Could a Pro wrestler, the likes of Hulk Hogan or The Rock or whoever, in their prime, hold their own vs an Olympic wrestler, in “real” wrestling competition?
Or is it a completely apple-to-oranges comparison?
I’d imagine the Olympic wrestler, of comparable size, would literally wipe the floor with a Pro wrestler, but I’m just WAG-ing.
Define “hold their own,” please. In the modern era of pro wrestling, the emphasis on “sports entertainment” means that most ‘wrasslers’ would be embarrassed in an amateur match, although there are some wrasslers with legitimate wrestling backgrounds (like Dolph Ziggler, Jason Jordan, Chad Gable and, of course, Brawk Lesnar, to name a few). In previous eras, there were many more wrestlers with amateur backgrounds, because promoters preferred to put their titles on guys who could “protect the business” by being able to handle themselves in a real fight.
Also, the “of comparable size” thing might be a bit tricky. Most of the guys you see on television are significantly larger than anyone you see competing in amateur wrestling. There’s no male wrasslers in WWE who could compete at 57kg, for example. Hell, I think the smallest guy on the main roster might be able to compete at 74kg, if he dropped about 15 pounds…
Well…Kurt Angle, who has worked predominantly as a pro wrestler for eighteen years, won an Olympic gold for wrestling in 1996. That said, I believe that some (well, a lot) of pro wrestlers simply work with the classic stage act moveset but are still quite athletic (you have to be to pull off the stunts and manipulations they have to do night in and night out), while rare others like Angle and Jack Swagger are actually trained in real wrestling since their youth/teens, and do incorporate such skills into their movesets. So it really, REALLY depends on the pro wrestler who goes toe to toe with an Olympic one…
“Be competitive.” Not get embarrassed.
Fair enough.
Then your answer is, depends on which wrassler. Like, you mentioned Hulk Hogan by name, and then talk about “of comparable size,” but there aren’t any Olympic wrestlers of comparable size to Hulk Hogan. Chad Gable made the US Olympic Team in London, so he could probably “be competitive.”
I only personally wrestled when they made all the 8th grade boys wrestle in gym class. I didn’t win the tournament, but I was exceptionally strong for my size and I remember noting that brute strength, which is really all I had since I had zero technique, actually went quite a ways, but ultimately when I got to an opponent with some technique he could always wriggle away from me pretty easily.
Hulk Hogan was no kind of wrestler, he was simply an entertainer, or entertained some people I guess. Many pro wrestlers have a strong wrestling background, Kurt Angle, Dolph Ziggler, Bob Backlund, many others were highly successful amateur wrestlers.
No matter what their amateur careers were like it doesn’t take long as a pro before wrestlers start racking up injuries that would make it impossible for them to compete in high level amateur matches. Submission holds aren’t allowed in the amateurs, but any weakened joint is easy to exploit and it takes away the strength needed by amateur wrestlers.
Still, pros have taken a role in training the modern amateur wrestlers, they are well respected in the amateur wrestling world, but pro wrestling is just a different game. This is much like asking if a star running back in football could compete in the 100 yard dash at the Olympics.
Not to hijack this, but I can’t help but ask: as I understand it, if you’re just, like, a college student competing in the Olympics, you’re an amateur wrestler; and if you’re basically an actor who does his own stunts, you’re a professional wrestler; so what would be the job title for someone who earns a living by for-real wrestling?
You know, like a professional boxer – except, y’know, not a boxer.
Unemployed. There are a number of amateurs sponsored by people with money to keep the sport alive since they have few options based on their skills. They may make a living as a wrestling coach or trainer. They can go into other martial arts competitions such as MMA, but there isn’t any way to make money competing in amateur style wrestling.
Ignoring the fact that some pro wrestlers have had an amateur background, in general they would not be able to hold their own. THey are not trained to ward off actual attacks.
In its own way it would pretty be much what MMA is about. Pitting different fighting sports against one another.
n amateur/olympic wrestling you don’t stand and trade blows. So an amateur would immediately take down the pro who knows how to make things look cool but not actually take out/take down an opponent.
The only way I guess a pro wrestler could stand a chance is if he knows how to ‘shoot’ (do real holds and moves, punch for real with intent to hurt, which they usually don’t) and manages to get a shot in before the amateur. The amateur wouldn’t expect to get hit with a punch or kick because HE isn’t trained for that
Kurt Angle, a bonafide Olympic champ who turned pro, claimed he took down everyone on the roster is a few seconds when they sparred with true wrestling moves. Even the guys that were billed as technically skilled wrestlers. Because their skills are ‘making fake moves look real’ and not ‘take down a guy asap’
Verne Gagne, skilled college athlete and amateur wrestler talked about his first venture into the pro wrestling ring. He said his opponent pointed at Verne’s shoe and said he had to tie it. Verne said next thing he knew he was picking up his teeth.
Many wrestlers could hurt an amateur wrestlers outside the amateur rules, even if they aren’t great wrestlers they learn to punch, and kick, not to mention ‘hooking’, the art of harming an opponent’s joints. It’s a rough world for them. These days there are many pros who are more actor than anything else, but back in the day most were journeymen who had to be prepared to deal with the worst from their opponents.
Amateur wrestling has been affected by the pros, amateurs now learn some of the moves used in the pros. Some years back USA wrestlers were getting called for near falls when rolling opponents over themselves using moves from the pros. Prior to that judges called a near fall any time a wrestler’s shoulder blades touched the mat so they weren’t actually looking for the 2 seconds required. Other moves like the belly to belly suplex that were allowed in amateur wrestling but seldom used resurged after the increased use by the pros.
We are still talking about two different sports though. Or more accurately, one sport and one performance art.
Many of the collegiate amateur wrestlers in the professional wrestling…excuse me, sports entertainment business would be hard pressed to compete against comparably-sized Olympic wrestlers. Apocryphally, Kurt Angle (6’0", 240 lbs) was able to (separately) school both Paul “Big Show” Wight (7’0", 441 lbs) and Brock Lesnar (6’2", 286 lbs). [Aside: all 3 weights are potentially inflated by 20-25 lbs, but you get the idea - these are big guys] The guys who get to the Olympics are equivalent to high first-round picks in other sports. The others could be anywhere from low first-round to undrafted equivalents.
On the other hand, put any pro wrestler up against someone who isn’t trained in either sort of wrestling, and they’re probably going to win. Yeah, they’re not actually competing in sport, but their form of performance still requires a lot of strength and athletic ability, and those would both be useful in a real wrestling match.