Professional wrestler Professional wrestling is the performance , management , and marketing of a form of entertainment based on elements of catch wrestling , mixed martial arts , and theater . Modern professional wrestling usually features striking and grappling techniques , which are modelled after diverse sets of global wrestling and pugilistic styles . Modern professional wrestling is commonly associated within a company ( often referred to as a fed or promotion ) , where the participants create an entertaining show simulating a dueling match . The level of realism can vary from sports entertainment ( the American World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) promotion ) to stiff style ( the Japanese " strong style " as exemplified by Antonio Inoki ) to spotfests . In Mexico the dominant style is the stylized , theatrical Lucha libre . The question of whether professional wrestling is a sport comparable to its freestyle , Greco - Roman , and collegiate counterparts can seem irrelevant , maybe even impossible , to compare as the key difference between both concepts is that professional wrestling ' s main focus is maintaining its audience and profiting as a business rather than as a form of athletic competition . The most obvious difference between the two styles of wrestling is that professional wrestlers are paid a set wage . As opposed to more mainstream combative sporting events like boxing , a professional wrestler ' s athletic prowess and skills are utilized more to prevent injury than to inflict it . In many cases , the victim of an attack in a professional wrestling environment is required to do more athletically than the one performing the attack . If the wrestler absorbing the attack is less skilled or less athletic , he may injure his partner or even himself . Rules . The simulated nature of professional wrestling is only one of the many differences it has with traditional wrestling . Other differences can vary from company to company . The assigned referee is often the one who controls the outcome of the match barring certain matches with special rules or for storyline reasons . A common storyline angle of this is a promotion owner or other high official modifying the stipulations of a match to invalidate a referee ' s decision , such as declaring it a no - disqualification match after a wrestler wins by disqualification . A " motto " in the pro - wrestling world used to describe the interpretation of the rules ( actually more like loose guidelines ) is : " You can ' t call what you don ' t see " , implying that anything is justified as long as the referee doesn ' t see . This is often used as a plot twist to drastically change the momentum in a match . One of the better - known occurrences has a referee being " accidentally " knocked senseless or thrown outside of the ring ( often referred to as a " ref bump " ) . While he ' s stunned , one wrestler , usually a face , will suddenly have the match won , only to then have it robbed from them via outside interference , the use of a foreign object , or some other unfair means . The referee , unaware of what happened , will recover just in time to notice a pin that reflects the new situation , and make an arduous three - count . A variation on this finish , the " Dusty finish " ( after Dusty Rhodes , who frequently used such finishes as a booker ) , has the substitute referee making the three - count in favor of the face , only to have it overturned by the original referee . In addition to pinfall , a match can be won by submission , count - out , disqualification , or failure to answer a ten count . Punching is permitted as long as the wrestler ' s fist is open . This is probably the most ignored rule in WWE , as referees almost never disqualify a wrestler for throwing closed - fist punches . Instead , the referee simply admonishes the wrestler to stop , which is rarely successful . In addition , wrestlers may only kick with the flat part of the foot , and " low blow " only refers to actually striking the crotch . If either wrestler is in contact with the ropes or if any part of the wrestler is underneath the ropes , all contact between the wrestlers must be broken before the count of five . This strategy is often used in order to escape from a submission hold , and also , more seldom , a wrestler can place his foot on ( or under ) the ropes to avoid losing by pinfall . Participants may try to abuse these rules , and it will often result in verbal or physical sparring with the ref . Pinfall . In order to win by pinfall , a wrestler must pin both his opponent ' s shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times . This is the most common form of defeat . If a wrestler ' s shoulders are down ( both shoulders touching the mat ) and any portion of the opponent ' s person is laying over the fallen man , it is completely legal for the three count to be made . Illegal pinning methods include using the ropes for leverage and hooking the opponent ' s tights , therefore they are popular cheating methods for heels . Such pins as these are rarely , if ever , seen by the referee and are subsequently often used by heels and on occasion by cheating faces to win matches . Submission . To win by submission , the wrestler must make his opponent give up , usually , but not necessarily , by putting him in a submission hold ( i . e . , leg - lock , arm - lock , etc . ) . Passing out in a submission hold constitutes a loss by knockout . To determine if a wrestler has passed out in WWE , the referee usually picks up and drops his hand . If it drops three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to stop it from falling , the wrestler is considered to have passed out . At one point this was largely ignored , however the rule is now much more commonly observed . Often the third time , the WWE wrestler in the hold will fight their way out . Also , a