What Do You Know About Wrestling?

Ask anyone what wrestling is and they will be able to answer. This sport is a worldwide phenomenon with millions of fans. However, not so many people know how wrestling was born and where it comes from.

Professional wrestling, pro wrestling, or simply wrestling is actually a form of performance art and entertainment. It combines theatrical performance with athletics. Wrestling usually takes the form of events that are organized by touring companies, mimicking a title-match combat sport.

Wrestling is a billion-dollar entertainment industry. In the 1980s, local forms of wrestling declined very much in Europe, while in North America they gained momentum. Later on, the advent of television offered pro wrestling a new opening.

Where does it come from?

This unique form of sport which is displayed is based on, as well as evolved from, classical and catch wrestling, alongside modern additions such as strength-based holds and throws, acrobatic maneuvers, and striking attacks. Most of these additions originate in various international martial arts. To make things even more spectacular, improvised weaponry may sometimes be included in a fight.

Wrestling originates in a popular form of entertainment from the 19th-century Europe. Later, it grew into sideshow exhibitions in North American traveling as well as vaudeville halls. It was not long before professional wrestling grew into a standalone style of entertainment with numerous variations in cultures around the world. Wrestling and boxing soon became instrumental in making pay-per-view a great method of content delivery. Show wrestling has become very popular, especially in Central and North America, Europe, particularly the UK, and Japan.

Profits

The revenue for professional wrestling comes from ticket sales, pay-per-view broadcasts, home video, network television broadcasts, and branded merchandise. Annual pro wrestling events like WrestleMania, Wrestle Kingdom, or Bound for Glory are some of the highest-selling pay-per-view events every year.

Today, internet programming has been used by various companies in order to air web shows, on-demand content, and internet pay-per-view. These resources help produce internet-related revenue profits from the continuously-evolving World Wide Web.

There are also the home video sales that dominate the Billboard charts of Recreational Sports DVD sales, and wrestling is holding between three to nine of the top ten spots weekly.

Wrestling and art

Given its persistent cultural presence, as well as its novelty among the performing arts, professional wrestling is a recurring subject in both the media and academia. There have been a few documentaries produced about pro wrestling.

The most notable ones are Wrestling with Shadows directed by Paul Jay and featuring Bret Hart and Beyond the Mat, which was directed by Barry W. Blaustein. Numerous fictional depictions about wrestling have also been created such as the 2008 film The Wrestler which also received a few Oscar nominations and started a career revival for Mickey Rourke.

Rules

In the case of professional wrestling, there is no governing authority for rules but there is a general standard that was developed. Even if they are usually similar, each promotion has its own variation. Given the staged nature of wrestling, there are no exact rules. Still, there is a general structure that can be followed.

Wrestling matches are held between two or more sides or corners. Each corner has one, two, or a team of more wrestlers. Most team matches are directed by tag team rules, while other matches are free-for-alls with multiple fighters and no teams. In all cases, there is only one winning fighter or team. The conventional method of scoring is the fall.

This is accomplished through a few methods. One of them is pinning the rival’s shoulders to the mat, usually for three seconds. Other methods include forcing the adversary to submit, disqualifying the opponent, or knocking out or incapacitating the enemy. Also, if the rival remains outside the ring for too long, the other fighter wins; this is called count-out.

Wrestling equipment The market certainly has a lot to offer, and wrestling equipment is not hard to find at all. If you want to know about wrestling boots, there are tons of articles and products online. This review, for example, provides information about the top-rated products in this line. If you want to know more about headgear, you can also find a lot of information. You can also find knee pads, singlets, wrestling mats, and various other types of wrestling pieces of equipment.