Between the colorfully athletic moves, the larger than life persona & a pinch of soap opera-ish Storylines, professional wrestling has become a circus onto itself! Let's peep the last half century


















Wrestling over the last 50 years had slowly worked its way into mainstream entertainment. From regional indies UWF, Mid-Atlantic & ECW (90's) to major league organizations like WWF, NWA (WCW), AWA, & AWWA thru the 60's-90's, professional wrestling provided a high octane, jacked-up energy enjoyment that attracted fans like Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus.(which is likely why it went outta bizness)
Once professional wrestling found its market & was able to secure TV rights & mostly sold-out crowds, it became a disturbingly hot ticket that wasn't going to slowdown anytime soon. With its highly-trained athletes, who've become household names with their larger than life personas; death defying wrestling moves & storyline dramas, the combo of sports, circus & soap opera was too much 4 fans old & young to resist.
Superstars Ric Flair & the 4 horsemen (Tully Blanchard, Arn & Ole Anderson, Lex Luger, J.J Dillon [mgr]); Harley Race; Funk Bros. (Terry & Dory Funk Jr.); Dusty Rhodes; Ivan & Nikita Koloff; Nick Bockwinkel; The Von Erich family; Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka; Junkyard Dog; Rocky Johnson; Honky tonk Man

; Verne Gagne; Hart Family (including my fav Bret "Hitman"); Bruno Sammartino; Bob Backlund; Rick Martel; Greg the Hammer Valentine; Ricky Steamboat; Fabulous freebirds; Magnum T.A.; Barry Windham; STING; Ultimate Warrior; Iron Sheik; Big John Studd; King Kong Bundy; Eddie Gilbert; Chief Wahoo McDaniels; Rock'n Roll & Midnight Express; British Bulldog & Dynamite Kid. Road Warriors; Jerry the King Lawler; Dick Murdoch ; Blackjack Mulligan; Andre the Giant; Tito Santana; Steiner Bros.; Pedro Morales; Jake the Snake Roberts; Ravishing Rick Rude; Dr. Death Steve Williams; Terry Taylor; Ron Simmons; Butch Reed; Randy Macho Man Savage & last but definitely not least Hulk Hogan.
The eventual RingMaster Billionaire Vince K. McMahon, who took his father's regional WWF promotion, expanded & unified all major promotions AWA, WCW & one explosive Philly indie ECW in the early Ooties & reestablished as WWE (World Wide Entertainment). Created a monopoly in Mainstream Professional Wrestling. After the 90's WWE's 2k GenX superstars catapulted into the stratosphere. The Undertaker; Stone Cold Steve Austin; Dwayne the Rock Johnson; John Cena; Chris Jericho; GOLDBERG; Razor Ramon (Scott Hall); Kevin Nash; Kurt Angle; Eddie Guerrero; Batista; Triple H; Brock Lesnar; Harlem Heat; Randy Orton; Daniel Bryan; CM Punk; Shawn Michaels; Kane; Big Show; Seth Rollins; Roman Reigns; Matt & Jeff Hardy etc. In the last 15 years, female wrestlers have taken on a reemergence from its glory days of the Fabulous Moolah; Mae Young; Medusa & Sensational Sherri Martel. To the Current stars: Trish Stratus; Lita; Stacy Kiebler; Molly Holly; Nikki Bella; Sasha Banks; Alexa Bliss; Becky Lynch; Brie Bella; Ronda Rousey
& Charlotte Flair
As a lifelong wrestling enthusiast, I really miss indie promotion ECW based in South Philly from '93-2k3 started by Paul Heyman (Paul E Dangerously WWF) with mainline heavy hitters: Raven; Rob Van Damm; Sabu; The franchise Shane Douglas; Bam Bam Bigelow; Tommy Dreamer; the Sandman; Justin Credible; 2 Cold Scorpio; Perry Saturn; Chris Candido; the Dudley Boys; Al Snow; Mike Awesome; Francine; Beulah; Missy Hyatt & Dawn Marie & my fav TAZ (the Human Suplex Machine). No matter your level of commitment to enjoying Pro wrestling, its always been a circus on to itself. There's a new cropping of wrestling talent that's partially unfamiliar to me, but There's one thing that wrestling is, it has become the Current Greatest Show on 🌎


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