Mid 20th Century
102-494: Thomas Boric (born May 11, 1961) is a Croatian-Canadian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond . He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as Kato , one half of The Orient Express , also with Tanaka. Before he was a professional wrestler, Boric was a professional soccer player. Boric
204-436: A Three way , steel cage match that also included Bad Breed. This time, Public Enemy was victorious. At Terror at Tabor on November 12, 1993, Badd Company beat the makeshift team of Don E. Allen and Mr. Hughes . After the match, Badd Company called out Public Enemy resulting in an impromptu match between Paul Diamond and Rocco Rock which Diamond won. Public Enemy quickly got very brutal revenge on Badd Company as they defeated
306-435: 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
408-601: A jet pack that was supposed to make Max Moon look like a man of the future. Diamond debuted as the Komet Kid and then would change his name to Max Moon. He would wrestle and defeat Terry Taylor in a series of house show matches during the rest of 1992, but otherwise, his biggest victories came against Rick Martel and Repo Man , both by disqualification. On the December 7, 1992, episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling , Max Moon teamed with High Energy ( Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware ) in
510-415: 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
612-415: 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
714-497: A Caribbean Barbed wire Thumbtacks Death Match. It would also end up being the very last show for Super FMW, although another show was originally scheduled for November 10, 2019, but due to poor ticket sales, it was rescheduled to March 29, 2020. Unfortunately, the show would be canceled due to COVID-19 and Super FMW quietly folded. Goto was married to Despina Montagas , and they have three sons. He had since remarried in December 2016. On May 29, 2022, Goto died from liver cancer at
816-413: 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
918-520: 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
1020-513: 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
1122-574: 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
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#17328807009061224-584: A couple of months in late 1997 where he feuded with Bull Pain . After the IWA Mid-South, he worked for "Music City Wrestling" until a torn triceps muscle put him out of action for six months in 1998. He worked for Power Pro Wrestling from 1998 to 1999. Diamond had set up an agreement to join Shawn Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy . Diamond also wrestled for the Texas Wrestling Alliance under
1326-474: 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 . Tarzan Goto Seiji Goto ( 後藤政二 , Gotō Seiji , August 16, 1963 – May 29, 2022) , better known by his ring name Tarzan Goto ( ターザン後藤 ) ,
1428-404: 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
1530-410: 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
1632-408: A great deal of the 1992 campaign flying solo, posting a notable victory over The Brooklyn Brawler at Maple Leaf Gardens on February 9, 1992, in addition to collecting wins against the likes of grinders such as Jim Powers , Phil Apollo, JW Storm, Kid Collins, and Dale Wolfe . He also would serve as the first opponent for the re-debut of Crush under his "Kona Crush" persona. Sato briefly rejoined
1734-663: A hand in training him. After training, Boric began wrestling as "Paul Diamond" in 1985. (The name had been previously used by Toronto-born wrestler Paul Lehman in the 1960s.) His first break came in the Texas All-Star Wrestling promotion in San Antonio, Texas . He initially formed a tag team called American Breed with Nick Kiniski (son of legendary wrestler Gene Kiniski ) in Fred Barend's Texas All-Star Wrestling . Neither Diamond nor Kiniski were actually American, (Diamond
1836-405: 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
1938-596: A losing role. Orient Express member Akio Sato decided to take a position in the Titan (WWF) front office focusing on the WWF television rights sold to Japan TV networks following the 1990 Survivor Series. Following Survivor Series 1990 the "C-team" house shows were no longer taking place and many wrestlers left television following the event. The move left Pat Tanaka without a partner in The Orient Express . The WWF decided to reunite
2040-754: 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
2142-424: 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
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#17328807009062244-440: 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
