Once upon a time, professional wrestling was a “real” combat sport. The problem with this is that from the perspective of an audience, watching two men in a clinch can get pretty boring, especially in an arena where most members of the audience are far from the action. In a competitive wrestling match, most of the spectacle happens when one wrestlers shoots a takedown on another. Once the wrestlers hit the mat, the action turns subtle. Boxing’s emphasis on strikes and punches thrown per round is more audience friendly. UFC adopted the round and scorecard system from boxing in order to prevent every match from ending in the manner of old-style wrestling matches.
Professional wrestling evolved another solution, which was to dispense with actual combat in favor of theatricality and storytelling. As in opera or Kabuki, the physical style of the performers is readable from the rafters. Performers develop signature moves that are recognizable to regular audience members.