Sports Then and Now

AEW, or All Elite Wrestling, is doing well these days. They’ll start touring again in July, and at that point, their fans around the country can see all their favorite wrestlers again live, something they couldn’t do during the pandemic’s early stages. This is also a chance for management to see who the live crowds are cheering for and who has not “gotten over” in wrestling parlance.

One guy who seems to have gotten over is Darby Allin, the former TNT Champion. Despite dropping the title to Miro a few days ago, Allin seems poised for bigger things. One question remains, though: can an undersized individual make it to main event status in a company full of larger, more muscular specimens?

Who is Darby Allin?

The non-wrestling fan can easily spot someone like Hulk Hogan if they see him walking through an airport. People know Hogan’s name and face worldwide, but he’s also a large, physically intimidating individual. Darby Allin, by contrast, is a mere 5 foot 8 and weighs 170 pounds.

Darby’s real name is Samuel Ratsch, and he’s from Seattle, Washington. He made a name for himself on the independent circuit, participating in gruesome matches with “All Ego” Ethan Page. Allin was one of the first signings when AEW officially opened its doors in 2019.

The WWE Championship is the most prestigious title on Smackdown Live and it will one the line when current Champion Kofi Kingston will defend his crown against the viper Randy Orton. Kofi won the coveted title at Wrestlemania 35 in one of the most memorable Wrestlemania bouts in history.

Kofi ousted Daniel Bryan and has since defeated Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens and everyone who came in his way during the months since Wrestlemania. Now, he will feud with Randy Orton, at the biggest party of summer but that won’t be all. The WWE Championship is the biggest title up for grabs at Smackdown 2019 Live, and thus there are many names that emerge as contenders. 

At Summerslam, Kofi will meet Orton, but there are a couple of other superstars as well waiting to get their hands on the WWE Championship. Here we take a look at some possible contenders for the title. 

#3 Roman Reigns 

This is a wild card pick but its true that Roman does not hold any title as of yet and heading into Summerslam Roman’s storyline does not have any major feuds. He is a former WWE Champion and he knows what it takes to be the face of the company. 

Wrestling is a highly popular American show. It’s a huge industry which involves special TV and radio programs, magazines, websites. At the center of the US wrestling world is WWF (World Wrestling Federation), the giant monopoly. There are also numerous small independent organizations, schools, fan clubs. Every week tens of millions people around the globe watch wrestling TV shows.

The most successful businessman and founder of WWE is Vince McMahon. He made a fortune on the method of pay-per-view which in the early 1980s, only gained a bit in popularity when showing football matches and boxing matches. The audience was associated with a television provider, and to view sport matches you needed to buy a one-time subscription. The right to view Wrestlemania only a few thousand people have bought in 1985. But by the time of Wrestlemania-III after two years the number of subscribers has increased to 400 thousand. This, one show brought to the company of McMahon more than $ 10 million.

The next two Wrestlemania in 1988 and 1989 were held at the same arena – in the Hall of Atlantic City meetings, close to the famous casino Trump Plaza.

To promote the event organizers said that the venue of the competition is the gambling establishment itself. But that was only a trick to attract more people.

The history of this show dates back to mass entertainments of 19th century. Wrestling we know today was formed in 1970s. Since that time it had ups and downs, but in the second half of the 90s wrestling experienced enormous popularity growth. Read the rest of this entry →