Is Wrestling Season All Year Round? The Usual Season for Folkstyle, Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Professional Wrestling
Many people would want to prepare before their matches, and one of the biggest questions is when the Wrestling seasons usually start. This post aims to approximate when these seasons generally begin to help you create your training regimen.
Generally speaking, Folkstyle or Collegiate wrestling begins its season in November and ends in March. Greco-Roman and Freestyle Wrestling usually starts their season at the end of February until July. Professional wrestling generally runs all year round for three seasons.
This post will discuss these seasons, some simple differences between Folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-roman wrestling, the three seasons in Professional Wrestling, and the advantages and disadvantages of wrestling for 3 seasons in WWE.
Is wrestling all year round?
| Wrestling Type | Season |
| Folkstyle or Collegiate | November to March |
| Freestyle | February to July |
| Greco-Roman | February to July |
| Professional Wrestling/WWE | All year round |
All types of Wrestling, except WWE wrestling, aren’t all year round. For example, Folkstyle wrestling usually follows the winter schedule. On the other hand, Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling usually starts their season from February to July.
However, some Wrestling clubs have their schedule and can run all year round on all Wrestling styles.
If you’re a student, there is a high chance of competing in scholastic or folkstyle wrestling. This means it would usually follow the winter schedule, which starts in November and ends in March.
It is worth noting that Folkstyle wrestling has a pre-season that runs from September to October. So it is better to be prepared.
Wrestling has seasons, and preparation, such as training regimens, is usually adjusted to fit this schedule.
Recommended Read: Are you reading this to prepare for your matches? How about knowing the food you should eat to start the season at peak performance? I prepare an article going through the scientific literature to help you prepare. The article also has some simple meal plans to help you start preparing. Here is the link: What should wrestlers eat?
Some Wrestlers also compete in Freestyle or Greco-Roman Wrestling, especially if they want to compete on the international scene.
Folkstyle wrestling is very popular in the USA. However, Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling are more popular worldwide. Thus, these two wrestling types are even involved in the Olympics.
Recommended Read: Are you interested in knowing the differences between Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Folkstyle wrestling? How about the Olympics? Where is each of these wrestling styles popular? I discussed all of these in a comprehensive post, which you can find here: What are the different Wrestling types?
It is also worth noting that there is a huge difference between these three wrestling styles, and more if you compare professional wrestling.
While they may look the same for novices, these three different wrestling styles have their set of rules, scoring, and strategy to win.
For instance, Folkstyle wrestling involves maintaining control and more mat wrestling than the other two types.
Greco-Roman wrestling usually doesn’t allow holding enemies below the waistline, while freestyle does.
The biggest similarity between Greco-Roman and Freestyle is their focus on wrestling on their feet, which differs from folkstyle.
However, since these three are all wrestling branches, wrestlers who started in collegiate wrestling can continue their careers in Greco-Roman and Freestyle. That’s why people who have the ambition to compete internationally can also practice these wrestling types and join their seasons.
It is great that the seasons for Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling usually start after the Folkstyle season, giving people who compete in Folkstyle wrestling time to participate in their event.
But how about professional wrestling? The ones you see on television? Well, they are a lot different from these three. Thus, we need to discuss that next.
Professional Wrestling Season
Professional Wrestling, such as WWE, usually runs all year round. WWE has three seasons, typically from January to April, April to August, and August to January. What separates these seasons are special events such as Wrestlemania, which happens in April, Summerslam, which occurs in August, and Royal Rumble, which happens in January.
| Season | Month |
| Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania | January to April |
| Wrestlemania to Summerslam | April to August |
| Summerslam to Royal Rumble | August to January |
As you can see, WWE wrestling is all year round, which can have some advantages and disadvantages. Again, we will discuss this later.
Since WWE wrestling is all year round, their end season usually happens on a special event such as Wrestlemania, one of the largest WWE events.
It is worth noting that the monthly schedule listed above can change due to some special events.
For example, in 2022, Summerslam happened in July instead of August because of Vince McMahon’s retirement.
For those unfamiliar, Vince McMahon was the Chairman of WWE.
But why does WWE have three seasons? Well, three seasons means they can run all year round on television, which means more revenue.
Furthermore, they won’t lose viewership because of long breaks. This is a smart move if we want to have as many audiences as possible.
Of course, there are some issues regarding WWE being all-year-round.
Some even suggest that WWE should give breaks to help their wrestlers recuperate.
One of the biggest advantages of off-seasons is it gives Wrestlers time to heal injuries and have breaks. This is a big criticism of WWE, as many wrestlers stop wrestling for a long time because of injuries.
Furthermore, it gives wrestlers time to be with their family, a well-deserved break from work.
Another advantage of a season break, according to viewers, is that the scripts are becoming repetitive and boring.
Many people say they’ve stopped watching WWE because the scenes are repetitive.
Most of us know that Wrestling matches are scripted. The problem is that all-year-round matches don’t give the scriptwriters enough time to polish their work.
When this happens, repetitions will be common. These repetitions start to make people feel bored watching, which can harm viewership.
A longer break can make WWE polish its storylines and script, increasing the show’s viewer retention as the excitement and surprises continue.
Of course, having a long break means a loss of revenue and potential viewership. That’s why WWE is still trying to keep an all-year-round schedule.
Did you notice the difference between Pro Wrestling and the other three types? Pro-Wrestling matches are scripted, and they know the winner before coming to a match.
Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco-Roman aren’t. They are very competitive.
So, remember that the pro wrestling you see on television isn’t the same as the ones you practice in school or at the gym.
What’s Next: If you’re a parent thinking of letting your child go to Wrestling school, how about knowing why kids should try wrestling? I made a guide for parents on the benefits wrestling can give to their kids both physically and mentally. Here is the post: 15 Reasons why kids should try wrestling.
