My I-Search paper is on the history of professional wrestling. I chose this topic because I am a huge wrestling fan and I was interested in where it started, how it started and just some facts about it that I've never known.

Wrestling is the oldest sport. It even goes back to the caveman days. Greeks and Romans used the violent wrestling method, Ankraction. Wrestling was a world-wide sport, extending to Japan, India, even the early Native Americans. Wrestling was a show of manhood back then.

Wrestling, in America, started in the early 1900's. The Irish settlers brought it with them when they immigrated to America. In America the first real experienced wrestlers were post civil war veterans. It was the biggest sport in America, because baseball was very new, and basketball and football weren't popular. People liked to see it live, because they felt it showed grace and dignity.

In the early hundreds, wrestling spread its popularity by having a world champion. Newspapers and sportswriters would publish wrestling's world champion. The first world champion was George Hackinsmit, a huge man who was a great crowd pleaser. He was the world champion and a man named Frank Gotch was the Am

Once television was invented, pro wrestling was reborn. TV was great, especially at first when there was only one TV in the family, and it became a part of American culture to watch wrestling. The champion Lou Thez became the most watched man in America. In the late 40's pro wrestling was aired on network prime-time every week. TV brought new personalities to the wrestling world. The first big superstar in pro wrestling was George Wagner also known as Gorgeous George. People hated George because of his long wigs and robes, and the way he was very feminine in the ring. George really knew how to attract fans. Another pretty boy was Buddy Rodgers, also known as The Nature Boy. He had the same effect on fans as George; they loved to hate him.

Some of the biggest superstars in the WWF today, are Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Vader, Triple H, Shawn Micheals, Kane, The Rock, Dude Love, Owen Hart, Shamrock, Double J, The LOD, The DOA, any many many more. As for the WCW there's DDP, Kevin Nash, Hollywood Hogan, Bret Hart, The Giant, Sting, Lex Luger, Macho Man, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and much more as well. There is true competition between the two companies.

Women also play a huge role in pro wrestling. Whether it's a beautiful woman manager showing off for the crowd, or a good old fashion cat fight, people love it. One of the first women wrestlers was Mildrid Berk, the first women's champion. Later, Lillian Ellison took the title and was very popular already because she was a previous manager of Buddy Rodgers. She was known as Lady Moolah, and she's still the lady's wrestling champion today. She's never lost a match.

Once the events stopped selling, wrestling would stay alive by becoming a carnival act. Promoters would give characters exciting costumes and would stage exhibition matches to gain interest. Wrestlers would challenge any audience member who was up to the challenge to make money. Sometimes the audience challenger really could wrestle. So the promoters would get hookers to cheat the match. A hooker was a wrestler who would hook his opponents in an illegal move to get the challenger to give up. People feared hookers.

To make more money, the WWF had pay per view specials. The most popular series of pay per view events was and still is Wrestlemania. In 1987, Wrestlemania III was a historic landmark for pro wrestling. The main event match was Andre the Giant versus Hulk Hogan for the world heavy weight title in front of 90,000 fans. It was the biggest event in wrestling history. The match was staged so Hogan would win, and the fans loved it. Wrestlemania III made pro wrestling major sports entertainer, ranking up with the NFL and NBA. Andre the Giant died of a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 46.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Frank Gotch, Lady Moolah, Toots Mount, Hulk Hogan, Jack Phefer, Buddy Talking, America America, Chris Jericho, German WWII, Nature Boy, pro wrestling, world champion, professional wrestling, wrestling history, andre giant, heavy weight, pay view, hulk hogan, wrestling stay alive, view events, buddy rodgers, pay view events, view events wrestlemania, world wrestling federation, pro wrestling real,
Approximate Word count = 1855
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)