How fight culture became fighting game history, part 29

Many people do not realize that there are many different types of pro wrestling. They usually understand that the matches are pre-determined, which leads many to call the sport "fake" but the athleticism of the performers and the origins of their moves are anything but fake. The pro wrestling seen in the US has many variations, from traditional to bloody and violent "hardcore." Those are slightly different than the high-flying lucha libre matches seen in Mexico. In Japan the style of wrestling they perform is a little stiffer, as in the hits they perform are a little harder and they go through more "finishing moves" than either the US or Mexico. They even have a unique name for their format of pro wrestling called puroresu or puro for short. Japanese puro has been heavily influenced by both the USA and Mexico formats. Japan's love of lucha libre even resulted in the creation of lucharesu, a combination of lucha libre and puroresu. What makes the sport unique is how different cultures interpret it and make it their own. For the past century the Americas, North, Central and South have been the catalyst for a unique variation of grappling and fighting. One with more theatrics, more pageantry and more high-risk maneuvers than any other form of ritualized combat in the world.

The most obvious distinction of lucha libre to every other form of "pro wrestling" in the Americas are the masked characters and high-flying acrobatics. To many in the US they view these "gymnastics" with disdain, saying that pro wrestling has a history connected to trapping and grappling of catch wrestling, freestyle wrestling and of course classic Greco-Roman wrestling. The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from North America could claim to trace its championship back to the first Heavyweight World Championship of Catch-as-catch-can from 1905 won by George Hackenschmidt. Of course the actual NWA organization was founded in 1948 to give the North American territories a "World Champion." The type of wrestling performed in Mexico is seen as too acrobatic or choreographed to be taken seriously. Lucha libre as we know it is actually the oldest form of pro wrestling in the Americas. The original promotion that started it all, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL, which was actually the EMLL previously) was established in Mexico in 1933 and survives to this day. It is the longest running promotion in world history. By comparison the WWE could trace its history back to 1952. Also, just so you know not every luchador wears a mask. A masked wrestler is called an enmascarado, these are the creme of the crop when compared to regular luchadores.

Salvador Lutteroth is the man credited to bringing wrestling to Mexico. He saw some matches in El Paso and noticed how a masked performer worked well with the crowd. He thought this secret identity would be very important to fans. They could imagine themselves as the person behind the mask and get lost in the show. They would also believe all sorts of origin stories, such as a wrestler covered his face to keep women from fainting at the sight of his grotesquely disfigured face. Or perhaps this character was a hero, like the Lone Ranger, or Bass Reeves, and hid his identity to protect his family and friends from evil doers. Salvador knew that masked characters would go over well in Mexico and needless to say he was right! I would suggest you watch a short but very well put-together lucha libre podcast from the George Eastman (as in Eastman Kodak) house explaining some of the history and charm of these masked characters. Lucha libre certainly has a long and established tradition that has been highlighted for several generations in gaming.

The closest thing that I could compare the enmascarados in the USA to would be superheroes. The elaborate masks, tights (and sometimes capes), are all part of their costume. Their secret identity is as important to them and their fans as it is to the fictional characters in comic books. A true enmascarado never, ever goes out in public without his mask and protects his identity to the best of his ability. He never does anything to bring shame to his name or his mask. An enmascarado does not go into the lifestyle casually but with all his heart and conviction. If the wrestler is lucky enough to have kids then his son or daughter might take up the family business and even carry the mask through the next generation. Believe it or not the true enmascarados in Mexico never leave the house without their masks, even when they are out with their friends and family. To the public it's all part of tradition and they do not think twice about seeing a masked man.

The reason for what we would consider "odd social behavior" is actually seeped in tradition. These men are seen as daring fighters, mythical warriors. The physical ability to perform all sorts of crazy moves is part of the spectacle but the bond between the audience and the luchador goes deeper than performance fighting. The good guys are called "Technicos" they fight by particular guidelines and always have to uphold the rules of clean combat. The bad guys are called "Rudos" and are free to use every dirty trick in the book. The matches they engage in are very much a live battle between good and evil.


