Mid 20th Century
90-664: Anthony David Magliaro (November 6, 1956 – November 13, 1999) was an American professional wrestler and manager , known by the ring name Boston Bad Boy Tony Rumble. He competed on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. A longtime veteran of Angelo Savoldi 's International World Class Championship Wrestling , he also was the owner of the New England–based Century Wrestling Alliance and an independent wrestling promoter until his death in 1999. Anthony David Magliaro
180-435: 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
270-415: 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
360-415: 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
450-413: 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
540-649: A bloody mouth during the match and Rumble ended up beating him with a Boston crab submission hold. Rumble paid him $ 100 and booked for three more shows beginning the start of his long career in the promotion. Rumble didn't like the "Tully McShane" name and began helping develop his later in-ring persona , Knuckles Nelson. On February 4, 1995, Nelson made a one-time appearance in the United States Wrestling Association where he teamed with The Shadow against PG-13 ( J. C. Ice & Wolfie D ). PG-13, then feuding with Tommy Rich and Doug Gilbert over
630-520: 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
720-513: 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
810-574: 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
900-440: 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 . Knuckles Nelson Brendan Higgins (born September 26, 1963), best known by his ring name Knuckles Nelson
990-404: 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
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#17329173526851080-410: 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
1170-405: 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
1260-754: 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
1350-424: 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
1440-440: 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
1530-572: A scheduled title defense in North Richland Hills, Texas , due to heavy snow. Staying in NWA New England, he and Dukes Dalton defeated Jason Rage & Slyk Wagner Brown at a house show in Southbridge, Massachusetts , several days later. He and Sbraccia also made their first WWF appearances, though wrestling in separate singles matches, taking on Hardcore Holly and Mideon respectively in
1620-627: A second appearance on WWF Jakked with Dukes Dalton against The Headbangers ( Mosh & Thrasher ). He and Dalton would regain the belts a final time, beating the New York Posse in Thomaston, Connecticut , on October 2, and would continue to hold the belts until the stable split up early the next year. When promoter Tony Rumble died of a heart attack in November 1999, he and Katz were chosen by his widow and co-owner Ellen Magliaro to take over running
1710-733: A singles match at Somerville's Good Time Emporium that same day. He would face him again at an event for Connecticut Championship Wrestling in East Haven, Connecticut , at the end of the year. On September 25, he and Dukes Dalton, managed by Jeff Katz , lost the NWA World Tag Team titles to Team Extreme (Kit Carson & Khris Germany) at the NWA 51st Anniversary Show at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina . On October 30, he made
1800-498: A time and later became a full-time booker and promoter for Wrestling Star Wars until his retirement in 2003. As head of "The Combat Zone" wrestling school, he was involved in training several independent wrestlers, most notably, Yankee Pro Wrestling veteran "Big Gun" Jim Sergeant. Born in Providence, Rhode Island . As a child, he often watched wrestling on Fox 25 Boston and was a fan of both World Class Championship Wrestling and
1890-497: 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
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#17329173526851980-575: 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
2070-436: 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
2160-768: Is a retired American professional wrestler , promoter and trainer who wrestled throughout the North American independent circuit during the 1990s and 2000s. He competed in several regional promotions such as the Century Wrestling Alliance , the National Wrestling Alliance and the United States Wrestling Association . He also briefly appeared in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as well as touring Japan as Super Destroyer between 1997 and 1999. He
2250-410: 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
2340-427: 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
2430-470: 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
2520-550: The 1st annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show in Cherry Hill, New Jersey , defeating the Inferno Kid after hitting him with brass knuckles . He was also a regular on the promotion's television show, Mass Madness . On one occasion, during a match against a young Steve Bradley , Nelson attempted to use his brass knuckles but lost them to Bradley. The referee, seeing the foreign object, immediately disqualified Bradley giving Nelson
2610-613: The American Wrestling Association before feuding with "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas as the masked "Dungeon Master" the following year. In 1988, Magliaro began working as a booker, as well as producer for the weekly ICW, which later became International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW), television show. He later hosted the "Rumble Seat" segment whose guests included former WWF wrestlers The Honky Tonk Man and "Ravishing" Rick Rude as well as international stars such as Dory Funk, Jr. , Ivan Putski and Mr. Pogo . During
2700-506: The NWA's 50th Anniversary Show in October 1998. Magliaro continued running NWA New England until his death following a heart attack on November 13, 1999. Following Magliaro's death, his wife Victoria Van Ellen Magliaro Rumble took over ownership of the promotion which later became NWA Cold Front and eventually Victory Championship Wrestling. Jason Della Gatta , who both runs live events and competes in
