h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Until the late 1990s everybody involved in this wrestling declared that it was a sport. There were big denials that bouts were fixed and the winners decided beforehand. Of course the rational person knew that this wasn't true, but it would have been nice to hear it "straight from the horse's mouth".

Then suddenly a couple of years ago the organisers came clean and told the truth. What caused this about turn, could it be that they could no longer face lying to the public? Did they feel the public should be cheated no more? Of course not ... it was money.

Apparently the US Inland Revenue Service proposed that if WWF was a sport then it would have to be taxed like any other sport. Very quickly the organisers admitted to being an entertainment's business ...

There were also major issues raised in the US about the fact that "sport-entertainment," as pro-wrestling is often known, blurs the lines when it comes to regulatory bodies for athletic competition. In states like New Jersey the local government threatened to introdue extensive testing for banned substances for pro-wrestlers just as it would for American Football, baseball and any other event to take place within state borders. This mean't that the rampant use of both steroids and other performance enhancing drugs would have been highlighted leading to loss of face for the promoter and possible bans from competition for the performers. There is also the fact that many top wrestlers are notorious for their use of recreational drugs and controlled substances and would face the same problems. The business of matches involving dangerous stunts and foriegn objects was also threatened by this move.

There was also the issue that wrestling was trying to market itself to a more adult audience and decided that a lighter approach that favoured violence and titillation over illusions of athletic competition. It's very rare today to see a top star marketed as a true athlete rather than as a sadistic thug or heartthrob (Kurt Angle being a marked exception to the norm).

The sport or entertainment thing is pretty much decided by one thing: no betting parlor will take bets on wrestling.

Vince isn't really the first guy who ever came out and called it entertainment, a chap name of Eddie Gilbert was doing that in Memphis, Alabama and ECW years before Vince caused the change in the larger public. Gilbert gets over-looked, but really, he invented the modern wrestling world by incorporating insider terms, violent brawls as a selling point, angles that blurred the lines, and even founded ECW, the most innovative group ever. Eddie had worked for the WWF, and some say he had been talking to Vince about a return when he died in 1995.
I also gotta say, this is a really good entry on the changes that have come to the (W)WW(F)E over the years. I did an entry on Hard Core Wrestling, and was hoping to do this same one, but this is so much better than I would have been able to do

Great entry, but at the risk of being cast as the bad guy, can I point out that the World Wildlife Fund changed their name to WorldWide Fund for nature a couple of years ago. This name change makes it even more ironic that they eventually won the court battle, since there is a good case for saying that the initials WFN would suit them better now.

I agree about the irony, it rubber-stamped the arrogance that the WWE had shown towards the matter for many years and vindicated the legal processes involved...The WWE deserved all that it got!

Eddie Gilbert and his brother were fundamentally important pioneers of extreme angles in wrestling as a whole and without them Eastern Championship Wrestling (and therefore the ECW) would not have been able to bring hardcore to the masses...it's just that I wanted to write about Vince and the WWE.

And UK betting house William Hill are actually accepting bets on pro-wrestling. While they will not take bets on the outcome of matches, they will take bets and also give odds on the WWE wrestler to be wearing the title belt on newyear's day of the next calendar year.

I had heard about the End of the Year belt holder wagers, which some folks say led to Jericho's end of the year reign a while back(his odds were 20-1 or somesuch)
Back in the early 1900s, betting on the outcomes was were most of the money in wrestling was. Frank Gotch made a ton of cash betting on himself in his matches with Tom Jenkins and George Hackenschmidt. I think as late as the 1950s bets were taken on some matches, with the last match I can think of being the Ali-Inoki match in the 70s. I don't think they even take odds on UFC.
All in All, a great entry that seems to have started some great conversation
CHris

Ali vs Inoki...what a farce that was. You can fight me if you promise not to use any of the skills you've learned in your years of martial arts experience and sucessful career as a pro-wrestler. And you Mr Ali, will you refrain from using your fists and pugilistic might against your distinguished opponent? Of course not, don't be silly!