2346-604: A short run at the AWA Tag Team Titles against The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom ). Diamond and Trooper actually defeated The Destruction Crew, but were not awarded the titles when it was determined that Diamond pinned the wrong person. AWA folded in August 1990. Diamond signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 1990, working mainly on the lower card against Dustin Rhodes , Hillbilly Jim , and Al Perez , usually in
2448-573: A six-man tag team match against The Beverly Brothers and The Genius . Max Moon and High Energy won the match when Moon pinned The Genius. On January 11, 1993, Max Moon wrestled and lost an Intercontinental Championship match to former tag team partner/longtime rival Shawn Michaels on the very first Monday Night Raw . The loss to Michaels was a sign of things to come for the Max Moon gimmick as he began losing to midcarders such as Skinner . The Max Moon gimmick only appeared at one PPV, participating in
2550-497: 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
2652-575: 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
2754-564: Is Croatian/Canadian while Kiniski is Canadian) so the team name was quite ironic. The team won the TASW Tag Team Championship from the Maoris (Tudui and Wakahi) on May 25, 1985, and held them until Al Madrill and Chavo Guerrero took the titles from them on June 5, 1985. The titles would be vacated later that same month when Chavo Guerrero refused to wrestle in a rematch against Diamond and Kiniski because Chavo's father Gory Guerrero
2856-436: 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
2958-410: 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
3060-427: 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
3162-470: 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
Paul Diamond - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-626: The 30 Man Elimination match at the 1993 Royal Rumble , where he was in the ring less than 2 minutes. In late February, Paul Diamond's contract with the WWF expired and was not renewed. After leaving WWF, Diamond worked in the independent circuit, and Australia as Max Moon. In the summer of 1993, Diamond would debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling under his real name. Diamond and Pat Tanaka reunited as "Badd Company" to work for Eastern Championship Wrestling (the forerunner to "Extreme Championship Wrestling") in late 1993. The team made their debut at NWA Bloodfest: Part 1 on October 1, 1993, where they beat
3366-627: The AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19, 1988. During their year long title reign, Badd Company would feud heavily with Chavo and Mando Guerrero and the team known as the Top Guns ( Ricky Rice and Derrick Dukes ). They teamed with Madusa Miceli to face the team of the Top Guns and Wendi Richter at the first AWA PPV, SuperClash III . Both Badd Company's Tag Team Title and Wendi Richter's AWA World Women's Championship were on
3468-761: The Decatur Parks and Recreation Department . He was married to Lisa Motley, who sometimes worked as his valet Cherry Velvet. They have two children (Kiana and Quentin). Quentin played goalie (like his father) in Huntsville for Bob Jones High School 's top ranked soccer team and in April 2015 signed an athletic scholarship to play at Tennessee Wesleyan College . He is currently married to Dawn Doyle. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
3570-490: The Heat Wave event , defeating Axl Rotten both nights. Goto also worked for International Wrestling Association of Japan from 1995 to 1999. Goto returned to one-night returns to AJPW in 2001 and 2002. In 1995, he formed Super FMW, which lasted from 1995 to 1998 in its first run and from 2009 to 2018 in its second run. His last match to date was on December 9, 2018, teaming with Reina Ayukawa and defeating Taro Ramen and Sase in
3672-609: 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
3774-543: 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
3876-431: 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
3978-577: 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
4080-400: 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
4182-711: The 1981 NASL draft to play goalkeeper for the recently formed Calgary Boomers of the North American Soccer League . After the Boomers folded in 1981, Boric moved on to the Tampa Bay Rowdies whom he played for until the NASL closed for good in 1984. After his professional soccer career ended, Boric began training for a professional wrestling career at a Tampa Bay wrestling school run by Boris Malenko along with his two sons Joe Malenko and Dean Malenko who all had
Paul Diamond - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-460: 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
4386-641: 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
4488-618: The Bad Breed ( Ian Rotten and Axl Rotten ). Tanaka and Diamond got a shot at the ECW Tag Team Champions Tony Stetson and Johnny Hotbody later in the night, which Badd Company lost. The next night at NWA Bloodfest: Part 2 , Badd Company fought against Public Enemy ( Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge ) in one of their very early matches. Later in the show, Badd Company and the Public Enemy would clash again, this time in
