Averno
Averno in June 2006.
Ring name(s)	Averno (Underworld) Renato Ruíz Rencor Latino (Latin Hostility)
Billed height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Billed weight	79 kg (170 lb)[1]
Born	(1977-05-09) May 9, 1977 (age 35)[2] Mexico City, Distrito Federal[2]
Billed from	Mexico City, Mexico[1]
Trained by	Rodolfo Ruíz[2] Shadito Cruz[2] Felipe Ham Lee[2] El Satánico[2]
Debut	01995-10-18October 18, 1995[2]

Renato Ruíz Cortes^[3] (born May 9, 1977),^[2] is a Mexican professional wrestler better known by the ring name Averno (Hell). He is currently working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He is also signed to WWE, but will finish his dates with CMLL, before completing the move to the promotion.^[4]

Ruíz originally debuted for CMLL as Rencor Latino in 1995, but did not achieve any significant success until he adopted the ring name Averno in June 2001. Under his new ring name, Ruíz went on to become a one–time CMLL World Middleweight and CMLL World Trios Champion and a three–time CMLL World Tag Team Champion. His ring name was the Spanish rendering of Avernus, the crater where Aeneas descended into the underworld in Virgil's Aeneid and is most commonly translated as "Hell" in English.

For many years Averno's real name was not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.^[5] However, after signing with WWE in May 2011, Averno was booked in a Lucha de Apuesta, where he lost his mask and was forced to reveal his true identity.^[4][6]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre[link]

Rencor Latino (1995–2001)[link]

He began wrestling in 1995 under the name Rencor Latino (Latin Hostility) after being trained by his father, a former wrestler and referee named Rodolfo Ruiz. He soon started working as an undercarder for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. He won his first mask in 1998 when he defeated Apolo Chino in Arena Coliseo after a midcard feud. He continued wrestling in the midcard until he was recruited by El Satánico in the summer of 2001 to be part of his new Infernales group.

Averno (2001–present)[link]

Averno during a match

During a televised segment Satánico used his supposed "satanic powers" to turn técnico (good guy) Rencor Latino into one of his "minions", the rudo (bad guy) known as "Averno". The fact that his previous identity as Rencor Latino was openly acknowledged, has led Averno to sometimes wear a mask where one side is the “Averno side” and the other side is the “Rencor Latino side” as a reference to his previous identity. Satanico and Averno were joined by Mephisto who had previously wrestled as Astro Rey, Jr. The trio feuded with Último Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and Tarzan Boy over the year with Averno and Satánico unsuccessfully challenging Guerrero and Bucanero for their World Tag Team championship in August 2001 when Satánico was disqualified for using a low blow. A month later, Los Infernales defeated Guerrero's group (who were forced to change their name to Los Guerreros del Infierno as a result of this match) in a steel cage match when Máscara Mágica, the fourth member of Los Guerreros, was the last man in the cage, ending the feud for the most part.

In 2002, the trio won the Mexican National Trios Championship in Guadalajara, Jalisco and began feuding with La Familia de Tijuana (Nicho el Millonario, Halloween and Damián 666). The trio lost the title to La Familia in September 2002 but continued feuding into 2003 when Los Infernales and La Familia wrestled a no contest in June. After Nicho stopped appearing for CMLL, Los Infernales won a tournament to become the number one contenders for the CMLL World Trios Championship but lost to the championship team of Black Tiger III, Dr. Wagner, Jr. and Universo 2000 on August 1. At the end of the year, Averno and Mephisto turned on Satánico but there was no major feud afterwards and the pair spent much of the year teaming with Olímpico in midcard matches. In September 2004, Averno defeated Zumbido in a decision match for the vacant NWA World Middleweight Championship. Shortly afterwards, he was starting to get pushed as a foil to the up-and-coming Místico and he and Mephisto became de facto members of Los Guerreros del Infierno. Averno appeared in several matches on the top of the card, including his main event match against El Hijo del Santo for Santo's WWA Welterweight Championship where he lost clean.

