Backyard wrestling

Backyard wrestling (BYW), also referred to as yarding or backyarding, is an underground hobby and sport involving untrained practices of professional-style wrestling, typically in a low-budget environment, such as a backyard. Although not legitimized, backyard wrestling is often organized into federations. Most backyard wrestlers are merely emulating modern wrestling, though a small percentage have experience from enrolling in wrestling school or from referring to how-to guides on the internet.

"Backyard Wrestling" redirects here. For the video game, see Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home. For the second series, see Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood.
"BYW" redirects here. For other uses, see BYW (disambiguation).

History

Pro wrestling personnel are generally opposed to backyard wrestling. Its peak years of popularity were 1996-2001, during a boom period of professional wrestling, notoriously known as The Attitude Era, when high-risk stunts exerted a strong influence on the wrestling fan base, particularly those performed by Mick Foley.[1][2] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, backyard wrestling often appealed to media as a good-natured topic, but it increasingly turned reckless and ultra-violent, worrying parents and wrestling companies. In response, WWE began airing advertisements stressing the dangers and seeking to deter fans from duplicating the actions seen in their ring.[3]

In addition to actual backyards, backyard wrestling can occur in spaces including parks, fields, and warehouses. Initially camcorder-filmed events were shared person-to-person; increasingly public-access television and the internet have come to be used. It has also broken into the media with several Best of Backyard Wrestling volumes produced, two video games entitled Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood, and a 2002 documentary entitled The Backyard, showcasing backyard wrestling under a more mainstream light as it follows several wrestlers and federations from all over the world, detailing the different styles and portrayals of backyard wrestling. In an interview, the director Paul Hough compared The Backyard to Beyond the Mat, but with yarders.[4]

In May 2015, Global News ran a story on the VBW, a backyard wrestling organization in the Pacific Northwest who produce wrestling episodes for public streaming services.[5] The segment, hosted by sports director and anchor Squire Barns, follows the crew as they prepare for the release of the organization's biggest event, Yardstock 2015.

Television

Films and documentaries

Video games

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Backyard wrestling.
  1. Stewart, Saira. "Mick Foley On Life Beyond the Mat". ABC News. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  2. "Mick Foley on Backyard Wrestling". Rock13. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  3. "Backyard Wrestlers Beat Each Other Bloody". ABC News. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  4. "The Interview February 7 2002". Backyard Revolution. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  5. "Low budget backyard wrestling". Global News. May 15, 2015. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019.
  6. "Ricki Lake: Backyard Bloodbath". Internet Movie Database. 2001-08-16. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
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