4590-695: The Kato mask on using the name "Haito" (sometimes spelled "Hyeeto") only days after their last ECW match. The duo reprised their "Orient Express" gimmick but could not use the name since the WWF owned the trademark to it. The two men wrestled a couple of matches together but they never achieved any notoriety in WCW. Badd Company / The Orient Express finally split up for good by the end of 1994. After leaving ECW and WCW in 1994. Diamond worked for IWA in Puerto Rico. Later that year he worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling as Max Moon but
4692-408: 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
4794-477: 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
4896-683: The Nasty Boys took the gold from them just over a month later. After working as a team for almost a year, Badd Company moved on from the CWA to the American Wrestling Association . In the AWA, they were given identical ring gear and were accompanied by flamboyant manager Diamond Dallas Page , who always had a number of valets, known as the Diamond Dolls , with him. The team's first feud was against The Midnight Rockers , whom they defeated for
4998-578: The TWA champion defeating Funaki on September 18 and 19, 1999 in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. On April 4, 2000, he lost to Shawn Michaels in a Hardcore Street Fight. Diamond worked for Canadian Wrestling Federation in Winnipeg from 2000 to 2001. Diamond retired from active competition in 2001 to focus on the wrestling academy. Diamond made his return to Extreme Championship Wrestling in September 1997. His role
5100-455: The United States, he married female wrestler Despina Montagas. In 1988, he wrestled for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. In 1989, he wrestled in Florida for Professional Wrestling Federation . In 1989, Goto returned to Japan after being proposed by the founder of the pioneering hardcore wrestling promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling , Atsushi Onita . In August 1990, Goto had
5202-401: 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
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#17328807009065304-418: 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
5406-550: 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
5508-802: The booking. He reunited with Tanaka for the first time in 12 years on March 25, 2006, for Blue Water Championship Wrestling in Port Huron, Michigan as they lost to Kevin Baker and Michael Barnes. They continued teaming until their last match on April 18, 2008, defeating Joshua Masters and Kennedy Kendrick for All-Star Wrestling Florida in Port Richey, Florida. Then Diamond was inactive from wrestling. Diamond wrestled his last match June 3, 2013 teaming with Jeff McAllister losing to Hoodlum and Mercury Yaden for rocky Pro Wrestling in Aurora, Colorado. In May 2012, he began working for
5610-424: 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
5712-418: 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
5814-423: 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
5916-508: 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
6018-606: The costume was yellow. Also, he began working in the independent circuit . In 1996 he worked for American Wrestling Federation as Kato. Diamond worked for Jerry Lawler's promotions in Memphis for the United States Wrestling Association in 1997 where he held the USWA World Tag Team Championship alongside Steven Dunn . After USWA folded in September 1997, Diamond worked for IWA Mid-South for
6120-540: 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
6222-614: The duo in a "South Philly hood" match the very next day at November to Remember . At Holiday Hell 1993 on December 26, Pat Tanaka defeated Rocco Rock in a "Body Count" match. As 1993 turned to 1994, Badd Company set their sights on ECW Tag Team Champions Kevin Sullivan and The Tasmaniac ; they defeated them twice in non-title matches. At The Night the Line Was Crossed on February 5, 1994, Tanaka and his one night only partner The Sheik defeated Sullivan and The Tasmaniac. Unfortunately,
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#17328807009066324-405: 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
6426-597: 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
6528-470: 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
6630-566: The first-ever FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions in the finals of a ten-team tournament defeating Gregory Veritchev and Koba Krutanize. He had several death matches for the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship against his former AJPW comrade, Atsushi Onita. On January 30, 1992, Goto captured the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship after defeating Big Titan . Due to the wind conditions, Goto's and Onita's fire deathmatch versus The Sheik and Sabu