In February 2005, he lost the NWA Middleweight title to Místico but he and Mephisto defeated Atlantis and Blue Panther for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship in April. When Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi from New Japan Pro Wrestling came to CMLL, Averno teamed with them at first but the two turned on him, leading to a trios match with Averno teaming with Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero against Nakamura, Tanashi and Shigeo Okumura on the 72nd EMLL Anniversary show. Averno and Mephisto finished the year defending their tag team title 7 times, with the most prominent being on the last Arena México show of 2005 when they defeated El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas in the main event. In early 2006, they defended their titles against Místico and Black Warrior twice. In the first match, they won by disqualification when Black Warrior interfered in the match after being pinned and in the second match two weeks later, Black Warrior turned on Místico. In April, they lost the tag team titles to the team of Místico and Negro Casas, ending their year-long reign. In 2008 Averno formed the group Los Hijos del Averno with Mephisto and Ephesto. On September 17 Averno defeated Negro Casas to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship. On January 16, 2009 he and his long tag team partner lost the CMLL World Tag Teams Championship to La Sombra and Volador Jr. On July 22, 2009, Averno lost one of his Middleweight titles, the CMLL World Middleweight Championship, to Hijo del Fantasma. After the match, despite being a rudo Averno showed respect and celebrated with Fantasma after the match.^[7] On July 12, 2010, at the Promociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show Averno participated in a match where 10 men put their mask on the line in a match that featured five pareja incredibles teams, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other with their mask on the line. His partner in the match was Último Guerrero, facing off against the teams of Atlantis and Olímpico, Místico and El Oriental, Histeria and La Sombra, Volador, Jr. and El Alebrije.^[8]

Averno and Último Guerrero was the third team to escape the match. In the end Místico defeated El Oriental to unmask him.^[9] On August 16, 2010 it was announced that Averno was one of 14 men putting their masks on the line in a Lucha de Apuesta steel cage match, the main event of the CMLL 77th Anniversary Show.^[10] Averno was the first man to leave the steel cage as all three members of Los Hijos del Averno quickly left the cage, keeping their masks safe. The match came down to La Sombra pinning Olímpico to unmask him.^[11] In April 2011, Averno began feuding with La Máscara, which led to CMLL booking the two to face each other in a Mask vs. Mask Lucha de Apuesta on June 17.^[12] On June 17 at Juicio Final, Averno was defeated by La Máscara two falls to one, forcing him to unmask himself. Upon unmasking, Averno revealed that his real name was Renato Ruíz Cortes and that he was 34 years old originally from Mexico City and had been wrestling for 16 years.^[3][6] Afterwards, Ruíz and La Máscara continued their rivalry, building up to another singles match on July 4, where Ruíz successfully defended the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship.^[13][14] On July 15, Los Hijos del Averno defeated La Generación Dorada (La Máscara, Máscara Dorada and La Sombra) to win the CMLL World Trios Championship.^[15] After La Máscara pinned Averno in a six man tag team match on July 22, the two agreed to another match for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship on July 29, where Averno was again able to retain the title, before challenging La Máscara to a Hair vs. Mask match.^[16][17] On September 9, Averno entered CMLL's annual tournament of champions, the Universal Championship tournament. After defeating CMLL World Super Lightweight Champion Virus and old rival, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion La Máscara, in his first two matches, Averno defeated CMLL World Tag Team Champion Último Guerrero in his block's finals to advance to the tournament finals, where he will meet the winner of the second block, NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion La Sombra.^[18] On September 16, Averno was defeated in the Universal Championship finals by La Sombra.^[19] On November 22, Averno lost the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship to La Máscara.^[20] On February 19, 2012, Los Hijos del Averno lost the CMLL World Trios Championship to El Bufete del Amor (Marco Corleone, Máximo and Rush).^[21]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008)[link]

In 2008, Averno participated in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's World X Cup as a part of Team Mexico, who ended up winning the whole tournament. He wrestled his only match of the tournament, a twelve man three tag team elimination match, at the Victory Road pay-per-view, becoming the fourth man eliminated from the match at the hands of Team Japan's Masato Yoshino.^[22]

