It's hard to believe that a sport that began as a diversion for coalminers would develop into some of the biggest box office draws in modern culture, but that's what happened with catch wrestling. Catch wrestling's sphere of influence can be seen in the Olympic Games during Greco-Roman wrestling bouts and on television and pay per view during mixed martial arts and professional wrestling events. For fans and athletes, there are many reasons to be interested in the folk sport of catch wrestling.
Legitimacy
Catch wrestling was the main predecessor to professional wrestling's rise in the 20th century, but catch wrestling was a legitimate folk sport that evolved into more than just the showmanship of pro wrestling. Collegiate wrestling and mixed martial arts are rooted in catch wrestling, sharing many of the core techniques, throws and holds. There is no clear turning point for when the matches became fixed and the sport, in general, morphed into modern professional wrestling, but there is no debate over the legitimacy of catch wrestling's practitioners as pioneers in combat sports.
Technique
As a folk sport that first became popular with people on the fringes of society, catch wrestling's discipline included a wide range of influences. The most notable influence was Lancashire catch-as-catch-can wrestling, an amateur sport popularized by English coalminers. Through the decades, catch wrestling picked up influence from various European, Middle Eastern and Asian fighting and wrestling styles to create a well-rounded discipline. Unlike Greco-Roman wrestling, catch wrestling involved holds below the waist. Matches can be won via submission, in which the conceding wrestler must "tap out," or by pin. Contests usually are best of three falls.
History
Catch wrestling holds a lofty place in the history of combat sports as it helped popularize the spectacle of two men fighting into a spectator sport and business venture. While its roots are traced to England, catch wrestling became most popular is the United States as part of traveling carnivals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The carnival strongman would challenge the locals to legitimate matches for a prize. The catch wrestling technique of using holds and submissions to win developed. The demand began to build for a catch wrestling circuit away from the carnival with tremendous popularity building in Europe and Asia. By the early 1900s, stars like Frank Gotch, Ed Lewis and Georg Hackenschmidt were adapting catch wrestling into the still legitimate sport of professional wrestling before promoters began almost exclusively staging matches in the 1940s.
Legacy
Although it is mainly considered a folk sport, catch wrestling's legacy still is widely on display in amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts. Many of the grapples, holds and submissions innovated in catch wrestling are still in use in these sports. The "catch" style of realistic maneuvers and quick sequences of moves is used by professional wrestlers like William Regal and Daniel Bryan. Self-defense, martial arts and strength-building enthusiasts still revere catch wrestling heyday as a turning point in physical culture.
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