Wrestling unpopular opinions

[Devon Malcolm]

2 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I still struggle a bit with seeing Naomi as better than she's been treated before. A lot of her stuff, while athletic, just doesn't look great. Maybe she'll grow on me this time round but I do think there's a lot better wrestlers out there than her.

Didn't look at the Rumble as though she's changed much at all. She's got bags of athleticism and charisma and she connects with the fans but her stuff always look rubbish and painless. A classic case of great presentation but not much else.

[air_raid]

The problem with a flashy repertoire for me is that once I've seen you do something as impressive as a split-legged moonsault, it always feels anti-climactic when the match ends with something weaker. That's Naomi for me.

[Loki]

I think Bayley's happy she's back.

[bbabba]

13 hours ago, IronSheik said:

I always felt Fit Finlay was boring as shit visually, on the mic and work wise and never quite understood where he developed this almost legendary status with fans? His tenure in WWE was a period where I didn't watch much WWE TV, so what did I miss? Or was it another part of his career where he was at his best?

I had a letter published in Fighting Spirit magazine around 2007 where I said I thought Finlay was shite and overrated by the magazine. One line said something like "his repertoire consists of basic strikes, and rest holds which he uses to drag out his dull matches" if i remember correctly.

I still feel the same despite having grown up a lot since then as a wrestling fan.

[air_raid]

My unpopular opinion....

11 hours ago, bbabba said:

rest holds

.... have been unfairly demonised over the years. Watching Hogan vs Warrior from Mania VI the spells where they are undoubtedly catching their breath in a reverse chinlock (Hogan) and bear hug (Warrior) are still full of drama because of decent selling, and were vital to give the audience chance to catch their breath so they'd be back up for the big spots. That the crowd still made the noise they did at the end of the match after one of the old marathon Manias is a credit to the match structure and pacing.

[David]

My unpopular opinion...

In the interest of equality, male wrestlers should be given names in a similar fashion to many female wrestlers over the years—just random first names with zero real thought.

Philip. John. Paul. Adam. Ron. Jeff. Jerry. 

[JLM]

One for the ladies up next, it’s Geoff vs Colin in a down to yer skivvies match. 

[IronSheik]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C13GPbTxPaP/?igsh=NDFla2oydHJpcTJz

[Carbomb]

3 hours ago, David said:

My unpopular opinion...

In the interest of equality, male wrestlers should be given names in a similar fashion to many female wrestlers over the years—just random first names with zero real thought.

Philip. John. Paul. Adam. Ron. Jeff. Jerry. 

 

[Vamp]

3 hours ago, David said:

My unpopular opinion...

In the interest of equality, male wrestlers should be given names in a similar fashion to many female wrestlers over the years—just random first names with zero real thought.

Philip. John. Paul. Adam. Ron. Jeff. Jerry. 

To be fair, all wrestling names are shit nowadays. Have been for ages. 

[JLM]

Ahh ok I have just solved a little conundrum I had in my head. Whenever that Christian theme was posted or mentioned I used to think my memory was failing me, because that’s  not what plays in my head when I think of the “At Last” theme.
 

I remembered the riff after the intro sounding more Bohemian Rhapsody-esque and less ruthless aggression Smackdown midcarder-esque. Went on a little bit of a YouTube dig inspired by your post 
 

Turns out I was thinking of this version:

 

 

Fascinating for you all I’m sure. 

[JLM]

5 minutes ago, Vamp said:

To be fair, all wrestling names are shit nowadays. Have been for ages. 

Incorrect! 

Edited February 2, 2024 by JLM

[Carbomb]

24 minutes ago, JLM said:

Ahh ok I have just solved a little conundrum I had in my head. Whenever that Christian theme was posted or mentioned I used to think my memory was failing me, because that’s  not what plays in my head when I think of the “At Last” theme.
 

I remembered the riff after the intro sounding more Bohemian Rhapsody-esque and less ruthless aggression Smackdown midcarder-esque. Went on a little bit of a YouTube dig inspired by your post 
 

Turns out I was thinking of this version:

 

 

Fascinating for you all I’m sure. 

Yeh, he didn't have it long. 

It was a bit of a dichotomous tune for me: whilst I liked the creativity of giving it that Queen/Bohemian Rhapsody/glam rock vibe, it was strangely lacking in "drive" for me - I think it's because it constantly played, but didn't really build to anything. It didn't have that "oomph" to it, possibly because it was a bit too staccato. The second tune was more continuous and driving, and had that rough, distorted sound.

[no user name]

This is not actually my opinion I'd have to rewatch the match. But I have heard it suggested that if you take away the crowd at the rock v hogan match it's not a great match. Although the crowd do pay a big part in a lot of matches so that could be true of many matches 

[SuperBacon]

16 minutes ago, no user name said:

But I have heard it suggested that if you take away the crowd at the rock v hogan match it's not a great match

Well it's not no, but then I don't think the action in the ring is the only criteria by which we should measure "good wrestling" so by taking away one of the most important elements, sure it loses something.

For a great example of layers making a great match, look at Austin vs Hart WM13.

It helps that the action in and out of the ring is incredible but what elevates it to greatest ever status is the action AND the crowd AND the commentary AND Shamrock AND the blood AND the story that had preceded it, showing that its not just the action in the ring that matters.

Hogan vs Rock is an incredible wrestling match, and the crowd is mostly responsible for that IMO.