The Wrestling Bard 05.02.09: The Evolution of Sports Entertainment

A Brief Summation of This Column
Sports entertainment has evolved over the years. Social mores and current events have led to changes in booking and storylines. Over the years, it seems as though the “sports” aspect has taken a backseat to the “entertainment”. Promos and skits take up more time the average RAW or iMPACT than the in-ring action. But it’s not just the amount of in-ring action, but the content of the action that has changed. What was once an industry built on worked catch wrestling has evolved to include gymnastics, striking, power lifting, taunts, weapons, and crowd interaction.

This column features two major parts of an eventual eight part series, covering two major factors in the evolution of today’s in ring product. This series will show how diverse so called “wrestling” has become. In fact, Vince McMahon’s “sports entertainment” term may be a more appropriate catch-all than “professional wrestling”. Actual wrestling plays a much smaller role than before ever in an in-ring product that is more accurately described as “worked combat sports”.

Catch Wrestling

If Frank Gotch or Georg Hackenschmidt were to take one look at a typical main event in today’s sports entertainment world, they’d probably be shocked, and possibly even disgusted at the content of the match. And I’m not just talking about Triple H vs. John Cena, Undertaker vs. Edge, or Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle. I’m also talking KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries, and Mike Quackenbush vs. Ultra Mantis Black. Jarrett vs. Angle and Danielson vs. Aries might be comparable to the style, barring any shenanigans. But still, you have the taunting and brawling of Jarrett, the high flying of Aries (and to a lesser extent Angle), and the MMA influence of Angle and Danielson. Not to mention the pace would be about 100 times faster.

Now granted, that may be a little too extreme, since in their day, the wrestling matches were still legitimate contests of skill. But let’s go just a little bit forward to a man who many consider to be THE legend of professional wrestling, Lou Thesz. Thesz was a hooker who could beat anyone in a shoot, but if things stayed polite, he was still an entertaining grappler. Thesz knew psychology and was constantly looking for new moves to separate himself from the rest of the crowd. He was also a class act with a ton of charisma. However, in the waning years of his career, he lamented how people like Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon had ruined the “purity” of wrestling. Later, he would acknowledge that Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were everything a professional wrestler should be. But still, the style of these two is radically different from that of Thesz.

Professional wrestling is called such because wrestling was the first combat sport to be adapted into a “work”. Promoters realized they could make more money if their wrestlers were cooperating to be entertaining instead of struggling against each other to get a victory. To see a bit of that same phenomenon, you can look at MMA and see how many fans have turned against certain fighters for being “boring”, even though their strategies are very sound. Wrestling matches stopped being shoots and became works. Because of that, any worked combat is going to be compared to “professional wrestling”.

Let’s make this pretty clear. Wrestling is grappling with the goal of somehow restraining an opponent, usually pinfall. Other sorts of grappling, such as catch-as-catch-can or jiujitsu, is focused on submission. Hence the “pinfall or submission” stipulation of ending a match carried onto the worked version. But punching, kicking, and weapons have no place in “real” wrestling. Neither does taunting or gymnastics. It’s a very pure, very respectful, and very strict sport. Want to know what happens when somebody starts flipping around in a wrestling match?

Yeah. That’s what would happen if Rey Mysterio got in the ring with Lou Thesz.

My point in pointing out what actual wrestling is to point out how different the world of “professional wrestling” is from actual wrestling. People tend to mock the term “sports entertainment” because it tends to downplay in-ring work, but at least it acknowledges wrestling is only a part of the overall picture. Nowadays, wrestling tends to be called technical wrestling. Most think that this refers to “technique”, but part of me thinks it’s called that because it’s “technically” wrestling. Another word for technical is actual, and actual wrestling is only a part of the style.

The change from “shoot” to “work” had a very profound impact. A work is done for entertainment, and therefore, a worker is an entertainer. And ever since wrestling became a work, workers have been looking for new ways to entertain the crowd and work an exciting match. It wasn’t long before a worker had to know how to punch and kick convincingly. Soon, you had to know how to cheat in order to draw boos. Since it was a work, heroes and villains had to develop, and the easiest way to become a villain was to taunt your opponent and cheat. For the most part, the heroes were wrestlers, while the villains became brawlers and cheaters. Wrestling was still valued, but other things were sneaking their way in.

Professional wrestling in a sense died in the 1950’s when Gorgeous George became one of the two most recognized wrestlers in the world, the other being Thesz. It was not his technical skill that made him stand out, but rather his flamboyant pretty-boy persona. Credited as having the first gimmick in wrestling, George was a major stepping stone on the path to sports entertainment. “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers followed in his footsteps and was one of the most successful grapplers of his or any age. Such personalities as Dusty Rhodes, Billy Graham, Ric Flair, and Hulk Hogan were to follow.

As you watch this match, you can see that the catch-as-catch-can style of Gotch, Thesz, the Funks and the Briscos was still relevant, but just three decades past the heyday of Lou Thesz, the style of worked matches was drastically changing. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair was one of the last people who was still around in the heydey of “professional wrestling”, but he managed to adapt to sports entertainment as well as anyone.

Showmanship

Lou Thesz. Terry and Dory Funk. Harley Race. Jack Brisco. Ric Flair. Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels. Triple H. Kurt Angle.

