New Japan Pro Wrestling is one of the most popular professional wrestling promotions in the World.

Professional wrestling in Japan is commonly known as Purofesshonaru Resuringu, usually abbreviated to Puroresu.

The first Japanese to become a professional wrestler in the Western style was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda, who went to the United States in the 1880s and was somewhat successful. Attempts by him to popularize the game in his native land, however, fell short and he ended back in America, where he died young.

Subsequent attempts before and after World War II failed to get off the ground initially, until Japan saw the advent of its first big star, Rikidozan, who made the sport popular beginning in 1951.

Many Japanese wrestling groups have seen a significant downturn in popularity in the past decade due to a failure to introduce new talent and copying many unpopular ideas from the U.S. The few women's groups that remain are struggling to survive while the men have seen a big drop in their drawing power as Japanese fans are increasingly turning to mixed martial arts competitions such as K-1 or the PRIDE Fighting Championships, which had pro wrestlers as its early exponents. WWE is also trying to make inroads in Japan by promoting cards on its own instead of through co-promotion as in the past with New Japan and SWS, mostly by featuring some of its wrestlers who once competed for Japanese promotions in the main events.

Basic rules

A match can be won by fōru (fall; equivalent to pin fall), nokkauto (knockout; failing to answer a ten count), ringu auto (ring out; equivalent to count out), or gibappu (give up; equivalent to submission). Fōru occurs when the wrestler holds both of his opponent's shoulders against the mat for a count of three. Unlike wrestling in North America, a 20 count is used in Japan when a wrestler leaves the ring instead of a 10 count. Additional rules govern how the outcome of the match is to take place, for example the Japanese UWF and its derived Submission Arts Wrestling promotions do not allow pinfalls, just submissions or knockouts. Disqualifications (due to outside interference or violence on the official), unlike in the U. S., are rarely used in Japan nowadays since the fans are reputed to dislike seeing no clear-cut winners and losers. If there are any multiple beatings of a wrestler by others, they are usually done after the referee has counted a fall/KO/give up and the bell has rung.

Styles and gimmicks

Throughout the 1990s, three individual styles, shoot style, lucha libre, and "garbage" were the main divisions of independent promotions, but as a result of the "borderless" trend of the 2000s to have interpromotional matches, the line between rules among major-league promotions and independents has for the most part been blurred to standardization.

Characteristics of Puroresu

What makes puroresu different from the lucha libre style in Mexico and the American style is the fact that it is performed in more realistic manner. The Japanese portray it as a legitimate sports struggle. There is no outside interference, run-ins, or referees conveniently looking the other way. Blatant cheating draws boos from the audience, no matter how popular the wrestler. Almost every match ends clean, with no cheating and no disqualification.

Puroresu also uses very complex submission maneuvers as well as high-flying aerial attacks. Pro-wrestlers in Japan are also famous for "working stiff," i.e. not pulling their punches and kicks. Puroresu also differs from American pro wrestling in that the wrestlers are treated more like legitimate athletes than sports entertainers. During interviews, puroresu stars tend to speak normally rather than use catchphrases and other mannerisms associated with their gimmicks, much like interviews conducted with boxers, baseball and soccer players. Even the wrestlers with the most fanciful in-ring personalities carry out their interviews in a solemn, calm tone; the only "catchphrases" that they may allow themselves is saying an English word here and there, such as "thank you", "champion", or "I am" (before their surname). Promos are thus rarely used; the major promotions often interview wrestlers after the matches rather than before, where they can be seen (realistically) sweating and tired, as testimony to the match they have been in.

Most of the Japanese organizations do not follow the faces and heels style of their Western counterparts. There is no good guy/bad guy structure, it's strictly competition between the wrestlers. This allows every wrestler on the roster to face each other; in America, for instance, two faces or two heels would very rarely be booked to square off in a match, as it generally has to be good guy vs. bad guy. Japan doesn't limit itself like this; for example, it's not uncommon for regular tag team partners to face each other in a singles match, particularly during annual tournaments, where the format is usually round robin and thus it's every man for himself. During the nWo angle in Japan, it was not uncommon to see Keiji Mutoh facing off against allies Masahiro Chono, Marcus Bagwell and Scott Norton during the G-1 Climax tournament, and holding nothing back during the matches. Secondary singles championships, such as the WWE Intercontinental Championship and WWE United States Championship, are unheard of, as promotion of a wrestler to the major singles championships also takes into account tag team victories and championship reigns. Often, if a wrestler is to be pushed as a singles championship contender, a "secondary" championship used is one from an independent promotion or from a promotion from abroad. This pushes the wrestler as a championship contender in his home ring. New Japan allows for a few gimmick wrestlers, though. In the 1990s, one of its top stars was Mutoh, who would do double duty, either wrestling under his own name without a gimmick, or would don different tights and face paint and work as the heelish Great Muta. Most Japanese wrestlers can be considered tweeners because, they rely on the fans' admiration, this admiration comes from how much they are realistically into the match. One of the best known tweeners in New Japan is Yuji Nagata.

