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Why is pro wrestling called pro wrestling?


the stupid dragon

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When you say pro wrestling was (for a brief time at least) legit, do you mean people were doing moves like elbow drops off the top turnbuckle as a legitimate offensive attack? I know wrestling evolved by getting fixed, which is where pro wrestling originated, and that started around 1900, though I thought the fancy moves (like elbow drops from the top turnbuckle) were invented since it became predetermined and more about creating a spectacle. Though I image in 1900 pro wrestling can't have been much different to amateur wrestling as all the fancy stuff came in the second half or last centuary, unless someone knows otherwise?

 

Does anyone know of any books or sources where I can find out more on how pro wrestling came about?

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When you say pro wrestling was (for a brief time at least) legit, do you mean people were doing moves like elbow drops off the top turnbuckle as a legitimate offensive attack? I know wrestling evolved by getting fixed, which is where pro wrestling originated, and that started around 1900, though I thought the fancy moves (like elbow drops from the top turnbuckle) were invented since it became predetermined and more about creating a spectacle. Though I image in 1900 pro wrestling can't have been much different to amateur wrestling as all the fancy stuff came in the second half or last centuary, unless someone knows otherwise?

 

People were most certainly not doing any turnbuckle moves, slingshots, Irish whips or anything even remotely flashy in this era. I

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When you say pro wrestling was (for a brief time at least) legit, do you mean people were doing moves like elbow drops off the top turnbuckle as a legitimate offensive attack?

Do you think before you post? We'll have a shoot match. You try a top-rope elbow drop and see how far you get. Not to mention in "real" pro wrestling it was illegal to leave the ring, and that includes scaling to the top rope.

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Professional wrestling was a term used to distinguish the product from 'wrestling', which most Americans would probably associate with the collegiate sport.

 

You don't need to confuse the technical definition of the word 'professional' with its purpose in this sense. There are plenty of unprofessional professional wrestlers.

 

^This^

 

'Professional Wrestling' is the name of the industry/genre/pseudo-sport, therefore there are 'professional' Pro Wrestlers and 'amateur' Pro Wrestlers.

 

Arguing that someone isn't a professional wrestler because they don't get paid/make a living from it is the same as arguing that the theory of evolution is 'just a theory'. It's a clear misunderstanding of the meaning of that word within that specific context.

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Back in the old days of WOS, you had to actually be able to wrestle (or have some sort of legit martial art background) so no one could question you could really fight. They would work their way up in freestyle wrestling, and then when they really knew how to wrestle for real, they'd go on to wrestle in the pro ranks, making a living out of it. Jon Cortez, Mike Morino, Mick McManus and many more were world champions of freestyle wrestling (or at least British champions). Nowadays no one needs to know how to really wrestle which is a shame because it adds so much more to a bout when you have that shoot fight aspect to it.

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Khemical my friend, perhaps your too swept up in conforming to my devil's advocacy to really understand the methods to my apparent maddness.

 

:alien:

Yes. You're some omnipotent being with unparalleled interest. Shame you're wasting it on a professional wrestling fan forum.

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