Talk:History of professional wrestling

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Conflict between writers?[edit]

The section on European wrestling in particular reads like people having an argument... "There were at one time over 70 titles. Actually, only the world and British had prominence. There were others, however. They were mainly titular."

Utter nonsense. Please correct. 214.3.138.234 (talk) 13:33, 23 September 2010 (UTC)Steve[reply]

split?[edit]

there is a wealth of material here, but as was remarked back in 2010, it reads more like an argument, constantly harping on a "legitimacy" question, rather than a lucid historical presentation. Perhaps the split into "history by territory" doesn't really help.

I came here to find out since when the unintuitive meaning of "professional" vs. "amateur" wrestling (meaning choreographed vs. competitive) has been common usage. I understand that choreographed or "worked" wrestling originates as actual deception in wrestling matches that were supposed to be competitive. This was in the 19th century, and I suppose this just counts as match fixing as might still occur in any competitive sport.

But at some point, I gather from the article it was during the 1920s or 1930s, the matches were all fixed, and were supposed to be. It would actually be "illegitimate" to participate in such matches and break choreography by actually trying to win. At the same time, the "amateur" idea of the Olympic games would have introduced the notion of "amateur wrestling" as purely competitive. So from what time did "professional" no longer mean "you are paid to do it" but rather "it's not competitive"? The article gives a ton of detail on who did what, but it doesn't bother clarifying terminology. --dab (𒁳) 08:28, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

perhaps the topic could be split into the following periods

  • predecessors and early development before WWI
  • early history during the interbellum period
  • renewed popularity after WWII (and decline in the 1970s)
  • the 1980s-1990s boom
  • 1990s to present and current status (decline)

These sections would then treat UK, US, Mexico and Japan alongside one another, but there is enough material here for a new dedicated article on History of professional wrestling in the United States (and possibly also for UK, Mexico and Japan, or else use the "History" section in the main articles, as in Professional wrestling in Australia#History.

The periodic rise and decline in public interest is intriguing, especially as it seems to dovetail with geopolitics (i.e. major wars). It stands to reason that there is more interest in slapstick-style, exaggerated shows of combat during peacetime, and that the same exercise would strike people as tasteless while a major war, wiping out most of the current generation of young males, would be going on). But the most recent decline in interest seems to reflect just the passing out of fashion of exaggerated "1980s cheesiness", with more mainstream interest in "gritty" shows delivered in MMA. Now MMA has reached a peak of popularity, it will be interesting to see if this changes again in favour of interest in more flamboyant styles in the late 2010s. --dab (𒁳) 08:50, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

False Statements "However, with wrestling's decline in the 1970s, the WWF, without its top draw, Bruno Sammartino as champion, suffered a blow, and had to rejoin the NWA in 1971".....WWWF drew huge gates in the 70's during Bruno Sammartino's second run. Year after year of sellouts. Also Andre the Giant was not the most popular wrestler. He had to be farmed out to other territories because audiences tired of him quickly, McMahon Sr. could see it right away. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mfbinc (talk • contribs) 04:51, 19 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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