2790-609: 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
Tony Rumble - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-886: The USWA Tag Team Championship , were attacked by their rivals during the post-match interview. Back in the CWA, he was initially paired with Sonny C as The Cash Money Boys but split up and feuded with each other during 1996. A top contender to the CWA Heavyweight Championship during this time, he was unable to take the title from then champion Kevin Sullivan . He did, however, win the CWA Television Championship from Vic Steamboat in Derry, New Hampshire , on July 6, 1996. Earlier that year, he had also appeared on
2970-576: The Von Erich family as well as a reader of wrestling newsletters The Torch and The Observer . As a young man, he decided to try his luck in the business after reading an article in the Warwick Beacon of a retired professional wrestler starting a local independent promotion. He and a friend visited a trainer at the promotion's headquarters, then occupying a rundown warehouse in Providence, and returned
3060-543: 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
3150-431: 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
3240-538: The " Torture Rack ". On May 18, he faced another WCW tag team, The Power Company (Dave & Dean Power), whom he and partner Tre lost to. At the end of the night, Nelson and Tre took part in a 10-man tag team match with Tony Rumble, Waldo and Rick Fuller to beat Vic Steamboat, El Mascarado, Baby Black and the Power Company. Holding the CWA Television Championship for over a year and a half, Nelson lost
3330-577: 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
3420-400: 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
3510-506: 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
3600-506: The 60-man, three-ring battle royal, which he was not successful in winning. Representing NWA New England, Magliaro appeared with The Brotherhood (Erich Sbraccia and Knuckles Nelson ) who would win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in a four way elimination match against Tully Blanchard and Tom Prichard , then champions The Border Patrol (Agent Gunn and Agent Maxx), and Team Extreme (Kit Carson and Khris Germany) during
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
Tony Rumble - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-476: The CWA announced that it would be joining the National Wrestling Alliance and changed its name to NWA New England. That same year, Rumble arranged for Nelson to tour Japan as Super Destroyer with Barry Darsow and Wild Bill Irwin , Irwin having once been a mainstay of World Class Championship Wrestling . By early-1998, Nelson had formed a successful tag team with Erich Sbraccia as part of Tony Rumble's "heel" stable The Brotherhood . Two months before dropping
3870-723: The NWA Tag Team titles from The Arc Angels (Damon D'Arcangelo & Phoenix King) in Somerville on August 22 which, in addition to the NWA World Tag Team titles, they continued to defend for another month. He made another WWF appearance on the September 11th edition of WWF Jakked against The Big Boss Man . He and Dukes lost the NWA New England titles almost two weeks later to the New York Posse (Curtis Slamdawg & Jay Kobain) in Somerville, Massachusetts , on September 22. He wrestled Slamdawg, who also succeeded him as heavyweight champion, in
3960-408: 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
4050-477: 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
4140-401: 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
4230-418: 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
4320-550: 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
4410-424: 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
4500-418: 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
4590-704: The championship, Rumble fought to keep the titles in New England. Their run as the tag team champions is considered one of the high points in NWA New England's history. On February 18, 1999, Knuckles Nelson also won the NWA New England Heavyweight Championship from Trooper Gilmore in Mansfield, Massachusetts . Early in their title reign, Sbraccia was injured and other members of the stable often substituted for him. The titles were held up on March 3, 1999, when Nelson and his partner were forced to miss
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#17329173526854680-423: 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
4770-508: 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
4860-540: 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
4950-571: The early 1990s until leaving to concentrate on his own promotion in early 1993. Using many of his contacts such as Kevin Sullivan , he was able to bring in former WWF and WCW wrestlers such as Jimmy Snuka , The Iron Sheik , Harley Race , Al Snow , Hugh Morrus , Public Enemy , Scott Taylor and A-Train , as well as many longtime IWCCW veterans including Atlas, The Tasmaniac, Tommy Dreamer , "Mr. Intensity" Erich Sbraccia, Vic Steamboat , "Surfer" Ray Odyssey , The Pink Assassin and The Trouble Makers (formerly The Undertakers) who followed Magliaro to
5040-405: 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
5130-597: 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
5220-470: 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
5310-549: The following day to start their first training session. It was there that they met local independent wrestlers Bob Evans and Paul Lazon who invited them to their wrestling school in Freetown, Massachusetts . Nelson took them up on their offer and soon began training at the Freetown facility. It was there that he met Nick Steel and Brian Brieger who, in addition to Evans and Lazon, became his principal trainers. One of his earliest matches
5400-610: 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
5490-455: 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
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#17329173526855580-513: 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
5670-471: 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
5760-487: 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
