Big

For kids and teenagers wrestling is the most respected sport in Russia. Nobody wants to mess with wrestlers in school and stuff. Another popular one is boxing. It would be nearly a suicide to make jokes about wrestlers in school.

A senior wrestler however is not an extremely popular person in Russia. Overall, Russian people are not as crazy about wrestling as about hockey, tennis and soccer. That has partially to do with the fact that the best russian wrestlers are mostly not ethnic Russians.

However, Russian wrestlers are considered some of the toughest people and they are respected by the government and rich people hire them as security personnel

Wrestlers get the most money from the government I believe but not so much money from fans.

It is hard for Americans to understand such a relationship between wrestlers and the government.