Audiences are drawn to these morality plays like moths to a flame. With the good guys and bad guys so clearly defined it becomes hard not to choose a side. Kids will their heroes to overcome the obstacles and win the fight even when faced against insurmountable odds. Remember the appeal of the wrestler Rikidozan had in Japan? He knew that by wrestling against the foreign invaders, aka the USA, he would win over fans. Each match of Rikidozan's was a chance to prove to the fans that the Japanese were the best. Now imagine that Mexico was the home of a dozen characters as important to history as Rikidozan. Many of these men were fighting for the very souls of the audience.

El Santo "the Saint" was the biggest wrestling superstar of all-time. He was one of the few enmascarados to be buried with his mask on, never losing it in a match. He created an iconic character that still resonates with many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans today. His nickname was el enmascarado de plata (the silver masked man), his mask and silver outfit became a trademark and currently his son keeps the tradition alive.


A huge reason why enmascarados go over so well in Mexico, as opposed to in the USA or Japan, is because of cultural relevance. Mexico is predominantly Catholic but with lingering traditions, folklore and myth from the natives. The battles between good an evil are an every day occurrence for those with strong superstitions. These people pray each and every day to do the right things and not go astray. They pray that they have the courage to fight against evil and even if they lack courage to make sure that God sends a holy warrior to guide them. The warriors that perform in these battles have a second layer of context that is unique to Mexico. 

Enmascarados harken back to the pre-columbian world. The masks themselves are inspired by actual warriors. The Aztec warriors went into battle with brightly colored uniforms and headdresses so that generals could watch their exploits in battle. These were known as Caballeros Aguilas (eagle riders) and are symbolic of the fiercest warriors of ancient society. The design of the caballero aguila can be seen on the mask of the villainous Dr. Wagner Jr and Canek "El Princepe Maya" (the Mayan Prince).

One of the most famous and successful of all the Mexican wrestlers is Mil Mascaras (a thousand masks). He has a mask and costume in the jaguar pattern, similar to what the ancient warriors would wear in battle. His animal print designs helped inspire the character of King in the Tekken series. The tradition of masked fighters outside of the wrestling ring is still seen to this day. One of the longest running traditions happens every year in the city of Chilapa, in the state of Guerrero Mexico. The state is south of Mexico City, and known for the beach city Acapulco. The town of Chilapa is a farming community, and in order to ensure a good harvest they hold a festival in honor of Tlaloc, the ancient Aztec rain god. 

Villagers from Chilapa wear costumes that mimick the jaguars, and tigers of Caballero Aguila fame. They have a parade, and dance in costume. Men, and women then square off in fights where they beat each other with clubs made of rope. Their tiger masks act more like helmets, absorbing terrible blows from the fights. The better the fight, the more rain they can expect to ensure a good harvest. Many people have been severely injured, and a few have died from the battles. When it came to masked combat there was no country on Earth that took it more seriously than Mexico. Here is an excerpt from the Sun interview with enmascarado El Hijo Del Santo explaining the origin and importance of the mask.

"The Sun: Can you describe the importance and history of the mask to Mexican wrestlers?

El Hijo Del Santo: I believe that when lucha libre started, it all began with a wrestler that came from the American circuit. He [the masked wrestler] got a lot of attention from the Mexican crowds and as Mexican wrestling is a war of good v evil, the masks have an importance with the roots of our culture, like the Aztecs, Olmecs and Teotihuacans. They always wore masks of animals when at war, the most significant were the jaguar, wolf, the eagle, snake, as they believed they would get the animal’s powers in combat. I think lucha libre adopted this belief and the luchador looks for a name that suits his personality from say nature, animals, the heaven like El Santo or hell like Demon. Many years ago, my father Santo took the mask off Black Shadow in a match with wagers, that day the importance of the mask took a new dimension, to lose a mask became very important and an opportunity for promoters in Mexico to present something new that doesn’t happen in the USA."