6732-530: The first-ever exploding barbed wire match with Onita, which started a revolution between the small "garbage wrestling" organizations of Japan . Two months later, Goto and his wife Despina Montagas teamed up in Japan's first mixed tag team match, defeating Ricky Fuji and Megumi Kudo . He wrestled in many matches for FMW even one that he lost in which he tagged with Onita and lost to Sabu and Horace Boulder . In 1991, he and tag team partner Atsushi Onita became
6834-610: 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
6936-455: 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
7038-513: 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
7140-471: 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
7242-487: 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
7344-486: The line, but since Richter pinned Miceli, Badd Company remained the champions. Diamond and Tanaka's reign ended on March 25, 1989, as they lost to "the Olympians" ( Brad Rheingans and Ken Patera ). Shortly after losing their titles they split from Page, and had a short feud against each other before wrestling in singles competition until early 1990. Just before moving to the WWF, Diamond teamed with The Trooper Del Wilkes for
7446-498: 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
7548-531: The name of "Venom", holding the TWA title twice and also being involved in Shawn Michaels return to wrestling after a 1998 back injury that was thought to have put a permanent end to his wrestling career. When Michaels handed the wrestling academy to head trainer Rudy Gonzalez, Diamond and his family moved to Tampa then to Winnipeg where Diamond opened up a wrestling school called "Paul Diamond Hard Knocks Pro Wrestling Academy," while helping out his terminally ill father. Diamond return for two show at WWF house shows as
7650-437: 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
7752-445: The promotion a few weeks prior. Diamond and Michaels lost and then regained the titles from the "Masked Hoods" ( Ricky Santana and Tony Torres) before being beaten for the titles on January 27, 1986, by Al Madrill and Magnificent Zulu. Both Michaels and Diamond began to add more to their wrestling skills, thanks in part to fellow wrestler Chris Adams , who split his time between World Class Championship Wrestling and Texas All-Star at
7854-714: 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
7956-440: 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
8058-493: The tag team specialist Diamond was teamed up with Pat Tanaka , who was also seen as a tag team specialist, to form Badd Company . They held the federation's tag team titles four times and the two won the CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship, beating Tarzan Goto and Akio Sato on December 15, 1986. The first reign was short lived as The Sheepherders ( Luke Williams and Butch Miller ) defeated
8160-532: The team had been stripped of the titles the night before. When Tanaka was rejoined by Diamond, the team lost to the (once again) Tag Team Champions when the gold was finally on the line. On March 27, 1994, Badd Company wrestled its last match for ECW, a house show victory over Rockin' Rebel and Pitbull #1 By the time Badd Company wrestled its last match for ECW, Tanaka and Diamond had already signed with World Championship Wrestling ; Tanaka had even made his on screen debut as "Tanaka-San". Paul Diamond showed up with
8262-494: The team in 1991 to team with Tanaka and Kato for a series of 6-man tag-team matches on WWF house shows, but left the WWF after only a handful of matches. Tanaka would leave the WWF in early 1992. Diamond continued to wrestle as Kato until that October, primarily being used as an enhancement talent . In the fall of 1992, Diamond got a brand new gimmick in "Maximillian Moon" ("Max Moon" for short). Diamond wasn't originally intended to play Max Moon. The gimmick, then called Relampago,
8364-598: The team known as Badd Company , only this time with Paul Diamond wearing a mask to hide the fact that he was not Asian and using the name of Kato. During this time, the team had a very well received match with their old enemies the Rockers at the 1991 Royal Rumble , and another acclaimed match against the New Foundation at the 1992 Royal Rumble , which were the only PPV appearances for the New Orient Express. Kato spent
8466-426: 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,
8568-506: The time. In 1986, Diamond moved on to Memphis, Tennessee , where he worked for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett 's Continental Wrestling Association . In the fall of 1986 Diamond teamed up with a young Jeff Jarrett to win the CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship from Tarzan Goto and Akio Sato on November 3, 1986. The team lost the titles back to Goto and Sato less than 2 weeks later. In late 1986,