WWE (2011)[link]

On May 29, 2011, it was reported that Ruíz had signed a contract with WWE.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Ruíz's father is CMLL referee Rodolfo Ruíz.^[23]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Devil's Wings (Spinning lifting sitout double underhook facebuster)^[6][24]

• Signature moves
  • Averno Driver (Sitout pumphandle drop)
  • Cruzeta Invertida (Inverted figure-four leglock)
  • Diving headbutt
  • Inverted sitout facebuster
  • Double powerbomb
  • No-handed suicide dive
  • Sitout side powerslam

• Entrance themes
  • "Mein Teil" by Rammstein
  • "Gimme the Love" by Kinky Go

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • CMLL World Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[25]
  • CMLL World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Mephisto^[26][27][28]
  • CMLL World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Ephesto and Mephisto^[15]
  • Mexican National Trios Championship (1 time) – with Satánico and Mephisto^[29]
  • NWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[30][31][32]
  • NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[32]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #48 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • TNA World X Cup (2008) – with Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero and Volador Jr.^[33]

Luchas de Apuestas record[link]

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Look up Averno in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Averno may mean:

• Lake Avernus, a crater lake in south Italy.
• Averno (poetry), a book of poetry by Louise Glück.
• Averno (wrestler), a Mexican professional wrestler.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Wrestling

Ancient Greek wrestlers (Pankratiasts)
Focus	Grappling
Olympic sport	Greco-Roman and Freestyle

Wrestling is a form of combat sport involving grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two (occasionally more) competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules with both traditional historic and modern styles. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems.

The term wrestling is attested in late Old English, as wræstlunge (glossing palestram).^[1]

History[link]

Wrestling is one of the oldest forms of combat with references to it as early as the Iliad, in which Homer recounts the Trojan War in the 13th or 12th century BC.^[2] The origins of wrestling can be traced back 15,000 years through cave drawings in France. Babylonian and Egyptian relief's show wrestlers using most of the holds known to the present-day sport. In ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, was the number one sport of the Olympic Games. The ancient Romans borrowed heavily from Greek wrestling, but eliminated much of its brutality.

During the Middle Ages (fifth century to fifteenth century) wrestling remained popular and enjoyed the patronage of many royal families, including those of France, Japan and England.

Early Americans brought a strong wrestling tradition with them when they came from England. The settlers also found wrestling to be popular among Native Americans.^{[citation needed]} Amateur wrestling flourished throughout the early years of the country and served as a popular activity at country fairs, holiday celebrations, and in military exercises. The 1st organized national wrestling tournament was held in New York City in 1888, while the 1st wrestling competition in the modern Olympic Games was held in 1904 in Saint Louis, Missouri.^{[citation needed]} FILA was founded in 1912, in Antwerp, Belgium. The 1st NCAA Wrestling Championships were also held in 1912, in Ames, Iowa. USA Wrestling, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, became the national governing body of amateur wrestling in 1983. It conducts competitions for all age levels.

Women and wrestling[link]

Also, women's wrestling is gaining popularity around the world. International wrestling federation FILA (Federation Internationale de Luttes Associees - French acronym) and other federations and associations regularly hold tournaments and championships in different parts of the world.^{[citation needed]} The first world women's wrestling championship was held in 1987 in Lorenskog, Norway. European wrestlers came away with all the gold medals.^{[citation needed]} Since that time, an increasing number of nations field women's wrestling teams each year and gold has been spread beyond Europe.

Mythology[link]

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel illustration by Gustave Doré (1855)

Some of the earliest references to wrestling, can be found in wrestling mythology.

• The Mahabharata describes the encounter between the accomplished wrestlers Bhima and Jarasandha.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh established his credibility as a leader, after wrestling Enkidu.

• Greek mythology celebrates the rise of Zeus as ruler of the earth after a wrestling match with his father, Cronus. Both Heracles and Theseus were famous for their wrestling against man and beast.

By country[link]

• Shuai Jiao, a wrestling style originating in China, which according to legend, has a reported history of over 4,000 years.

