Professional wrestling (often shortened pro wrestling, or simply wrestling) is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance. It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport. The unique form of sport portrayed is fundamentally based on classical and "catch" wrestling, with modern additions of striking attacks, strength-based holds and throws, and acrobatic maneuvers; much of these derive from the influence of various international martial arts. An additional aspect of combat with improvised weaponry is sometimes included to varying degrees.
The matches have predetermined outcomes in order to heighten entertainment value, and all combative maneuvers are worked in order to lessen the chance of actual injury. These facts were once kept highly secretive but are now a widely accepted open secret. By and large, the true nature of the performance is not discussed by the performing company in order to sustain and promote the willing suspension of disbelief for the audience by maintaining an aura of verisimilitude.
Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film. He is currently signed to WWE appearing on its WWE Raw brand under his ring name Paul Heyman.
Heyman was the creative force behind Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s. He has also briefly worked in World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Entertainment, including WWE's ECW brand where he was recognized as the ECW Representative.
Paul Heyman was born in Scarsdale, New York. By age 11, he was running a mail order business selling celebrity and sports memorabilia from his home.
While still a teenager, Heyman fast-talked his way backstage at a World Wide Wrestling Federation event at Madison Square Garden as a photojournalist. He was paid by the company for several of his photographs.
Heyman attended Westchester Community College, where he worked at the radio station, and later became a promoter for the New York City nightclub Studio 54 in the mid 1980s.
James Mark "Jim" Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker who is currently working for the Ring of Honor promotion.
As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also worked as an on-screen character in an authoritative role; as "Commissioner" of Ring of Honor (in a previous stint with the company) and "Management Director" (and off-screen road agent) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Cornette currently acts as Executive Producer of Ring of Honor Wrestling, as well as serving as the on-air authority figure.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Cornette always loved wrestling, reportedly installing a ten-foot antenna on top of his house as a youth so he could watch as much regional wrestling as possible. He began working at wrestling events at the age of 14, serving as a photographer, ring announcer, magazine correspondent, and public relations correspondent. In 1982, promoter Jerry Jarrett made the 21-year old Cornette the manager of Sherri Martel and gave Cornette the gimmick of a rich kid turned inept manager whose clients kept firing him after one match. The most notable wrestlers in this angle were Dutch Mantell and Crusher Broomfield (who would later gain fame as The One Man Gang and Akeem, The African Dream).
Vincent James "Vince" Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American creative writer and author, well known for his work in the professional wrestling industry. He is notable for his tenure with World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is also a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a title that he relinquished.
Russo grew up in Farmingville, New York and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana (then known as Indiana State University Evansville) in 1983 with a degree in journalism. He worked for the school newspaper The Shield as an assistant sports editor and later as editor-in-chief.
Russo got his start in the wrestling business when he began training under the tutelage of Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. He owned two video stores on Long Island, New York,. Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling which aired on Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport, New York. The program ran for exactly one year, the final show being the one year anniversary.
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born April 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), an organization he co-founded along with his father, Jerry. He is currently heading TNA's off-shoot promotion Ring Ka King in India. He is well-known from his multiple runs in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the 1990s.
A third-generation wrestler, Jarrett has held seventy championships in various promotions throughout his career. Within TNA, he is currently recognized as an eleven-time world champion, having been a six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time AAA World Heavyweight Champion. He has also accumulated five additional world title reigns, being a three-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion. He achieved notable championship success in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), becoming a six-time Intercontinental Champion (a record from 1999–2004), and one of three men to hold both the Intercontinental and European Championships simultaneously. While he never captured the WWF Championship, Jarrett challenged for the title and is recognized by the promotion as a four-time world champion, given his four reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which is now a WWE (formerly WWF) trademark. He is the first wrestler to be a two-time King of the Mountain, and also won Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración's (AAA) Rey de Reyes tournament in 2004. Between the WWF, WCW, and TNA, Jarrett has held twenty-two total championships as well as other numerous regional titles.
Ring bell, fighters in the ring
Start match, begin the clobbering
Drop kick, caught up in the rope
Pin fall, for the man with no hope
Head butt, arm drag
Pro wrestling fight to win
Pro wrestling be the champion
Choke slam, below the belt a knee
Face lock, in steps the referee
Bear hug, cross face chicken wing
Monkey flip, gorilla press and fling
Toe hold, kick out
Pro wrestling fight to win
Pro wrestling be the champion
Cage match, hell inside the cell
Hard core, blood the tale will tell
Choreographed, for the crowd appeal
Screen play, the pain is truly real
Back drop, eye gauge
Hip toss, kick out
Pro wrestling fight to win