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).

Hiroshi Tanahashi (棚橋 弘至, Tanahashi Hiroshi^?, born November 13, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler who works primarily for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his fifth reign holding the record for most successful defenses, with eleven.

Before entering the world of professional wrestling, Hiroshi Tanahashi was a baseball player in high school. He started wrestling while attending Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto and was fairly successful. During this time he was noticed by New Japan Pro Wrestling talent scouts and was invited to try out for the New Japan Dojo. His try out was successful and he was accepted as a trainee.

After graduating from the New Japan Dojo, Tanahashi made his debut in October, 1999 in a match against Shinya Makabe. He became viewed as a big prospect and was given big wins over lucha libre legend Negro Casas in July, 2000 and American Scott Hall in September 2001. His star continued to rise and in the 2002 G-1 Climax (one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's most important annual tournaments) Tanahashi pinned Kensuke Sasaki in under two minutes. After this Tanahashi was paired with Kenzo Suzuki in a tag team named the Kings of the Hills. This pairing was popular but came to an end after a real life incident. In November, 2002 Tanahashi was stabbed in the back by Hitomi Hara (a TV Asahi news reporter he had dated for a brief amount of time). Tanahashi was hospitalized, but would recover. Ironically this incident may have been the best thing to happen to his career. The stabbing was widely reported across Japan and a strong interest to see Tanahashi return was created. On February 16, 2003 Tanahshi returned as a singles wrestler to a sold out crowd in Tokyo in a match against Manabu Nakanishi.

Kazuchika Okada (岡田かずちか, Okada Kazuchika^?) (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion. From February 2010 until October 2011, he was on a developmental tour, working for American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Okada and Okato.

Trained by Último Dragón at his Toryumon professional wrestling school, Kazuchika Okada made his debut on August 29, 2004, and would spend the next couple of years wrestling primarily in Toryumon Mexico. On December 11, 2004, Okada participated in 2004 Young Dragons Cup. After defeating Hajime Ohara in the first round, he was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Rocky Romero. In the following year's tournament, Okada defeated Toshiya Matsuzaki and Fujita Hayato en route to the finals, where he defeated Hajime Ohara to win the 2005 Young Dragons Cup. In March 2006, Okada also participated in the Yamaha Cup, teaming with Hiromi Horiguchi, but the team was eliminated in the first round by Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli.