In the near future, America's over zealous government has outlawed professional wrestling, declaring it to be fraudulent. However, just like with prohibition of 100 years ago just because you ban something doesn't mean you kill it. And what doesn't...
**Please keep in mind that I wrote this in the early 2010's. The basic concept is preposterous, but it's meant to just be fun.**
Welcome to the year 2030 in America. The continued skirmishes with terrorists, the number of patriot groups who wish to close the borders, the political powerhouse groups such as the Carlyle Group, and three successive terms by a Republican government had undermined the basic freedoms that America once held so dear.
One minor example of this has been the outlawing of professional wrestling. The real reason that the government doesn't like Pro Wrestling is that it fell under a monopoly and was run as a very degrading product with subculture overtones. The law enacted by congress was actually deemed to outlaw any event which mislead the consumer into thinking it was an athletic contest when in fact the outcome was predetermined. Wrestling tried to alter its product, first cleaning it up, then advertising that the results were predetermined and that it was entertainment, not sports. But it was no use, the government plowed ahead.
The glory days were still relived via internet streaming technology, sharing what had been kept on microfiles, as well as older media like DVD's. But the government used their intrusion ability in the matrix to shut down most of that traffic as well. Too bad, as underground wrestling feds had begun to pop up again all over the nation, and fans were sharing the action via the matrix. The underground cards still existed but sharing the action had become problematic.
Of course pro wrestling still existed and thrived in other countries across the globe. However, unless you were willing to give up your American citizenship, you were still subject to the new naturalization laws that made Americans globally accountable for their actions, as if they were on American soil. Originally enacted as a way of going after sex holidays used to exploit minors, it was expanded to include all American laws. In the world of 2030 dominated by CCTV cameras and invisible government satellites it was much more difficult to hide no matter how far afield. You certainly couldn't wrestle overseas and expect to not be arrested upon return. Even those who tried to wrestle in masks and change their move sets were soon found out thanks to the advancement of recognition software. Ironically, some of the raw government spy footage somehow got released on the matrix and became the hottest bootleg since the Vince McMahon cryonics leak.
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And that is why Jarrett Sawyer found himself on the back of a snowmobile entering into the "Snowdown Bar & Grill" in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. Sawyer, who looked more than just a bit like a teenage Kevin Bacon, thanked the local for the lift, brushed the snow off, and entered below the crackling and fading neon sign. Four men patrolled the rooftops with shotguns and Sawyer knew that if it were not for his lift from the yokel that he would be eating lead right now.
The smell of stale beer and the roar of the crowd greeted him as he removed his sunglasses and nudged his way towards the ring. Set a few feet high off the ground, like a pedestal, stood an octagon shaped ring with a steel cage wrapped around it. Sawyer was a bit disappointed to see this set-up instead of a squared circle, but he understood that wrestling rings were hard to come by these days. Inside though it was pure pro wrestling. A big Texan who went by the very imaginative name "Big Tex" was landing successive elbow smashes to the bridge of the nose of the local hero "Bonesaw Charlie" who appeared to be giving away about 50 pounds and a few inches. Sawyer settled in, ordered a beer from a lonely waitress excited to see a young out of towner with all of his original teeth, and watched the ring with earnest. There were a few suplexes and a Boston crab ,but in general this was a match of punches, kicks, elbows, and headbutts. With the lack of footage and lack of trainers the quality of pro wrestling had already gone down in the last 10 years since the law had been passed.
