Davies 1

Robert Davies

Mrs. Watts

ENG 101

26 October 2020

Off The Ropes And On The Mat

Whether it be Rob Van Dam diving headfirst off the top rope to hit a classic “Five Star

Frog Splash” to finish off the opponent and wow the crowd, Cael Sanderson winning his fourth

NCAA championship title; both reside in the sport of wrestling. Wrestling is a sport that dates

back to Ancient Greece, referenced within the Iliad and nearly 15,000-year-old cave drawings.

Nowadays wrestling is arguably recognized in professional wrestling entertainment companies

such as WWE, where matches are scripted and rehearsed. Compared to what is now known as

amateur wrestling or Olympic wrestling which is the closest equivalent to wrestling in Ancient

Greece. Many compare professional wrestling to Olympic wrestling and believe the two sports

are practically the same; however, the two wrestling styles are distinctly dissimilar.

As with most sports, everything starts with training. Both styles go through a series of

intensive workouts and repetitive training for technique. Professional wrestling, unlike

amateur, is scripted. Professional wrestling requires training to act out matches, act as a set

character, sell yourself to a crowd, and make things look as realistic as possible. “When he

throws a faux punch at our heads, we have to kick one leg up in front of us as if laying into a

soccer ball, tuck our chins, and fall backward. Some guys try to cheat it by rolling their bodies

down to the floor, but they just get asked to do it again...The only thing that's not real about it
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is the punch itself” (Hyson, 25). With punches as well as most moves, the contact portion is fake

and the reaction is acted out. These acted out reactions require a repetitive training process to

perfect. It is a matter of selling the move for the crowd’s reaction. Hyson explains how to sell

the punch stating, “You have to get air. Jump up and back and fall just like somebody really took

your head off with a punch...Hitting the mat knocks the wind out of me several times”

(Hyson,25). Training is going through this process until it can be executed smoothly. Unlike

professional wrestling, amateur is not acted out nor scripted. Training consists of a rigorous

process of training endurance, technique, and strength. There is no extra training focused on

how to wow a crowd. Amateur wrestling is simply a one on one sport, one skill against the

other. Although the training processes vary, there are many similarities in some techniques.

Professional wrestling has many flashy moves to pull reactions from the crowd, but it
also takes from many Ametuer wrestling techniques. Many moves ranging from takedowns
such as a single-leg or double-leg to slams such as a suplex. Although professional wrestling
may modify moves to make them more flashy, many of the moves still originate from amateur
wrestling. Basic core fundamentals of lowering one’s level to reach for a leg and take an
opponent off their feet. As well as more advanced techniques such as picking up an opponent
and slamming them back onto their backside. All of which come from drawings and techniques
shared from 15,000 years ago. In amateur wrestling, it is a matter of who can successfully land
or force one of these moves. Doing things such as adding a set up before the move to get the
opponent into the required position, or chaining it together with another move. In Professional
wrestling, matches are scripted out and rehearsed to see what moves make the most sense in
specific situations. Though such as how will the crowd react and how might the move turn the
tides of the match, as well as how risky is the move to the wrestler’s health, are all taken into
consideration when scripting matches. These basic fundamentals and moves in each sport both
still require training in Professional and amateur wrestling, but the training is put in for two
distinct reasons.

Amateur wrestling and professional wrestling have their own purposes. Amateur
wrestling serves its purpose by being a sport in itself, and a stepping stone into martial arts.
Author Jeff Savage once wrote, “Wrestling tests the strength, stamina, and skill of two
opponents. Wrestlers come in all sizes. They compete against others of the same weight”
(Savage, 1) and “Martial arts such as judo evolved from wrestling” (Savage, 3). In his writing,
Savage is referring to Amateur wrestling and its purpose. Wrestling is a head to head sport to
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prove whose strength, stamina, and skill are greater. Dating as far back as it does wrestling is
known as the world’s oldest martial art and stepping stone for others such as judo. These
martial arts can also be seen as being implemented into professional wrestling. Often
dramatized for the crowd’s reaction. Professional wrestling takes these purposes of amateur
wrestling and focuses on making it entertaining. There is no true test of who is better in
professional wrestling. With the matches being scripted the winner has already been chosen
before the match has even begun. Professional wrestling presents itself to the crowds to show
the wrestlers fighting to show who's better. A large value to this entertainment is giving each
wrestler a unique character and storyline that fans can connect to, or hate. Professional
wrestling’s purpose is to act out dramatized stories and wrestling matches to catch the
attention of people around the world.
Although professional wrestling and amateur/Olympic wrestling is often seen as similar,

they vary in many ways. The main differences between each style of wrestling vary between the

training process of each, the way technique is implemented, and the purpose of each. When

addressing wrestling, be sure to specify whether you are talking about high flying, off the top

ropes sports entertainment wrestling or head to head, the winner takes all martial arts

wrestling.