While Fray Tormenta (Father storm) is not the true heir to the Santo legacy, he is a bit of a literal "spiritual" successor. Fray as you might know was the basis of the movie Nacho Libre. He was an actual priest that wrestled to raise money for his parish and the local orphans. The movie isn't nearly as interesting as the true story, and if you ask me quite an insult to the legacy. Fray wore a mask of gold with red lightning trim. Something of a balance to El Santo's silver. A couple of generations later a new high-flying enmascarado showed up on the scene, the new chosen one was not Rey Mysterio Jr. as many believed, he was Mistico and he was "ordained" by Fray Tormenta. His mask was an equal mix of gold and silver, his title "the Prince of the Silver and Gold mask" was a way bringing the iconography of both legends together. He took on all challengers including the men who wore masks of skulls and demons, people like Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto, but not the Devil-masked Gronda because he was in a different federation.


If lucha libre represents the eternal fight between good and evil then fans would want to see the absolute best representing the path of righteousness. Wrestlers like El Santo, Mistico and El Sagrado were famous because of their ties with the Catholic faith. They were very popular in the highly religious small towns of Mexico and even more so in the secular big cities. I cannot overemphasize the importance of the faith that these masked men stood for. They weren't simply "technicos" but absolutely represented the best qualities in humanity. Some, like El Santo, Fray Tormenta and Mistico had a lot of spirituality behind their look and name. The use of halos, crosses and even the Eucharist were not considered gimmicks but symbols of their practicing faith. They represented the ideal qualities of man and acted as living symbols of faith. El Sagrado (the sacred one) and Mascara Sagrada (the sacred mask) were other wrestlers that purported a spiritual path. Their roles were to be great performers and never succumb to the dirty tactics of the rudos. El Sagrado was supposed to be the modern "chosen one" but he did not seem ready for the limelight so he was held back until fans warmed up to him. Mistico was an instant hit with audiences so the torch was passed to him instead.


If you know your Street Fighter history then you remember that a masked wrestler was on the drawing board while SF II was in development. They had at least two separate looks for this "Maskuman" (Mask Man) early on. One that looked very much like the legendary Tiger Mask. There was no doubt that Tiger Mask was a character that many of the developers had grown up with. He was unique among his wrestling peers because started off as a bad guy and became a good guy. Tiger Mask proved a popular character in manga and even had his own anime series.

Japanese culture provided a lot of the SF II character influences, Ryu looked more like Kenshiro from Hokuto No Ken than Mas Oyama in the early Street Fighter II concept art as well. It was easy to imagine that the designers wanted an over-the-top masked wrester in the game that had as much personality as any of the characters or bosses in the SF II. Read the InsertCredit.com Making of Street Fighter II feature to see some more concept art.


Here is where Japan's wrestling influence, and especially the masked wrestler variety differ from the enmascarado; Japan does not have the cultural relevance of masked characters. Certainly the do respect the legends, especially people like the Destroyer who was the great Western heel a generation before Big Van Vader. At the same time it would be very odd to see a masked person walking around the streets in Japan, unless it was a surgical mask to prevent the spread of colds. They do not have the same cultural significance as the luchadores have in Mexico. They do not have the same religion, myths and folklore that support the symbolism and tradition of elaborate masks. To them a mask is just a mask and it is the wrestler that defines the character. During the development of Street Fighter II Capcom was just drawing masked characters from pop culture without really understanding their origins.In another take on the character he had an enormous star placed over his face, it was not unlike the same mask worn by Star Mask in Tecmo Pro Wrestling for the NES. Because Capcom could not come to a consensus as to what type of masked wrestler they wanted in the game Maskuman never made it past the planning stages.


