Puroresu

Japanese professional wrestling, also known as puroresu, is treated as a sport rather than the entertainment style of wrestling found in North America. There are no storylines, feuds or any sort of angle found in puroresu. The matches are all about athleticism and skill. Another technique found in puroresu is that most of the wrestlers use shoot style strikes and complex submission moves. This means that the wrestlers are more prone to injury. Popular Japanese wrestlers include Kenta Kobashi, Tiger mask, The Great Muta, Jun Akiyama, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, and KENTA.

As a martial art
Wrestling has gained respect among martial arts practitioners, especially with the advent of mixed martial arts competition. Early competitions (e.g. UFC, Vale Tudo ) more wrestlers defeat stylists from traditional striking (and grappling) oriented styles such as boxing, judo, tae kwon do, karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing. Considering only the first twelve UFC (few limited number of rules, no weight classes or weight limits and unlimited rounds ), amateur wrestling won tournaments UFC 5, UFC 6, UFC 8, UFC 9, UFC 10, UFC 12. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu won UFC 1, UFC 2, UFC 4.
Randy Couture (UFC heavyweight champion) and Dan Henderson (current PRIDE champion in the 183 division and formerly 205 pound division champion) both competed extensively in collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling before beginning their careers in mixed martial arts. Other top fighters coming from amateur wrestling include: Stephan Bonnar, Mark Coleman, Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber, Don Frye, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hamill, Matt Hughes, Quinton Jackson, Mark Kerr, Josh Koscheck, Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, Matt Lindland, Vladimir Matyushenko], Tito Ortiz, Kevin Randleman, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Severn, Sean Sherk, Brandon Vera.
Many other prominent and successful fighters began their training in various forms of wrestling (Georges St. Pierre in freestyle wrestling), and fighters from non-wrestling backgrounds often pursue wrestling training to complement their other skills. Wrestling is one of the most dominant fighting styles in MMA/Vale Tudo.