Darwinism in Pro Wrestling

Bruno Sammartino – The star of the WWWF in the 1960s and 70s

Pro Wrestling follows the same route as the human beings. Either you evolve with time, or you become a part of History. It has been the same since the start of WWWF regime, at a time when Pro Wrestling was just that. Storylines were kept secret, no one knew what kayfabe was, people used to boo the bad guys even in the streets. It was a time when territories existed, when Vince Sr., the promoter of the WWWF, had competition with AWA and NWA. The old times of Pro Wrestling in the United States was simple, no show boating, no gimmifying the Entertainment aspect; it was pure and simple, make the people cheer on the hero, make them boo the bad guy. There were no gray areas, until the ‘Entertainment’ aspect kicked in, and thus, Pro Wrestling began its evolution.

But there were Organizations which failed to evolve with time, and hence, had to disappear. It became more and more obvious that Pro Wrestling wasn’t shoot Wrestling, it was a work; that is, the matches are scripted, rehearsed and the outcomes were pre determined. But it didn’t matter to one person who changed the face of Wrestling, Vince McMahon Jr. The other Organizations such as AWA, NWA, Smoky Mountain etc, crumbled under the speed at which Vince began his expansion, the territories being a thing of the past, thus evolving much more in the process!

This led to colours being born, ‘Superstars’ evolving from ‘Rasslers’; and the biggest of the lot being Hulk Hogan, who knew what the young fan base wanted, and it was time for the ‘Rock n’ Roll’ Wrestling. More emphasis was given on Entertainment rather than the in-ring performances, with tickets selling out like hot cakes. More and more importance was given to merchandising, National and International expansion, which resulted in capturing much more attention. By the late 80s, Vince Jr. started the biggest investment, and profitable concept known as ‘Wrestlemania’, which is the annual event of the WWF/now WWE. The focus of evolution was there for everyone to see, and even though the old timers hated it, it produced results.

Then came the big turn of events. Ted Turner’s WCW started, which provided an emphasis more on Wrestling. By the end of ’95, the battle was evenly poised between the two gigantic Organizations. The question now was, who will change, evolve, for the better. The answer was WCW, with Eric Bischoff bringing new people from Japan and Mexico, incredible athletes known as ‘Cruiserweights’, with never before seen Lucha Libre action in the United States. The concept of turning Hulk Hogan, the good guy of Pro Wrestling, into the bad guy fueled the growth of the WCW. WCW started changing the landscape of Pro Wrestling for the better.

‘Hulkamania’ changed Pro Wrestling forever along with Vince McMahon Jr.

Now everyone waited to see how Vince Jr. would respond. Then came the glass shattering change; WWF had acquired ‘Attitude’, known to fans as the ‘Attitude Era’. Things got edgier, more provocative, more intense, and Vince got his nose in front of the battle. This only happened as WCW had come to a halt, no progress, the entire focus was given to the old guys, the Hogans and Nashs, and people were getting tired of them. Eric Bischoff, who managed to revolutionize Wrestling, was running out of ideas, and the evolution stopped. This was an important chapter in the so called ‘Monday Night Wars’, as WCW began to lose the rating wars by a big margin.

Meanwhile, a small Organization called ‘Extreme Championship Wrestling’, or simply ‘ECW’, started making a name for itself in the Philadelphia region, with Paul Heyman running the show. It gained momentum, and a cult following, because it was different, and in so many ways, was the catalyst to the change in the Wrestling world. It was more violent, more edgy than WWF or WCW were, and many still say that it was ECW that gave Vinnie Mac his initial ideas of making his product edgier. But like WCW, ECW too didn’t make it for long, and for the same reason: it wasn’t evolving.

Austin and The Rock – Pioneers of the Attitude Era along with the likes of Mankind, Triple H and The Undertaker

Post ’01, there was only one Global Sports Entertainment Organization, the now WWE. The product underwent a massive transformation, from the Golden Era with the Rock n’ Roll Connection, to the Attitude Era, and now the Post Attitude Era. More noticeable was the toning down of the edgy product, and was the time when Vince began exploring other areas. XFL was a flop, and Vince began crawling into the Hollywood industry. Vince Jr. always wanted to get into Entertainment/Movie business, and had now seen a chance to expand his business.

By this time, there was no doubt that WWE had done one thing no other Organization was able to do: Evolve with time. This fact became more evident when WWE decided to go PG in ’07, with also the fact that Linda Mcmahon deciding to run for the Senate. This move proved profitable in the long run, with WWE associating with Organizations like ‘Make A Wish’, and ‘Be A Star’ Campaigns; but perhaps the biggest evidence came with them dropping ‘World Wrestling Entertainment’, and just being ‘WWE’, thus now becoming an Entertainment Company, rather than Sports Entertainment. This truly is a testament of how well Vince understands the business, and how well WWE has adapted to the changes happening around them.

This proves one thing, change is necessary. Evolution has to happen; if you don’t change with time, you don’t remain to see the time change. That has been one philosophy Vince has always attested to. One can only imagine what changes may happen in the future, but we can be assured that there will a lot more changes in the WWE, and thus, this also proves Darwinism isn’t just applicable to the humans, but also Industries and Organizations equally.