How WWF Got So Big

When the super-strong football player, ‘Big’ Wayne Munn entered the squared circle, he lacked the legitimate mat experience usual for a competitor. However, his size and look garnered a lot of interest, and it was decided by Toots and the Gold Dust Trio that his opponents would purposefully lose to heighten Munn’s credentials. When Munn faced the Strangler for the title in 1925, the good-looking footballer eventually attained the title in a predetermined screwy finish. Munn was over as the next big thing, and Ed Lewis was protected to fight another day.

By the 1940s, wrestling bouts were regularly predetermined. Wrestlers would begin to ham up their public personas in the attempt to gain more public interest and in turn higher paydays. The increase in popularity of television aided these larger than life characters, and some would become national celebrities on par with Hollywood actors.

One of the pioneers for a more character-based presentation of professional wrestling was Gorgeous George. Coming out to massive boos and jeers as he wore pink satin ring robes and sporting a ‘halo hairdo,’ George was a seminal heel. Audiences paid a lot of money to see the pompous pretty boy lose. Alongside his entrance antics of getting the ring announcer to spray the mat with perfume, Gorgeous also gave scathing rants to spectators, making them want to see him destroyed even more. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali cites Gorgeous George as an inspiration for relying on his verbal ability to garner interest and sell more tickets.

In 1948 the National Wrestling Alliance was formed, with many of the regional territories being banded together under the NWA banner. Each territory would be in control of its wrestlers and match outcomes, but the World Heavyweight Champion would be decided by a committee consisting of various promoters of the alliance. The champion would have the responsibility of representing the NWA while travelling to each territory under its banner and face the region’s top wrestlers.