The History Of Professional Wrestling

By Maryanne Goff


The history of professional wrestling can be traced back to the 1800s where small groups of unorganized wrestlers would wrestle each other for a price. The popularity of this sport soon began to increase with many fanatics wanting to be part of the game. This in turn increased the number of supporters watching the sport. As the wrestlers and their fan base increased, the reward for winners also increased.

Many people considered this sport as a pass time activity and most of them would often participate in order to make some quick money. The competitions were done in carnivals and traveling performances. But even then, there were still many supporters of the game. As time passed by, the sport gained a lot of attention and was even being rated with major sporting events including baseball at the time.

Increase in popularity of this game saw the emergence of promoters who would put their wealth on line to support this event. They increased the reward for people participating in this game. At times, such promoters would even compete against each other using their wrestlers of choice. The promoters then formed organizations like the world wrestling federation.

This sport soon made it possible for participants to achieve financial success. Winners of the matches would really gain good financial rewards and also their promoters would gain too. Financial gain was deemed possible only when people changed their mindset and transformed this sport from being just an entertainment activity to a profession that wrestlers would gain something in the end.

In the 1950s, this fighting game gained a lot of fame and attention. This was as a result of invention of cable or television. People all over the world with cable could now watch their favorite matches. But with this popularity, many challenges were set to arise. Some critics argued that having this game on television brought violence to people in their own living rooms. This was because of some of the fighting techniques used.

With this concern, the promoters sought to change the content of matches. There were also other challenges with invention of cable such as a drop in viewership brought about by lack of sportsmanship by some players and even reduced content. As a result, many producers started to reduce the amount of time that the game aired on televisions.

These challenges were however overcome when a group of young talented wrestlers emerged in the 1980s. Such players were able to combine sportsmanship and entertainment by making the event so colorful. Some would portray some child heroes while fighting while others brought about some drama. The viewership for this sport started to rise again with a new crop of supporters.

From the above information on the history of professional wrestling, it is right to say that this sporting activity has evolved greatly; from being a pass time activity to a well paying profession. As it is characteristic of any activity, there cannot be success without challenges. But in the end, the sport has stood out as well known and established career and the wrestlers have become national and international celebrities in their own right.




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