Professional wrestling rulebook

Types
There are many different types of professional wrestling.

Sports entertainment style combines colorful characters and dramatic storylines with a lesser focus on the sporting aspects. This is the style of product produced by World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and is arguably the most popular form of professional wrestling. Despite its popularity, it is decried by some critics as over the top and circus-like, due to frequent usage of melodrama, and comedy,

Southern style -- colloquially (sometimes mockingly) known as "wrasslin'" -- puts equal emphasis on theatrics and athleticism, and tends to favor traditional roles of hero and villain. It was wildly popular in the American South throughout the twentieth century, where it was produced by the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crockett Promotions, and early World Championship Wrestling.

Puroresu -- Another type, rarely found in North America, is strong style wrestling, which forgoes elaborate characterizations in favor of athletic prowess. This is very popular in Japan as the fighters use martial arts strikes and complex submission holds and matches are treated as pure sport rather than sports entertainment. The Japanese crowd rely on sportsmanship and clean finishes. Promotions using this include Pro Wrestling NOAH and New Japan Pro Wrestling. An extension of this, with legitimate maneuvers actually applied, is known as shoot style, and was pioneered by Universal Wrestling Federation.

Another style which emphasizes high levels of brutality, focusing on use of weapons and unusual environment elements for heightened violence, is called extreme, hardcore, combat, 'garbage' or ultra-violent wrestling. It also incorporates legitimately dangerous stunts, such as falls from high places onto folding tables, sometimes lit on fire.

King's Road is a variant of Japanese puroresu which features long matches filled with dramatic tension built up from the physical struggles. This style was pioneered by All Japan Pro Wrestling.

While some promotions specialize in one specific style, others produce events with a more diverse array that appeals to varied tastes. Extreme Championship Wrestling, for instance, is commonly known as a pioneer of the hardcore style, but its product is best described as Southern style with less emphasis on the hero/villain dichotomy. Lucha libre has elements of sports entertainment (masks and midget wrestlers) but also puts focus on a wrestler's athletic prowess and matches can often have dire results, including loss of hair.

Staged nature of professional wrestling
Throughout the history of professional wrestling, the utmost care was taken to ensure that the staged nature of professional wrestling was kept secret to the audience, a concept known as kayfabe or "working the marks". Kayfabe was largely broken down by the steroid trials of the World Wrestling Federation (now referred to as World Wrestling Entertainment, after the organization brought and lost a trademark infringement case against the World Wildlife Fund) and the advent of the worldwide web in the 1990s. However, this changed little of how wrestling is produced. Like those of film and theatre, the professional wrestling audience overlooks the inner workings of the performance, invoking suspension of disbelief and allowing for dramatic license.

Occasionally a performer will deviate from the intended sequence of events. This is known as a shoot. Sometimes shoot-like elements are included in wrestling stories to blur the line between performance and reality. These are known as "worked-shoots". However, the vast majority of events in professional wrestling are entirely preplanned.

Rules
The simulated nature of professional wrestling is only one of the many differences it has with traditional wrestling. There is no governing authority for professional wrestling rules, although there is a general standard which has developed. Each promotion has their own variation, but all are similar enough to avoid confusion. Any rule described here is simply a standard, and may or may not correspond exactly with any given promotion's ruleset.

General structure
Matches are held between two or more sides ("corners"). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are held by tag team rules (see below). Other matches are free-for-alls, with multiple combatants but no teams. In all variants, there can be only one winning team or wrestler.

The standard method of scoring is the "fall", which is a accomplished by: These are each explained in greater detail below. Typically, falls must occur within the ring area.
 * pinning the opponent's shoulders to the mat for three seconds,
 * knocking out or otherwise incapacitating the opponent,
 * forcing the opponent to submit,
 * a forfeit via a disqualified opponent,
 * or the opponent remaining outside the ring for too long (count-out).

Most wrestling matches last for a set number of falls, with the first side to achieve that number of pinfalls, submissions, or countouts being the winner. Historically, matches were wrestled to 3 falls ("best 2 out of 3") or 5 falls ("best 3 out of 5"). The standard for modern matches is one fall. These matches are given a time limit; if not enough falls are scored by the end of the time limit, the match is declared a draw. Modern matches are generally given a 10- to 30- minute time limit for standard matches; title matches can go for up to one hour.

An alternative is a match set for a prescribed length of time, with a running tally of falls. The entrant with the most falls at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. This is usually for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, and is commonly called an Ironman match.

In matches with multiple competitors, an elimination system may be used. Any wrestler who has a fall scored against them is forced out of the match, and the match continues until only one remains.

Many modern specialty matches have been devised, with unique winning conditions. See Professional wrestling match types.

