Wrestling

• In Pharaonic Egypt, wrestling has been evidenced by documentation on tombs (circa 2300 BC) and Egyptian artwork (2000-1085 BC).
• Greek wrestling was a popular form of martial art, at least in Ancient Greece (about 1100 to 146 BC).[6]
• Oil wrestling is the national sport of Turkey and it can be traced back to Central Asia.
• After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 BC to AD 500).
• Shuai jiao, a wrestling style originating in China, which according to legend, has a reported history of over 4,000 years.
• Arabic literature depicted Muhammad as a skilled wrestler, defeating a skeptic in a match at one point.
• The Byzantine emperor Basil I, according to court historians, won in wrestling against a boastful wrestler from Bulgaria in the eighth century.[7]
• In 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold pageant, Francis I of France threw fellow king Henry VIII of England in a wrestling match.[7]
• The Lancashire style of folk wrestling may have formed the basis for Catch wrestling, also known as "catch as catch can." The Scots later formed a variant of this style, and the Irish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into the United States.[8]
• A Frenchman[n 1] "is generally credited with reorganizing European loose wrestling into a professional sport", Greco-Roman wrestling.[9] This style which was finalized by the 19th century and by then, wrestling was featured in many fairs and festivals in Europe.[10]
• Greco-Roman wrestling and contemporary freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions, in part resulting from the rise of gymnasiums and athletic clubs.
• On continental Europe, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, and freestyle wrestling spread rapidly in the United Kingdom and in the United States after the American Civil War. Wrestling professionals soon increased the popularity of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, worldwide.[8][11]
• Greco-Roman wrestling became an event at the first modern Olympic games, in Athens in 1896. Since 1908, the event has been in every Summer Olympics.
• Freestyle wrestling became an Olympic event, in 1904. Women's freestyle wrestling was added to the Summer Olympics in 2004.
• Since 1921, United World Wrestling (UWW) has regulated amateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, while professional wrestling has largely become infused with theatrics but still requires athletic ability. Today, various countries send national wrestling teams to the Olympics, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Japan, South Korea, Gambia, the United States and several ex-U.S.S.R. nations.
• In Switzerland the local derivate of the German ringen, called schwingen, is a popular folk sport with local Schwingfest where regional competitions are played throughout the country.

Some of the earliest references to wrestling can be found in wrestling mythology.

• The Epic of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh established his credibility as a leader, after wrestling Enkidu.
• Greek mythology celebrates the rise of Zeus as ruler of the earth after a wrestling match with his father, Cronus. Both Heracles and Theseus were famous for their wrestling against man and beast.
• The Mahabharata describes a malla-dwandwa (wrestling match) between the accomplished wrestlers Bhima and Jarasandha.
• Rustam of the Shahnameh (Book Of Kings) is regarded by Iranian pahlevans as the greatest wrestler.

• Historical wrestling in art and photography
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  Statuette Karajà, wrestlers - Muséum de Toulouse (MHNT)
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  Jacob Wrestling with the Angel illustration by Gustave Doré (1855)
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  Michiel Sweerts, Wrestling Match, 1649
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  Tibetan wrestlers in 1938
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  Indian wrestler exercising near Varanasi, 1973

A Greco-Roman wrestling match in the United States

Greco-Roman is an international discipline and an Olympic sport. In Greco-Roman style, it is forbidden to hold the opponent below the belt, to make trips, and to actively use the legs in the execution of any action. Recent rule changes in Greco-Roman increase opportunities for and place greater emphasis on explosive, 'high amplitude' throws. Pinning one's opponent to the mat is one way of winning. One of the most well known Greco-Roman wrestlers is Alexander Karelin from Russia.

Freestyle wrestling is an international discipline and an Olympic sport, for both men and women. This style allows the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense. Freestyle wrestling has its origins in catch-as-catch-can wrestling and the prime victory condition in this style involves the wrestler winning by throwing and pinning his opponent on the mat. American high school and men's college wrestling is conducted under different rules and is termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. American women's college wrestling uses freestyle rules.

Women's freestyle wrestling

Pankration, from the Greek words pan and kratos and meaning "all of power", is a world heritage martial art which was introduced to the Ancient Olympic Games in 648 BC. Modern amateur pankration is a form of mixed martial arts (MMA) that incorporates techniques from multiple systems. Matches are fought with both grappling holds and by striking techniques.[13]

Alysh is a Turkic term for a Central Asian folk wrestling style which involves the wearing of jackets, trousers and thick belts. Throughout the contest the wrestlers must retain their hold on each other's belt. For this reason it is also referred to as 'belt wrestling alysh' or 'alysh belt wrestling'.

