Wrestling has been around for ages. Hence, there are a plethora of intriguing facts about collegiate, olympic, and WWE wrestling on the internet. We've collected some of the most interesting facts we could find. Enjoy!

"TIME Magazine's Person of the Century online poll resulted in the top spots going to Jesus Christ and Ric Flair, neither of which were considered eligible." - u/Stocky_Racoon

"WWF'S Iron Sheik, whose shtick was to be pro Iranian and very anti-American (usually alongside Nikolai Volkoff in the 80s), had previously been an assistant coach on the U.S. National Wrestling Team during the Olympics." - u/Rexton9

"Despite not existing for the past 30 years, the Soviet Union still holds the most Olympic gold medals for wrestling." - u/disc2k

"The WWE was known as the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) till 2002, when it lost a lawsuit against the World Wildlife Fund. However, even though it maintains the WWF trademark, the World Wildlife Fund officially renamed itself as the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1986." - u/TheTriviaPage

"Oil Wrestling is one of the most popular sports in Turkey." - u/baffybonk

"A 2014 report found that the mortality rate for professional wrestlers was significantly higher than that of athletes in other sports." - u/Gwen_Tennyson10

"Professional wrestler Scott Hall was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, years after killing a man in self defense. Hall wrestled away the drunken man’s gun, and shot him in the head, outside of Hall’s place of work." - u/borderbox

"The stunt of Jerry Lawler slapping Andy Kaufman on David Letterman was not revealed as a hoax until years later." - u/shewhodrives

"Author Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) qualified for the US Olympic Wrestling Team, but due to a shoulder injury was never able to compete." - u/ManOfLaBook

"Sputnik Monroe, a 60's Memphis wrestler. As part of his villainous act, he fought against segregation and frequented black neighbourhoods. He succeeded in ending segregation in wrestling arenas and became one of the biggest draws in wrestling history." - u/UndercoverDoll49

"Cryme Tyme. A WWE wrestling duo from 2006 that consisted of two black men, dressed in "thug" outfits, that would show up in random broadcasts and steal items like the broadcasters laptop." - u/Iam_a_honeybadger

"The Black Knight from Monty Python was based on a real person: Arrichion of Phigalia, a Greek wrestler who famously refused to give up during a particularly tough wrestling match. He died during the match, but still won because his opponent surrendered, not realizing he was dead." - u/IHad360K_KarmaDammit

"Bonnie Tyler’s (1986) song “Ravashing” was originally written by Jim Steinman as an instrumental track on The Wrestling Album (1985), titled "Hulk Hogan's Theme"." - u/AliWalnuts

"Molluscum contagiosum. Commonly called "the wrestling disease" It is a skin infection with no cure. It can take the immune system 6 months to 4 years to clear it up. Depending on transmission it can also be classified as an STD." - u/deleted

"Pro wrestler Batista decided to get into wrestling after realizing he had squandered his 20s and was living in poverty to the point that he had to borrow money to buy Christmas presents for his kids." - u/astarisaslave

"Kurt Angle won an olympic gold medal in wrestling with a broken neck." - u/averageredditcuck

"Before he was president, Lincoln was a wrestler winning 299 out of 300 matches. Old Abe is actually in the Wrestling Hall of Fame." - u/joecooool418

"André the Giant grew so fast that his own parents didn't recognize him. He left home at 14 and returned at 19, having already become a professional wrestler. As he explained his career choice, they realized they had seen him wrestle on TV under his alias, without knowing it was their son." - u/WhatTheFuckKanye

"Marvel owned the rights to the name Hulk Hogan from '84-'04. For each match Hogan wrestled, Marvel was paid $100. Marvel also made royalties on merch and every project involving his name. When he dropped "Hulk" and started going by "Hollywood" Hogan in '96, he was able to avoid paying the fees." - u/demafrost

"A booker for WCW once told Mark Calaway, then using the name Mean Mark Callous, that nobody would ever pay to see him wrestle. The next year he left the company and joined WWF and started wrestling as The Undertaker." - u/HistoricalDebates

"Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler. When taken to a live event, he thought wrestling was real like UFC! In the end, the crew had a meeting where it was determined that Cage looked too healthy for the part, so the role went to Mickey Rourke." - u/broken_beat

"Dwayne Johnson aka "The Rock" began his acting and wrestling career after being cut from the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He would later say "Sometimes, your biggest dreams that don’t come true are the best things that never happened."

"Kevin James, the actor behind "King of Queens," "Paul Blart Mall Cop," and "Becky" was on his high school's wrestling team but was injured his senior year. His replacement, future WWE superstar and Hall of Famer, Mick Foley." - u/FilmBrony

"Macho Man" Randy Savage's first wrestling character was called "The Spider", based off of Spider-Man. He would later star as the villainn wrestler "Bone Saw" in The Amazing Spiderman movie." - u/ulcerman

"Professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich had to have his foot amputated after a bad accident, but continued wrestling while secretly wearing a prosthetic - even showering in his boots so no one would know. His injury wasn't public knowledge until his death from suicide 7 years later." - u/CletusVanDamnit