None of the major promotions have their own publications (in contrast to WWE in the U. S.), all major promotions are covered by the mainstream media and have dedicated independent publications that are on par with publications dedicated to baseball, soccer, sumo wrestling, and other specialized sports. The top pro wrestling magazines in Japan are Shukan (Weekly) Puroresu, a division of Baseball Magazine Sha, and Shukan Gong. Both present results up to the week before publication (in contrast to the U. S., where both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and WWE publications publish results and happenings at least two months old), and several mainstream newspapers include wrestling match results alongside boxing and MMA, which are grouped together under the general category Kakutogi (Fighting Sports).

Ring

A match is fought in a square ringu (ring) surrounded by three ropes, very similar to a boxing ring. Turnbuckles holding the ropes in the corners can be covered either individually (each turnbuckle has its own padding) or collectively (a single padding covering all turnbuckles). Wrestlers often run into the ropes by themselves or throw the opponents against them, employing the ropes' elasticity for his next attack. This full use of the ropes is a unique characteristic of puroresu among other sports which also use boxing rings. Additionally, there are attacks that utilize the squareness of the ring, including climbing onto a corner and jumping off onto the opponent, or pushing the opponent out of the ring from the corner.

Other kinds of rings may be specified by individual rules. A ring may have barbed wires instead of ropes, have six sides of ropes instead of four, or may have explosives set on the boundaries, just to name a few. Some small, obscure independent promotions which rarely draw above 100 fans to its cards on average are so devoid of resources that they have to use amateur mats in place of an actual ring. Examples of these are Koki Kitahara's Capture International (shoot style) and Mr. Pogo's WWS.

Female wrestling

Puroresu done by female wrestlers is called joshi puroresu (女子プロレス). Female wrestling in Japan is usually handled by promotions that specialize in joshi puroresu, rather than divisions of otherwise male-dominated promotions as is the case in the United States (the only exception was FMW, a men's promotion which had a small women's division, but even then depended on talent from women's federations to provide competition). However, joshi puroresu promotions usually have agreements with male puroresu promotions such that they recognize each others' titles as legitimate, and may share cards.

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling was the dominant joshi organization from the 1970s to the 1990s but the company suffered due to mismanagement by the four brothers who ran the company. AJW's first major star was Mach Fumiake in 1974, followed in 1975 by the Beauty Pair. The early 1980s saw the fame of Jaguar Yokota, who was as good if not better than most men. That decade would later see the rise of Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka, the Crush Gals, who became huge idols to millions of Japanese girls, many of whom followed their lead into pro wrestling. AJW also employed several American wrestlers, who had found little work and no respect in the U.S. Like their male counterparts, the women of Japanese wrestling are treated with great respect as serious athletes, not as eye candy like in the U.S.

Puroresu on television

Since its beginning, Japanese professional wrestling depended on television to reach a wide audience. Rikidozan's matches in the 1950s, televised by Nippon TV, often attracted huge crowds to Tokyo giant screens. Eventually TV Asahi also gained the right to broadcast JWA, but eventually the two major broadcasters agreed to split the talent, centering about Rikidozan's top two students: NTV for Giant Baba and his group, and Asahi for Antonio Inoki and his group. This arrangement continued after the JWA split into today's major promotions, New Japan and All Japan, led by Inoki and Baba respectively. In 2000, following the Pro Wrestling NOAH split, NTV decided to follow the new venture rather than staying with All Japan. Nowadays, however, mirroring the decline that professional wrestling in the U.S. had in the 1970s and early 1980s, NOAH's Power Hour and New Japan's World Pro Wrestling have been largely relegated to the midnight hours by their broadcasters.

The advent of cable television and pay per view also enabled independents such as RINGS to rise. WOWOW had a working agreement with Akira Maeda that paid millions to RINGS when he was featured, but eventually was scrapped with Maeda's retirement and the subsequent RINGS collapse.

Foreign wrestlers in Japan

Since its establishment professional wrestling in Japan has depended on foreigners, particularly North Americans, to get its own stars over. Rikidozan's JWA and its successor promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling were members of the American-based National Wrestling Alliance at various points, and used these connections to bring North American stars. International Pro Wrestling was the first Japanese promotion to link in to European circuits. It was through IWE that Frenchman André the Giant got his international reputation for the first time.

Several popular North American professional wrestlers in recent years, including Americans Hulk Hogan, Big Van Vader, and Mick Foley, Canadian Chris Benoit, and others have wrestled in Japan. The now defunct World Championship Wrestling had a strong talent exchange deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling, that saw (amongst other things) a Japanese version of its popular nWo angle used by that federation. Ken Shamrock was among the first Americans to compete in shoot style competition in Japan, starting out in the UWF and later opened Pancrase with some other Japanese shootfighters.

