American Professional Wrestling Wrestling in America

The evolution of American professional wrestling into such a model naturally has its profound social background and historical roots. As early as the American immigration era, various styles of boxing and wrestling in western society flowed to the American continent. The comprehensive unarmed combat, greco-Roman wrestling, English wrestling, Italian wrestling and Jewish wrestling in ancient Greece became a fashion with the arrival of immigrants. Because boxing and wrestling are the most important forms of sports and communication. However, the rulers made strict laws to make boxing illegal and brought wrestling into the theater. This helps us understand why professional boxing in the United States is developed under the influence of other countries, while professional wrestling in the United States is infected with drama.

17 and 18 centuries, sports gradually became professional, and the news media in new york played an important role in the development of professional wrestling, thus attracting a large number of viewers who were willing to pay for it. The lure of money prompted them to travel more widely. /kloc-At the end of 0/9 and the beginning of the 20th century, professional wrestling adopted some grasping techniques. Before World War I, wrestling fans gradually accepted the antics and performances of wrestlers. In San Francisco, the western wrestling mecca, the relay race replaced the traditional competition mode, and the fast-paced contact reversed the deadlock. The wooden platform not only provides a good visual range for the audience, but also gives wrestlers more protection and creates conditions for the design of stunts. Until the early 20th century, professional wrestlers had not used drama to please the audience, but they learned the skills of making money with drama. The degradation of professional wrestlers has turned this sport into a regular "game".

In the era of electronic technology, the cooperation between professional wrestling and radio is as insignificant as scratching boots, because an activity full of emotion and voice has an insurmountable disadvantage only by oral communication, and it is difficult for a senior commentator to express the one stroke, one style and fierce competition process in wrestling activities incisively and vividly. Even so, most listeners will still have a feeling of not understanding. Unless you come to the scene in person, every moment on the scene will make people feel passionate, not just cheering at the moment when the results are produced. However, the appearance of TV can make up for Ding's shortcomings irreplaceably, and professional wrestling agents have also become pioneers in using this new technology, so people can enjoy the infinite charm of professional wrestling without leaving home.

At first, TV stations regularly and orderly broadcast professional wrestling programs every weekend, and people always gathered in front of the TV to enjoy them. This also stimulated the wrestlers' desire for expression, and made them make continuous efforts in performance level, artistic talent and stunt design. But in India in the 20th century, wrestling performances gradually disappeared from prime-time programs. Once TV has entered thousands of households, it has become a basic necessity of life, and people are insensitive to the TV programs they are used to. At the same time, people are generally tired of predictable results every week. The organizers of wrestling programs quickly adapted to the new reality of TV, and they realized that it would be difficult for TV programs to last long if wrestling matches were not broadcast live regularly.

"Job Vacancy" has maintained high ratings for more than 20 years in a row, which can not but be attributed to various technical means and market behaviors adopted by TV workers in order to constantly adapt to the appetite of the audience and guide the audience's interest. Enthusiastic audience has no gender difference and is not limited to adults, but teenagers are worth cultivating and developing. They make professional wrestling programs like fairy tales in reality, which is really amazing. According to a poll conducted by 1998, among the mentioned 17 sports programs, professional football attracts the audience to the greatest extent, skiing and swimming have 4% audience, track and field has only 2% audience, and professional wrestling has 12% audience, second only to 16. Obviously, 2-3 hours of professional wrestling live broadcast every week has become a special form of TV programs.

Driven by TV media, competitions in some places have been extended to the whole country. The wrestling championship originally held in Georgia was suddenly renamed as "World Rubber King Championship". The joining of famous TV presenters has contributed to the development of professional wrestling.

The publicity of professional wrestling in newspapers is far less than that in sports periodicals. The neglect of professional wrestling in newspapers is regarded as a "trick" by official conservatives and some people, or dismissed as "sports violence". However, professional grave sweeping, as a product of market economy, is the most practical of all sports. As a sport, there are no scandals about drugs and gambling, no contracts and no quarrels. At least seven monthly magazines about professional wrestling tend to be similar. They advertise grave robbers like movie stars and singers. The page covers the private lives of stars, wrestling grievances and nostalgic plots, as well as the lives of fans and professional wrestling clubs. Photography from various angles enhances the visual effect. Some professional wrestling magazines also publish articles and photos of women wrestling in a prominent position, even with pornographic tendencies, which is why many States in the United States prohibit women wrestling. But the real books about professional wrestling are ignored like most pure sports. Publishers also seek profits by paying attention to sports warriors and legendary news.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the annual salary of top professional wrestlers was as high as $500,000. Some young people try to become professional wrestlers through various channels. Their initial motivation was obviously for money. Once a sport loses its purity and blindly pursues economic benefits, it will inevitably pay the price of pleasing the audience.

Most professional wrestlers are recruited from well-trained athletes with a glorious history. Some of them are former football stars, hockey masters, basketball players, Olympic wrestling champions or weightlifters. Some people with sports literacy and performance ability will also be selected and may receive greater rewards. There are many fathers and sons, uncles, brothers or sisters among their members. They usually work until 40 to 50, and few people can persist until 60. All this depends on their acting talent, artistic talent and physical condition. Of course, we also recruit some people with strange figures and eccentric behaviors, such as Confucian scholars, deformed children, Hercules or bloodletting fanatics, to serve as a foil for the stars.

