They aren't REAL wrestlers! They are performers.
#PWHS #Article #PureWrestlers
People who take pride in being 'smart' fans, often reveal that they are the biggest marks of all. How many times have you heard a fan criticize Hulk Hogan, Roman Reigns, The Undertaker as being 'just entertainers'? The dialogue usually follows the lines of "A REAL wrestler like Karl Gotch, or Lou Thesz would have eaten them up in a minute!" All this shows is that the self-titled smart fan is actually quite ignorant.
News Flash: Since the 1920's (and quite possibly before that time) wrestling has been part of the entertainment business.
Pure mat wrestling ability never has been and never will be the main criteria for guaranteeing success in the professional wrestling business. Would today's fan be able to sit through a three hour match where maybe 2-4 shoot holds were used (and held) for many, many minutes at a time? I doubt it. The allure of watching one competitor sit locked in an arm bar for 45 minutes quickly wore off and wrestling evolved from a competitive sport to a faster, more dramatic presentation.
It did so to stay alive.
Taking it a step further, there has rarely been a wrestler who had outstanding mat skills who was able to parlay that into a career in the professional ranks without a modification of style. The closest that I can think of who were able to take their amateur credentials into the ring with them and remain successful were Danny Hodge, Verne Gagne and Jack Brisco. But even they added elements of entertainment to their presentation.
Kurt Angle? Shall I remind you of Kurt wearing a child's cowboy hat and singing off key to Vince McMahon? The milk truck? The stalking of WWF Divas? All stuff found on the Olympic wrestling mats-right? George Bollas and Dick Beyer were both outstanding amateur mat wrestlers. Bollas was a NCAA Champion in the heavyweight division. Beyer played in the Orange Bowl and won many titles for Syracuse University on the wrestling mats.
Both had mediocre careers while playing off of their 'pure' wrestling accomplishments.
Bollas put on a mask as The Zebra Kid. Beyer donned masks as The Sensational Intelligent Destroyer and (in the AWA) DR. X. Both became internationally known superstars.
Even more intriguing. Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson [see end notes] are usually named as the top three hookers in the professional wrestling business. They were deadly on a mat if provoked (or in Robinson's case, if he felt like being a jerk). Yet none of those men ever won anything in amateur wrestling! They learned their techniques during their professional training. So the big three of hooking never did much as 'pure' wrestlers. Not that being able to shoot wrestle isn't impressive, but to hear the snobs speak, one would think that Thesz, Robinson and Gotch won every gold medal in every Olympic event ever held. Not so.
The facts are clear-being a talented amateur or pure wrestler has little to do with success in the professional ranks. People do not buy a ticket or subscribe to a PPV because they want to see who can do the fastest sit out. They spend their money to be entertained.
The wrestling fan is the ultimate arbiter of what is successful. It doesn't matter the size of the push, the amount of hype given to any particular performer-the fan will decide what they truly like and dislike. The promoter may be a master of psychology and manipulation. but of the fan rejects their choice as the 'chosen one', then they have failed. Modern fans bemoan the fact that Wrestler X is being misused. More ignorance. If fans truly wanted to see Wrestler X, they would make that known by their reactions.
Look at how many darlings on the Independent circuit ultimately failed on a bigger stage. Having mass appeal has little to do with a gimmick, mat wrestling ability or even promotion. Mass appeal has everything to do with innate charisma and being entertaining. Look at history:
Gus Sonnenberg and Jumping Joe Savoldi: Football players who excited the wrestling fans of the 1930's
Gorgeous George Wagner and Antonino Rocca: Performers who caught the attention of millions due to the emergence of television in the late 1940's-1950's.
Dick Murdoch, Yvon Robert, The Stomper, Haystack Calhoun, Karl Kox, Mil Mascaras, Bruno Sammartino, Jackie Fargo, Ray Stevens, The Crusher, Dick the Bruiser and many more: Performers who became superstars in their home territories and in many other places around the globe in the 1960's.
Andre the Giant, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, The Andersons, Chief Strongbow, Wahoo McDaniel, Chavo Guerrero, The Von Erichs, The Rougeaus, Lex Lugar, Sting, etc. – standouts of the 1970's and 1980's.
Not a single pure wrestler in the lot.
Wrestling is and always has been a form of entertainment masquerading as athletic competition. So, the next time someone is criticizing a Hogan, a Reigns, and AJ Styles-just ask them how many times did they pay money to watch Lauent Soucie on a card. WHO?
Exactly.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
They aren't REAL wrestlers! They are performers.
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: March 15, 2019.
Article: #216.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
They aren't REAL wrestlers! They are performers.
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: March 15, 2019.
Article: #216.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
From Jake Shannon: "Billy Robinson won big amateur tournaments in the UK and Karl Gotch was not only a Belgian freestyle and Greco champ, he was Olympian. He was scouted for Riley's gym while in London competing.
"Billy Robinson won the British National Wrestling Champion in 1957, and in 1958 he was the European Open Wrestling Champion in the light heavyweight class (beating an Olympic bronze medal winner in the finals). You can hear Marty Jones himself (one of Billy's first wrestling students) tell the story how Billy almost coached the British wrestling team too (but politics prevailed) here on the Do It Again podcast: "
Editor's note:
After checking Olympics.org Karel Istatz (Karl Gotch) represented Belgium in the Graeco-Roman style as a Light-Heavyweight at the 1948 Olympics in London. He did not place.
According to Sports-Reference.com Istatz did not place in Freestyle as a Light-Heavyweight either.
Also thank you to Nathan Hatton for his valuable input.
"Billy Robinson won the British National Wrestling Champion in 1957, and in 1958 he was the European Open Wrestling Champion in the light heavyweight class (beating an Olympic bronze medal winner in the finals). You can hear Marty Jones himself (one of Billy's first wrestling students) tell the story how Billy almost coached the British wrestling team too (but politics prevailed) here on the Do It Again podcast: "
Editor's note:
After checking Olympics.org Karel Istatz (Karl Gotch) represented Belgium in the Graeco-Roman style as a Light-Heavyweight at the 1948 Olympics in London. He did not place.
According to Sports-Reference.com Istatz did not place in Freestyle as a Light-Heavyweight either.
Also thank you to Nathan Hatton for his valuable input.
Other articles by Harry can be Read Here.