As a result of the introduction of Lucha Libre into Japan in the early 1990s, major Mexican stars also compete in Japan, although they are less popular than American wrestlers and depend on their masked personas to gain recognition. The most popular Mexican wrestler to compete in Japan is Mil Máscaras.

Federations

Male

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
• Apache Army
• BattlARTS
• Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW)
• Big Mouth Loud
• Dragon Gate
• Dramatic Dream Team (DDT)
• El Dorado Wrestling
• Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling
• Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW)
• Fujiwara Gumi
• HUSTLE
• Inoki Genome Federation
• International Pro Wrestling
• IWA JAPAN
• Japan Pro-Wrestling (Japan Puroresu)
• Japan Pro Wrestling (Nihon Puroresu, JWA)
• Kaientai Dojo
• Kensuke Office
• Kingdom
• King's Road
• Michinoku Pro Wrestling
• MUGA World
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
• NOW
• Osaka Pro Wrestling
• Pancrase
• Pro Wrestling Crusaders
• Pro Wrestling Kageki
• Pro Wrestling NOAH
• Pro Wrestling U-STYLE
• Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
• RINGS
• SWS
• Tokyo Pro Wrestling
• Tokyo Pro Wrestling (new)
• UFO
• Universal Lucha Libre
• Universal Wrestling Federation
• UWF International
• W★ING
• WAR
• WEW
• WMF

Female

• All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (Zenjo)
• ARSION
• AtoZ
• GAEA Japan
• JWP
• Japan Women's Pro Wrestling
• LLPW
• NEO
• JDStar
• Pro Wrestling SUN
• SENDAI Girls' Pro Wrestling (Senjo)

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_Japan

One of the most well known Lucha Libre wrestlers (luchadores), Rey Mysterio.

Lucha Libre (which translates literally as Free Wrestling or Free Fighting) is a term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas to refer to all forms of professional wrestling.

Since Mexico is the largest and most influential Spanish-speaking market for wrestling, in non-Spanish speaking areas the term is more synonymous with the professional wrestling performed in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Starting in the early 1900s this wrestling was mainly a regional phenomenon until Salvador Lutteroth brought wrestlers from the United States to Mexico in the 1930s, giving the sport a national foothold for the first time.

Mexican wrestling is marked with a lessened emphasis on power moves than in the United States or Canada. Instead, there are rapid sequences of holds and moves, as well as spectacular high-flying moves, many of which have been adopted north of the border. A Lucha Libre performer is known as a luchador.

In Peru the term "cachascán" (from "catch as can") is used. Wrestlers are called cachascanistas. In Argentina, in addition to lucha libre, professional wrestling is also referred to as "catch".

Rules

The rules of Lucha Libre are very similar to its American predecessor in singles matches. Matches can be won by pinning the opponent to the mat for the count of three, making him submit, knocking him out of the ring for a count of twenty or by disqualification. Using the ropes for leverage is illegal and once a luchador is on the ropes, his opponent must release any holds and he will not be able to pin him. Disqualifications occur when an opponent uses an illegal hold or move, hits his opponent in the groin (faul), uses outside interference, attacks the referee or rips his opponent's mask completely off. Most matches are two out of three falls (Dos de tres caídas)

Masks

The mask of Blue Demon is a good example of a typical lucha libre mask

Masks have been used dating back to the beginnings of Lucha Libre and have a historical significance to Mexico dating back to the days of the Aztecs. Early masks were very simple with basic colors to distinguish the wrestler. In modern Lucha Libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals, gods, ancient heroes, and other archetypes, whose identity the Luchador takes on during a performance. Virtually all wrestlers in Mexico will start their careers wearing masks, but over the span of their careers a large part of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in his final bout or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying loss of identity as that character. Sometimes losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask. The mask is considered "sacred" to a degree, so much so that fully removing an opponents mask during a match is grounds for disqualification.

During their careers, the masked luchadores will often be seen in public wearing their mask, keeping up the Kayfabe of Lucha Libre; in effect, the mask is synonymous with the luchador. El Santo (English: "The Saint"), Mexico's most famous and well loved luchador, kept his mask until after retirement, revealed his true identity only in old age, and was actually buried wearing his silver mask.

More recently, the masks that the luchadores wear have become iconic symbols of Mexican and Mexican-American culture. Contemporary Mexican-American artists like Francisco Delgado and Xavier Garza incorporate wrestler masks in their paintings. The Nashville-based Anglo band Los Straitjackets adopted luchador masks as part of their stage show in the mid-1990s, and have since acquired a large Mexican following.