Each match is assigned a referee, who is the final arbitrator. (In multi-man lucha libre matches, two referees are used, one inside the ring and one outside.) Generally an action must be seen by a referee to be declared for a fall or disqualification. This is commonly exploited to great dramatic effect. Referees are expected to be fair, neutral and unbiased, although special guest referees may be used from time to time, who usually display personal favoritism and heavily influence the outcome of the match.

Matches are held within a wrestling ring, an elevated square (or hexagonal) canvas mat with posts on each corner. A cloth apron hangs over the edges of the ring. Three horizontal ropes or cables surround the ring, suspended with turnbuckles which are connected to the posts. For safety, the ropes are padded at the turnbuckles and cushioned mats surround the floor outside the ring (though in kayfabe, the mats do not offer much protection. Jerry "the King" Lawler once mentioned at Royal Rumble 2005 "Those mats are more to protect the floor than they are the wrestlers that are out there."). Guardrails or a similar barrier enclose this area from the audience. Wrestlers are generally expected to stay within the confines of the ring, though matches sometimes end up outside the ring, and even in the audience, to added excitement.

Tag rules
In some team matches, only one entrant from each team may be designated as the 'legal' or 'active' wrestler at any given moment. Two wrestlers must make physical contact (typically palm-to-palm) in order to transfer this legal status. This is known as a tag, with the participants tagging out and tagging in.

The non-legal wrestlers must remain outside the ring or other legal area at all times (and avoid purposeful contact with the opposing wrestlers) or face reprimand from the referee. In most promotions, the wrestler to be tagged in must be touching the turnbuckle on his corner, or a cloth strap attached to the turnbuckle.

Some multi-wrestler matches allow for a set number of legal wrestlers, and a legal wrestler may tag out to any other wrestler, regardless of team. In these matches, the tag need not be a mutual effort, and this results in active wrestlers being tagged out against their will.

In a Texas Tornado Tag Team match, all the competitors are legal in the match, and tagging in and out is not necissary

Techniques
Wrestlers may grab, hold, twist, or strike any part of an opponent's body, except the throat, groin, or eye. An opponent's hair or clothing may not be grabbed.

Wrestlers may strike an opponent using any part of their own limbs, head or body, with the following exceptions: punching requires an open fist and kicking must use the flat of the foot. Biting is not allowed, nor is spitting in the eyes.

Wrestlers may lift an opponent and throw them, drop them, or otherwise force them to the mat. Such techniques which land an opponent on the head or neck, such as the piledriver, may be disallowed by some promotions.

A wrestler may jump onto an opponent, whether standing or lying down, in any manner.

A wrestler may entangle an opponent in the ropes, turnbuckles, or corner posts, but the referee will usually attempt to free him or her.

Any legal wrestler is open to attack from any direction at any time, including when they are downed, as long as they are not in contact with the ring ropes. If either wrestler is in contact with the ropes or if any part of the wrestler is underneath the ropes, all grappling contact between the wrestlers must be broken within five seconds. This rule is often used strategically in order to escape from a submission hold, and a wrestler can place his foot on (or under) the ropes to avoid losing by pinfall. This is commonly referred to as a rope break.

Pinfall
In order to score 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 part of the opponent's body is lying over the opponent, 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 clothing, therefore they are popular cheating methods for heels, unless certain stipulations make such an advantage legal. Such pins as these are rarely seen by the referee and are subsequently often used by heels and on occasion by cheating faces to win matches.

Occasionally, there are instances where a pinfall is made where both wrestler's shoulders were on the mat for the three count. This situation will most likely lead to a draw, and in some cases a continuation of the match or a future match to determine the winner.

Submission
To score by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (i.e., figure four 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 for safety reasons. If the wrestler has considered to have passed out, the opponent then scores by submission.

A wrestler may voluntarily submit by verbally informing the referee. Also, a wrestler can indicate a voluntary submission by "tapping out", that is, tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent. Submission was initially a large factor in professional wrestling, but following the decline of the submission-oriented catch-as-catch-can style from mainstream professional wrestling, the submission largely faded. Despite this, some wrestlers, such as Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Ken Shamrock, and Bret Hart, became famous for winning matches via submission. A wrestler with a signature submission technique is portrayed as better at applying the hold, making it more painful or more difficult to get out of than others who use it.

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 ten (or twenty), and thus disqualified. The count is broken and re-started when a wrestler in the ring exits the ring. A wrestler entering the ring does not break the count for a wrestler outside the ring. If both wrestlers are outside the ring, the count refers to both. A common tactic, to buy more time outside the ring, is for one wrestler to re-enter the ring to restart the count and then immediately re-exit it (referred to as "breaking the count"). If both wrestlers remain outside at the count of ten, both are counted out in what is known as a "double countout" or "impossible draw".