wrestler can indicate a submission by " tapping out , " that is , tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent . The tapout was once common - place in professional wrestling , especially in the days prior to it becoming a predominantly pre - arranged contest . However , following the decline of the submission - oriented catch - as - catch - can style from mainstream professional wrestling , the tap out largely faded , regaining prominence as a means of victory mostly in the face of the popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the early 90 ' s . Much like traditional finisher maneuvers , a wrestler with a finisher submission is shown as better at applying the move , making it more difficult to get out of , despite some obvious similarity . Countout . A countout ( alternatively " count - out " or " count out " ) happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to 10 or , occasionally 20 . The count is broken and restarted when a wrestler inside the ring leaves the ring . If both wrestlers are outside the ring , the count will refer to both . If one of the wrestlers re - enters the ring , while the other remains outside , the count will continue for the one left outside . A common tactic , to buy more time outside the ring , is for a wrestler to re - enter the ring to restart the count , and then continue to fight outside the ring . If both wrestlers remain outside at the count of ten , both will be counted out . This is known as a double countout , or to a lesser extent , an " impossible draw " . If both of the wrestlers are lying on the mat and not moving , the referee may issue a ten count . One wrestler reaching his knees will break the count . If neither wrestler reaches their knees or feet , it is considered a draw , also known as a double knockout , or incorrectly , an " in ring count - out . " The countout rule indicates that a wrestler cannot win a match while any part of his opponent ' s body is not in the ring . This allows escape from pinfalls and submission holds , by grabbing hold of one of the ring ropes , thus forcing the referee to break the hold or stop the count . This is also why the referee will start a count once a wrestler has reached the top rope ; he is out of the ring area . The referee , in certain promotions , does not instrigate a count despite wrestler ' s being out of the ring . This is usually after a large bump , where both wrestlers are taken down . This is , in kayfabe , to allow the contest to continue as neither wrestler would benefit from the count due to both wrestlers being incapacitated temporarily . In reality , it is used to build suspense in the audience and to allow the wrestlers to recover somewhat . Common slang for walking out of the ring and leaving your opponent standing there , only to get purposely counted out yourself , is known as pulling a " Broadway " . Disqualification . Disqualification is called for a number of reasons : In practice , the rules of the fight are often violated without disqualification due to the referee being distracted and not seeing the offense , or the referee seeing the offense but allowing the match to continue . In the WWE , a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification and the referee ' s ruling is almost always final . Indeed , it is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get knocked out during a match . While the referee remains " unconscious , " rules are often violated at will . In some cases , a referee might disqualify a person under the presumption that it was that wrestler who knocked him out ; most ref - KOs are arranged to allow a wrestler , usually a heel , to gain an advantage . For example , a wrestler may get whipped into a referee at a slower speed , knocking the ref down for a minute or so ; during that interim period , the wrestler may pin his opponent for a three - count and would have won the match but for the referee being down . Also , the referee rarely disqualitfies the wrestler who knocked him down when the ref recovers . If both participants ( or teams ) in a match continue to breach the referee ' s instructions , the match may end in a double disqualification , where both wrestlers or teams ( in a tag team match ) have been disqualified . The match is essentially nullified , and called a draw or , in certain storylines , a restart or extended wrestling period is made possible by an authority figure . A new common trend in wrestling is the development of the no - disqualification ( or Hardcore ) match . This match has become more and more prominent within the last decade . When the WWE ( then the WWF ) unveiled its new ' Attitude ' era in the late 1990s , the no - disqualifacation match was used as a centerpiece for this new design of wrestling . The match itself has become so innovative that just the simple title of " no - disqualification " is rarely used anymore . Completely new matches had developed fromt the Hardcore / no - DQ match , including : The list goes on and on with types of No - DQ matches . As the wrestling industry changes through time , so will the matches . No - DQ matches are just the beginning to what may be innovated in the future . Wrestlers . Men ' s wrestling . The vast majority of professional wrestlers are men , and especially in the North American WWE , where they are usually large in size , often to extremes , such as the Big Show . Although the Big Show is just one example , there are others like The Great Khali and Viscera . Competitions or divisions are sometimes set up for men of similar wrestling styles . Styles include that of technical , brawling , high flying , and lucha . However , matches involving different divisions are created , and are never referred to as unusual or against any rules , despite large differences in height or strength . Women ' s wrestling . Women ’ s wrestling has been a long time staple of