| Role/Occupation Wrestler |
| Total Entries 10 |
| Representative Mr. Universe |
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Professional Wrestling, as the term is understood today, is a cooperative endeavor in which athletes face off in loosely choreographed matches with pre-determined outcomes, in a manner resembling a type of freestyle combat loosely based on Greco-Roman wrestling, amateur/Olympic wrestling, and (since The ’90s) Mixed Martial Arts (which themselves grew partially out of pro wrestling). Modern professional wrestling derived from “Catch Wrestling”, a grappling style developed by carnival promoters in late 19th century Britain, which soon gained popularity in America as a legitimate form of athletic competition. By the early years of the 20th century, the sport had evolved into a “work” where the winners of bouts were determined ahead of time by the organizers, with wrestlers working “face” or “heel” to elicit respective cheers or boos from the audience. From this arrangement, a system gradually evolved of numerous territorial wrestling leagues across the US, cooperating under the auspices of the National Wrestling Alliance (which WWE, WCW, ECW, and almost every other major promotion in North America and some outside of it were affiliated with at one point), which sponsored the world championship and other titles, picked the champions, and arranged for the top talent from the territories to go on tour and gain national exposure. In 1963 the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, once the NWA’s New England territory, split from the group, rechristened itself the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later the World Wrestling Federation [WWF], now World Wrestling Entertainment [WWE]), and over the following decades expanded on a national scale to create the wrestling industry as it exists today… The history of pro wrestling is a bit convoluted; until the late ’80s/early ’90s, promoters claimed that wrestling was a legitimate sport, and attempted to hide the fact that it was scripted at all costs. The truth is the performances are as ritualistic and stylized as Japanese Kabuki Theatre or Italian Commedia dell’Arte: each match is a miniature set piece, using stock “characters”, “plots” and “twists”… ~ Professional Wrestling – TV Tropes
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