Luchas de Apuestas

With the importance placed on masks in Lucha Libre losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasking wrestler. Putting your mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tried and tested tradition in Lucha Libre as a means to settle a heated feud between two or more wrestlers. These battles are called Luchas de Apuestas (English: Matches with Wagers) where the wrestlers involved "wager" something, either their mask or their hair. The "Luchas de Apuestas" match was first presented on July 14, 1940 at Arena México. The rule came about because the defending champion Murchiélago was much lighter than his challenger Octavio that he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio won the match and Murchiélago had to unmask after the match giving birth to a tradition in Lucha Libre.

The most iconic match is máscara contra máscara (English: mask versus mask), where two masked luchadores bet their masks, and the loser is unmasked by the winner and his real name is often revealed as well.

Another well-known type of "Luchas de Apuesta" is máscara contra cabellera (English: mask versus hair), in which one masked wrestler and an unmasked one compete; at times the unmasked one has lost his mask to the masked one in a previous bout. If the masked luchador wins, the unmasked one has to shave his head as a sign of humiliation. If the unmasked luchador is the winner, he keeps his hair and the loser is unmasked.

The third kind of "Luchas de Apuesta" is cabellera contra cabellera (English: hair versus hair), where the loser of the match has his head shaved bald. This can occur both between unmasked wrestlers and masked wrestlers who have to remove their mask enough to be shaved after the match.

Other characteristics

A traditional division of luchadores is rudos (bad guys, or heels, literally "rough" or "rude") and técnicos (the good guys, or faces, literally "technician" or "technical") who always play by the rules, in theory at least. It must be cleared that a "technical" wrestler is the one who has a very depurated combat style, close to greco-roman wrestling and martial arts techniques; the "rudo" is more a brawler than a scientific wrestler. Technical wrestlers playing the "good guy" role, and "rudes" playing always the bad guys is very characteristic of Mexican lucha libre. Compare with United States based wrestling, where many technical wrestlers play the role of heels, and many brawlers play as "faces" (e.g., Stone Cold Steve Austin during the peak of his popularity in the late 1990s).

Místico challenges Averno for his NWA World Middleweight title at Arena México

Luchadores, like their foreign counterparts, seek to obtain a campeonato ("Championship") through winning key wrestling matches. Lucha libre uses a more specific weight class system to classify titles. Popular weight classes include; heavyweight, light-heavyweight, welterweight and middleweight. Lightweight and super-lightweight titles are also used. "Cruiserweight" is often associated with Lucha Libre, even though in Mexico, it would be declared light-heavyweight. (The term "cruiserweight" is derived from boxing, where it is a weight between Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight.) Titles can be defended as few as one time per year and wrestlers usually only wear their belts on big shows and when they are defending them. In recent years, weight classes have been mostly nominal and there are occasions where a wrestler will have titles in two different weight classes. Title matches are still major accomplishments and many shows are built around title defenses.

In recent years, several luchadores have found success in the United States. Notable former luchadores who are thriving in the USA today are Juventud and Rey Mysterio.

In the media

• A fanciful take on the lucha libre concept can be seen in the animated cartoon ¡Mucha Lucha!.
• The motion picture Nacho Libre stars Jack Black as a priest-turned-luchador (somewhat similar to the real-life Lucha Libre personality Fray Tormenta, aka Father Sergio Gutierrez Benitez).

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucha_libre

Acronym	ROH
Established	2002
Style	Professional wrestling
Location	Bristol, Pennsylvania
Founder(s)	Rob Feinstein
Owner(s)	Cary Silkin
Parent	RF Video (former)
Sister	Full Impact Pro SHIMMER Women Athletes
Website	ROHwrestling.com

Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion. It was founded 2002 by Rob Feinstein and is currently owned by Cary Silkin. ROH usually holds several shows each month, sometimes as many as six. Annual shows include the Anniversary Show(s), Death Before Dishonor, Survival of the Fittest, Glory by Honor, and Final Battle (the last show of the calendar year).

ROH records all its shows and sells them on DVD through mail-order and its online store, which has developed a loyal fanbase for the promotion in America and internationally. Ring of Honor broadcasts on The Fight Network to viewers in Canada, on TWC Fight! to viewers in Great Britain and Ireland, and select shows on Pay Per View in America and Canada .

History

In April 2001, professional wrestling video distribution company RF Video was in need of a new promotion to lead its video sales after Extreme Championship Wrestling (its best seller) went out of business. At the time, RF Video also filmed events held by other, less-popular, regional wrestling promotions; it sold these through its catalog and website. RF Video owner Rob Feinstein decided to fill the ECW void by starting his own promotion, then distributing its made-for-DVD and VHS productions exclusively through RF Video. The first event, titled The Era of Honor Begins, was held on February 23, 2002. It featured nine matches, including a match between Eddy Guerrero and Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Championship, and a triple threat match between Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki, who would become known as the "founding fathers of ROH". In its first year of operation, ROH confined itself to a limited number of venues and cities (in the northeastern U.S.). Ten shows were run in Philadelphia, PA; two in Greater Boston, Massachusetts; one in metro Pittsburgh, PA; and, one in Queens, NY. In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of the United States, including Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. It also began to build its international identity by co-promoting an event with Frontier Wrestling Alliance in London, England.

