Wrestling has a history that can be traced back to about 3000 BC. In fact, the sport started during the Babylonian rule and existed from empire to empire. However, much credit is given t the Greeks who greatly promoted this sports. The history of professional wrestling can be traced to early 20th century.
There are two main types of the game i. E. The Greco-Roman (which was the most common and widely practiced form of fight from the time of the Babylonians to the 19th century) and the catch style (which allows grapples below the waist). The major difference is that while the Greco/Roman type did not allow the players to grapple below the waist, catch allowed it. They were however, real and legitimate sports where winning was contested for and earned.
The beginning of twentieth century marked a turn in how the sport was done. Promoters resorted to professional fighting where the match outcomes were predetermined and contests, heavily scripted. It was all in an effort to increase the entertainment value of the sport. The game therefore borrowed a lot from catch style and its rules. The main idea was to contract and train performers. Ideas such as tag teams and use of distraction to win contests were also introduced.
It is therefore right to define the game as a stage-managed fight between well-coached performers who also know how to react to the match outcomes. The performers are to follow a given storyline and develop feuds for the excitement of the audience. It is true that these feuds and well-written storyline played a major role on the continuity and popularity of the game across the country.
The advent of Cable and television are seen as another turning point in the history of the sport. It was obvious in the 1950s and 1980s when the televisions and cable were introduced that there was a great boost in its popularity and acceptance. It is therefore referred to as the golden age of the game. Main promoters like the National Wrestling Alliance ((NWA) also got popular during this time.
Even though the NWA was popular and controlled the sport, there were groups that started their splinter organizations. Among such splinter groups were the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the American Wrestling Association. These were based in New York and Minnesota in that order. However, their popularity was not to go far as they did not excel in building storyline and staging performances. They also lacked a popular national star one like Lou Thesz.
It is said that their main failure was in their inability to come up with convincing storyline. As the game was just getting national acceptance, people still though it was legitimate and thus a perfectly convincing plot and staging was necessary. Both WWF and AWA lacked or were not good in these. There were also claims of abuse of steroid by some of their performers.
Whereas
the history of professional wrestling is long, the game has since developed into one of the most watched sports nationally and arguably among the top revenue earner. The sport is also practiced in other major countries. There is Japan, Mexico, Australia and the United Kingdom just to name a few.
