Mid 20th Century
90-614: James Carson Yun (born May 13, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment from 1999 to 2010, under the ring names Jimmy Yang , Akio and Jimmy Wang Yang . Yun was trained in the Power Plant, the World Championship Wrestling farm territory. He worked in WCW until its closure in 2001. During
180-681: A Cruiserweight Open at No Way Out for the Cruiserweight Title, but was unable to win the title. In mid-2007, Yang and Chavo Guerrero began a feud. On the June 15 edition of SmackDown! , Yang once again became the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship, after feuding with Guerrero for almost two months. At Vengeance: Night of Champions , Yang lost to Guerrero after a frog splash . During The Great American Bash , Yang competed in another Cruiserweight Open and although he
270-608: A Fifteen Minutes of Fame Match , Moore and Yang tied the champions on pinfalls , resulting in Miz and Morrison retaining the titles. On June 9, 2008, Yun was suspended for thirty days for his first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. He made his return on the July 18 edition of SmackDown , being defeated by the repackaged The Brian Kendrick . In September 2009, Yun sustained cuts and bruises to his back from Kane after being attacked with
360-640: A Singapore cane on an episode of WWE Superstars . In late 2009, Yang formed a tag team with Slam Master J and in their first match as a team, they lost to The Hart Dynasty on the December 10 episode of Superstars . On the December 18 episode of SmackDown , Yang and J lost a rematch to the Dynasty. On the January 14, 2010 episode of Superstars , Yang and J scored their first win as a team after they defeated Mike Knox and Charlie Haas . Jimmy Wang Yang's last match in
450-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
540-427: A cowboy and calling himself Jimmy Wang Yang, in the process cutting his previously long hair short and growing a Fu Manchu moustache to fit the gimmick . In the vignettes, Yang questioned why people would assume stereotypical Asian things about him while proclaiming that he was much more of a redneck , of which he was proud. The vignettes played for several weeks, with Yang focusing more on his redneck leanings. On
630-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
720-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
810-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
900-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
990-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
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#17328905546301080-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1170-495: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Gran Hamada Hiroaki Hamada ( 浜田 広秋 , Hamada Hiroaki ) , better known by his ring name Gran Hamada ( グラン浜田 , Guran Hamada , born November 27, 1950) ,
1260-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1350-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1440-692: A free agent. He briefly was part of the "Love Machines" stable under a mask as "Mini Love Machine" with "Super Love Machine" ( Junji Hirata of New Japan, reprising his old role as "Super Strong Machine") and "Love Machine Storm" ( Arashi , whose stage name literally means "storm"). They used Morning Musume 's hit song " Love Machine " as their entrance theme. He would also briefly work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Land brand as Makai Masked Hurricane but only wrestled two shows under that name. His daughters Xochitl and Ayako , who are half Mexican, are also professional wrestlers. On November 12, 2024, Ayako took it to Instagram to report that Hiroaki's health
1530-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1620-704: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1710-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
1800-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
1890-786: A part of its tag team division and its singles junior heavyweight division. On April 13, 2002, Yun, competing as Yang, teamed up with Kaz Hayashi and Hi69 to defeat Kazushi Miyamoto , Gran Naniwa , and Ryuji Hijikata . On July 17 on an AJPW pay-per-view , Yang teamed up with Hayashi and George Hines to defeat Ryuji Hijikata , Gran Naniwa, and Johnny Smith . Over a month later, Yang returned to AJPW on August 31, teaming with Masaaki Mochizuki and Dragon Kid to defeat Magnum Tokyo , Susumu Yokosuka , and Darkness Dragon . Yang suffered his first loss in AJPW on September 15, when he and Kazushi Miyamoto lost to Kendo Kashin and Robbie Brookside , although that same month he teamed with Kaz Hayashi to win
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#17328905546301980-502: A tag team match, which Yang and Moore won. On the December 18 episode of ECW , Yang and Moore defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and the Miz to earn a title-shot, igniting a feud between the two teams. On the January 1, 2008 episode of ECW , Yang and Moore once again beat Morrison and the Miz, this time in a six-person tag team match also involving Layla and Kelly Kelly . The following week, in
2070-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
2160-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
2250-641: Is a Japanese professional wrestler , the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling , the Universal Wrestling Federation , Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro Wrestling and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre . He has also had stints with the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States. His daughters Xóchitl Hamada and Ayako Hamada are professional Japanese-Mexican wrestlers. He
2340-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
2430-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
2520-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
2610-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