As the lucha style began gaining popularity in Japan in the late 1970's-early-80's so too did the masked wrestler. Part of this reason was because the Japanese promotions began partnering with Luttheroth's CMLL. The Japanese would send talent to Mexico to learn all about high flying moves and on occasion the Mexicans would organize a tour of Japan. This cross cultural exposure made is to that the Japanese and Mexican's began influencing the development of each form of wrestling. The martial arts characters from Japan, like the Great Sasuke planted the seeds for martial arts enmascarados like Octagon. Sasuke returned to Japan and honored the traditions of Mexico. He did not take off his mask in public and even ran for local government office and won, where he attended cabinet meetings in mask. He was not the only masked wrestler to create waves in Japan either. More famous than the Great Sasuke and possibly just as famous as Tiger Mask was Jushin "Thunder" Liger. The look of the masked wrestler in Japan began to evolve to fit their culture. Since they could not draw cultural significance from the masks or costumes of Aztec warriors they instead began taking cues from henshin and sentai, the popular superhero and science fiction characters from television. The look of Thunder Liger is somewhere in between Ultraman and a Power Ranger. Interestingly enough in Mexico the enmascarados like Psicosis also began experimenting with this new look.


However not all of the masked wrestler in Japan went out of their way to preserve their identity or maintain kayfabe (the illusion of their character). They did not go to extreme lengths to preserve the sacred title of an enmascarado because the cultural significance had no precedence. Even one of my favorite masked Japanese wrestlers of all-time, the Great Hayabusa, would remove his mask after matches so photographers could take pictures of his face. The ego had superseded the symbol in Japanese wrestling.

The wrestlers that wore face paint in Japan were closer to capturing the spirit of an enmascarado. They were a little closer in recreating the ideal following in Japan. Some of the most famous Japanese wrestlers, like the Great Muta, wore face paint and sometimes masks during their matches. Many wrestling fans believe that this was because Japan had a well established tradition in theater. Kabuki in particular with the dramatically painted faces of characters was an easy comparison. This translated well to Street Fighter II.

Look at how the kabuki paint was used on E. Honda. From my understanding this was to make Japanese characters more appealing to US audiences. Many sumo purists saw this as a slap in the face, as wearing makeup in the sumo ring is almost sacrilegious. However E. Honda managed to win over enough fans to become the iconic sumo in the universe. As Maskuman ended up on the cutting room floor, he was compensated in some way by a kabuki-painted sumo wrestler, a more "theatrical" traditional athlete.


To this day masked wrestlers continue to shape the evolution of fight culture and game design. Rey Mysterio Jr., another famous second-generation wrestler, is undoubtedly the template for popular enmascarado designs in most new fighting games. He does have classic lucha libre training and is considered one of the best high flyers of all-time. His look is very contemporary, as he wears pants instead of tights, sports an open mouth mask and is covered in tattoos. Traditional enmascarados would never dress or present themselves in this way but at the same time the tradition had to evolve in order to stay relevant with audiences. El Blaze from Sega's Virtua Fighter series steals many cues from Rey Mysterio Jr. but even female wrestlers in Japanese games are getting into the enmascarado tradition. Jaycee from Tekken was an attempt at changing the identity of the character previously known as Julia Chang (JC, get it?). Her makeover was a nod to the lucharesu and puro stars in the female wrestling circuit. For decades female wrestlers in Japan had been into the masked traditions as well. Just like their male counterparts many did tours in Mexico where they learned how to work at a quick pace and how to perform the aerial moves.

