Sport fans are loving the bizarre sport of “wrestball”, with many discovering it for the first time after it went viral on social media over the weekend.
The sport, which is played in Russia, has managed to combine elements of basketball, rugby and wrestling to create one of the most unique games on the planet.
Games are played on a regular basketball court but the big difference to normal basketball is that contact is allowed. It is played on a padded court and players wear elbow and knee pads to mitigate injuries.
There are free throws for shooting fouls and there is a three point line, but there is no traveling in Wrestball. The game also starts with wrestling to determine who begins with possession, rather than with a jump ball.
The sport has become popular in Russia and it even has a professional league – The International Wrestball League. Matches are broadcast on their official YouTube channel and its popularity is said to be spreading throughout Eastern Europe.
Are German suplexes allowed in wrestball?
But it is the use of German suplexes in wrestball that has caught the imagination of fans on social media. It seems as if it is legal to suplex an opponent and before you do it, players have to take their shirts off before throwing them to the floor.
The move was made famous by the likes of Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle in the WWE, where a wrestler stands behind their opponent, grabs them around their waist, lifts them up before falling backwards and slamming their opponent down to the mat, shoulder and upper back first.
What is more, players don’t even have to be in possession of the ball to be grappled and dropped on their head, leaving fans, understandably, astonished.
One fan tweeted: “Russians be like: How to include wrestling into this weird sport called basketball.”
Another added: “Draymond Green would average 40+ a game in this,” while another said: “Imagine going for a layup then Shaq picks you up and slams you on your neck.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov is a big fan of wrestball
The sport’s brutality made former UFC lightweight world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov a big fan and he often played with friends in Dagestan during his down time.
The physical nature of the sport, as well as the need for quick reactions and reflexes, made it a useful training tool for wrestlers and mixed martial artists.
While you may never see Khabib back in the Octagon, you may well see him on a wrestball court in Dagestan again soon, as the sport continues to grow in popularity.