Pro Wrestling has been "Worked" since at least the 1930s and probably before that.

The following are quotes from Graeme Kent's 1968 "Pictorial History of Wrestling" and refer to Edwardian great Georges Hackenschmidt

"The trouble was that although the Russian was a superlative wrestler, he was no showman. He defeated his opponents so quickly that the matches provided no sort of spectacle. The public lost interest and Hackenschmidt's contract was not renewed."

Then a page later you have "By this time Hackenschmidt's act was being polished by experts. he was persuaded to allow his opponents to look good for a while before he threw them."

Kent then goes to describe how CB Cochran - Hackenschmidt's handler - had his star touring the UK music-halls where he would face other men from Cochran's troupe paid to play the villain before going down to defeat.

Early pro wrestling was frequently promoted as an entertainment in music halls and circuses which means that right away there was a difference between a wrestling match and say, a football game.

Promoters and performers were tempted to tweak the product into something more crowd pleasing and, incidentally something that fitted better into schedules. Some early 20th century wrestling bouts could take hours which delighted nobody but the purists and must have been a nightmare for the venue owners.

Once bouts began being "worked" - that is to say, with a predetermined ending and performers making an effort not to hurt each other - it became easier to schedule matches, tours and championships.

Champions were still expected to be able to legimately handle themselves in case local promoters or other wrestlers pulled a fast one, but the NWA territory system meant that there would be consequences.

The end result is that wrestling became what it is today - a strange mixture of stunts, theatre, soap-opera, morality play and genuine athleticism.