In 2004, Feinstein was caught in a sting operation in which he tried to solicit sex from an adult posing as a minor; as a result, left the company in June 2004. The scandal garnered bad publicity for ROH, resulting in a decline in business for a period of time. Also as a result of this, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pulled its contracted wrestlers (most notably AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels) from all Ring of Honor shows. This was also a factor in the decline, as both performers were marquee names for ROH. Feinstein's stake was eventually sold to Doug Gentry, who later sold it to Cary Silkin. Ring of Honor would start its own mail-order and online store, which sells DVDs of its live events and shoot interviews with wrestlers and managers, along with wrestling-related merchandise of other companies, including some competing promotions.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has given full five-star ratings to several ROH matches, including the Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk sixty-minute bout from Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, 2004; Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi from Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005; and Do FIXER (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino) from Supercard of Honor on March 31, 2006. At the time of Joe vs. Punk II, Meltzer had not rated any wrestling match in the US the full five-stars since 1997. The Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk feud brought revived interest in ROH, but it took a year before the company would become self-sufficient (in November 2005). Until this point, since the split from RF Video, ROH had not made a profit. The strong DVD sales of the October 1, 2005 Joe vs. Kobashi event helped turn the tide.

On January 23, 2007, Ring of Honor announced plans for a Japanese tour, resulting in a July 16 show in Tokyo co-promoted with Pro Wrestling NOAH and a July 17 show in Osaka co-promoted with Dragon Gate. In 2007, ROH became the 1st U.S.-based promotion to have its titles held entirely by non-American wrestlers: the Japanese Dragon Gate team of Naruki Doi and Shingo held the ROH World Tag-Team Championship at the same time as their fellow countryman, Pro Wrestling NOAH star Takeshi Morishima, who was holding the ROH World Championship.

On May 2, 2007, Ring of Honor announced that is had signed a PPV and VOD deal with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to bring ROH into homes with iN DEMAND Networks, TVN, and the DISH Network. The deal calls for ROH to do a PPV at least once every 60 days in both the U.S. and abroad. Because of the move to pay-per-view, TNA Wrestling immediately pulled its contracted stars (Austin Aries and Homicide) from Ring of Honor shows. The first show, titled Respect is Earned, was taped on May 12 and was first aired on July 1 on DISH Network. ROH would tape their second pay-per-view, Driven, the following month.

Code of Honor

Ring of Honor was initially targeted at "smart mark" fans who had tired of the "sports entertainment" style that had come to dominate comtemporary U.S. pro wrestling. The primary way of setting ROH apart was the "Code of Honor": a set of rules dictating how wrestlers were supposed to conduct themselves during matches. The Code of Honor was intended to infuse Ring of Honor's matches with a feel similar to Japanese professional wrestling. Initially, there were five "Laws" in the Code of Honor, which were mentioned at some point during each ROH home release. It was considered a "moral requirement" to follow these rules. They were (usually in this order):

1. You must shake hands before and after every match.
2. No outside interference -- no interfering in others' matches or having others interfere on your behalf.
3. No sneak attacks
4. No harming the officials.
5. Do not get yourself disqualified

The Code of Honor (especially its first three rules) was used principally to help heels get over quickly. The first rule was especially applicable to Daniels, who was pushed as the promotion's first major heel. Daniels and his faction, The Prophecy, did not believe in the Code of Honor, refusing to shake anyone's hand. The fourth and fifth rules were to emphasize ROH's match finishes, the vast majority of which resulted in 'honest' pins, submissions, or knockouts. On the rare occasion that a match did end with outside interference, a "ref bump", or some other traditional heel scenario, it was met with a much more visceral (negative) fan reaction than would be seen elsewhere in the wrestling world. In the early days of the promotion, it was even suggested that getting disqualified in a match may result in that wrestler never appearing in ROH again.

In early 2004, ROH's booker, Gabe Sapolsky, began to feel that the Code of Honor had run its course. Wrestlers were no longer required to follow it, allowing for more dramatic, explosive, and over-the-top match endings. This was accepted at that point due to the stars the promotion had already established, and the trust of the loyal fans it had won. The Code of Honor eventually re-appeared -- revamped -- as three rules:

1. Shake hands before and after the match -- if you respect your opponent.
2. Keep the playing field level.
3. Respect the officials.

Contenders for Championships

Originally, Ring of Honor had no formal way to determine challengers for its World Championship. When Xavier, a heel champion, began to avoid challengers, Ring of Honor instated a Top Five Ranking system to establish contenders to the title. Wrestlers were ranked based on their general win-loss record, and their win-loss record against other ranked competitors. The top contender held the Number One Contender Trophy, which was treated as a second championship at the time, and defended as such.

