Professional wrestling is a form of performing art and entertainment which combines athletics with 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.
Michael Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors, with Road Warrior Animal. Outside The Road Warriors, Hawk was a sporadic challenger for world heavyweight championships on pay-per-view from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. He headlined the 1993 edition of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember.
Michael John Lockwood was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment from 1999 to 2003 under the ring names Crash Holly or simply Crash.
Curtis Michael Hennig was an American professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator who performed under the name of Curt Hennig for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. In the WWF, he found his greatest success as Mr. Perfect, a nickname introduced in his second run with the company which became his official ring name. Hennig is the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig, and father of current WWE wrestler Curtis Axel.
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer and professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid-1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill, Never Been Kissed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, See Spot Run and Eight Legged Freaks. He has since had several television roles, such as Jason Ventress on ABC's In Case of Emergency.
Jacques Rougeau Jr. is a Canadian retired professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation. He began his career by wrestling under his real name, as part of a tag team called The Fabulous Rougeaus with his brother Raymond Rougeau. In 1991, he began a singles career as The Mountie, winning the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship once. In 1993, he formed The Quebecers with Pierre Ouellet, and won the WWF Tag Team Championship three times.
Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. The sport can either be theatrical for entertainment, or genuinely competitive. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules with both traditional historic and modern styles. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems.
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name and identity.
Joseph Michael Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Road Warrior Animal. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one-half of the tag team The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom. Also a sporadic singles competitor, he headlined the 2001 WCW pay-per-view event Sin, in contention for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Christopher Barrett Candito was an American professional wrestler. Candido was best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Smoky Mountain Wrestling under the ring name Chris Candido, as well as his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as Skip, one-half of the tag team The Bodydonnas. For much of his career, he performed alongside his real-life partner, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who acted as his valet.
John Weiss is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. He is best known for his work in the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the first ECW Triple Crown Champion.
James Ware, better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978. He rose in popularity during the mid 1980s, while appearing in the World Wrestling Federation, where he was initially a strong mid-carder before he eventually became a jobber to the stars. Ware came to the ring with a blue-and-yellow macaw named Frankie, and would flap his arms like a bird while dancing before and after his matches. Before joining the WWF, Ware worked as a part of several tag teams, first with Bobby Eaton in Memphis and then later on with Norvell Austin as one half of the P.Y.T. Express in several promotions. Ware also holds the distinction of having competed in the first ever match on the first episode of Monday Night Raw in a losing effort against Yokozuna.
Adam Birch, better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Ring Of Honor (ROH) as a producer, trainer and a member of the creative team.
Christopher Wright is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, C.W. Anderson. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1999 to 2001.
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, and on the independent territorial wrestling circuits. The Bushwhackers consisted of Butch Miller and Luke Williams while the Sheepherders also included Jonathan Boyd and Rip Morgan as members at times. Williams and Miller were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015.
Thomas Boric is a Croatian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond. He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as Kato, one half of The Orient Express, also with Tanaka. Before he was a professional wrestler, Boric was a professional soccer player.
World of Sport is a British television sport programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 and 28 September 1985 in competition with the BBC's Grandstand. Like Grandstand, the programme ran for several hours every Saturday afternoon.
The American Wrestling Federation (AWF) was a national professional wrestling federation founded by Paul Alperstein.
Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable nomenclature throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the worked nature of the business. In recent years, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms. Many of the terms refer to the financial aspects of professional wrestling in addition to in-ring terms.
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the name Legion of Doom (LOD) in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Under either name, their gimmick was the same – two imposing wrestlers in face paint. For brief periods, other wrestlers were added as stand-in partners for both men. In Japan in the 1990s, Kensuke "Power Warrior" Sasaki often teamed with Hawk and Animal, separately and together.
