An Introduction into the World of…

What Is Pro Wrestling?  “Sports Entertainment”; basically it is a highly athletic performance art.  Two or more wrestlers have “matches”  Predetermined outcomes  Storylines drive the action of the show.  Lots of Drama and Action

Some terms to know!  “Babyface” or just “Face” is a good guy (Hulk Hogan, John Cena)  “Heel” is a bad guy (The Iron Sheik, Triple H)  Wrestlers participate in “feuds”, or rivalries

Vincent K. McMahon Owner of the WWE since early 1980’s Has a net worth of over $1.5 Billion Created the pop culture phenomenon “WrestleMania” Became notorious for his role as the evil “Mr. McMahon” character

Monday Night Wars  Ratings battle between WWE & WCW  WCW was owned by CNN’s Ted Turner  WCW (World Championship Wrestling) had a show called “Monday Nitro”  WWE’s “Raw” program was beaten in the ratings for 84 straight weeks

Chart of TV Ratings battle between “Raw” and “Nitro”

Pros and Cons of being a Fan! ProsCons  Its super fun!  There are moments of absolute hilarity!  These athletes will amaze you.  They give you a show EVERY single week  They are Larger-Than- Life characters  The storylines can be quite atrocious  It can be too silly sometimes for an adult to watch  Often times, the show becomes repetitive  Decisions that are made question the integrity of the product

WrestleMania!

WrestleMania’s Economic Value  The event has generated over $400 million in the last 6 years  In 2013, $101.2 million was made for the NJ/NY metropolitan area where it was hosted  People from all 50 states & 34 countries came to see it, spurring economic activity Source:

My Top Five Favorite Wrestlers Shawn Michaels Eddie Guerrero Chris Jericho The Undertaker Edge