i said.The American men have eight first-time Olympians.I

The world of professional wrestling got its start in the 1800s, but the genesis of what we see today in the world of sports entertainment has its origins in the 1920s, when Ed Strangler Lewis, Toots Mondt and Billy Sandow got together to form the Gold Dust Trio.According to the book WWE Legends, this triumvirate developed what Mondt called the Slam Bang Western Wrestling style, moving beyond exhibitions in the ring that were presented like any other kind of fight and incorporating storylines into pro wrestling in a way that hadnt been done before.In essence, the Gold Dust Trio was the industrys first entity to become true masters of the psychological techniques of getting over with the crowd. They used those methods to generate the desired reactions from the audience and eventually utilized them to dominate the industry for nearly a decade.This opening edition of the Getting Over series aims to detail the psychological rules that the world of pro wrestling has developed in the nearly 100 years since the inception of the Gold Dust Trio; elements that remain the same, or similar, to how they were at the inception of the style, and things that have changed dramatically in the modern era.Before getting into the specifics of these rules, however, it helps to note the one rule that trumps all others.Rule No. 1: Drawing a paying audience is always the primary goal for any promotionThis is the prime directive of pro wrestling. Everything thats ever done in the wrestling business and everyone whos involved, from promoters to announcers to main eventers to the most inexperienced enhancement talent, is there to get an audience to spend money. That applies to anything that brings in a steady cashflow, including house shows, pay-per-views, network subscriptions and merchandise.This rule is so ingrained into the fabric of pro wrestling that WWE Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon, one of the most venerated voices in history and for whom the most prominent backstage position was named, once said that if anyone was in this business for any reason other than to make money, he was a fool.Its as straightforward a rule as youll see on this list, and it trumps every other entry that will follow to such a degree that a subset is necessary.Rule No. 1A: Every rule can be broken if it leads to drawing a paying audience.One of the strengths of Rule No. 1 is that it allows all of the other rules that will follow to be modified whenever circumstances dictate. Its easy to say that should be a straightforward rule, but as well see in future columns and looking back on the past, applying the rules too rigidly can be counter-productive.For example, take?The New Day, a faction that went from being a struggling, overproduced heel tag team to the most popular faction in the WWE by Wrestlemania 32.?Less than a year ago, we had to damn near beg for a single item on shop. This Wrestlemania week, The New Day was #1 in Merch sales.- ShinigamE (@WWEBigE) April 18, 2016They did it by breaking past many of the stereotypical roles that preceded them in wrestling. They also broke the mold of how factions work.Before The New Day, a faction needed to have a leader. The early incarnations of The Four Horsemen had Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and J.J. Dillon, who were six of the most accomplished workers of their generation. Yet, Blanchard himself said, the credibility that Flair being part of an organization, instead of always being the world champion and staying off by himself, elevated us and made us the elite gang of professional wrestling. Had the other members of The Four Horsemen not been associated with Flair, they would have been a strong faction in the NWA, but almost certainly wouldnt have reached the legendary status they now hold today.The same rule applied to D-Generation X. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn had one of the most memorable rings intros of all time, and Chyna was the Ninth Wonder of the World, but there is zero doubt that as?Triple H?and Shawn Michaels went, so went DX. Thats why Triple H and Michaels were able to very successfully reform the group a few years later. They were so integral to DX that they didnt?even need the others to get the faction over.Having a single leader simply isnt The New Days M.O. As the aforementioned article in The Undefeated noted,?Kofi Kingston,?Big E?and?Xavier Woods?are real-life best friends who view the group in?an?egalitarian way. They even adopted the classic Freebird rule that says if one of them wins a title, be it a tag-team title or individual title, that any of them are able to defend that title in a match. The group would not be the same without any one of them, but assigning an individual member of the group to the role of team leader just goes against what The New Day is all about. The crowd can sense the friendship between the three, and its part of why The New Days Power of Positivity message gets over and allows this team to break the faction leader rule.The rule-breaking exception even works when it comes to putting an undersized wrestler over as the main-event draw, and its not just a modern invention, as you might otherwise believe.One of the first instances of this occurred with an early 20th century superstar who might have been one of the greatest babyfaces of all time. Depending on which source you believe, Jim Londos was between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8 and weighed roughly 200 pounds. This was undersized for his era, but it didnt keep Londos from being booked to win programs against powerhouses such as Bronko Nagurski. Yes, that Bronko Nagurski, the former Chicago Bears great who loomed