Since the advent of television's Golden Age in the 1950s, professional wrestling has been devising new ways to push the medium and present itself to the masses. Some of those innovations in presentation and story were so noteworthy and revolutionary that the rest of the television industry took note and incorporated those innovations into their own presentations of sporting events and television in general. While most of these innovations seem trivial, especially at the time of inception, these innovations all changed the way people watch television, think about athletes, and in some cases very much changed the way they react to things they see on the screen. Some of which, people wouldn't even begin to think came from a business with a reputation as dubious and shrouded in secrecy as sports entertainment is. The innovations seen here have had long time repercussions the world over and with WWE Network hitting some markets next week, the influences and innovations could probably start coming down the pipe even quicker. There are some great examples of how professional wrestling has changed the way people treat and watch professional athletes and television in general, some having a bigger impact than others, but all are now commonplace in today's world.
JV Vernola has been a wrestling fan since he was three (around the same time Hogan was bodyslamming Andre) and has been able to write almost as long. He lives in the scorched earth that is the Arizona desert while trying to maintain awesomeness.
