Here I am writing a blog and running a twitter account and
thinking about branching out into youtube and maybe Soundcloud, all in service
of asking you, my audience, to contribute to my dream of promoting a
professional catch wrestling event. At bare minimum, I owe you some idea of
what that dream looks like.
The broad strokes, I think, are obvious. Hire the best wrestlers
I can find (and afford). Give them a platform to try to defeat each other via
pinfall or submission. While no striking or foul tactics would be permitted,
the full range of throws, takedowns, holds, and locks known to sport wrestling
of any description would be allowed. But the Devil’s in the details…
The Fall is the Law
– I’m not going to rehash this. If you haven’t, please read this from last month. It’s ok, I’ll wait.
Done? Great.
The bedrock principle of professional catch wrestling must
be that everything exists to encourage the fall. Any other approach detracts
from the most essential character of the sport.
Open Borders – Once
upon a time, wrestlers travelled the world looking for challenges, not unlike
modern day MMA fighters. Wrestlers from all over Europe, from Japan, and from
Turkey came to the US to make a name and make some money, and American
wrestlers likewise made tours of Europe and Asia. I don’t care where you came
from, and I don’t care what your style is. Catch wrestling plays no favorites
and refuses no challenges. Folkstyle, free, or Greco-Roman, judo, jujitsu, or
sambo… if your sport rewards the pin or the submission, you’re welcome to try
your hand at catch as catch can.
No Points, No
Decisions - Takedowns are great. Throws can be awe-inspiring. Scrambling
reversals and last second escapes are exhilarating. Near falls are tense. But
these are all a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Point systems almost
always lead to valuing the means over the end, turning folkstyle into a
takedown contest and international styles into turning matches. It’s catch as
catch can, not catch and release. The reward for taking an opponent down or
improving position on the mat is getting closer to achieving the fall. The
reward for escaping a bad position is escaping a bad position. Victory comes by
pinfall or submission. One fall for non-title matches, best two out of three
for title matches.
No Rounds –
Rounds never made sense to me in a grappling sport. When the essence of the
contest is about gaining and maintaining control, achieving and improving
position, to arbitrarily interrupt that progression is, to say the least,
counter-intuitive. I was dismayed when MMA introduced overtimes and a round
system back in the 90s, and I was downright baffled when the recent Catch
Wrestling World Tournament announced they’d be using a similar system. (The
less said about international wrestling’s inability to decide what it wants to
do regarding rounds and time, the better.) It’s vaguely defensible in amateur folkstyle,
where they give the wrestlers an opportunity to work out of different starting positions.
But wrestlers should keep what they earn in terms of positions.
That said, we don’t want to recreate the old horror stories of hours-long matches, either. Time limits are necessary. So I propose to take a page from old school NWA pro wrestling with the following system –
- · Preliminary/rookie matches – 10 minute time limit
- · Standard matches – 20 minute time limit
- · Semi-final or non-title main event – 30 minute time limit
- · Title match – 60 minute time limit (best of three falls)
No Stalemates –
Another issue I’ve long had with MMA and with amateur wrestling sports - referees
rescue competitors in bad positions with stalemate calls. It is the
responsibility of the wrestlers to escape a bad position or advance a good one.
There is no such thing as a non-fall position that can’t be escaped or improved,
only wrestlers who don’t want to take the risk to do so. Officials should
become involved only in cases of illegal techniques or if the action goes out
of bounds or into the ring ropes. Yes, this can lead to some slow wrestling at
times. The solution to this is for a promoter to hire aggressive wrestlers who
embrace risk, not for officials to interfere in the action. Wrestling should be
about the wrestlers.
No Weight Classes
– If there’s a controversial element to this proposal, this is probably it. Hear
me out. Too much of weight class sports is about who can best cut weight, not
who can best perform as an athlete. Athletes drain themselves to the smallest
size they can physically survive in the hopes they’ll squeeze some small
advantage in rehydrating to a couple pounds heavier than their competition.
Wrestlers have long been at the forefront of weight cutting, and it’s frankly
completely insane. Many have suggested more weight classes for both wrestling
and MMA to discourage weight cutting on no evidence whatsoever this would
actually accomplish anything.
So I propose we go the opposite way. Not more weight
classes, no weight classes. Let the onus be on the promoters, matchmakers, and
wrestlers to make equitable matches based on an evaluation of the overall
package of size and skills that competitors bring to the table. Let wrestlers
so inclined seek challenges outside their usual weight class. World Champion
Curran Jacobs was the smallest man in the title tournament and defeated three
larger men to win his title. Most importantly, let wrestlers focus on wrestling
so matches are won on the mat, not in a sauna. The wrestlers will be healthier
and the wrestling will be better.
So that's it. That's how I see this working. If you found this at all persuasive, you can now show you enthusiasm financially via Ko-Fi or directly through PayPal. All contributions go exclusively towards funding a professional catch as catch can event in 2019. Have some questions or suggestions? Hit me up in the comments or on twitter @FALLWrestling.
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