5850-532: The late 1980s, he would also become a successful manager to wrestlers such as former rival and IWCCW Heavyweight Champion "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas , IWCCW Light Heavyweight Champion The Tasmaniac and the IWCCW Tag Team Champions The Undertakers ( The Henchman and The Punisher ). Although establishing Century Wrestling Alliance (CWA) in 1989, Magliaro remained in IWCCW until its decline during
5940-498: 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
6030-535: The newly formed promotion. Magliaro won the CWA's heavyweight title three times before being stripped of the title by CWA President Victoria Van Ellen. The CWA later become a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Magilaro continued to act as promoter for the territory, which was renamed NWA New England. In late 1993 and early 1994 he was a commentator for Extreme Championship Wrestling 's ECW Hardcore TV . As Tony Rumble, Magliaro appeared at WCW's World War 3 pay-per-view event in 1996 as an entrant in
6120-557: The opening matches of Shotgun Saturday Night . The Brotherhood were given back the belts after a June 10 rematch in Dallas, Texas , winning via disqualification. He and Rick Fuller briefly lost the titles to The Public Enemy ( Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge ) in Bolton, Massachusetts , on June 17, but regained them two days later with Dukes Dalton in Dorchester . He and Dalton also won
6210-437: 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
6300-631: The promotion as "Jason Rumble", is the kayfabe (storyline) son of Magliaro's in-ring persona . VCW runs an annual "Tony Rumble Memorial" show. The Millennium Wrestling Federation has also featured an annual Tony Rumble Memorial Battle Royal with Todd Hanson, Bull Montana, Ox Baker and Rick Fuller winning the most recent held on August 4, 2007. Rumble is frequently mentioned during VCW's Livewire television program. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
6390-714: 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
6480-408: The promotion. Shortly thereafter, Nelson started his own promotion and Katz moved to Las Vegas to take over the morning drive show on that market's most successful talk radio station. After that, he and Katz were replaced by Jason Delgatta. Delgatta portrayed Tony Rumble's kayfabe son, "Boston Bad Boy" Jason Rumble who would remain the top star in the promotion. Nelson founded Wrestling Star Wars,
6570-440: 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
6660-508: The television title to Steamboat, they had won the CWA Tag Team Championship from The Extremists ( Ace Darling & Devon Storm) and held the titles until the CWA became NWA New England. He and Sbraccia later represented NWA New England in an interpromotional match at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show where they faced NWA World Tag Team Champions The Border Patrol (Agent Gunn & Agent Maxx) from NWA All-Star Wrestling . This
6750-426: 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,
6840-512: The title back to Steamboat in Brattleboro, Vermont , on December 8, 1997. On January 24, 1998, Knuckle Nelson appeared at a CWA fundraising event, billed as "Killer Kowalski Night" held at the high school in Ridgefield, CT. Along with Killer Kowalski in attendance, other high-profile stars included Tony Rumble, King Kong Bundy , Tito Santana , Devon Storm and Johnny Grunge . That same night,
6930-505: 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
7020-471: 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
7110-535: 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
7200-461: The win. It was also on the show that he started teaming with Erich Sbraccia. On March 17, 1997, Knuckles Nelson appeared on Monday Night Nitro alongside longtime independent star T. Rantula to take on Lex Luger & The Giant in Savannah, Georgia . He and his tag team partner lost the match when The Giant pinned Nelson with a chokeslam and, following the match, Luger put T. Rantula in
7290-420: 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
7380-425: 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
7470-411: Was a "Four Corners" match that included Team Extreme (Kit Carson & Khris Germany) from NWA Southwest and Barry Windham & Tully Blanchard , although Windham was later replaced with Dr. Tom Prichard . Together with manager Tony Rumble, The Brotherhood defeated The Border Patrol to win the titles. Although the NWA wanted Nelson and Sbraccia to tour the various NWA territories to defend
7560-531: Was a founding member of Tony Rumble 's The Brotherhood , a " heel " stable which dominated NWA New England during the late 1990s, and which included Eric Sbraccia, Dukes Dalton and Rick Fuller . He and Sbraccia won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in 1998, and defended both the World and NWA New England titles with Sbraccia and other Brotherhood members in their home promotion for almost two years. Following Rumble's death, Nelson helped run NWA New England for
7650-540: Was against his former trainer Bob Evans whom he defeated at a show in New Bedford, Massachusetts . He eventually made his debut in 1994, under the name Tully McShane, and spent some time in Coastal Pro Wrestling before meeting Tony Rumble who would bring him into his emerging Boston promotion, the Century Wrestling Alliance . Nelson's first match in the CWA was under a mask and against Rumble himself. He suffered
7740-840: Was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 6, 1956. Growing up, he would sneak into the Boston Garden as a kid to see the WWWF whenever they came to town. Magliaro competed for then-International Championship Wrestling (ICW) in 1984. As "Tony Rummell", he faced Abdullah the Butcher and Bruiser Brody during his rookie year as well as former WWF wrestlers the Tonga Kid and Superstar Billy Graham during his singles career. In 1986, he briefly teamed with Rocky Raymond as The Boston Bad Boys who together faced The Midnight Rockers in an interpromotional match with
7830-488: 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
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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