• In Pharaonic Egypt, wrestling has been evidenced by documentation on tombs (circa 2300 BC) and Egyptian artwork (2000-1085 BC).
• Greek wrestling was a popular form of martial art, at least in Ancient Greece (about 1100 to 146 BC).^[3]

• Roman Wrestling: After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman Wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 BC to AD 500).^{[citation needed]}

• Arabic literature depicted Muhammad as a skilled wrestler, defeating a skeptic in a match at one point.

• The Byzantine emperor Basil I, according to court historians, won in wrestling against a boastful wrestler from Bulgaria in the eighth century.^[4]

Michiel Sweerts, Wrestling Match, 1649.

• In 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold pageant, Francis I of France threw fellow king Henry VIII of England in a wrestling match.^[4]

• The Lancashire style of folk wrestling may have formed the basis for Catch wrestling, also known as "catch as catch can." The Scots later formed a variant of this style, and the Irish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into the United States.^[5]

• A Frenchman ^{[n 1]} "is generally credited with reorganizing European loose wrestling into a professional sport", Greco-Roman wrestling.^[6] This style which was finalized by the 19th century and by then, wrestling was featured in many fairs and festivals in Europe.^[7]

Modern[link]

Greco-Roman wrestling and modern freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions, in part resulting from the rise of gymnasiums and athletic clubs.

On continental Europe, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, and freestyle wrestling spread rapidly in the United Kingdom and in the United States after the American Civil War. Wrestling professionals soon increased the popularity of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, worldwide.^[5][8]

• Greco-Roman wrestling became an event at the first modern Olympic games, in Athens in 1896. Since 1908, the event has been in every Summer Olympics.

• Freestyle wrestling became an olympic event, in 1904. Women's freestyle wrestling was added to the Summer Olympics in 2004.

Since 1921, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) has regulated amateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, while professional wrestling has largely become infused with theatrics but still requires athletic ability. Today, olympic wrestling is the national sport of several Russia's Republics, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Gambia, USA and several ex-U.S.S.R nations.

International disciplines (non-folk styles)[link]

Wrestling disciplines defined by FILA, are broken down into two categories; International wrestling disciplines and folk wrestling disciplines. According to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, there are five current International wrestling disciplines acknowledged throughout the world. They are Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Grappling, Beach wrestling and MMA.^[9]

Greco-Roman[link]

A Greco-Roman wrestling match in the United States

Greco-Roman is an international discipline and an Olympic sport. In Greco-Roman style, it is forbidden to hold the opponent below the belt, to make trips, and to actively use the legs in the execution of any action. Recent rule changes in Greco-Roman increase opportunities for and place greater emphasis on explosive, 'high amplitude' throws. Pinning one's opponent to the mat is one way of winning. One of the most well known Greco-Roman wrestlers is Alexander Karelin from Russia.

Freestyle wrestling[link]

Freestyle wrestling is an international discipline and an Olympic sport, for both men and women. This style allows the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense. Freestyle wrestling has its origins in catch-as-catch-can wrestling and the prime victory condition in this style involves the wrestler winning by throwing and pinning his opponent on the mat. American high school and college wrestling is conducted under different rules and is termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. Outside the U.S., one can find professional wrestlers who compete by the rules of freestyle wrestling.

Grappling[link]

Female wrestling

FILA Grappling is a wrestling style that consists of controlling the opponent without using striking and also includes the use of submission holds. It is also referred to as “submission grappling.” It starts from a standing position or on the ground after a throw, and the goal is to make the opponent submit via the use of immobilization techniques such as locks. Grappling, differing from the FILA definition, plays an important role in the practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and can be used as a self-defence technique. It brings together techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Freestyle Wrestling, American Folk Wrestling (catch-as-catch-can), sambo, and judo. Grapplers wear shorts and a tight shirt (No-Gi) or kimonos (Gi).^[10]

MMA and combat grappling[link]

