Wrestling is one of the oldest forms of combat. It is a form that has been practiced since the cave-man age, probably developed in an attempt to decide who was the fittest. Professional wrestling has a history for up to 15,000 years. At present day, wrestling—as per the United World Wrestling norms—is divided into two basic categories. Those are international wrestling disciplines and folk wrestling disciplines. Among the international disciplines, the Olympic sports are Men’s Freestyle, Women’s Freestyle, and Greco-Roman Style.

Fact 1: Anglo-American Professional Wrestling, even though the name says “professional,” is not really a competitive wrestling. It is a form of sports entertainment where two people fight each other to an outcome that will be prearranged. It is arranged by bodies like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Ring of Honor Wrestling Entertainment (ROH). It is rarely seen fought in actual competitive matches.

Fact 2: Sumo Wrestling is the traditional wrestling form in Japan. The professional Sumo fighting is only practiced within Japan. The Sumo fighter and his fighting practice are closely associated with the Japanese tradition. These fighters are required to stay separately in a community of fighters and are to follow a certain life style. Sumo wrestling is more about tradition than fighting. Maybe this is the reason it could not come out of Japan, even though it is watched quite fondly across the world on television. The unique appearance of these fighters is also one of the reasons for this sport to be so popular. They just wear a “mawashi,” which is a loincloth around their waists, tie their long hair in a topknot, and usually have a fat body unlike the muscular wrestlers who practice any other form of wrestling.

Fact 3: Skin infections are the major enemies of a wrestler. The wrestlers will be specially trained for taking care of themselves against skin infections. Since it is a sport involving excessive physical contact, it is very much necessary that they do not have any kind of infections that could spread through direct or indirect contact.

Fact 4: Underwater wrestling, “Aquathlon,” is a recent introduction to the wrestling varieties. It was first introduced during the years 1980 to 1982 by Igor Ostrovsky and demonstrated officially in 1982 at Moscow. In this sport, the wrestlers fight in a swimming pool underwater. The wrestlers get to the fighting ring, which will be 5 meters square with a 2.5- meters-wide free area around the ring. They will have a ribbon of the color yellow or red, whichever they are representing at that point, that the other wrestlers need to snatch from them.

Fact 5: Different countries have different forms of wrestling that have been practiced for centuries.

Fact 6: “Sambo” is a Russian form of wrestling. The word “Sambo” means “self-defense without weapons” in Russian. It is originated from the Soviet armed forces and is mostly influenced by international wrestling styles of Greco-Roman, freestyle, judo, jujitsu, and European styles of folk wrestling, and even fencing.

Fact 7: Generally, the wrestling rounds last just a few minutes. But Turkish Oil Wrestling lasts up to 40 minutes. In earlier times, this match continued up to a few days, but now the time is limited. The wrestlers apply oil on their bodies and wrestle each other.

Fact 8: Wrestling is even mentioned in ancient mythology. Wrestling matches between various warriors and rulers are mentioned in the oldest books like the Bible, the Mahabharata, etc.

Fact 9: Wrestling is called the “Foundational Sport” of the Olympic Games by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Fact 10: Beach wrestling is a form of wrestling where each wrestler tries pushing the other outside the ring or to bring him down on his shoulder. It is played on the beach sand.