"Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling"
In the early 1920s, Sandow was looking for a grappler to serve as Lewis' sparring partner and fill-in opponent; and with Burns' recommendation, Mondt was hired as the group's "enforcer," disciplining Lewis' opponents as to the bout's rules while helping to prevent the champ from any injury as a result of foul tactics. At the time, pro wrestling consisted primarily of mat grappling; and while the sport had flourished a decade earlier under Frank Gotch, the fans had since grown tired of the painfully deliberate pace of the bouts. However, Mondt discovered a solution that would completely transform the industry, as he convinced Lewis and Sandow to implement a new form of wrestling that combined features of boxing, Greco-Roman, freestyle, lumber-camp fighting, and theater into what he deemed "Slam Bang Western-Style Wrestling." This new style of action (which included radical moves like body slams, suplexes, arm drags, and the addition of fisticuffs) combined with traditional mat grappling to create what has essentially become the modern form of pro wrestling. Slam Bang Wrestling was an instant success with the fans; and although many bouts had been "fixed" in prior years, it was Mondt who perfected the art of the "finish," a pre-scripted conclusion to matches that gave fans an exciting show and inspired them to come back for more. It is said that Mondt personally invented 90% of the finishes and 60% of the finishing holds; and in the process, he also invented the concept of the "no contest," which included such innovations as time-limit draws and double count-outs. Consequently, it was this exaggerated new ring style that necessitated the industry's gradual shift away from its legitimate roots and towards a more full-time "exhibition" of holds and maneuvers to entertain the crowd.
Read more about this topic: Gold Dust Trio
Famous quotes containing the words slam, bang, western, style and/or wrestling:
“Hilary Clinton’s great sin was that she left the nicely wallpapered domestic sphere with a slam of the door, took up public life on her own, leaving big feminist footprints all over the place, and without so much as an apology.”
—Patricia J. Williams (b. 1942)
“This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“But go, and if you listen she will call,
Go to the western gate, Luke Havergal—
Luke Havergal.”
—Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935)
“I shall christen this style the Mandarin, since it is beloved by literary pundits, by those who would make the written word as unlike as possible to the spoken one. It is the style of all those writers whose tendency is to make their language convey more than they mean or more than they feel, it is the style of most artists and all humbugs.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)
“We laugh at him who steps out of his room at the very moment when the sun steps out, and says: “I will the sun to rise”; and at him who cannot stop the wheel, and says: “I will it to roll”; and at him who is taken down in a wrestling match, and says: “I lie here, but I will that I lie here!” And yet, all laughter aside, do we ever do anything other than one of these three things when we use the expression, “I will”?”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)