Wrestling

Today anyone that watches master copy clamshell knows that it is athletic competition mixed with entertainment. Over the years the sport has kick the bucket popular beingwide but nowhere more than North America, Europe, and Japan. All the way into the 1920s professional grappling iron was very much considered a sport that was substantive. It was after the 1920s that professional combat became associated with what we call fakery, which in other words is theatricals or admitting to fake outcomes. For a while it seemed that because of fakery, competition became low s foreveralise and its popularity took a deep fall.It was hard for promoters to stand up for a sport that was admittedly not real. There was actually a bigger fight in the back rooms of professional wrestling, where the hosts and promoters wouldnt admit the fakery while all the sponsors knew exactly what was going on. (Professional Wrestling) In todays professional wrestling no one denies the fact that wrestling has predetermined matches, but they also do a great job of keeping the outcome a secret. In the 1950s the boob tube opened a lot of doors for a lot of opportunities and professional wrestling was no exception .It was at this point that the face of professional wrestling was changed forever. Now it was being ferment to adapt to television and its growing viewers. Characters and story lines were being built bigger and better. Pro wrestling has been a form of entertainment for a very foresightful time, and has seen its share of ups and d consumes, but the storylines that have been used in the WWF have become leg nullifyary and something similar to the soap opera of the sporting world. Wrestling began in the early on days as a hot television product.Over time, they lost their spot on the air, and became highly regional in nature. Each area of the country had their own stable of wrestlers, and their own championships. Professional wrestling carried on for many years just gaining populari ty until 1980 when professional wrestling blew up like nobody would have ever thought. In the 1980s, a time known as the 1980s wrestling boom represented professional wrestlings greatest period of televised entertainment, reaching widespread popularity among American youth, as well as producing some of its most spectacular characters.In comparison to the declining support of media outlets during the 1960s and 1970s, professional wrestling, notably the emerging World Wrestling Federation, authoritative great exposure through its reappearance on network television. The WWF expanded nationally through the acquisition of talent from competing promotions and, because it was the only company to air televised wrestling nationally it became the same with the industry, monopolizing the industry and the fan base.The WWFs owner Vince McMahon revolutionized the sport by coining the term sports entertainment to describe his on-screen product, downplaying the still claimed athletic competition i n opt of entertaining viewers as well as enhancing its appeal to children. Most notable was the muscular Hulk Hogan, who marked the 1980s with his all-American persona. His sheer size, colorful character, and dissolution made his main events into excellent ratings draws. By 1984, Hulk Hogans legions of fans and his dominant role in the industry were termed Hulkamania. With Hulkamania running wild Vince McMahon decided to have a tiptop bowl of wrestling called WrestleMania in 1985. By WrestleMania 3 in 1987, over 93,000 fans showed up for the event. (The McMahons Vince and Family) On April 1, 1990 WrestleMania VI took place and is recognized as the end of the 1980s wrestling boom. The event saw the last wrestling appearance of the legendary Andre the Giant, who had become barely mobile in the ring due to his real life condition.One last time Nikolai Volkoff played his standard part as the evil Soviet Russian before turning face and embracing America, reflecting the end of the Cold War. The main event not only put the WWFs two greatest good guys against each other, but was intended as the passing of the flashlight from Hulk Hogan, the star of the 1980s, to The Ultimate Warrior who was extremely popular and considered Hogans successor. Hogans clean pin fall loss to the Ultimate Warrior signaled the end of an era.However, the Warrior did not live up to expectations and Hogan lingered on in the WWF for the next three years, winning the title three times more. The fans who were kids in the mid and late 1980s were teens by the 1990s, and many eventually grew bored with the merry book style of wrestling of the 1980s, turning their attention away from their childhood favorites such as Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, and Superfly Jimmy Snuka in favor of newer and grittier wrestlers like The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, The Rock, rock n roll Cold Steve capital of Texas, and Triple H.This started a new attitude era moving forward into the 90s and Vi nce McMahon took center stage. As the ratings unplowed soaring McMahon kept getting edgier. The 90s proved to be even bigger with professional wrestling setting all kinds of records when it came to viewership, and finances earned. It seemed that the WWF were the big boys on the block. Protesters claimed that the WWFs shows were filled with violence, obscenity, and imitation sex. McMahon claims that movies have more sex and violence, and that his shows simply reflect the world at large. The McMahons Vince and Family) McMahon said that it was his job to entertain, and it was the parents job to be responsible for what their children watch.The television ratings also opened many doors in many other ways for numerous professional wrestlers. Such stars as The Rock and lapidate Cold Steve Austin moved on from being the top guy in the business to building great movie careers. By 1998 some of the topnotch guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bill Goldberg from the WWFs predecessor WCW wer e making over five million dollars a year. Pro Wrestling) Twenty years prior to 1998 professional wrestling wasnt even worth five million dollars. Next, through wise business deals made by WWE owner Vince McMahon, pro wrestling became in the beginning run by the WWE. The World Wrestling Federation was easily the richest company, and began to completely dominate television. Their primary competition would be from the WCW, which evolved from Georgia, North Carolina, and the old NWA of the region. Billionaire Ted Turner purchased the WCW, and the Monday wickedness wars began. The WWE had the ever popular Monday Night Raw, and WCW countered with Monday Nitro.Turner began using his cable muscle and money to lure some of the biggest stars in WWF history such as Hulk Hogan, sexy Savage, Bret Hart, and many others. It looked as though the WCW would overtake the WWF as the powerhouse in pro wrestling. Eventually, however, WCW was completely destroyed by poor booking, finances, and leadersh ip. The upstart competitor was bury by the WWE, and they once again stood head and shoulders above the wrestling world. As the professional landscape of wrestling stands today, their are two major players.TNA wrestling has interpreted on the mantle of battling the giant WWE, though they are having less success than their WCW contemporaries. TNA may yet figure it out, but for now the WWE is the only major wrestling organization at the top. Although professional wrestling is a lot different today then it was forty years ago, greats like Gorgeous George and Lou Thesz during the mid 1900s paved the way for todays wrestlers to be on television. George and Lou wrestled, and they were glorified as being modern day gladiators who went to war with their enemy.They were seen as a superhero or a role model to kids. Todays wrestlers although still considered super heroes to kids, now play a different role in being a role model for children. Now being a professional wrestler is like being a roc k star. You travel all around the world, youre seen on television on a weekly basis, and now you even get paid like a rock star. WWE programming is now beamed to great hundred countries and translated into 11 languages. (Professional Wrestling) Wrestling today is so different from the traditional roots of professional wrestling, but maybe in a good way.The wrestling world has evolved in a way were the WWEs show Monday Night Raw is now the longest running show in television history. Vince McMahon, whether you love him or hate him, he must be doing something right to be known as the man who took professional wrestling into the twenty first century.Work Cited Gerdes, Louise I. Professional Wrestling. San Diego, CA Greenhaven, 2002. Print. Greenberg, Keith Elliot. Pro Wrestling from Carnivals to Cable TV. Minneapolis, MN LernerSports, 2000. Print. Kaelberer, Angie Peterson. The McMahons Vince McMahon and Family. Mankato, MN Capstone High-Interest, 2004. Print.