The longer the Japanese were exposed to the culture and tradition of masked wrestling the more they adapted it into their culture. Game developers were not the only ones that showed their love of masked wrestlers or pro wrestlers in general. In the next blog we will take a closer look at the man men of wrestling and how Japanese artists turned them into game characters. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

How fight culture became fighting game history, part 27

As professional wrestling gained popularity in the early days of television the territories became tighter and tighter. Promoters wanted to keep their best talent from leaving by striking deals and setting rates with rival promotions. Some groups would do business and share talent. These cross promotional ventures would highlight the best fighters around to build interest in the companies. Others had freelance wrestlers that would travel through the territories but never stay for too long in one area. This helped some of the wrestlers build reputations and grow their popularity. In many of the bigger cities there were strict laws about boxing and wrestling. Insurance, safety, tax codes and other regulations kept many promotions from growing too big. The larger the draw the more the commissions wanted to drain from the till. The ways that some of these promotions were run kept the majority of the money at home in one way or another. Some upstarts needed capital to get off the ground, pay the bills and the talent. Instead of going to the bank they would sometimes cut deals with loan sharks and mobsters. Some promotions skirted the law despite wanting to stay legit.

These arrangements with the mob were not only done in the US though. There had been reports of wrestling and Yakuza dealings in Japan as well. This was not limited to modern wrestling though, remember that Rikidozan was stabbed by Yakuza enforcers in a nightclub back in 1954. In Engalnd and Europe some of the criminal elements went hand in hand with boxing and wrestling as well. In 1938 Gerald Kersh had a book published titled Night and the City. It was set in the London underworld and revolved around a petty criminal named Harry Fabian that failed from his get rich schemes again and again. He saw an opening in the pro wrestling game and tried to develop his own talent and compete in the mob ruled underworld. Unfortunately for him all of his choices were the wrong ones and he ended up owing a great debt to the mob at the same time the law was catching up with him. It was a dark story that was turned into a 1950 film by Jules Dassin.

The movie took a lot of liberties with the story and focused more on the relationship between Fabian, as played by Richard Widmark and his young wrestler Nikolas of Athens as played by Ken Richmond. To help the young wrestler get up to par he came across an old Catch wrestler named Gregorius the Great as played by Stanislaus Zbyszko to help train him. Stanislaus was actually Polish, playing a Greek immigrant. The son of Gregorius, Kristo as played by Herbert Lom, ran the mob and controlled the wrestling action. Gregorius was ashamed at the pre-determined spectacle that Greco Roman wrestling had become. Any honor or dignity that the sport and athletes once enjoyed had been stripped away by the mobsters.

In the pivotal scene of the movie a rival wrestler named the Strangler, as played by veteran tough guy Mike Mazurki, goaded Gregorius into fighting him. Stanislaus was 71-years-old when the scene was shot. Despite his age it was a convincing battle between the two grapplers. The authenticity of moves highlighted by the former champion helped the credibility of the fight. After dispatching the Strangler the elder Gregorius turned to his son and uttered the best line in the movie "that's what I do to your clowns." The scene had tremendous weight because Stanislaus was speaking as a real-life Gregorius. A lower quality version of the fight scene with the tragic outcome could be found on YouTube.

Catch wrestling never died but it also never gained popularity with the advent of "pro wrestling." Still it managed to survive through most of the 20th century. Thanks to people like Frank Gotch and Stanislaus Zbyszko. There were other pioneers that helped keep it going through the early days. Dan Kolov, the Bulgarian wrestler who emigrated to the US as a railroad worker and fought a bear with his bare hands while out hunting. He killed the bear with his rifle but when people saw the marks Kolov had left on the neck of the bear they knew he would make a formidable wrestler. Kolov might have been one of the legendary figures that inspired the character Zangief in Street Fighter II. Other catch practitioners that popularized the form in the US included Martin "Farmer" Burns, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, "Tiger" John Pesek, Billy Riley and Billy Robinson.

In the modern era there were fighters like Gene Lebell that helped promote Catch as well as other schools of fighting for wrestlers. Frank and Ken Shamrock, Josh Barnett and Randy Couture were MMA superstars that also trained under the Catch style. Kazushi Sakuraba had joined the ranks of fighters that predated the Gracie family. He had managed to make the transition from pro wrestler to MMA superstar without losing his roots. At the same time he was able to incorporate the showmanship he had picked up in pro wrestling and create a memorable character for himself. He often payed homage to the wrestlers that came before like the Great Muta and Big Van Vader.

