or of wrestling, and know at least a portion of what wrestling really is, but the real smarts know what wrestling is. To know what wrestling is, as with any activity or sport, you have to know it's history and the significance of it's history to the present way it's portrayed. ("Wrestling Terms")
             Wrestling goes as far back and time can tell us. The christian bible contains references to wrestling;even the tombs of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt bear carvings of wrestling contests from 1,000's of years ago. Greek mythology is rich in legends and tales of wrestling, and there is evidence of wrestling in ancient Japan and India. Wrestling's first real popularity grew with it's introduction into the Olympic Games in Greece nearly 3,000 years ago. (Hunter 7)
             Wrestling as we know it was not organized until the late 1800's. There is no one main reason that this happened, but there are many additives that made it possible. Some say that money turned wrestling as a sport into the fixed circumstances that evolved, as the wealthy used bribes to fix matches, for a favorite to win or for them to win money off of bets. Many others say that the boredom from lack of action forced wrestling to turn to something that would attract the fans more. With the competitive sport of wrestling, matches could sometimes last up to 5 hours. Needless to say, people did not want to sit for hours on end to view a match, so this in turn forced the sport of wrestling to act. (Hunter 7, Adams "Is Pro Wrestling For Real?")
             George Hackenschmidt and Gotch are generally regarded as two of the greatest wrestlers of this era of wrestling, but by the time of Gotch's early death in 1918 the corruption of the sport in America was seen as being well underway. With this progression into pre-worked matches, matches faced serious criticism, but professional wrestling, with this new focus on entertainment, was bec...