Catch Wrestling

From MartialTalk Online Martial Arts Encyclopedia Project

Catch Wrestling or "Catch as catch can" is a western form of Wrestling where the goal is to make the opponent submit.

The sport grew largely through carnivals in which professional wrestlers, known as "Hookers", would accept challenges from anyone. The wrestler would then attempt to submit, or "hook" their opponent and make them say "Uncle." Often the rules favoured the challenger and they changed over time as this was largely a spectator sport.

Catch wrestling used all manner of attacks and locks, including many things not allowed in modern competitions. This was partially due to its nature of accepting challenge matches from anyone, fewer rules meant fewer disagreements over them and led to the phrase "No Holds Barred".

Catch Wrestling eventually led to Pro Wrestling as more and more fights became Worked and televised.

Catch survived in smaller circles, primarily in Japan where Karl Gotch had taught it to Japanese fighters that combined it with striking to form Shooto