It is a great point. As I said, a lot of the pro wrestlers had real fighting skills. Which they did. Like Olympic wrestling medal winners, black belts in various martial arts etc.
Here is just one guy
Gagne was born in Corcoran, Minnesota and grew up on a farm in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. He left home at the age of 14 after his mother died. He went to
Robbinsdale High School and excelled in football, baseball and wrestling, winning district, regional, and state championships in high school wrestling, as well as being named to the All-State Football Team. In 1943, he was recruited to play football at the
University of Minnesota, where he was named to the All-
Big Ten Team.
After one year of college, Gagne enlisted with the
Underwater Demolition Team.
[2] He chose to return to the University of Minnesota, where, as an amateur wrestler, he captured two
NCAA titles. He was also an alternate for the U.S freestyle wrestling team at the
1948 Olympic Games; he later said that he might have wrestled in the Olympics, but his coaches had discovered that he had earned money winning a wrestling match at a carnival, thus putting his amateur standing in question