Wrestling Squashes Baseball in Olympic Bid, is WWE Style Makeover in Store for the Ancient Sport?

Wrestling won the fight to return to the Olympics after the sport was dropped from the core games earlier this year. The other contenders in the "ring" were squash and a combined bid by baseball and softball. Despite laying the smack down on the competition, the ancient sport still faces many Olympic hurdles if it wants to remain in the games for the long haul. The International Olympic Committee wants to see wrestling undergo a major makeover, but is the IOC really trying to turn the sport into the WWE?

Olympic wrestling supporters were shocked when the IOC voted to remove wrestling from its core games back in February, citing low TV ratings and poor ticket sales as some of the reasoning. Instead of leaving the rings in defeat, the 3000-year-old sport demanded a rematch.

The IOC held a vote on Sunday to see which events it would add to the 2020 and 2024 games. Wrestling won in the first round with a landslide 49 out of 95 votes. Baseball and softball came in second with 24 votes, followed by squash with only 22 votes.

The consideration came after organizers of the sport showed that they have been working hard to try to modernize it in many ways, in order to better appeal to today's audience. Other issues such as gender equality and confusion over rules and scoring are also being addressed.

The vote doesn't return wrestling to it's spot as a core game just yet. IOC president Jacques Rogge warns, “the program must remain dynamic, that is essential for the success of the Olympic games."

Still, I wouldn't expect organizers to break out the chair shots and steel cages. Where "professional wrestling" is widely popular, it's unlikely to have any influence on the ancient tradition.

Greco-Roman style wrestling is one of the oldest sports still around today, with origins dating back to ancient Greek mythology. Zeus, however, isn't the only higher power associated with wrestling. The Judeo-Christian God was even said to have dabbled in the sport. Today, Olympic wrestling supporters everywhere must feel like there is someone, up there somewhere, looking after them.