Every one of these men is a legend in sports entertainment. They are recognized for their tremendous abilities as workers and significant fanbase. Another thing they have in common is that you can ask the average non-wrestling fan, and it is highly unlikely they will be able to mention one of them, and a true rarity if they can name more than two. However, there is one wrestler whose name is known by almost everybody, fan or not.

Hulk Hogan.

To say that Hogan revolutionized professional wrestling is a huge understatement. The charismatic big man was able to take a niche genre and, along with Vince McMahon, market it until it was a pop culture phenomenon. In the process, he transcended the industry and became a true icon of the sports world as well as the entertainment world. He is the single biggest “name” in wrestling history. He also was nowhere near the worker of any of the ten men listed above. But ultimately, that doesn’t matter. If you ask anyone twenty and up to name a professional wrestler, the majority of them will say Hulk Hogan.

Another legendary figure in sports entertainment is Keiji Mutoh. Known to American fans as the Great Muta, Mutoh was able to defy the odds of the ethnocentric American fans to become a main event player in WCW. His fame in Japan is even greater. He is easily one of the biggest “name stars” in that country. However, just like Hulk Hogan, Mutoh is an average worker whose larger than life persona is more relevant to his importance than his matches.

If you’ve seen one Hulk Hogan match, you’ve seen ninety-nine percent of them. The guy has his routine of taunts, moves, and finishing sequence down to a science. He could probably do it sleepwalking. Ditto for Muta. The guy does the same stuff every match. The mist. The stalling. The mindgames. The legwork. The brawling. The moonsault. The Shining Wizard. Granted, his routine is much more complicated, better thought out, and much more workrate friendly than Hulk Hogan’s punching, taunting, and power moves. But it’s still the same schtick with almost no variation. And believe me, the stalling, the methodical legwork, and the handwaving gets old real fast.

However, the fact remains that if you are a fan of either guy, you will likely overlook the faults of these schticks. All things considered, they are GREAT schticks, and that’s why they are so successful. But one thing is extremely overlooked is just how influential these guys have been on the actual in-ring product. Few people would EVER admit that Hogan has affected the “work” of sports entertainment, but he did.

First, Hogan made punching and power lifting much more acceptable than they were. The WWWF (later WWF and then WWE), had always relied on workers who were more style than pure wrestling substance. Bruno Sammartino had shades of wrestling ability, but for the most part was a brawler. Billy Graham was a solid worker, but his style was focused more on strength and flaunting his impressive physique. While both were incredible draws, Sammartino’s drawing power diminished when he left the northeast. Graham had more widespread success, but his own self-destructive behavior and tendency to work heel meant it was unlikely that he would have the success of Hulk Hogan.

Hogan was able to take the best of Sammartino, Graham, and a few others (most notably Dusty Rhodes) and make it his own. His success allowed brawlers like Austin and the Rock to be accepted in the world of “professional wrestling”. He decreased the value of workrate and wrestling and raised the stock of showmanship and brawling. And while people like to mock the “Hulk Up” sequence, Hogan popularized that kind of babyface comeback. Everyone from Bret Hart to John Cena to KENTA has been influenced by the “five moves of doom” comeback sequence. One could argue that the “moves of doom” are the single’s match equivalent of the hot tag. It happens in almost every match, but it’s exciting. Formula only becomes formula because it works.

Muta’s influence is perhaps even greater. His unique blend of American inspired showmanship and the extremely realistic and strategic Japanese style allowed him to revolutionize wrestling on both sides of the Pacific. People often talk about Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Ricky Steamboat as pioneers for allowing smaller wrestlers to have success in North America, but they often overlook Muta. Muta helped popularize the moonsault as well as his kicks. It’s not hard to draw a direct line from Muta to the Ultimo Dragon, Jushin Liger, and Rey Mysterio.

In Japan, Muta’s supernatural character and over the top shenanigans was not the norm as they were when he came to work in America in the 1980’s. Cartoon characters such as Jushin Liger and Tiger Mask were popular, but they were relegated to midcard status as Junior Heavyweights. Muta helped legitimize these outlandish characters as main event worthy in Japan. This allowed New Japan to counter the very “pure” All Japan, whose main event scene consistent of great workers who worked a realistic style, with main eventers who had interesting personalities, better showmanship, and less traditional realistic movesets.

Another argument could be made that Muta’s use of mind games, body part psychology, and the fact that he actually SOLD things had an influence on Mexican luchadors. If you’ve ever watched lucha (more on that next week), it’s more like a dance than a fight. It’s showmanship to the extreme and selling is not nearly as important as gymnastics displays. Muta proved that you could integrate showmanship and gymnastics with the psychology of American wrestling and make it work. Muta’s influence on the styles of main event talent and lower card talent is pretty impressive.

Neither Muta nor Hogan will ever be known for having the best workrate, but they both revolutionized the way that workers work. They are two of the very best showmen in the history of “professional wrestling”, and helped shape it into sports entertainment. And while they might not have as many **** matches as the ten greats listed at the top of this segment, they are legends and household names. They are accepted by the masses, criticized by the minorities, but their influence cannot be denied.

Next week, we discuss Part 3: Brawling and Part 4: High Flying.