2700-525: The 2010 Junior League . Yang finished second in his block, after victories over Shuji Kondo , MAZADA and Taka Michinoku , and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. On August 8 Yang first defeated Minoru in the semifinals and then KAI in the finals to win the 2010 Junior Heavyweight League. With his victory Yang had earned a shot at the World Junior Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated in his title match on August 29 by
2790-493: The Japanese American Ryan Sakoda . Yun was renamed Akio (a reference to Japanese wrestler Akio Sato ) and aligned himself with Sakoda, forming the villainous tag team Kyo Dai, the henchmen of the native Japanese wrestler Tajiri . Sakoda was eventually released from WWE and Tajiri was traded to Raw . This left Yun on his own to become a lower card wrestler and Velocity mainstay, competing primarily in
Jimmy Yang - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
2970-567: The War Games and J Cup USA show on September 19, 2003, Yang competed in the Super J Cup USA tournament, defeating Juventud Guerrera in the first round, but losing to Christopher Daniels in the second. In September 2003, following a match with Tommy Dreamer on Sunday Night Heat , Yun was signed to a three-year developmental deal with the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Yun made his WWE debut on October 19, 2003 at No Mercy , along with
3060-723: The World's Strongest Junior Tag League in 2002 with Kaz Hayashi and the Junior League in 2010 . Yun was born in Hollywood , California , to a German mother, and a Korean father. His father was in the U.S. Army , stationed in Germany , where he met Yun's mother. He grew up in Austell, Georgia , and has three sisters and one brother. In June 1999, Yun signed with World Championship Wrestling , making his WCW television debut in January 2000 under
3150-736: The cruiserweight division until he was released on July 5, 2005. After being released from WWE, Yun wrestled in Ring of Honor (ROH). He debuted on October 1, 2005, at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan , losing to James Gibson . He lost once again the following night to Christopher Daniels and again two weeks later to Roderick Strong , causing him to kayfabe take some time away from the company. He returned to ROH in January 2006 where he recorded his first win in ROH, teaming with Matt Sydal and Jack Evans in
3240-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
3330-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
3420-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
3510-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
3600-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
3690-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
Jimmy Yang - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-607: The Cincinnati area. He currently has 'redneck party bus' and 'princess party bus' businesses. Yun appears in the 2009 film Royal Kill as a police officer. Yun made his WWE video game debut in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 . He appears in the video game King of Colosseum Red released in 2002. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
3870-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
3960-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
4050-677: The Real World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team League. The following month, Yang defeated Gran Hamada and Gran Naniwa in a three-way match, before he and Yoji Anjoh lost to Mike Barton and Jim Steele . Throughout the end of 2002, Yang continued competing in six-man tag team matches, with mixed results. From May to August 2002, Yang was one third of the Flying Elvises in NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA) alongside Sonny Siaki and Jorge Estrada . Yang and
4140-542: The September 29 SmackDown! , he made his in-ring debut in a loss to Sylvan , who illegally used the ropes for leverage to get a pin. In November he was managed by Amy Zidian which lasted only a month. In December 2006, Yang became the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship . Yang challenged Gregory Helms for the Cruiserweight title, but lost to him at Armageddon . Later, he participated in
4230-462: The Trios Tournament. The team, however, was ultimately defeated by The Embassy . Yun stayed with the company for several months, wrestling as Jimmy Yang and using the same martial arts based persona he adopted in WCW. His entrance music was the theme from the cult martial arts film The Last Dragon , and he even brought in the film's star Taimak (referred to in his appearances as 'Bruce Leroy',
4320-509: The WWE was a dark match at WrestleMania 26. Vs took part in a 26-man Battle Royal, that was won by Yoshi Tatsu . On April 22, 2010, Yun was released from his WWE contract. In May 2010, after being released by WWE, Yun returned to the independent circuit as Jimmy Yang and was announced to be part of the new HighSpots Pro Wrestling Superstars talent booking roster. On July 25, 2010, Yun, as Jimmy Yang, returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling to take part in
4410-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
4500-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
4590-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
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#17328905546304680-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
4770-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
4860-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
4950-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
5040-471: The competition for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship, told Deuce 'n Domino that Yang had been making "lewd remarks" about Domino 's on-screen sister and manager, Cherry . Deuce demanded a match against Yang from acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero . Yang won the match with his signature moonsault from the top rope, but was attacked by Deuce, Domino, and Cherry after the match. The next week, Yang and Shannon Moore teamed up against Deuce 'n Domino in
5130-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