If both wrestlers are lying on the mat and not moving, the referee may issue a ten count for them to get back to their feet. Either wrestler reaching their knees will break the count. If neither wrestler reaches their knees or feet, it is considered a draw, known as a double knockout or, incorrectly, an "in ring count-out."

The countout rule also indicates that a wrestler cannot score by standard methods while any part of his opponent's body is not in the ring. This allows escape from pinfalls and submission holds by putting any part of the body on the ring ropes (a rope break).

The referee, in certain promotions, does not instigate 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.

Disqualification
Disqualification from a match is called for a number of reasons:


 * Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, hair-pulling, choking or biting an opponent, or repeatedly punching with a closed fist. These violations are usually subject to a referee-administered five count and will result in disqualification if not released before.
 * Attacking an opponent's eye, such as raking it, poking it, gouging it, punching it out or other severe attacks to the eye.
 * Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. If a heel attempts to interfere but is ejected from the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there is usually no disqualification. In this disqualification method, the wrestler being attacked by the foreign member is awarded the win.
 * Striking an opponent with a foreign object (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).
 * A direct low blow to the groin (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).
 * Intentionally laying hands on the referee or to an extreme case, often in special referee matches, touching the referee with any body parts.
 * Pulling an opponent's wrestling trunks for a pinfall during a match (although this usually only results in nullification of the pinfall).
 * Pulling an opponent's mask off during a match (this is illegal in Mexico).
 * Throwing your opponent over the top rope (this was once illegal in the National Wrestling Alliance, but is rarely enforced now).
 * In a Royal Rumble, it is illegal to enter the ring before your due entrance.

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 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. 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 referee knockouts 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 short amount of time; during that interim period, one 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 disqualifies the wrestler who knocked him down when the referee recovers.

If all participants 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 some cases a restart or the same match being held at a Pay Per View or next nights show.

In most wrestling promotions, a championship cannot change hands as a result of a disqualifications, often referred to as the "champions advantage." Playing into this, some heel wrestlers will attempt to "get themselves disqualified" to "protect" their championships.

A relatively recent trend in wrestling has been the development of the no-disqualification (or Hardcore) match. This type of match became increasingly prominent during the 1990s, and was a particular feature of the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion. When WWE (then WWF) unveiled its new 'Attitude' era in 1997, the no-disqualification match was used as a centerpiece for this new design of wrestling, and a Hardcore Title was offered between 1998 and 2002. Completely new matches developed from the Hardcore/no-DQ match, including:


 * Ladder match (participants must post a ladder in the middle of the ring and climb it to grasp a hanging object - usually a title belt).
 * Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (a ladder match where all three items may be used as a weapon against an opponent).
 * Hardcore match (a no-disqualification match where falls count anywhere, even out of the venue).

Draw
A professional wrestling match can end in a draw. A draw occurs if both opponents are simultaneously disqualified (as via count-out), neither opponent is able to answer a ten-count, or both opponents simultaneously win the match. The latter can occur if, for example, one opponent's shoulders touch the mat while maintaining a submission hold against another opponent. If the opponent in the hold begins to tap out at the same time a referee counts to three for pinning the opponent delivering the hold, both opponents have legally achieved scoring conditions simultaneously. Traditionally, a championship may not change hands in the event of a draw, though some promotions such as TNA Wrestling have endorsed rules where the champion may lose a title by disqualification. A variant of the draw is the time-limit draw, where the match does not have a winner by a specified time period (a one-hour draw, which was once common, is known in wrestling circles as a "Broadway").

"No Contest"
A wrestling match may be declared a "No Contest" if the winning conditions are unable to occur. This can be due to excessive interference, loss of referee's control over the match, one or more participants sustaining debilitating injury not caused by the opponent, or the inability of a scheduled match to even begin. A No Contest is a state separate and distinct from a draw -- a draw indicates winning conditions were met. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in practice, this usage is technically incorrect.

Dramatic elements
While each wrestling match is ostensibly a competition of athletics and strategy, the goal of each match from a business standpoint is to excite and entertain the audience. Although the competition is staged, dramatic emphasis can be utilized to draw out the most intense reaction from the audience. Heightened interest results in higher attendance rates, increased ticket sales, higher ratings on television broadcasts (which result in greater ad revenue), higher pay-per-view buyrates, and sales of branded merchandise and recorded video footage. All of these contribute to the profit of the promotion company.

Character
In Japan, most matches are treated as pure sport with seriousness of purpose (See puroresu).

In Latin America and English-speaking countries, most wrestlers (and other on-stage performers) portray character roles, sometimes with personalities wildly different from their own. These personalities are a gimmick intended to heighten interest in a wrestler without regard to athletic ability. Some can be unrealistic and cartoon-like, while others carry more verisimilitude. In lucha libre, many characters wear masks, adopting a secret identity akin to a super hero, a near-sacred tradition.

