where they would verbally attack the WWE’s product. These acts are reminiscent of D-Generation X’s acts against the WCW. As footage these acts from Voodoo Kin Mafia have been broadcasted on //iMPACT!// episodes, WWE programming has yet to acknowledge them in any way; similar to WCW’s apathetic acknowledgement of D-Generation X.

Talent
Some of the top draws in TNA are as follows:
 * AJ Styles
 * Samoa Joe
 * Kurt Angle
 * Jeff Jerrett
 * Abyss
 * Christian Cage
 * Sting
 * Christopher Daniels
 * Chris Sabin

Pay-Per-View Events
A list of TNA programs offered annually on Pay-Per-View:
 * January || **Final Resolution** ||
 * February || **Against All Odds** ||
 * March || **Destination X** ||
 * April || **Lockdown** ||
 * May || **Sacrifice** ||
 * June || **Slammiversary** ||
 * July || **Victory Road** ||
 * August || **Hard Justice** ||
 * September || **No Surrender** ||
 * October || **Bound For Glory** ||
 * November || **Genesis** ||
 * December || **Turning Point** ||

One’s loss, another’s gain…
These two promotions don't just battle for TV ratings, they compete for talent too.

The competition for talent wasn't a factor at all at first; as TNA was an unknown promotion, the WWE was definitely the brand to be in. In July 2005, WWE released a lengthy list of 18 superstars that didn't suit the needs of the company. Among this list were: Jackie Gayda, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Shannon Moore, Jim Cornette, Spike Dudley, Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley; who all instantly signed TNA contracts afterwards.

Since then, as some of the WWE's talent has either (1) gotten sick of the character they portrayed and asked for an early release, (2) have been released by WWE or (3) have decided not to renew their contract with WWE, an equally lengthy list of superstars have signed TNA contracts right after. On the current TNA talent roster, the following names have defunct from WWE and gone to TNA: BG James, Brother Devon, Brother Ray, Brother Runt, Christian Cage, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Jackie Gayda, Jim Cornette, Kevin Nash, Kip James, Kurt Angle, Raven, Rhino, Scott Steiner, and Tyson Tomko.

As of late, the converse has begun to happen. Former TNA headliner Monty Brown has recently signed a WWE contract. There has also been a number of anonymous TNA superstars who are unhappy with TNA management. One named TNA star, Ron Killings has requested an early release from TNA; to which TNA stated that they would not entertain his request as they don't want him working for their competition.

=Bibliography=

"Hulk Still Rules". World Wrestling Entertainment Productions. 2002.

"McMahon". World Wrestling Entertainment Productions. 2006.

"NWO: Back in Black". World Wrestling Entertainment Productions. 2002.

"The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There'll Ever Will Be: The Bret Hart Story". World Wrestling Entertainment Productions. 2005.

"The Monday Night Wars" World Wrestling Entertainment Productions. 2004.