5220-430: The defending champion, Yang's former tag team partner, Kaz Hayashi. On June 27, 2011, Yang made a one night return to TNA at the tapings of the June 30 edition of Impact Wrestling , working in his old Flying Elvis gimmick and losing to Low Ki in a three–way first round match of a tournament for a TNA contract, which also included Matt Bentley . Yun returned to the WWE as a backstage producer on October 25, 2021 during
5310-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
5400-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
5490-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
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#17328905546305580-551: The following years, he worked for several promotions. In the United States, he worked with NWA Total Nonstop Action (where he was part of the promotion's first match) or Ring of Honor , but most notably with World Wrestling Entertainment , where he had three different stints from 2001 to 2002, 2003 to 2005 and 2006 to 2010. During his last stint, he wrestled as Jimmy Wang Yang, an Asian-American cowboy and redneck . He also starred in All Japan Pro Wrestling , where he won
5670-469: The front of his name: El Gran Hamada. In 1984, he became a member of the initial roster of the original Japanese UWF , but found that his flamboyantly acrobatic style clashed with the martial arts-inspired style and focus on realism of the UWF and soon left for All Japan Pro Wrestling . He eventually broke off from AJPW to form his own promotion in 1990: Universal Lucha Libre . However, wrestlers began to leave
5760-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
5850-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
5940-491: The group in 1993 and in 1995 Hamada closed the promotion to join Michinoku Pro , which had been formed by former Universal Lucha Libre wrestlers. On April 13, 1997, Hamada teamed with Great Sasuke and Masato Yakushiji (who substituted for Gran Naniwa , who was injured) to defeat Taka Michinoku , Dick Togo and Mens Teioh (AKA "Terry Boy") at ECW Barely Legal . In 2001, he began competing for All Japan again, this time as
6030-526: The group, becoming known as Jamie Knoble and forming a tag team with former 3 Count member Evan Karagias . The team of Hayashi and Yang feuded with Knoble and Karagias until the WWF purchased WCW . In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation acquired Yun's contract and assigned him to the company's Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory, but he was released in December 2001. In 2002, Yun joined All Japan Pro Wrestling where he wrestled as both
6120-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
6210-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
6300-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
6390-455: The live Raw broadcast. On December 28, Yun announced that WWE released him from his producer role. Yun has a brother named Johnathan, who is a professional breakdancer. He also has a daughter named Jazmine. He owns a professional wrestling school called Pro Training, LLC. located in Cincinnati , Ohio . In late October 2010, Yun started a pest control business called "Jimmy's Pest Control" in
6480-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
6570-455: The name of his character) to help him in a feud with Embassy member Jimmy Rave . In May 2006, Yun made a return to WWE, as Akio, on an edition of Heat , working as an enhancement talent in a try-out match with Charlie Haas . This match impressed WWE, and they re-signed him once more. Beginning with the August 25, 2006 edition of SmackDown! , vignettes began airing featuring Yun dressed as
6660-569: The other Elvises were involved in TNA's first match, defeating A.J. Styles , Jerry Lynn , and Low Ki in a six-man tag team match. Yang continued wrestling for TNA as a singles competitor through to January 2003. On December 20, 2002 Yang made his Major League Wrestling debut at King of Kings , where he and Mike Sanders lost to "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and PJ Friedman. He competed regularly in MLW throughout 2003, both in singles and tag team competition. At
6750-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
6840-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
6930-477: The ring name "Jimmy Yang". He was originally a part of the Jung Dragons faction along with Jamie-San and Kaz Hayashi . They were brought into WCW by Jimmy Hart to feud with 3 Count , another faction. They made their pay-per-view debut at New Blood Rising , losing a ladder match to 3 Count. They added a manager, Leia Meow , and continued the feud with 3 Count, until, in late 2000, Jamie-San unmasked and left
7020-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
7110-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
7200-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
7290-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
7380-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
7470-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
7560-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
7650-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
7740-494: Was never pinned, Hornswoggle won the title after becoming an official entrant in the match due to him hiding under the ring. On the July 27 edition of SmackDown! , Yang teamed with Torrie Wilson against Kenny Dykstra and Victoria ; Yang and Wilson won the match after Yang pinned Dykstra. Following this match, Wilson began appearing as Yang's new valet . On the October 12 episode of SmackDown! , Jamie Noble, in order to weed out
7830-468: Was one of the first dojo trainees at New Japan Pro-Wrestling , being known as Little Hamada in the beginning. He was sent to Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association because of his lack of size and he found a lot of success there - so much so that Mexican fans and promoters began calling him Gran Hamada (Great Hamada). He also competed in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre , which added El (The) to
7920-568: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
8010-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
8100-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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