Combat grappling is a form of safe amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) that incorporates techniques from most existing Martial Arts systems, creating a unique fighting environment that alternatively takes the fight from standing to ground positions. Combat grappling matches are either won by grappling holds such as joint locks and chokes, or by striking and kicking techniques. Combat grappling also intends to be a realistic form of self-defense covering all aspects of standing and ground fighting, thus making it perfect and safe to use for military, police, and security training.^[11]

Beach wrestling[link]

Apparently in a bid to give wrestling greater appeal to television audiences, FILA adopted beach wrestling as an official discipline during 2004–2005. Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 6 meters (20 ft) in diameter with only two weight categories, heavy and light. The objective is to throw an opponent or take the opponent to their back. The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wear spandex or athletic shorts.^[12][13]

Oil wrestling[link]

Oil wrestling (Turkish: yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is the Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbek kurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar köräş. The wrestlers, known as pehlivan meaning "champion" wear a type of hand-stitched lederhosen called a kispet, which are traditionally made of water buffalo hide, and most recently have been made of calfskin.

Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet. Thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter's kisbet. To win by this move is called paça kazık. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days, until one man was able to establish superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the baspehlivan and 30 minutes for the pehlivan category. If no winner is determined, another 15 minutes—10 minutes for the pehlivan category—of wrestling ensues, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.

The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1362, is the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world. In recent years this style of wrestling has also become popular in other countries.

Sambo[link]

Khuresh (Tuvan wrestling)

Sambo is a martial art that originated in the Soviet Union (specifically Russia) in the 20th century. It is an acronym for "self-defence without weapons" in Russian and had its origins in the Soviet armed forces. Its influences are varied, with techniques borrowed from sports ranging from the two international wrestling styles of Greco-Roman and freestyle to judo, jiu-jitsu, European styles of folk wrestling, and even fencing. The rules for sport sambo are similar to those in competitive judo, with a variety of leglocks and defense holds from the various national wrestling styles in the Soviet Union, while not allowing chokeholds.^[14]

Pankration[link]

Pankration, from the Greek words "Pan" and "Kratos" meaning "the one who controls everything", is a world heritage martial art with the unique distinction of being the only martial sport in existence today that can legitimately trace its roots to the ancient Olympic Games from 648 BC to 393 AD. Today, pankration is developed by FILA as a mild form of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA),^[15]

Folk style disciplines[link]

Tibetan wrestlers in 1938

Indian wrestlers from Davangere in 2005

Folk wrestling describes a traditional form of wrestling unique to a culture or geographic region of the world that FILA does not administer rules for. Examples of the many styles of folk wrestling, include Backhold Wrestling (from Europe), Cumberland Wrestling and Catch-as-catch-can (from England), Kurash from Uzbekistan, Gushteengiri from Tajikistan, Khuresh from Siberia, Lotta Campidanese from Italy, Pahlavani from Iran, Pehlwani from India, Penjang Gulat from Indonesia, Schwingen from Switzerland, Tigel from Ethiopia, Nubian Wrestling from Sudan and South Sudan, Shuai jiao from China, Ssireum from Korea.

Folk wrestling styles are not recognized as international styles of wrestling, by FILA.

Collegiate wrestling[link]

Two high school students competing in scholastic wrestling (collegiate wrestling done at the high school and middle school level).

Collegiate wrestling (sometimes known as scholastic wrestling or folkstyle wrestling) is the commonly used name of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style, with modifications, is also practiced at the high school and middle school levels, and also for younger participants. The term is used to distinguish the style from other styles of wrestling used in other parts of the world, and from those of the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling, and Freestyle wrestling. Some high schools in the U.S. have developed junior varsity and freshman teams alongside varsity teams. Junior varsity and freshman wrestling teams restrict competitors not only by weight, but also by age and the amount of wrestling a competitor can partake in. For example, some junior varsity and freshman competitors are not allowed in tournament competition due to the amount of mat time a wrestler would accrue in a short time period.

