Ssireum is Korean traditional wrestling (kind of like sumo, but the dudes aren't nearly as big) and it's having
a growth in popularity due to, scientifically speaking, the hottiness of the hotties involved:
"There was a time when ssireum was so popular that the champions became TV stars, like Kang Ho-dong and Lee Man-gi, during the 1980s and 1990s. Although the sport’s heavyweight athletes were its most recognized figures, many were turned off by watching the large men fight each other. Plus, ssireum has long been thought of as a sport that only older folks enjoyed watching - until now.
KBS2’s new show 'The Ecstasy of Ssireum' (translated) began on Nov. 30 and features 16 lightweight athletes who compete against one another to become the show’s final champion. Featuring not only matches between the wrestlers, but interviews with each contestant as well as detailed explanations of each technique used during matches, the show will air its fifth episode this Saturday at 10:35 p.m. The show’s ratings reach only a modest 2.4 percent on average so far, but the comment section of the show’s clips on YouTube is filled with fans supporting the show.
The video that first attracted viewers to the world of ssireum was a clip from Aug. 8, 2018, of the final round of the '15th Haksan National Ssireum Competition' held in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang. The two wrestlers - Hwang Chan-seob and Kim Won-jin - each had physiques that caught people’s eyes for being the right amount of muscular and healthy, bringing about the heated reaction to the video. The humorous comments were soon made into memes and passed onto other sites and communities."
I mean, why not?
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