Anthony Gallton (left) vs Robert Teet (right) at the 2010 USA Wrestling Beach Wrestling World Team Trials

UWW, then known as FILA, codified the form of beach wrestling in 2004.[14] Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 7 meters (23 ft) in diameter. The style originally mirrored the rules used before the use of wrestling mats,[15] and beach wrestling has been regarded as the oldest version of international competitive wrestling.[16] The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wear spandex or athletic shorts.

The international rules have been modified in 2015 by UWW, with the current rules allowing wrestlers to score points via takedowns, pushing their opponent out of bounds, or bringing the opponent down to their back.[17] In addition to the annual World Beach Wrestling Championships, beach wrestling has been contested at Youth Olympic Games, Asian Games, Down Under Games, Mediterranean Games and at the 2019 World Beach Games.[18]

Oil wrestling (Turkish: yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is the Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbek kurashcode: uzb promoted to code: uz , Tuvan khuresh and Tatar and Bashkir көрәш (köräş). The wrestlers, known as pehlivanlar meaning "champion" wear a type of hand-stitched lederhosen called a kispetler, which are traditionally made of water buffalo hide, and most recently have been made of calfskin.

Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet. Thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter's kisbet. To win by this move is called paça kazık. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days, until one man was able to establish superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the başpehlivan and 30 minutes for the pehlivan category. If no winner is determined, another 15 minutes—10 minutes for the pehlivan category—of wrestling ensues, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.

The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1362, is the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world. In recent years this style of wrestling has also become popular in other countries.

Sometimes referred as "American-Style" professional wrestling, companies such as WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling and ROH run touring professional wrestling events throughout the world. Matches are highly theatrical, with dramatic stories such as feuds between the athletes developed and performed as part of build-up and promotion for matches. Before its increase in popularity in the mid 1980s, professional wrestling in the United States was organised as a cartel of regional monopolies, known as "territories." Wrestling in some of these areas (particularly the Southern and Midwestern United States) was performed in a relatively less theatrical more serious style, which could vary from realistically sporting to darkly violent, depending on local preference.

A different style of professional wrestling evolved in the United Kingdom and spread across Western Europe (where it was known as "Catch" in the non English speaking countries of mainland Europe.) Traditionally in this style, there was less use of storylines and angles to promote the matches which, for the most part, had the atmosphere of real wrestling competition. In many countries such as the UK, this form of professional wrestling achieved mainstream popularity with television making household names of its stars, but later declined and was supplanted both on television and in wider culture by imported American wrestling. Some promoters in the UK (and to a lesser extent France and Germany) still produce live shows in this style but face stiff competition from more American-styled rivals.

Japanese professional wrestling, also known as puroresu, is also treated more as a sport than the entertainment style of wrestling common in North America. As with British/European wrestling, there are fewer and less contrived storylines and angles and there is a similar atmosphere of realistic sporting competition. Popular Japanese wrestlers include Rikidozan, Giant Baba, Antonio Inoki, Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Shinya Hashimoto and Keiji Mutoh.[21] Shoot style wrestling evolved from traditional puroresu in an attempt to create a combat-based style. Shoot style featured a mix of amateur and catch wrestling, kickboxing and submission grappling. Shoot style wrestling is retrospectively considered a precursor to mixed martial arts.

Mexican professional wrestling, also known as lucha libre, is a style of wrestling using special holds. Most performers, known as luchadores (singular luchador), begin their careers wearing masks, but most will lose their masks during their careers. Traditionally a match involves the best of three rounds, with no time limit. Each luchador uses his own special wrestling style or "estilo de lucha" consisting of aerial attack moves, strikes and complex submission holds. Popular luchadores in Mexico and Puerto Rico are El Santo, Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Perro Aguayo, Carlos Colón, Konnan, La Parka and Místico. Several wrestlers who performed in Mexico also had success in the United States, including Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio (Jr.) and Dos Caras Jr./Alberto Del Rio.

In France in the 19th century, early professional wrestling shows in the Greco-Roman style were often performed at the circus by the resident strongmen. This style later spread to circuses in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia where it was a staple part of circuses in the Soviet era, where it was often advertised as "French wrestling."[22] Ivan Poddubny achieved major stardom in his homeland and beyond during the interwar period.