No more wrestling in the Olympics?!?

[Teo Torriatte]

http://news.yahoo.com/ioc-drops-wrestling-2020-olympics-111816483--oly.html

I'm not like a huge fan of it, but its been there forever, just struck me as a little odd, that's all.

[RubySlippers]

Odd, the original Olymoic games had it back in the day. Dropping it will offend the gods and goddesses!

[Teo Torriatte]

Mhmm yep that's what I was thinking! I wouldn't think that something that went that far back (and has been there for every modern Olympics as well) was even up for consideration.

[elone]

Unfortunately the olympics is is based on revenue. I just read an article on this on BBC news and it seems that their criteria for dropping sports has to do with audience, ticket sales, international participation and television ratings.

Avery Brundage, who faught to keep amateurism, must be rolling over in his grave.

Too bad that ratings drive the olympics these days as does professionalism. Potential sports that may be upgraded include golf.

I, for one, prefer the traditional olympic sports, but the committee seems to think they meed to continue to modernize the games.

Also noted, was that the ballots are secret as are the meeting discussions.

[Lilias]

So curling brings in more revenue? Or badminton? ::)

[Teo Torriatte]

Well curling is in the winter games, so not on the same list. You got me on badminton.  :P

[CastorTroy]

Hopefully this means there's room for darts.

[Lilias]

Hopefully this means there's room for darts.

Darts are archery Lite. :P Pankration, now... >:)

[CastorTroy]

Darts are archery Lite. :P Pankration, now... >:)

Pssshhhh, Pankration!? Think of the kids!

[Lilias]

Pssshhhh, Pankration!? Think of the kids!

I am! If they're gonna brawl, they'd better learn to do it right! :P

[CastorTroy]

I am! If they're gonna brawl, they'd better learn to do it right! :P

Ahhhhh, you haven't tasted the flavour of darts - it's amazing! Strangely, I never realised wrestling was an Olympic sport.

[Avis habilis]

Hell yes pankration!

Human Weapon- S1-E6 Pangrateion [FULL EPISODE]

[Hades]

If ratings and ticket sales is what determines which sports are included in the Olympics, maybe they should make some adjustments to the sport.  Something along the lines of this, perhaps?  >.>   <.<   O:)

[TaintedAndDelish]

I find wrestling kind of boring. Something more like WWF wrestling might stir up a little controversy.

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/15800000/WWE-Smackdown-24th-of-september-2010-wrestling-15882720-622-389.jpg




Yes, its fake... so what, it sells.

[Funguy81]

well...if they want to look for new sports...maybe they could try these.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15209_the-10-most-insane-sports-in-world.html

[Oniya]

No one's mentioned the fact that they have four other martial arts listed:  Judo and taekwondo on the 'core list' with karate and wushu on the 'short list'.

Couldn't we just drop badminton instead?  Especially after the last go-round?

[Chris Brady]

I think they should drop all of them, and bring back full on gladiatorial combat.

[Oniya]

Mr. Oniya responded well to the suggestion of pankration.  ;D

[itsbeenfun2000]

Badminton is actually a very popular sport in Asia. Wrestling however is popular all over the world. The USA wrestling has suggested to the USIOC that we boycot the games if wrestling is not put back on. USA wrestling also is worried that this will have an effect on college wrestling as some schools may try to get rid of it now that it is no longer an Olympic sport.

[Oniya]

Badminton is actually a very popular sport in Asia. Wrestling however is popular all over the world. The USA wrestling has suggested to the USIOC that we boycot the games if wrestling is not put back on. USA wrestling also is worried that this will have an effect on college wrestling as some schools may try to get rid of it now that it is no longer an Olympic sport.

In the last go-round, there was an incident where some of the players were not playing their best game - so that they could 'pick' which team they went up against next.  Eight women were disqualified for throwing matches.  I'd consider that as weight in moving badminton to the 'short list' or even off the table.

[Caeli]

In the last go-round, there was an incident where some of the players were not playing their best game - so that they could 'pick' which team they went up against next.  Eight women were disqualified for throwing matches.  I'd consider that as weight in moving badminton to the 'short list' or even off the table.

It might just mean that there's a need to change the way that the ladder is organized. The way that the Grand Slam tournaments are organized (tennis) comes to mind.