The ranking system was abolished with the creation of the new Code of Honor. The ranking system was replaced by the Contenders Ring, a more complex polling system whereby ROH officials would submit rankings after each show. Wrestlers who appeared on more than 75% of the ballots were considered to be in the Contenders Ring, which earned them title shots for both the World and Pure Championships.

In January 2005, Ring of Honor did away with the Contenders Ring. Instead, wrestlers who wanted a title shot had to submit a petition to ROH officials. After a petition was filed, ROH officials kept track of the petitioner's record, quality of opposition, respect shown towards the Code of Honor, and inherent skill. These factors determined who would receive a title shot. Despite the petition system, ROH officials retained the ability to determine #1 contenders.

Upon the naming of Jim Cornette as ROH Commissioner in October 2005, Ring of Honor Management confirmed the return of the Top Five Ranking system. The "Top 5" was voted on by Cornette and other ROH officials during the first week of every month, only. Voting was based on won/lost record and quality of opposition, with a heavy emphasis on the previous month.

In July of 2006, Ring of Honor again dropped the Top 5 concept, as it had not consistently been used to determine ROH World Title challengers. The champion at the time, Bryan Danielson, had instead been sending open contracts to wrestlers in other promotions around the world, with ROH officials also choosing contenders from within the company. This was also done when Homicide won the title from him -- who, ironically, lost it to one of those challengers: Takeshi Morishima from Pro Wrestling NOAH. After Morishima won the belt, it seemed that he could choose his challengers, as he defended it (with ROH and NOAH approval) at NOAH's March 4th, 2007 Budoukan Hall show against KENTA.

Titles

Championship	Champion(s)	Defeated	Date Won	Location	Event
ROH World Championship	Nigel McGuinness	Takeshi Morishima	October 6, 2007	Edison, New Jersey	Undeniable
ROH World Tag Team Championship	The Briscoe Brothers	Naruki Doi & Shingo	March 30, 2007	Detroit, Michigan	All–Star Extravaganza III
Top of the Class Trophy	Ernie Osiris	Mitch Franklin	November 2, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Glory by Honor VI: Night 1

Previous championships

Championship	Final Champion(s)	Defeated	Date Won	Location	Event
ROH Pure Championship	Bryan Danielson	Nigel McGuinness	August 12, 2006	Liverpool, England	Unified

Specialty matches

• Four Corner Survival Match and Six Man Mayhem
• Scramble Tag Match
• Scramble Cage Match, Scramble Cage Melee and Steel Cage Warfare
• Ultimate Endurance Match
• Fight Without Honor

This match does not require participants to adhere to the Code of Honor, and usually involves no disqualifications and the use of weapons. The match is typically used to end the more violent feuds in ROH.

• Pure Wrestling Match

Each wrestler has three rope breaks that he can use to break a pin or submission. Submission maneuvers that involve use of the ropes are legal once all three rope breaks have been used. Closed fists are illegal; the first time a wrestler uses a closed fist he is given a warning, the second time he loses one of his rope breaks, and if the wrestler has already used all his rope breaks he is disqualified. While most ROH matches to do not have a countout, Pure Wrestling Matches have a strict 20 second count on the floor.

• Round Robin Challenge

3 wrestlers/tag teams compete with each other in a round robin tournament. They each wrestle two different matches (making a total of three matches), with the one(s) with the most victories winning the challenge. Christopher Daniels is the only person to win a Round Robin Challenge, as all others have ended in a draw with each participant(s) winning one match and losing the other. Round-robin tournament is a common league system employed in many sports, such as soccer and ice hockey. It was popularized in wrestling by All Japan Pro Wrestling with their Champion Carnival tournament.

ROH wrestling school

The ROH promotion also runs a professional wrestling school called the ROH Wrestling School in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The current head trainer of the school is Delirious with previous head trainers of the academy including former ROH World Champions CM Punk, Austin Aries, and Bryan Danielson. The first three classes of students have already graduated and currently wrestle on the US independent circuit, including preliminary and exhibition matches at Ring of Honor events. Top Graduates include Davey Andrews, Pelle Primeau and Shane Hagadorn. The ROH has a "Top of the Class" trophy to promote the students on the main show, while the Trophy is won and lost in matches, the winners are chosen by the School's head trainer.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Honor

Type	Privately held limited liability company
Founded	May 10, 2002
Headquarters	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Key people	Dixie Carter, President Jeff Jarrett, Vice President Chris Sobol, Vice President of Operations
Industry	Professional wrestling Sports entertainment
Parent	Panda Energy International
Slogan	"We Are Wrestling"
Website	TNAwrestling.com

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002. The current majority share owner is Panda Energy International. The company, which trades as TNA Entertainment, LLC, operates out of Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Orlando, Florida.

Upon its formation, TNA was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, with the company known as NWA Total Nonstop Action. TNA was granted exclusive rights to both the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship. TNA withdrew from the NWA in 2004, but was permitted to continue to use the championships until the NWA abrogated the agreement in May 2007.

