wrestling shows from about 1870 to about 1910. They originated and were most popular in the American South, but they eventually spread to the North as well. However, the events fell out of favor, especially in the North. In New York, the State Athletic Commission banned the battle royal in 1911. They continued in the South from the 1910s to the 1950s, but with less popularity. The novel Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison contains a depiction of one such brutal event. By the 1960s, battles royal had been banned even in the American South.Wrestling With The Past: The Bizarre Origins of the Battle Royal - Part Two The battle royal was a way for a would-be boxer to get noticed, and successful battle royal champions gained enough prestige to be able to work their way up to taking part in more respectable boxing matches. Ken Burn’s documentary about Jack Johnson mentions his background in battles royal, and Joe Gans and Beau Jack are two other examples of successful boxers who started in battles royal. Professional wrestling In professional wrestling, the battle royal is a match involving anywhere between four and 60 wrestlers that takes place entirely inside the ring — a wrestler is eliminated when a wrestler scores a pinfall or knocks out his or her opponent(s) (but rarely submissions). Some promotions allow over the top rope eliminations or enforce them exclusively, notably normal battles royal in the WWE and also in their annual Royal Rumble. Battles royal are often used to determine the top contender for a championship or filling vacant championships. World Championship Wrestling was known for having the largest battle royal in wrestling, held annually at their WCW World War 3 pay-per-view events. The three-ring, sixty-wrestler events consisted of all sixty wrestlers parading out to the ring (usually without formal introductions to save time) and beginning to fight at the bell. Once the number of wrestlers in each ring had dwindled down to a number suitable for a single ring, the wrestlers would all move to the designated "Ring #1" out of the three and would fight to a winner. The winners of the four World War 3 battles royal were Randy Savage, The Giant, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash. World Championship Wrestling also held an event called Battlebowl in which 20 men started in one ring and would have to throw others into a second