Personally, I love watching and playing badminton, and am disappointed that it is rarely broadcasted Stateside.

[TheGlyphstone]

If ratings and ticket sales is what determines which sports are included in the Olympics, maybe they should make some adjustments to the sport.  Something along the lines of this, perhaps?  >.>   <.<   O:)

Well, Greco-Roman wrestling was originally done in the nude... :D

[Oniya]

Well, Greco-Roman wrestling was originally done in the nude... :D

And oiled.  >:)

[Sasquatch421]

It sucks, but apparently Dana White sees it as a step for getting MMA into the Olympics...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1529469-dana-white-wrestlings-demise-could-bring-mma-to-the-olympics

Then again maybe now we can get Rodeo into the Olympics.... How well can an Ethiopian handle one ton of pissed off bull? Especially now when they mix how much Mexican Fighting Bull into them now just to make them meaner?

Pro Bull Riding - Victims of the Game

Although I think the Russian's might have fun with the Steer Wrestling.... Oh! Maybe some Cowboy poker as well?

Cowboy Poker Mesquite Rodeo August 10 2007

[Brittany]

In my personal opinion, it seems to be an argument of continued inclusion for the sake of the tradition. 

I loved the olympics and watched as much as I could, but at a time where you find yourself getting into sports you never expected you would (how fun was handball?!) there are some things that just didn't interest me and I couldn't get into them at all.  Horseriding, male gymnastics and wrestling to be precise.

My personal opinion doesn't decide what goes on the olympics, and I expect that countries such as the USA and Russia probably have more of an interest in wrestling given that it's a school/college sport.   But people here that I know share similar opinions.  If you have thousands or millions of these opinions, and they don't sell venues or get watched on television, then it is my belief that it should go.  If it isn't something people care for then the only real reason is to keep it for a minority audience and tradition for traditions sake.

Having said that, with MMA, Darts, Professional wrestling (as a choreographed event like ice skating) and Golf all making noises to be olympic sports, I can't say that the alternatives are that much better.  I'd prefer if they downsized it a bit personally, there were too many events and a lot of them weren't all that great.

[TheGlyphstone]

Olympic Professional Wrestling would be hilarious and awesome.

[Brittany]

Olympic Professional Wrestling would be hilarious and awesome.

I read an article where people were arguing for amateur wrestling, and some professional wrestler was saying they should have Olympic professional wrestling, and make it like gymnastics and ice skating where they put on a show and are scored by judges.   ;D

The guy was really serious too! :)

[Oniya]

Professional wrestling (as a choreographed event like ice skating)

That's - brilliant!

[Brittany]

That's - brilliant!

WWE wrestler and Robot Combat League Host Chris Jericho : “Think about it, pro wrestling as an Olympic sport would be pretty cool. Look at figure skating or gymnastics, what is it? It’s a choreographed performance that is judged. It’s whoever puts on the best performance. Why can’t you do that with different countries like a Canadian team, an American team and a German team go in there. Then whoever puts on the best match according to the judges wins. You take two of the best American workers in a match against each other and get scored by the judges. It’s the exact same thing as figures skating, so why not?"

;D

[TheGlyphstone]

Would you only judge the choreography, though, or would the attached storyline be scored as well? :D

[Oniya]

I want tickets for the Mexico/Japan cruiser-weight match.

[Brittany]

Would you only judge the choreography, though, or would the attached storyline be scored as well? :D

5 available points for the entrance
5 available points for the storyline and interviews
5 available points for the choreography
5 available points for the costume and character name
5 points for creative use of household items
Bonus point for how entertaining their ringside manager is

To be honest.... it already sounds better than everything in the olympics besides gymnastics and field hockey  ;D

[Sasquatch421]

5 available points for the entrance
5 available points for the storyline and interviews
5 available points for the choreography
5 available points for the costume and character name
5 points for creative use of household items
Bonus point for how entertaining their ringside manager is

To be honest.... it already sounds better than everything in the Olympics besides gymnastics and field hockey  ;D

Get Jimmy "The Mouth From the South" Hart involved and it would guarantee a gold for the US.....

