Originally Posted by krazy kaju

First of all, the article mentions Renzo Gracie, I didn't see any reference to any "Gregor" Gracie, but FYI, the UFC was originally Renzo's idea and he was the one responsible for creating the first UFC pay-per-view event. So yes, he is famous.

I wouldn't say that there has been any crossover from Eastern martial arts at all.

The reason I say this is because the sheer levels of competitors in wrestling since the beginning of the Cold War almost eliminates this possibility. The fact is that when you literally have millions of people competing over a couple decades, nothing is 'new'.

There are many moves/holds in wrestling which parallel techniques found in other martial arts, such as judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. For example, the mule kick looks similar to the uchimata in some instances, the 'crab ride' looks similar to the back mount, and the hammerlock is found in both wrestling and BJJ. There are many more similarities.

However, my guess is that most 'submission' type moves (such as the hammerlock) in wrestling have already been used by those who transitioned from catch to freestyle, and all the throws and takedowns from wrestling have evolved over the years before Eastern martial arts could exert an influence.

BTW, here's a little factoid for you, catch wrestling has had a rather large influence over in Japan. Judokas and catch wrestlers would have cross-MA bouts 'back in the day', with catch wrestlers usually winning. Maeda, on the other hand, was one of the few judokas who could defeat catch wrestlers. He took his mix of Kosen judo (Kodokan judo & Fusen-Ryu jujitsu) and catch wrestling, and taught it to the Gracie family in Brazil. This is what eventually became Brazilian jiu-jitsu...