All-in professional wrestling

This article is about the 1930s British style of professional wrestling. For the series of professional wrestling events promoted by All Elite Wrestling, see All In (professional wrestling).
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All-in wrestling was both a style of professional wrestling that emerged in the United Kingdom in the Interwar period as well as a term that came to describe professional wrestling in general during the 1930s and 1940s in the United Kingdom. As a style, "All-in" referred to a style that hybridised catch as catch can and other forms of British folk amateur wrestling with the emerging performances and showmanship of professional wrestling. Unlike Olympic freestyle wrestling, "All In" professional wrestling was presented as "no holds barred".[1][2]

The term "All In" later became synonymous with more anarchic professional wrestling shows, leading to censure by local authorities by the late 1930s. Consequently, the "All In" label was disowned by most British wrestling promoters following the adoption of the 1947 Mountevans rules.[2] Nevertheless, the term still lingered for many years afterwards amongst the media and the public.

  1. ^ Blue Blood On The Mat, Sir Atholl Oakeley, Summersdale Publishers Ltd 1994 edition
  2. ^ a b The Wrestling, Simon Garfield, Faber & Faber 1996