The Catch wrestler and MMA fighter had started changing the course of character designs before Tendo Gai however. The next blog will look at the first MMA star that Capcom had created for the Street Fighter universe. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

How fight culture became fighting game history, part 26

In the previous blog I had mentioned that pro wrestler Karl Gotch had influenced the development of the hard, shoot style of wrestling that the Japanese enjoyed. He would share his training, conditioning and grappling techniques with his fellow professionals. Helping them become better athletes and appreciate the roots of wrestling in the process. Karl was still alive when Sakuraba started his career. He would have offered insight on the advantages catch-as-catch-can or "Catch" school of wrestling to other martial arts. Moreover one of Karl's contemporaries Billy Robinson was also available to help shape the young wrestler as well. Both Karl and Billy had earned reputations as hard workers but also genuine shooters. They knew the business of wrestling but also knew how to seriously hurt someone or "stretch" them if they wanted. They had to carefully walk the line between entertainment and genuine combat for most of the 20th century. If they had been born a century earlier they would have been much better regarded as legitimate fighters.

Through the lessons of Billy and Karl the deficiencies of the BJJ system was exposed. In fact a major deficiency had been exposed in the early UFC battles featuring Royce Gracie. He seemed to have a weakness against people that were not dressed in traditional jujitsu uniforms, it was apparent when he fought Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo who only wore shorts. Helio had taught his sons to work while using a gi. The judo uniforms were what had helped Helio in his famous battles. The clothing could be grabbed to help generate leverage even for people that weren't as strong as their opponents. The clothing could be used to move opponents, get them off balance and even trap and choke people out. When Royce did not have something to hold onto it was more difficult to control his opponents and work a submission move. What Sakuraba needed was a system that could control his opponents arms and legs while standing or even from the ground but that did not rely on clothing to grab onto. He began studying Catch in early on in his wrestling career. By the time he had exploited it against the BJJ students and Gracie family he was well versed at what was capable using only traditional holds. In fact the uniform that had served Royce so well in his early competitions worked against him the first time he fought Sakuraba. The Japanese fighter would pull Royce upside down by his belt so that he couldn't escape from the floor. Then Sakuraba would throw a punch whenever he saw an opening on the upturned Gracie.

The more Sakuraba learned about the system the better he became at the grappling game. As a huge fan of pro wrestling he went out of his way to pay an homage to his idols each time he stepped into the ring. These outlandish displays hid the very dangerous techniques he was picking up. He studied the lessons of Billy Riley and Billy Robinson that had brought the fighting art over from England decades earlier. Riley's training ground was dubbed the Snake Pit, it had generated some tremendous talent. It would be knocked down and rebuilt over the century but never lost its allure. The current caretaker and trainer Roy Wood was the subject of a short documentary on catch-as-catch-can. It turned out that Catch had actually been a long time gaining a reputation in the West. Before the pro wrestling business became "sports entertainment" the best wrestlers were as well regarded as professional boxers. In fact to help himself get over in the business Karl Charles Istaz had taken the surname of the early US Catch hero Frank Gotch. Greco Roman wrestling was still practiced in gyms but a variation that had modern roots, an understanding of joint locks and submission holds was taking shape. This was in the 18th and 19th century well before the first "new" Olympic Games in 1896. In fact some of the modern wrestling forms predated the Kung-Fu taught by Ng Mui to Wing Chun, and heroes Huo Yuanjia and Wong Fei Hung. Frank Gotch, just so you know, was the first US wrestler to gain merit against the European champions.