[Retribution]

Despite saying I would not weigh in on a political thread I thought I would offer some perspective here.  I am a retired wrestling coach and actually wrestled an Olympic trial many years ago.  I have acquaintances who are gold medalists and my teenage son just ended a wrestling career via injury so I have some perspective.

In the wrestling community we have heard rumblings of this for a long time. Real and true amateur wrestling is hard to follow and score if you do not know what you are looking at. So to make it more appealing the IOC over the years has added beach wrestling, women's wrestling, and tweak the rules to classic Freestyle and Greco.  The last two are those with roots back to classical times Greco being different in that you cannot use your legs for anything other than to stand on. Obviously the wrestling community is enraged with the recent decision for reasons already listed in this thread. Wrestling is subject to regional tastes. It is huge in the Midwest and the Eastern block such as Russia. Not so much in other places though there are various pockets. If you are looking at the US the college Big Ten area are the wrestling titans. Dropping from the Olympics well is a knife in the heart because everyone who has ever competed the ultimate goal is an Olympic medal a ticket to immortality.

But I think what really sticks in the craw is that the IOC is just plain corrupt.  Look at past scandals such as the bribery when it came to the Salt Lake City games. There are other examples as well that corruption has run rampant in the IOC and those who read the news can smell the corruption in this story. That is what really leaves a bad taste in the mouth of those like me.

[Retribution]

Oh as for references aside from personal knowledge

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/02/olympic_wrestling_dropped_why_the_ioc_makes_dubious_decisions.html

[Deamonbane]

Yes!!! Finally!!! And then they incorporate BJJ in its place *nods vigorously*

[Oniya]

...I've been here too long.  I literally can not come up with a clean interpretation of that. >_>;

[Brittany]

...I've been here too long.  I literally can not come up with a clean interpretation of that. >_>;

Neither could I.  I looked it up. 

Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I hope he meant this, and not what I was thinking of, I don't think my interpretation of those initials would go down with the IOC.

[TheGlyphstone]

...I've been here too long.  I literally can not come up with a clean interpretation of that. >_>;

I must not have been here long enough, because I recognized what it stood for immediately, and I'm not a wrestling/MMA fan at all.

[Retribution]

Actually I would not mind seeing BJJ in the Olympics and if I had body parts that still worked I would give the sport a try [minds out of the gutter children]  Unfortunately wrestling has broken my neck, my nose 14 times.....you get the idea so BJJ is not a good idea for me.  And I saw Dana White and MMA mentioned in other posts. I got no issue with MMA in fact know several of the well known UFC guys and I love that UFC gives us old wrestlers someplace to go professional even if I was too broken by the time it took off.

I just am not sure MMA is an Olympic sport.  BJJ however guie [sp] on I could so see.

[itsbeenfun2000]

What amazes me is that the countries that support wrestling, US and Russia to name two major ones, could easily say have it or don't expect us to support your movement. The IOC gets most of its revenue from NBC for TV rights.

I two was a high school wrestling coach and what this will do to College wrestling is tragic. It gives schools one more reason to cut the sport because outside the midwest as it was pointed out it is not a money maker.

[Love And Submission]

Why get rid of Wrestling but keep olympic boxing? After the Roy Jones Jr. controversy olympic boxing has become a joke. It's about as much real boxing as a  Veggie Burger is actual red meat.

[TheGlyphstone]

Better marketing. To Joe Q Average, boxing is Rocky fighting Apollo Creed, and wrestling is men in primary-color speedos doing flying elbow slams.

[Trieste]

The Olympic games are the most famous amateur sports competition in the world. The reason to include or not to include any sport is pretty much the same: those athletes have worked very hard and I know that I, personally, would like to see as many varied sports players be able to compete in the Olympics as possible. It's a challenge and an honor, and as far as I'm concerned part of the benefit of having so many games is to expose children who watch the Olympics to a variety of ways to get out and get moving. If their idol is a water polo player and they end up in the pool every day ... if their excellence wins them a sports scholarship so that they don't have to borrow money from the Dept. of Ed. in the US - how could that possibly be a lose? I actually can't think of a downside to having more variety to the Olympics - if you don't like the sport, just change the channel.

...I've been here too long.  I literally can not come up with a clean interpretation of that. >_>;

I couldn't, either. ::)

[minds out of the gutter children]

Nevernevernever.