head and shoulders above most NFL players?and thus was one of the true giants of professional football. Having Londos beat Nagurski with an airplane spin might have strained credulity, but this duo pulled off that finish during a 1938 world title switch.Londos got that kind of push for one simple reason: He was able to sell tickets at an awe-inspiring pace. To get an idea of just how incredible a draw Londos was, consider this: Pro wrestling historian Matt Farmer, who is noted for his deep-dive research into wrestling attendance figures, has determined that in 1931, Londos drew an audience of 10,000 or more on 31 occasions, a single-year rate that far exceeded anything anyone had done before this. This was one of many incredible gate figures Londos had during his career, most of which occurred during the heights of The Great Depression.This type of thing has happened at various points in the world of wrestling, and the clearest modern examples, albeit to a different extent, involve?Daniel Bryan?and C.M. Punk. Theyre undersized?wrestlers who overcame initial organizational resistance to putting them over and eventually become true main-event stars and big-money assets.These examples, from the earliest days of professional wrestling through the modern era, show that if a wrestler can draw a paying audience, eventually any and all of the rules of the business can be bent or fully ignored in the effort to give that audience what it wants. As we flesh out this list of rules in the future, youll see just how much precedent and conventional thinking each man overcame to reach that point.Cheap Devils Jerseys China . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Cheap Devils Jerseys Authentic . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.cheapdevilsjerseys.com/ . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Cheap Devils Jerseys . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Max Holt did a little bit of everything. At the net, digging balls from just off the floor, finishing points with big, leaping swings.He and David Lee stuffed the Italians with stellar blocking. Setter Micah Christenson contributed his own blocks and even a kill to end the third set. Matt Anderson, Aaron Russell and Taylor Sander provided power hitting from every corner.Mighty Italy just had a little more in a match that will surely become an Olympic volleyball classic as the Italians ended the gold-medal aspirations for the U.S. mens volleyball team in a second straight Olympics.For nearly 2 1/2 hours Friday, the young, overachieving Americans stayed with an Italian group that U.S. coach John Speraw considers the worlds most talented and destined for gold in Brazil.The Americans, who began the tournament with an 0-2 start that included a loss to Italy 10 days earlier, ran off four straight victories before falling in a riveting five-set semifinal that Italy won 30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9.This team fought the entire time, Lee said. Losing that first set made us fight even harder. We couldnt sustain that same level we had in the second and third to put the team out in the fourth set. We had an advantage in the fourth, we had a small lull in energy and thats when they came back, and they have such good servers that team can come back at any time and be back in a game. You can never count them out.The Italians will play for gold Sunday against Brazil, which defeated defending Olympic champion Russia 25-21, 25-22, 25-17 in Fridays other semifinal. Brazil will be playing in its fourth straight final and will be looking for its first gold since 2004 in Athens. Italy won the bronze in 2012 in London.It was strange. There was a really strong force inside us telling us, `Dont give up, keep fighting, Italys Ivan Zaytsev said.His team fought, all right. Afterward, the players fell to the floor, piling on each other.Lee brought his American teammates into a huddle for an embrace.dddddddddddd Then Anderson and Sander clapped to the crowd as the U.S. waited at the net to shake hands with the winners.In the fifth set, Osmany Juantorena served an ace for a 12-8 lead and Russell let a ball drop as Holt covered his face with his shirt.After an embarrassing third-set flop, Italy forced a deciding fifth set by closing the fourth on a 6-0 run -- getting three straight aces by Zaytsev, including the next-to-last point that was initially called long but overturned on review for set point.Today, the teams have played more than a match, Italy coach Gianlorenzo Blengini said.The American men have eight first-time Olympians.Im really sad this team didnt make it because theyre so good and they deserved to be in the final, said Lee, who won gold in Beijing eight years ago and is in his third Olympics. I dont care about how old they are. Theyre fighters.The U.S. will play for bronze, just like the top-ranked American women, who lost in five sets to Serbia on Thursday.The intensity of Fridays match was captured in a wild first set in which the Americans had five set points. With the score 25-25, Italys Massimo Colaci made a lunging, one-handed get from the ground before teammate Filippo Lanza sent the ball over the net from his knees near the baseline to keep the rally going.The score was tied again, at 28. Russell signaled that Italy captain Emanuele Birarellis serve was going out and let the ball drop. Italys players rushed the net to argue to referee Arturo di Giacomo of Belgium, contending the Americans touched the ball. He overruled the call and what had gone to a 29-28 lead for the U.S. suddenly turned to 29-28 for Italy, which won the set 30-28.My players gave it everything that they could today. I couldnt ask any more, Speraw said. I almost feel today we need to mourn. ' ' '