It is difficult to count how many wrestlers survived in a certain period of time. The annual ticket revenue is as high as $50 million, making professional wrestling the third favorite entertainment for American audiences. The organizers also set up a large number of awards in the appearance fee. From the perspective of professional wrestling, it is estimated that there are about 500 fixed performance venues in China. Of course, not all wrestlers compete every day. Some second-and third-rate wrestlers often go to the Caribbean, Japan, the South Pacific and Europe to perform. All these factors make the number of employees exceed 2000.

There are three major professional wrestling organizations in the United States: American Wrestling Association (AwA), National Wrestling Federation (NwA) and World Wrestling Federation (wPF), all of which grew up in regional competitions in 1930s. The nature of an organization is determined by enterprise groups, information, finance, operations and employees. Grave robbers often complain that they are lazy and lack imagination. They only sign contracts with wrestlers, regardless of personal interests and development, and do not innovate to cultivate talents and expand technical styles. Junior wrestlers may have 3-6 games a week, and intermediate and advanced wrestlers may have 8- 10 games. Although their incomes are different, they are not fixed.

Professional wrestling provides the possibility for people to vent and indulge their frustrations, but in order to achieve commercial success and win the joy of the audience, professional wrestlers have paid a heavy price. Although the performance is full of false elements, it is not uncommon for some actors to have their ears beaten into chrysanthemums, their ears become deaf, their ribs are broken, their noses collapse and their achilles tendons are torn. There is no doubt that they have become the victims of "violence" and "bloodshed" advocated by Americans.

Professional wrestling directors take great pains to win the favor of the audience. For example, a guy who wants to keep the title starts a forklift to shovel a huge wooden box into the arena. The forklift suddenly stopped at the edge of the stadium. He swore a few words and then opened the box. Suddenly, five handsome wrestling girls jumped out of the box and each presented him with a bouquet of roses. Then, they jumped into the ring together and frantically knocked his challenger to the ground. Such a scene design is surprisingly successful, and so on. Obviously, comedies, sketches and fables, as well as moral concepts, are all integrated into it. Despite the dramatic interpretation of life in the process of fighting, people can still figure out the difference between "heroes" and "villains". Scene layout, actors' costumes and martial arts design have been carefully planned to meet the changing requirements of the plot. Characters are not immutable, heroes stumble and fall, villains abandon evil and do good, and the plot is ups and downs. The materials are all legendary stories from eastern and western cultures. The separation of tradition and reality and the integration of history and future will all find their own answers in the fierce behavior exchange and emotional collision.

In order to get the golden belt, keep the laurel or get more money, they fight at all costs. The embodiment of "hero" and "villain" depicts the struggle between "justice" and "evil" and the struggle between "good and evil". Stubborn guerrillas, dissolute cowboys, stingy slave owners, shrewd bankers, demagogues, profiteers, vampire-like brokers and notorious criminals are all the objects they deliberately imitate and portray. They abused their opponents, attacked referees and threatened commentators. "Heroes" played more than just the role of "scavengers".

Wrestlers have long been used to their acrobatic performances, and there is no obvious difference between good and bad. They rely on personal moral standards, values and sportsmanship to measure the pros and cons of wrestlers and choose the best candidates. Of course, this rule is not immutable. Because it often covers up the facts in a seemingly fair atmosphere. However, violating the rules of the game and life is usually the characteristic of "villains", while "heroes" are not so short-lived. They often adopt the strategy of "fighting poison with poison".

Looking closely at American professional wrestling, its symbolic activity lies not in its own meaning and simple courtyard sound, but in a form of its expressed meaning. It is intuitive and entertaining, and its charm lies in influencing the audience's mood rather than psychology. Therefore, it is regarded as an art, not just a sport. Performers are athletes, but ultimately they don't win by their own sports skills, although this skill is very important. In fact, they can only succeed by relying on their personal artistic talent.

However, some phenomena in professional wrestling performances are untrue. Many martial arts techniques, including boxing, were cited, and the fierce struggle of wrestler Yan was only to arouse people's sense of reality. Someone was killed, which was the result of props; Splash sweat may be saliva; The "foot shock" of stepping on the ground again is to avoid the consequences of serious injury to the opponent. The audience is looking for the illusion between the likeness and the non-likeness, or the stimulation brought by the illusion. Once the performance on the field is weightless, they will boo. Americans have always had a tradition of cheering for losers or laggards. If the situation changes properly, they will accept the change of role. As long as good is rewarded with good and evil with evil, they will not care too much about the means or methods they take. Vivid, funny or almost absurd body expressions show that true talent and knowledge always represent victory, while deception will eventually fail. Life is full of contradictions, hostility and evil, but persistence and dedication will surely overcome deception and cunning.

Professional wrestling is the product of American social and cultural crisis, which has the characteristics of both sports and drama, and is positioned between real sports and real drama. The audience will have a very confused reaction like a sports fan, and a more rational reaction like a theater fan. Although some people scoff at it and even regard it as a "freak", it is still the most desirable and well-designed camouflage in sports.