The usage of animals in professional wrestling has varied through the
profession
A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...
's history. Animals that have been used as opponents to humans in matches include bears, tigers, cheetahs and orangutans.
Species used as wrestlers
Bears
Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
s have long been a part of professional wrestling. Usually declawed and muzzled, they often wrestled shoot matches against audience members, offered a cash reward if they could pin the bear. They also wrestled professionals in worked, often battle royal or
handicap, matches (usually booked so the bear won). Wrestling bears enjoyed their greatest popularity in the Southern United States, during the 1960s and 1970s. The wrestling bear
Terrible Ted was used many times for
Stampede Wrestling and briefly lived at
Stu Hart's home in Calgary while working for Stampede, where Stu's son
Bret Hart
Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...
and his
other children would sometimes play with him.
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
, another celebrated wrestling bear, appeared with Terrible Ted in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. After quitting the sport, Hercules moved to Scotland and took up acting; he appeared in 1983 James Bond movie ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...
'' and was named "personality of the year" by the Scottish Tourist Board.
Others
![Teddy Hart (27926851550)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Teddy_Hart_%2827926851550%29.jpg)
Wrestling promoter and wrestler
Stu Hart would wrestle tigers in his
Stampede Wrestling territory. His match with the
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
Sasha "Chi-Chi" was performed partly as a publicity stunt for the
Calgary Stampede and was on the behalf of the Calgary Fish and Wildlife Association. Hart's daughter
Diana also stated that he had a
cheetah who he had borrowed over to their home, the
Hart mansion
The Hart House, sometimes known as the Hart mansion, is a residence located in the Patterson Heights neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Once owned by Stu Hart, it was home to his extensive professional wrestling family for 52 years ...
which he may have planned to wrestle. WWF champion
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...
wrestled an
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
in a match. The match lasted for fifteen minutes with Sammartino earning 25 dollars for each five minute. Sammartino has expressed that he was under the impression that the ape would be a monkey and that he only took the match because he was relatively desperate for money at the time as a young newly debuted wrestler. He also stated that the match was very painful and unsafe as the animal was not trained to perform.
Teddy Hart, grandson of Stu Hart has expressed interest in using animals such as cats and dogs in his matches. He has on many occasions brought his cats with him to the ring. On the matter Hart stated:
I'm training cats to come out to the ring with me, and I'm also trying to train animals to get involved in matches. I'm trying to get safety animals, like a dog, to basically pull the referee's leg before the count of three, little things like that. Or my dog will be carrying a weapon for me, and I would get it off his neck. Potentially if I had a female manager, and she has a cat, and the cat is maybe a good way of getting couple kids out of the audience, and I lure the kids out of the audience and the kids cause a disqualification to happen so I don't have to lose the belt, or something like that.
In gimmick matches
A "
Pig (or Hog) Pen match" is a match that takes place in a pig pen full of pigs, placed near the stage.
In 1999 the
Big Boss Man
Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances wit ...
wrestled
Al Snow for the
WWF Hardcore Championship in a
Kennel from Hell match at
Unforgiven '99. The match consisted of a standard
steel cage with the cell placed atop it, with the object being that the wrestler would escape from both the cage and cell while trying to avoid guard dogs that were placed between the ring and cell door. This specific match has been called one of the worst
gimmick
A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
matches in history,
[Oz, Drake]
WWE's 15 Absolute Worst Matches in Company History
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London.
Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
. November 23, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2013. as the dogs showed no hostility toward the competitors and proceeded to
urinate
Urination, also known as micturition, is the release of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, ...
,
defecate and even
mate
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Person or title
* Friendship ...
outside the ring.
Animals as mascots
* The tag-team
The British Bulldogs consisting of
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
and the
Dynamite Kid had a
bulldog named
Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
as their mascot. When Smith returned to the WWF in 1991, she was replaced with another bulldog named Winston.
*
Jake "The Snake" Roberts had a pet
python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
named Damien who was often involved in feuds and sometimes matches.
*
"Birdman" Koko B. Ware came to the ring with a
macaw
Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild.
Biology
Of the many differe ...
named Frankie.
Legality
As of 2006, bear wrestling is banned in 20 U.S. states.
See also
*
Hercules (bear)
Hercules (1975 – 4 February 2001) was a trained grizzly bear from Scotland who appeared in a number of cameo roles for various television productions, reaching the height of his popularity in the 1980s.
Origins
Hercules was born in captivity ...
*
Animals in sports
*
Camel wrestling
Camel wrestling ( Turkish ''deve güreşi'') is a sport in which two male Tülü camels wrestle, typically in response to a female camel in heat being led before them. It is most common in the Aegean region of Turkey, but is also practiced in oth ...
Notes
References
{{Animal rights
Animal welfare
Animals in entertainment
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling controversies
Animal rights
Cruelty to animals