TNA is the first American promotion to exclusively use a hexagonal wrestling ring as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring. The organization also employs the unconventional rule that a championship can change hands as the result of a disqualification or countout. In addition, two separate entrance ramps are used for heels and faces.

TNA is currently under investigation by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding their talent wellness policy, after the death of Chris Benoit possibly being linked to steroid abuse. In September 2007, TNA announced to its talent that they would be having their first drug test. TNA told its talent that if they will not be able to pass the test to tell management ahead of time. It is not known whether failing the test will result in a suspension.

1 History 1.1 Weekly pay-per-view shows 1.2 TNA Impact! 1.3 Expansion 1.4 Celebrity involvement 2 Unique features 2.1 Storyline/Roster 2.2 Ring shape and locations 2.3 X Division 2.4 Championships 2.4.1 Current champions 2.5 Creative team 2.6 Authority figures 2.6.1 On-air personalities 3 References 4 External links

History

Weekly pay-per-view shows

After World Championship Wrestling was purchased by Vince McMahon and Extreme Championship Wrestling filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, TNA became the largest and most influential professional wrestling company in the United States. This prompted Jerry Jarrett and his son Jeff Jarrett to start a new wrestling company, named JSports & Entertainment, in May 2002 in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance and with HealthSouth as their financing partner. In October 2002, Panda Energy International bought the controlling interest in the project and replaced HealthSouth after they pulled out due to financial problems. The company was renamed TNA Entertainment.

By not touring like other major federations have done, TNA was able to keep costs down. Until the introduction of the syndicated show, TNA Xplosion, in late 2002, TNA's weekly show was provided over pay-per-view to act as their main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the Nashville Fairgrounds to lower production costs. Although the weekly TNA shows were priced at much less than the other federations monthly events, they achieved low buy rates. After 27 months, TNA felt that they had a fanbase that would support three-hour pay-per-views and ceased their weekly shows on September 8, 2004. TNA held its first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road, on November 7, 2004.

TNA Impact!

The Impact! Zone, where TNA currently holds most of its televised shows

TNA began airing TNA Impact! on June 4, 2004 on Fox Sports Net and it soon replaced the weekly pay-per-views as their primary broadcast while the monthly events became the main source of revenue. The contract was not renewed one year later with the show getting consistent low ratings. This left TNA with no television deal other than the monthly pay-per-views, so on July 1, 2005, TNA turned to broadcasting Impact! from their official website, while seeking a new television outlet. TNA would finally secure a deal with Spike TV and air its first episode on October 1, 2005. Since the move, Impact! achieved considerably higher ratings and was moved twice, now having a primetime slot on Thursdays. IMPACT! expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007.

Expansion

Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006 and in October, TNA started holding some of their monthly pay-per-views outside of their central filming location. TNA has also expanded into other areas with the development of a video game with Midway Games, titled TNA Impact!, scheduled for release in 2008. In April 2006, TNA announced a partnership with YouTube that would see TNA supply YouTube with exclusive video content in exchange for hosting, leading to the production of internet shows. In January 2007, TNA's mobile content deal with New Motion, Inc. led to the introduction of TNA Mobile and mobile fan voting.

In August 2007, live events coordinator Craig Jenkins stated that TNA intended to stage eight pay-per-views and 96 house shows outside Orlando, Florida in 2008.

Celebrity involvement

Since its inception, several celebrities have appeared with TNA in a variety of roles.

• The inaugural show featured country musician Toby Keith and NASCAR drivers Hermie Sadler and Sterling Marlin, with Sadler later wrestling several matches.
• September 2002 – Actor Dustin Diamond competed in a boxing bout.
• October 2002 – Comedian Chris Rock, who was at the TNA Asylum filming a scene for Head of State, was interviewed.
• January 2004 – Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher intervening in a match.
• July 2004 – NASCAR on FOX personality Jeff Hammond became a color commentator and wrestled two matches before departing in 2005. Basketball player Dennis Rodman accompanied the 3Live Kru to ringside during an episode of Impact!.
• May 2005 – Mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz refereed a bout at Hard Justice. He returned in October 2005, refereeing a second match at Bound for Glory.
• December 2005 – Major League Baseball catcher A.J. Pierzynski served as a manager at Turning Point where he and outfielder Johnny Damon intervened in a match. Pierzynski returned in January 2007, beginning a brief "feud" with shortstop David Eckstein. Pierzynski also represented TNA on an episode of Cold Pizza in October 2006.
• February 2007 – Actor Steve Schirripa appeared as a purported relative of Team 3D. Wide receiver Andre Rison promoted Pros vs Joes in an in-ring interview before being "attacked" by Abyss.
• June 2007 – Football players Frank Wycheck and Kyle Vanden Bosch appeared at Slammiversary, with Wycheck wrestling.
• July 2007 – Suspended National Football League player Adam "Pacman" Jones signed a contract with the promotion. In response, the Titans organization sought a restraining order barring him from working with the company. The Titans and TNA had since came to an agreement on Jones participating with TNA, and Jones even won one half of the TNA World Tag Team Championship during his brief tenure with the company.