An individual wrestler may keep one persona for his entire career, or may change from time to time to better suit the demands of the audience or company. Sometimes a character is owned and trademarked by the company, forcing the wrestler to find a new one when he leaves, and sometimes a character is owned by the wrestler. Many wrestlers are strongly identified with their character, even responding to the name in public or between friends. A professional wrestling character's popularity can grow to the point that it makes appearances in other media (see Hulk Hogan, El Santo) or even give the performer enough visibility to enter politics (Antonio Inoki and Jesse Ventura, among others).

Typically, matches are staged between a protagonist (historically an audience favorite, known as a face, or "the good guy") and an antagonist (historically a villain with arrogance, a tendency to break rules, or other unlikable qualities, called a heel). In recent years, however, anti-heroes have also become prominent in professional wrestling. There is also a less common role of a "tweener", who is neither fully face nor fully heel yet able to play either role effectively.

At times a character may "turn", altering their face/heel alignment. This may be an abrupt, surprising event, or it may slowly build up over time. It almost always is accomplished with a markable change in behavior on the part of the character. Some turns become defining points in a wrestler's career, as was the case when Hulk Hogan turned heel after being a top face for over a decade. Others may have no noticeable effect on the character's status. If a character repeatedly switches between being a face and heel, this lessens the effect of such turns, and may result in apathy from the audience.

As with personas in general, a character's face or heel alignment may change with time, or remain constant over its lifetime.

Story
While true exhibition matches are not uncommon, most matches tell a story analogous to a scene in a play or film, or an episode of a serial drama: The face will win (triumph) or lose (tragedy). Longer story arcs can result from multiple matches over the course of time. Since most promotions have a championship title, competition for the championship is a common impetus for stories. Also, anything from a character's own hair to his job with the promotion can be wagered in a match.

Some matches are designed to further a story of only one participant. It could be intended to portray him or her as a strong unstoppable force, a lucky underdog, a sore loser, or any other characterization. Sometimes non-wrestling vignettes are shown in order to enhance a character's image without the need for matches.

Other stories result from a natural rivalry between two or more characters. Outside of performance, these are referred to as feuds. A feud can exist between any number of participants and can last for a few days up to multiple decades. The feud between Ric Flair and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat lasted from the late 70's into early 90's. The career-spanning history between characters Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka is another example of a long-running feud.

In theory, the longer a feud is built up, the more audience interest (aka heat) will exist. The main event of a wrestling show is generally the one with the most heat behind it. Commonly, a heel will hold the upper hand over a face until a final showdown, heightening dramatic tension as the face's fans desire to see him win.

Since the advent of television, many other elements have been utilized to tell story within a professional wrestling setting: pre- and post-match interviews, "backstage" skits, positions of authority, division rankings (typically the #1-contendership spot), contracts, lotteries, and even news stories on promotion websites.

Also, anything that can be used as an element of drama can exist in professional wrestling stories: romantic relationships (including love triangles and marriage), racism, classism, nepotism, favoritism, family bonds, personal histories, grudges, theft, cheating, assault, betrayal, bribery, seduction, stalking, confidence tricks, extortion, blackmail, substance abuse, self-doubt, self-sacrifice; even kidnapping, paedophilia, sexual fetishism, misogyny, rape and death have been portrayed in wrestling. Some promotions have included supernatural elements such as magic, curses, the undead and satanic imagery.

Commentators have become important in communicating the relevance of the characters' actions to the story at hand, filling in past details and pointing out subtle actions that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Championship titles
Professional wrestling mimics the structure of title match combat sports. Participants compete for a championship title, and must defend it after winning it. These titles are represented physically by a belt that can be worn by the champion. In the case of team wrestling, there is a belt for each member of the team.

Almost all professional wrestling promotions have one major title, and some have more. Titles are designated by divisions of weight, height, gender, wrestling style and other qualifications.

Typically, each promotion only recognizes the 'legitimacy' of their own titles, although cross-promotion does happen. Also, when one promotion absorbs or purchases another, the titles from the defunct promotion may continue to be defended in the new promotion.

Behind the scenes, the decision makers in a company will decide to give a title to the most accomplished performer, or the one with the most popular or exciting character. Lesser titles may also be awarded to those performers who show potential, thus allowing them greater exposure to the audience. Sometimes, though, a title will be given to a performer out of necessity, nepotism, politics, a desire for controversy, or other unmerited circumstance. A combination of a championship's lineage, the caliber of performers as champion, and the frequency and manner of title changes, dictates the audience's perception of the title's quality, significance and reputation.

A wrestler's championship accomplishments can be central to their career, becoming a measure of their performance ability and drawing power. The most decorated wrestlers tend to be revered as legends. American wrestler Ric Flair has had multiple world title reigns spanning over three decades. Japanese wrestler Ultimo Dragon once held and defended a record 10 titles simultaneously.