Pro Wrestling IS MMA

[evilclown]

My Meltzerian Magnum Opus!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1585679...ling-done-right

[Guest Nell Santucci]

Good article. Your case is convincing. It's clear that you connected modern UFC with Japan. Is there any connection between modern UFC and old carny wrestlers like Lewis, Thesz, and Gotch? The Matysik side seems to imply that because the latter were shooters, then there would be a connection that way - sort of pro-wrestling going from real to pure spectacle and that UFC sort of rose out of a vacuum during the spectacle phase and brought back the "real" stuff with help from Japan. The sheer nonlinear chronology of that makes the case seem counterintuitive, in fact, but I'd like your response anyway, especially in light of your criticism of the hero-worship of the early pioneer pro-wrestlers.

[evilclown]

Good article. Your case is convincing. It's clear that you connected modern UFC with Japan. Is there any connection between modern UFC and old carny wrestlers like Lewis, Thesz, and Gotch? The Matysik side seems to imply that because the latter were shooters, then there would be a connection that way - sort of pro-wrestling going from real to pure spectacle and that UFC sort of rose out of a vacuum during the spectacle phase and brought back the "real" stuff with help from Japan. The sheer nonlinear chronology of that makes the case seem counterintuitive, in fact, but I'd like your response anyway, especially in light of your criticism of the hero-worship of the early pioneer pro-wrestlers.

The idea is correct, but it seems the catch wrestling lineage was more powerful in Japan. That's where Gotch and Billy Robinson settled in their final days in the business and Thesz, too, was a figurehead for the shootstyle movement.

 

On the American side of the house, catch wrestling is an almost non-existent influence. I remember talking to Daniel Cormier, the Olympic wrestler and Strikeforce champion, who before fighting Josh Barnett was almost entirely unfamiliar with catch wrestling or a wrestling based submission style.