Wrestling Styles

Catch Wrestling: The original ‘wrestling’, back 100 years ago when it was still considered a legitimate sport. Focus on simple holds (half & full nelson, front chancery, body scissor), and simple throws (fireman’s carry). Catch wrestling is rarely practiced as an individual grappling style today, although there are a few mixed martial artists that use it; however, catch wrestling techniques often form the backbone of other styles. The powerbomb actually originated as a catch wrestling move.

Southern: Southern style wrestling incorporates strikes, sometimes including closed fist punches, and slightly more elaborate throws such as the vertical suplex and backbreaker. How much emphasis is placed on the striking versus matwork and throws depends on the individual wrestler. (RL examples: Ric Flair, Steve Austin pre-injury, The Revival)

Brawling: An evolution of southern style, brawlers generally place more emphasis on a wider array of striking attacks such as headbutts and shoulder tackles. Brawlers also often make use of the ring itself - the turnbuckles, the ring apron, the ropes - as a weapon, and often deliberately relocate matches to the ringside area due to easier access to things to knock opponents into. (RL example: Mick Foley, Steve Austin post-injury)

Technical: An evolution of catch wrestling with more emphasis on various types of suplexes (snap, german, t-bone), and a more elaborate form of mat grappling than in catch wrestling. Many of the most commonly seen pro wrestling holds (half crab, surfboard, camel clutch) are part of this style. (RL example: Bret Hart, CM Punk)

Lancashire: The British style of mat wrestling, which evolved almost independently of other styles. This style was shaped by rules that were both stricter and more strictly enforced than in other styles. Strikes were highly de-emphasized, and aside from forearm strikes often illegal. Grappling often started with catch wrestling techniques that built in intensity and complication. Lancashire style almost went extinct during the 90s and 2000s, but underwent a revival in the 2010s. Nonetheless, due to the limits on striking (and subsequent lack of defense against striking), practitioners mostly have to combine it with other styles to make it work these days. (RL example: Zack Sabre Jr., Jack Gallagher)

Heavyweight: The style that was practiced when wrestling exploded in the 80s. It favored larger individuals, and relatively simple moves that required a great deal of strength to execute well. This emphasis on strength and power was often at the expense of technical prowess - but then, technical prowess was briefly rendered obsolete by the amount of massively muscular and strong wrestlers. As time moved on, heavyweights began adopting a wider array of moves and regaining technical ability, but it’s still a style where physical strength is emphasized. (RL example: The Rock, The Undertaker, Baron Corbin)

New Power: A recently developed and never officially named style. It was adopted by physically powerful wrestlers who did not want to give up speed and mobility, and to an extent cruiserweight wrestlers who developed strength for an edge against other cruiserweights. Practitioners of this style tend to be short and powerful, able to do both high flying cruiserweight style moves and heavyweight power moves, as well as combinations like the rolling fireman’s carry and the C4. They also often use their bodies as weapons with moves like the spear and the cannonball splash. (RL examples: Apollo Crews, Shuji Kondo)

Sports Entertainment: Also mockingly called American Strong Style. Sports Entertainers often have very small yet highly polished movesets, supplemented by very basic holds. A spectacularly perfect dropkick is mandatory. Matches are often kept at a deliberately slow pace. In this style, theatrics and physiques are celebrated over actual wrestling talent. However, some wrestlers have managed to become successful outside sports entertainment environments with this style. (RL examples: Roman Reigns, Randy Orton)

Giant: This style was developed - or adopted by default - by some freakishly large wrestlers who simply lacked the mobility to do anything else, but who had enough size that they could use it as both an offensive and defensive weapon. Practitioners use their inertia to counter and absorb other wrestlers moves, as well as to throw them around the ring. Wrestlers shy of 350 lbs are incapable of utilizing this style. Wrestlers who are big enough to use this style yet athletic enough to be mobile are very rare, but usually extremely dangerous (RL examples: The Big Show (slow type), Vader (athletic type))

Strong Style: One of the two Japanese styles that evolved from southern wrestling. It was created when [fictional Antonio Inoki] tried to turn professional wrestling into a legitimate martial art, and matched his pro wrestlers against legitimate martial artists. The timing and pacing is different, often slower and harder hitting, from southern. In keeping with the desire to legitimize pro wrestling, Strong Style practitioners developed moves that are generally standard moves elsewhere, such as the lariat and back drop, into viable finishers. Matwork usually combines aspects of catch wrestling and legitimate martial arts. (RL example: Stan Hansen, Antonio Inoki)