the wrestling world , the women ’ s division has had a recognized world champion since before 1956 where the first NWA World Women ' s Championship was crowned ( later turned into the WWF Women ’ s title ) . Traditionally the women ’ s matches were lower on the card , not considered main event material at least not in the United States except in rare cases . Up through the 80s women ’ s wrestling in the US was presented as a serious sport on level with men ’ s wrestling , it ’ s not until the late 90s and beyond that the way World Wrestling Entertainment presents their women ’ s division started to focus on the “ Diva ” aspects instead of the athletic aspects of their women ’ s division . That is not to say that there aren ’ t talented female wrestlers working for the WWE but the presentation in general leans more towards “ Divas ” and being T & A with managers and valets with very little training being used and pushed . Outside of WWE there are several places where women ’ s wrestling is still presented and promoted as a serious sport , in the US SHIMMER Women Athletes is an all female pro - wrestling federation that shows the sport on par with male wrestling . In Japan women ’ s wrestling has a long established history with an all female federation founded as early as 1955 ( the predecessor to All Japan Women ' s Pro - Wrestling ) and has always been presented as a serious , highly athletic sport on the same level as anything presented by their male counterparts . In some federations like Frontier Martial - Arts Wrestling where the focus was on more ” Hardcore ” matches the barbwire and explosion matches were not limited to just the male competition but also extended to female performers like Shark Tsuchiya , ” Combat ” Toyota and Megumi Kudo the latter two had actually headlined one of FMW ’ s biggest cards in an extremely grapical ” Exploding No Rope Barbed Wire Deathmatch ” . In the late 90s the two big Japanese women ’ s federations closed down but females still compete in various federations . Midget wrestling . Midget wrestling has been a unique aspect of professional wrestling , and can be traced to professional wrestling ' s carnival and vaudeville origins . In recent years , however , the popularity and prevalence of midgets in wrestling has greatly decreased mostly due to major wrestling companies depriving midget divisions of any form of wrestling storyline or feud , although the WWE broadcast of " SmackDown " did feature a " Junior ' s division " , in which midgets wrestled against each other , from 2005 - 2006 . The " Junior ' s division " is no longer a part of " Smackdown " or the WWE . But it ' s still a popular form of entertainment in Mexican wrestling , mostly as a sideshow , so to speak . Some wrestlers may have their specific " mini me ' s " , like Mascarada Sagrada and his midget counterpart Mascarita Sagrada , Alebrije has Quije , etc . Or there are cases in which midgets can become valets for a wrestler , and even get physical into a match from time to time , like Alushe , who often accompanies one of the greatest Mexican wrestlers , Tinieblas , or Kemonito , who is portrayed as CMLL ' s ( Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ) mascot , and is also a valet for a popular wrestler on the rise called Mistico . The WWE wrestler Dave Finlay is often aided in his matches by a midget known mainly as a Leprechaun , but listed as the " Hornswoggle " , who ( in kayfabe ) lives under the ring and often brings a spare Shillelagh to Finlay when the referee is somehow distracted . Finlay also occasionally throws the midget at his opponent ( s ) . On an episode of Smackdown ! , on February 16 , 2007 , Finlay ' s Leprachaun was attacked by the Boogeyman ' s own midget , thus creating a mixed tag match at No Way Out . Hornswoggle and Finlay won the match at No Way Out , due to some controversial reasons . Promotions . The organizations that schedule and produce professional wrestling performances are known as wrestling promotions . Currently , the only major wrestling organizations left in North America are the United States promotions of WWE and TNA Wrestling ( TNA ) and the Mexican lucha libre promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración ( AAA ) . Of these , WWE is by far largest and most influential throughout the world . While these organizations are the most prominent and popular , there are many other smaller , regional promotions known as " indies " , many of which are official territories of the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) . Other major independent promotions include Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) , Heartland Wrestling Association ( HWA ) , Independent Wrestling Association Mid - South ( IWA MS ) , and Maryland Championship Wrestling ( MCW ) . Wrestlers from Canada are generally of comparable quality as those of the United States . Canada ' s promotions include Stampede Wrestling , Border City Wrestling , Pure Wrestling Association , International Wrestling Syndicate , UWA , and Blood , Sweat and Ears . Outside North America , there are other federations throughout Europe and also in Japan , Australia , Puerto Rico , Hawaii and the rest of the Caribbean . The traditional Japanese style differs from the American style in that it is portrayed more as a combat sport than as pure entertainment . The term " strong style " was coined by New Japan Pro Wrestling ( NJPW ) promoter Antonio Inoki . Inoki incorporated more martial arts and real fighting techniques to his arsenal , and performed the moves and strikes with more muscle stiffness than in traditional American style , in an effort to make his pro wrestling look more like a real fight . A style known as " King ' s Road " was created by Giant Baba which is similar but slightly different . This style is the dominant style used by All Japan Pro Wrestling ( AJPW ) descendants .