8670-505: 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
8772-471: 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
8874-482: The vacant titles on May 25, 1987 and held them until July 6, 1987, where they lost the titles to Bill Dundee and Rocky Johnson (who were the last International tag team champions). Badd Company also won the CWA's main tag team titles in Memphis, when they defeated Jeff Jarrett and Billy Joe Travis for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on August 8, 1987. Tanaka and Diamond soon lost them as
8976-535: 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
9078-420: 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
9180-473: The young duo on January 10, 1987. Badd Company quickly regained the titles only to lose them to Tarzan Goto and Akio Sato on February 5, 1987. The third run with the tag team titles came on May 9, 1987, when the team beat Mark Starr in a handicap match, but lost them back to Mark Starr and his new tag team partner Billy Joe Travis. Badd Company had one last run with the International tag team titles as they won
9282-425: 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
9384-847: Was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). In 1979, Goto joined a sumo stable , Kokonoe , but shortly afterwards he retired from sumo. Sanshō key: F =Fighting spirit; O =Outstanding performance; T =Technique Also shown: ★ = Kinboshi ; P = Playoff (s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Goto debuted for All Japan Pro Wrestling on February 19, 1981, against Shiro Koshinaka . While in AJPW, he
9486-560: Was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1961 and grew up wanting to follow in his father's footsteps and become a soccer player. When Boric was 13 years old the family emigrated from Croatia to Canada , settling down in Winnipeg, Manitoba . Tom got a full soccer scholarship to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia . After only three semesters at college, Boric was selected as the 6th overall pick of
9588-656: Was called off. He later became a two-time tag team champion with Gregory Veritchev. In February 1995, Goto formed Lethal Weapon with Hisakatsu Oya and Ricky Fuji . However, upset about possibly losing to Onita in his retirement match, Goto announced that he was leaving FMW in April 1995, just two days after no-showing an event in Korakuen Hall. After leaving FMW, Goto wrestled throughout the Japanese indies. He also contested two matches for Extreme Championship Wrestling in July 1996 at
9690-488: 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
9792-431: Was created for Konnan , but Konnan left the WWF after a backstage disagreement. Since Diamond fit the costume, he was chosen to take over the character. The suit was a very elaborate powder blue bodysuit with markings that were supposed to look like a circuit board and white protruding rings around his arms making him look rather "outlandish". The elaborate outfit also came with two wrist devices that shot out fireworks and
9894-688: Was more of a jobber losing to Rob Van Dam , Tommy Dreamer , Spike Dudley and Justin Credible . He had a feud with Al Snow . Diamond defeated Snow at "Fright Fight", but lost to him at Ultimate Jeopardy and Better Than Ever . The feud continued into 1998 with Snow getting the majority of the wins due to his Head gimmick getting over. In 2005 Diamond returned to action for the first time in four years. His only active involvement has been Rocket City Wrestling in Huntsville, Alabama , wrestling sometimes twice, as Diamond and as Max Moon while also being involved in
9996-568: 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
10098-415: 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
10200-726: Was student of Jumbo Tsuruta . In 1983, he won the Rookie of the Year award at Tokyo Sports' Pro Wrestling Awards. In November 1985, Goto went to the United States to wrestle. His first stop on his excursion was in Kansas City for the NWA Central States Wrestling . He'd also wrestle for Jim Crockett Promotions on shows within the area. In June 1986, Goto moved to Memphis, wrestling for Continental Wrestling Association , where he teamed with Akio Sato and managed by Tojo Yamamoto . While in
10302-417: 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
10404-429: Was the special referee chosen for the match. Madrill teamed up with Black Gorman instead but lost the match. After the match, Madrill attacked Chavo Guerrero splitting the team and forcing the titles to be held up. When Chavo won the rights to name a new partner he chose to give the titles to "American Breed" instead, only now American Breed consisted of Paul Diamond and a rookie named Shawn Michaels , as Kiniski had left
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