Category: History

The concept of a Hall of Fame dates back to the mid-19th century when the King of the German state of Bavaria commissioned a statue and exhibition in Munich to celebrate the region’s history. The exhibition is a permanent memorial containing marble busts of major historical figures in the area.   In the US, the…

20 years ago WWE went through the worst week of its existence. While the tragedies of Owen Hart and Chris Benoit may have attracted more attention, the media firestorm unleashed in the second week of March 1992 brought the most profound sense that Vince McMahon’s company could come tumbling down. And it all hinged upon…

In 20 years of attending professional wrestling shows, I’ve been to some highly distinctive venues, from football and baseball stadiums to TV studios to abandoned supermarkets to a Macclesfield fairground. But none was more memorable than a dingy building on the corner of Swanson and Ritner Streets in South Philadelphia.   In August 1996 I…

There are unsubstantiated reports of battle royals in the days of Roman Gladiators, but the earliest recorded use of the phrase dates back to the 17th century, at which point it referred simply to any large scale conflict or argument, from military engagement to political debate.   In terms of combat sports, though, the battle…

Of all the differences in Transatlantic culture, perhaps the strangest to British eyes is that citizens of the United States often eat ham (in other words, gammon) for Christmas Day lunch. That’s because turkey is the centrepiece of the dining table when families gather for a celebratory meal on the last Thursday of November, known…

On October 15th and 16th this year, WWE will make history by taping Raw and Smackdown in Mexico for the first time — an event that many have credited as the primary reason Albert Del Rio took the WWE title in the closing moments of SummerSlam. While Rey Mysterio remains out of action, things look…

Holiday Camps Most people’s image of live professional wrestling follows a basic format: a promoter puts on an event before a ticket-buying audience in a conventional sports or entertainment venue, be it football stadium or village hall. But from carnivals to weddings there’s a whole other side to the grappling game where wrestlers perform before…