Octopus wrestling

Octopus wrestling involves a diver grappling with a large octopus in shallow water and dragging it to the surface.^[1]

Although it was called "wrestling", it was not wrestling per se, as most octopuses are rather skittish and not aggressive at all unless they are provoked, with most cases of provocation ending with the octopus fleeing. The contestants were usually only searching in holes along rocks in the ocean to grab the head of an octopus. Once a diver caught an octopus he continued to pull until the animal gave up.^[2]