PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is an athletic performing art where matches are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff. It is a non-competitive sport. It contains strong elements of theatre, mock combat, and catch wrestling. It has origins in carnival sideshows and music halls in the late 19th century as part of displays of athleticism and strength. Modern professional wrestling usually features striking and grappling techniques, which are modeled after diverse sets of wrestling and pugilistic styles from around the world.
Although professional wrestling started out as petty acts in sideshows and traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a billion-dollar industry that draws revenue from ticket sales, television broadcasts, branded merchandise and home video. It was instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestliMania are among the highest-selling pay-per-view programming. Home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week.Billboard's 2008 year-end sales show World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) holding 14 of the top 20 for the entire year of 2008.