2. University Challenge Match
Time to bring a little culture and academic rigour into proceedings. In case you're wondering, the lovely painting on show here is Gustav Dore's 'Jacob Wrestling With The Angel', from 1855. Inspired by a story in the Book Of Genesis , its a neat way to illustrate this next point. And as a bonus arty fact there's a similar piece by Paul Gauguin, 'Vision After The Sermon', painted around 34 years after Dore's effort. For as well as the hot and sweaty business of actual combat, a whole field of study and criticism has sprung up from an academic perspective. Go as far afield as the University of Massachusetts and they've developed a whole course devoted to the analysis of the wider cultural significance of pro wrestling. If ITV were to once again regularly screen a British counterpart, could similar courses take off in our own hallowed halls of learning? The critical discourse on the art dates back at least as far as Frenchman Roland Barthes-pick up a copy of his book 'Mythologies', first published in 1957, and you'll find a whole essay devoted to 'The World Of Wrestling'. He concludes that 'the function of a wrestler is not to win: it is to go exactly through the motions which are expected of him and to give the audience a theatrical spectacle'. Whether you agree or not the possibilities for further study could potentially be endless- and ITV could facilitate it.