There are currently several organizations which oversee collegiate wrestling competition: Divisions I, II, and III of the NCAA, the NJCAA, the NAIA, and the NCWA. NCAA Division I wrestling is considered the most prestigious and challenging level of competition. A school chooses which athletic organization to join, although it may compete against teams from other levels and organizations during regular-season competition. The collegiate season starts in October or November and culminates with the NCAA tournament held in March.^[16]

Professional wrestling[link]

Professional competitive wrestling is uncommon. Professional wrestling refers in practice to "sports entertainment", where matches are 'worked' to an arranged outcome, as a result of staged combat.

United States[link]

Professional wrestling, can often be referred to as sports entertainment, which has predetermined outcomes. In some promotions, "feuds" are used to build up a championship match. The athletes mostly utilize the traditional Anglo-American catch wrestling holds.

Puroresu[link]

Japanese professional wrestling, also known as puroresu, is treated as a sport rather than the entertainment style of wrestling found in North America. There are no storylines or any sort of angle found in most puroresu promotions. The matches have the atmosphere of real wrestling competition. Techniques include use of amateur or shoot wrestling tactics in addition to hard hitting martial arts strikes and complex submission maneuvers. This means that the wrestlers are more prone to injury. Popular Japanese wrestlers include Kenta Kobashi, Tiger Mask, The Great Muta, Jun Akiyama, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, and KENTA.

Lucha libre[link]

Mexican professional wrestling, also known as Lucha libre is a style of wrestling that combines mixed-martial arts and the wrestling of North America. In Lucha libre the wrestler or luchador uses a mask to cover his face. Traditionally the match is for the best of three rounds without a time limit. The "Luchador" or "wrestler" athlete uses their own wrestling style or "estilo de lucha" consisting of aerial attack wrestling moves, strikes and complex submission moves. The most popular luchadores are Santo, Blue Demon, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, La Parka, Dos Caras Jr./Alberto Del Rio and Mistico.

Germany[link]

In Germany, "Berufsringen" refers to wrestling where professional wrestlers fight by traditional rules, and "Wrestling" refers to the professional wrestling of U.S. promotions. The German language makes this distinction clear, as the term 'Ringen' is used to designate sport wrestling in any of the Olympic or folk styles, while the terms 'Wrestling' and 'Catchen' refers to professional wrestling entertainment; a sport wrestler is a 'Ringer' and a professional wrestling star is a 'Wrestler' or 'Catcher'. Ringer-Bundesliga is the top level of professional team wrestling.

Mixed martial arts competition[link]

Grappling and striking skills are both of importance in mixed martial arts competitions. Fighters who were accomplished wrestlers, gained respect during the early stages of MMA development.^[17] Some of these, went on to win several early Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12).^[17]

Successful fighters in modern MMA who began their training in various forms of wrestling, include Jon Jones, Frank Edgar, Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar, a former UFC heavyweight champion who was a NCAA wrestling champion in 2000 and achieved 2nd place 1999,^[18] and former champions Dan Henderson, of PRIDE FC and Randy Couture, a multi-time UFC champion, both of whom competed extensively in collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling before beginning their careers in mixed martial arts.

Sport nutrition[link]

Wrestling is a strength sport that requires a large amount of muscle stamina. "Due to the high intensity and strenuous energy demands of a wrestling match, athletes must consume the needed nutrition requirements".^[19] Wrestlers who deprive their bodies of nutrients can lead to fatal effects. Unsafe practices including rubber suits and crash diets have been banned by some coaches and trainers in order to keep their athletes healthy.

See also[link]

• Amateur wrestling
  • List of famous amateur wrestlers
  • List of World Champions in Men's Freestyle Wrestling
• Arm wrestling
• Catch wrestling
• Indian wrestling
• International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles - FILA
• Grappling
• Luta Livre
• Mixed martial arts
• Pankration
• Professional wrestling
  • List of professional wrestlers
• Skin infections and wrestling
• Sumo

References[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Exbroyat of Lyon. He died in 1868. Another claim, is that the founder of Greco-Roman wrestling, was Frenchman Jean Broyasse (death 1872), according to the encyclopedia Gyldendals store konversasjonsleksikon,1981,p.2564.

External links[link]

Look up Wrestling or Grappling in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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