King’s Road: The other Japanese style that evolved from Southern. King’s Road is a deliberately slow paced and methodical style that builds in progression, with wrestlers often engaging in mat wrestling at the start of the match as part of a feeling-out process, moving on to suplexes in the mid-match and high impact moves like the DVD and powerbomb in the end. More elaborate versions of moves, such as the wrist-clutch DVD and reverse DVD (Burning Hammer) were innovated as part of this style - for example, a wrestler may use the standard DVD as a general finisher, use the wrist-clutch DVD when the standard fails to finish a match, and the Burning Hammer when all else fails. Extremely rare outside Japan. (RL example: Kenta Kobashi)

Cruiserweight: This style was innovated by smaller wrestlers who needed to take advantage of their greater mobility versus larger opponents to stay competitive. It makes fairly heavy use of moves utilizing jumping off the turnbuckle and occasionally the springboard. This style was possibly the first where wrestlers focused on escaping throws by landing on their feet or executing mid-air counters rather than blocking them at the start. This style was innovated by [fictional Antonino Rocca] in the late 70s, but did not become common until the mid-90s when steroid trials opened the doors in wrestling to smaller, slimmer wrestlers. (RL examples: Dean Malenko, Seth Rollins)

Junior Heavyweight: Similar enough to cruiserweight that some feel there’s not enough difference between the two to list them as different styles. Much like Strong Style, the pacing is different, with more emphasis on simple but powerful moves (missile dropkick) and strikes such as the lariat and shotei. Practitioners often learn the moves more common in heavyweight style either as counters or to supplement their own offense. (RL example: Jushin Liger)

Lucha Libre: The Mexican wrestling style that evolved out of cruiserweight. Due to the smaller size of Mexican wrestlers and solid concrete rings, lucha libre developed almost a tumbling style that often involved elaborate flips, many different variations of arm drags and running/flying takedowns, as well as dives to the outside the ring and running flying attacks over the top rope to the outside. Submission holds are relatively uncommon and tend to be elaborate when used, e.g. the octopus stretch. (RL examples: Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis)

Aerial Artist: A further evolution - some might call it a degeneration - of the Lucha Libre style, all but abandoning the basics of wrestling and instead focusing on gymnastic feats and tons of arguably unnecessary flips and corkscrews. Various kinds of jumping and spinning kicks were added to this style to cover striking. This style is often derisively referred to as “flippy-doo” but some wrestlers have used it to great success. (RL examples: Jack Evans, Mustafa Ali, 95% of the Lucha Underground roster)

Llave: Pronounced "Yah-Vay." The Mexican style of mat grappling. Rather than simple but effective holds, focus is put on elaborate holds, rapid transitions from hold to hold, and great mobility on the part of the attacker. This style was innovated when some cruiserweights fled Japan and its deliberately brutal training system, and brought a renewed focus on matwork to Mexico. One of the most rarely practiced styles, but like Lancashire is experiencing a revival. (RL examples: Milano Collection AT, Skayde - for people mostly only familiar with mainstream American wrestling there really aren't any examples, although Drew Gulak and Bryan Danielson dabble in it)

Panther: Another rarely seen style, this style was innovated by Japanese junior heavyweights who began adding Lucha Libre techniques to their style. It combines the aerial techniques of lucha libre with a focus on strikes, particularly kicks, and is often influenced by legitimate martial arts. Grappling is usually a mix of Strong Style and Llave techniques. It is named after [Fictional Version of Tiger Mask], who first innovated it in the 80s. It is regularly adopted by female wrestlers, as the emphasis on both strikes and maneuverability helps them overcome the size and strength disadvantages they usually face. (RL example: Ultimo Dragon, Tiger Mask)

All-Arounder: All-arounders deliberately learn as many different types of wrestling as they can, focusing on versatility rather than specialization. All-arounders are usually larger cruiserweights or smaller heavyweights. They may have simply a massive variety of moves, or they may have a moveset deliberately picked for versatility and then polished for maximum effectiveness. (RL examples: Shawn Michaels, Lance Storm)

Legitimate Martial Arts - Striking: A catch-all term for legitimate martial arts where the focus is on strikes (boxing, muy thai, karate). (RL Examples: Asuka, 1-2-3 Kid)