Works Cited

Savage, Jeff. “Chapter One: The History of Wrestling.” Wrestling Basics, Jan. 1996, p. 4.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=ndh&AN=7569760&site=ehost-live.

HYSON, SEAN. “Learning the Ropes.” Muscle & Fitness, vol. 75, no. 10, Nov. 2014, pp.

130–137. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=hxh&AN=99078404&site=ehost-live.
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Compare and Contrast Essay

Peer Edit #1

Peer Editor’s Name: Timothy States Author’s Name: Robert Davis

1. What does this essay compare and contrast?

Professional wrestling vs. Olympic wrestling

2. How many typed pages? __4___ Works Cited Page? _____ Yes _____ No 3. Does the

essay have two sources? ______ Yes _______ No

4. Does the essay have four in text citations? _____ Yes ______ No

5. Does the essay have a clearly stated thesis that includes a subject and opinion?

Yes

6. Write the thesis here:

Many compare professional wrestling to Olympic wrestling and believe the two sports
are practically the same; however, the two wrestling styles are distinctly dissimilar.

7. Yellow: highlight all correct MLA formatting.

a. Heading
i. Your name
ii. Mrs. Watts
iii. ENG 101-3 (or 6 – depending on the class period)
iv. 22 October 2020
b. Running header
i. Last name, space, page number
ii. Times New Roman, 12 point font
c. Centered title
i. No italics, bold, underline
d. Indents
i. Half inch on all paragraph indents
e. In text citations: CEC
i. Claim – introduce the evidence
ii. Evidence – direct quote, accurately punctuated. Parenthetical in text citation (last
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name, para. #).

iii. Commentary – summary, evaluation of evidence.

Look for the following:

f. Any pronoun that is not third person.

i. Absolutely NO first or second person pronouns.
ii. I, me, my, you, your, yours, we, us, our, ours, etc.
g. Contractions, slang, or hackneyed words
Good use of pronouns and no contractions, slang, or hackney words besides the evidence.

8. Blue: highlight the thesis statement ONLY if it clearly states what is being
compared/contrasted (subject) and an arguable opinion.
9. Pink: highlight the attention getter and the clincher statement.
2

a. Are they engaging, intriguing? Comment on the essay.

10. Green: highlight all transitions. *There is a list of transitions on Schoology.*
a. If transitions are missing, make sure the writer knows.
11. Orange: highlight all topic sentences ONLY if they clearly refer back and support the thesis.
12. Blue: highlight all vocabulary that clearly indicates college-level writing or elevated, analytical
thinking.

13. Check for fatal errors:

▪ Subject/verb agreement (SVA)
▪ Pronoun/antecedent agreement (PNA)
▪ Confusing the following:
i. You’re/your
ii. Whose/who’s
iii. There/their
iv. Too/to
v. It’s/its
▪ Use of first person (I, me, we, us, my, our, etc.).
▪ Use of second person (you, your).
▪ Run-on sentences (RO), comma splices (CS), and sentence fragments (Frag). ▪
Contractions

14. What basis for comparison exists between the two things?

The active aspect of the similar but different sports.

15. Are these points discussed in the same order for both subjects? Are the points presented in
parallel terms? Yes

16. Does the essay use point-by-point or subject-by-subject strategy? Is this the best choice?
Explain why. It seems more of a point-by-point but I think that point-by-point is the best
option for this essay due to the relying similarity and difference factors.
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17. Are transitional words and phrases used appropriately to identify points of comparison and
contrast? YES NO Circle the transitions used. Yes, such as although, similar, different,
unlike.

18. If additional transitions are needed, specify where.

19. How could the introductory paragraph be improved?

It could possibly use a little more background information.

20. How could the concluding paragraph be improved?

Sentence structure and flow.

21. Examine the essay for word choice. Make suggestions for improvement.

22. Check the essay for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. Make the corrections on the
essay.

23. Is the essay 700-1000 words? YES NO

24. What additional suggestions can you give the writer? Justify the overall feedback on the essay.