Unique features

Storyline/Roster

TNA uses storylines of sports entertainment with a balance of storylines and wrestling, popularized during the 1980s. The pay-per-view events often serve as a conclusion to storylines developed over the preceding weekly shows. The TNA roster is divided into the typical heavyweight, tag team and woman divisions and the X Division, all represented by respective championships.

Ring shape and locations

Different from other United States professional wrestling promotions, TNA utilizes a hexagonal ring as opposed to the traditional square ring. Also, although TNA runs some house shows and a few PPV events in arenas, TNA holds most of its events at a set location (Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida) as opposed to an arena, presenting more of a regional promotion atmosphere.

X Division

The high-flying, high risk style of wrestling had been one of the features of WCW and ECW. Rather than emphasizing the fact that most wrestlers who perform this style are under 220 lb (100 kg) by calling it a cruiserweight division, TNA decided to emphasize the high risk nature of the moves that these wrestlers perform. There is no upper weight limit on the X Division or its title, though in practice, most of the wrestlers in this division have been cruiserweights, with Samoa Joe, billed at 280 pounds, and Kurt Angle, billed at 250 pounds, being notable exceptions. To further emphasize this point, the slogan "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" is used to describe the division. Although it was de-emphasized throughout 2004, the X Division is generally regarded as one of the key attractions of TNA and was replicated in several independent promotions.

Championships

TNA originally recognized the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships, in addition to the X Division Championship, the only championship created and owned exclusively by TNA. Traditionally, NWA World Champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various NWA territories. This was rarely the case when TNA used the titles, with TNA leasing the titles from the NWA in order to free the champion from these obligations. Wrestlers who win all three titles are said to have won the TNA Triple Crown.

On May 13, 2007, the NWA withdrew recognition of TNA's champions, leaving the two NWA titles vacant. New titles, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship, were created and unveiled later in that week. Wrestlers who held the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships are credited with being former TNA champions; for example, Ron Killings is billed as a two-time TNA World Champion, yet his two reigns were of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Along with this, TNA redesigned the X Division title belt. The TNA Women's World Championship was created on October 14, 2007. Gail Kim won a 10 women gauntlant match to become the first Women's Champion in TNA.

Current champions

Championship	Current champion(s)	Date won	Date aired
TNA World Heavyweight Championship	Kurt Angle	October 16, 2007	October 25, 2007
TNA X Division Championship	Jay Lethal	September 9, 2007	September 9, 2007
TNA World Tag Team Championship	A.J. Styles and Tomko	October 14, 2007	October 14, 2007
TNA Women's World Championship	Gail Kim	October 14, 2007	October 14, 2007

Creative team

The creative team is headed by Jeff Jarrett and consists of Dutch Mantel and Vince Russo. Prior to this, booking power was typically vested in the hands of a small number of people. Jeff and Jerry Jarrett were initially responsible for booking, followed by Dusty Rhodes, whilst Russo focused more on writing. At times, the position of booker has been coterminous with the on-screen position of Director of Authority.

Authority figures

When TNA first launched, the on-air authority figure was billed as a representative appointed by the National Wrestling Alliance. However, this was done for storyline purposes only and the actual "representatives" already worked in some capacity for TNA.

From February 19, 2003, TNA had no active authority figure until July 23, 2003 when Erik Watts made his return to TNA as the Director of Authority. Watts started feuding with Don Callis, who was billed as TNA Management Consultant, ending with Watts forced to quit. On February 18, 2004, TNA named Vince Russo the new Directory of Authority, a position he would hold until November 7, 2004 when he was defeated and replaced by Dusty Rhodes.

The NWA Championship Committee, established in 2004, was a group of wrestling veterans who acted as arbitrators, determining a winner in the event of a time-limit draw. The committee consisted of Harley Race, Larry Zbyszko and Terry Funk, with Funk later being replaced by Roddy Piper without ever having appeared on TNA television. After Race and Piper left TNA, the Committee essentially ceased to exist as a physical on-screen body, although Zbyszko continued to be referred to as a member of the committee.

In October 2005, Larry Zbyszko began to repeatedly reference an ambiguous authority within TNA known only as "TNA Management". "TNA Management" has, in the past, been represented by "special referee" Earl Hebner, "consultant" Dave Hebner and "messenger" Christy Hemme. The current face of "TNA Management" was revealed at Slammiversary 2006 to be Jim Cornette, who has been called the "Management Director" in press releases following that pay-per-view.

On-air personalities

• Jim Cornette - Management Director (July 16, 2006 – present)
• Matt Morgan – Bodyguard/Enforcer (August 9, 2007 – present)

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling