There are no clear rules in pro wrestling, but if there are then closed fists were considered illegal at one point. "A wrestler may not punch an opponent with a closed fist nor kick an opponent with the toe of their boot. When wrestlers do this, however, they usually get away with it with just an admonishment from the referee." In other words, a wrestler is not allowed to throw a punch in the match. It's pretty silly, but it goes back to the days when nobody ever wanted to expose the business and let the fans in on what it really was. If you ever watched WWE in the 1980s or into the early 1990s then you might recall play by play guys like Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon mentioning closed fists a lot of the time. Heel announcers like Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura would also bring it up when a babyface wrestler would use punches. They rarely mention the closed fists rule now especially when guys like Big Show are using it as a finishing move. It was definitely part of the wrestling culture when many of us were growing up.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