Frank was one of the luminaries of the sport. Others included the Great Gama from India and Stanislaus Zbyszko from Poland. Those men were legitimate champions of the sport and proponents of the Catch school. In England the working class enjoyed the wrestling arts for both the calisthenic properties as well as the gambling reasons. The best were masters of the Catch school, then called the Scientific Method of wrestling, to differentiate itself from the Greco-Roman school. In the US the working class and farmers also enjoyed wrestling. Young Abraham Lincoln was said to have been a good wrestler but he was not the only US President with wrestling roots. George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt were also wrestlers in their youth.

In the late 1800s traveling carnivals would put out open challenges to try and defeat their wrestler, usually also the circus strongman. The tradition had survived in remote parts of the world up until the modern times. In a previous blog I had mentioned the wrestler named He-Man was a circus wrestler up until his murder in 2010. Those foolish enough to try would and take He-Man and his kind would get bent over backwards. The reputation of the traveling performers often preceded them. The promoters learned the importance of creating a character and building a legacy. Legends would surface of men that had fought bears, alligators and mountain lions with their bare hands. Anyone foolish enough to grapple with them would surely be skinned alive. That cycle of hype and show would go on to shape the legends that founded the early US territories. It planted the seeds of pro wrestling as more of a staged battle than an actual fighting art. The Bleacher Reoprt had a great slideshow on the evolution of pro wrestling for those interested in seeing some archival footage.

Some wrestlers still held onto the old traditions though. When they could they would participate in genuine shoots, sometimes for the money but sometimes to build a name. These fighters had earned a reputation as being hookers, legitimate wrestlers that could easily break bones. Unfortunately the times were catching up with the sport. Media was changing the face of sports and entertainment. A long career was not guaranteed for those that pursued submission wrestling. The money and longevity was in entertainment. Wrestlers were expected to develop a character, a personality and "sell" moves and holds to the audience without actually hurting their opponents. Film had changed the landscape of the early sports reporting but not nearly as much as television. Some of the early stars did have high school and college wrestling backgrounds. Others were from track and field or football programs. They were filled in by other pro and catch wrestlers as they developed a gimmick. The biggest names would turn out to be the ones with the best mic skills and not necessarily the best wrestling abilities. This rubbed many veterans the wrong way.

 

This trend was not exclusive to the US alone. In Japan, in the UK and around the world where matches were being televised the genuine shooters were slowly being replaced by handsome men and women that looked great on TV. Skills could always be taught to the talent and to be fair some of the people that picked up wrestling became very good workers. The influence of every type of wrestler could be seen in the first few generations of fighting game character. Street Fighter did not only look to Muay Thai for real legends, it also looked to boxing and wrestling as well. It did not matter if the game were a 2D or 3D title because the designers gravitated towards what worked best and what was easily identifiable to audiences. I mean a person in a gi with a black belt was obviously a karate master and a person in wrestling trunks was obviously a grappler. It was relatively easy for the developers to put in a fighter that reminded people of Bruce Lee or a wrestler like Hulk Hogan because they had international exposure.

As technology evolved so too did the ability to present characters that kept pace with their real-life counterparts. For example, in the '80s Hulk Hogan was as American pride as a character could get but in the '90s the anti-hero was en vogue. Hogan ditched his clean-cut image and became a "bad guy" called Hollywood Hulk Hogan. There was a notable difference between Muscle Power and Bass Armstrong from the respective World Heroes and Dead or Alive series. It was uncanny how similar game characters would appear like their real world counterparts. Of course the developers at ADK and Tecmo knew to change just enough details so that they wouldn't get sued for trademark infringement.

 

Developers would even create alternate costumes to place on 3D models that made them look more like their inspiration. I mean Fei Long was very much a Bruce Lee clone but Capcom found that they could create costumes that mirrored those worn in several Lee films and sell them to audiences. Now if only the developers could create download packs to make the character fight differently, then you would have my attention. But I digress! I was talking about wrestling before I got sidetracked. Catch wrestling went underground but never disappeared. The narrative that kept the sport alive was similar to a popular book and groundbreaking film. The next blog will look at the seedy world that kept Catch alive. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!