A genuine question

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum but I have spent many happy hours reading old messages and hugely enjoyed looking at the posters and anecdotes from the past.

My background is that as a teenager in the 1960's, and then into the 1970's, I went to wrestling many times and had a season ticket at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, where there were weekly Tuesday night shows.

I saw many of the stars of the day including Kendo Nagasaki, Wayne Bridges, Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo etc - sadly, I never saw Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks.

I also saw several shows at the Royal Albert Hall, including one of the MM/JP bouts - if I remember rightly it was where JP got a very bad cut and had to retire from the contest.

Marriage and a ready made family then intervened but I have always kept an interest in wrestling since I stopped going.

Being rather naïve back in the day, I had no idea that the results of the matches were pre-ordained! I did wonder at the time how the regular MC, Francis P Blake, knew when to appear, ready to announce a fall or submission which always happened shortly after he came back into the auditorium!! Years later I found out why!!

My genuine question is this....... was professional wrestling always staged with results agreed in advance from when it first started (not sure when that was - early 1900's? I know you experts will tell me) or was a decision made at some point after it became popular that this would happen.

Just asking out of curiosity.

It is great that this site helps keep our happy memories of yesteryear alive, even though sadly so many of those who entertained us are no longer with us.

I look forward to any responses.

Kind regards. Peter