Petty Annoyances

[Carbomb]

On 7/22/2022 at 6:07 PM, Vamp said:

If I was a booker (which I clearly shouldn't be given what I'm about to say), I'd put restrictions on different matches. Things like "your leg gets hurt in the first minute, you can't run or go to the top rope," or "neither of you can get your finisher in, you're going to have to end the match another way" just to see what wrestlers come up with and to create a bit of variety. 

I think the issue with the rules is more an issue of wrestling's prevelance for shorthand. When people complain about the Irish whip being illogical, I don't think the problem is necessarily realism as much as the fact that it isn't explained how it might work. If there was more of a struggle with the push into the ropes, it would look more like there was a reason for it working, but there rarely is. It's kind of just assumed. Most iterations of the International chain sequence have this problem. 

I'm not arguing for wrestling to slow down. But there is something very satisfying about seeing someone struggle out of a headlock rather than just shooting someone to the ropes. And you can see how that's been shortened down from taking hours to taking minutes to taking seconds, but I think you lose something when it's skipped altogether.

I know some of that sounds very Jim Cornette. 

I actually think it'd be quite interesting to explore the semiotics of wrestling because I do think there's something interesting going on there. 

 

This absolutely makes plenty of sense - Barry at SAS used to issue such instructions to the roster, like limiting ring dives, chair shots, brawling outside, and even kick-outs. I think @BomberPat has talked about having sign-up sheets backstage for wrestlers, so that they knew what was allowed, and who was allowed to do what.

As to the bit in bold, could not agree more. One of the cleverest matches I've ever seen is Great Muta vs. Barry Windham for the NWA title in wCw - almost the entire match is Muta fighting to get out of a headlock, and it's a really good story.

2 minutes ago, Roy said:

I couldn't agree with you more @Vamp - it's the accumulation of these seemingly incosequential details that imbue viewers with a sense of engagement and captivate the live audience. I guess it's an investment in the suspension of disbelief that is at the crux of the performative aspect of the business. We all know it's a work, but if I'm signing up to watching this within a certain context then I don't want to be insulted.

On the semiotics of wrestling, if you haven't read the extract by Roland Barthes in his book Mythologies about wrestling, you should - it will be right up your street:

https://www.sholetteseminars.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/BarthesWrestling..pdf

Whoa, Barthes wrote about wrestling?! Thanks so much for that!

[air_raid]

8 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

As to the bit in bold, could not agree more. One of the cleverest matches I've ever seen is Great Muta vs. Barry Windham for the NWA title in wCw - almost the entire match is Muta fighting to get out of a headlock, and it's a really good story.

Many years ago I wrote an essay for my own amusement about the importance of storytelling and one of the matches I used was Doug Williams vs Chris Daniels from ROH (IIRC) Night of Champions in 2003. Doug does a lot of great headlock work and generally works over Daniels' neck while Daniels goes over Doug's ribs early. Both men sell their injured parts throughout and into the dying stages of the match and - YES - even playing a part in the finish. Doug always loved a good headlock escape sequence.

[BomberPat]

16 hours ago, IronSheik said:

I always found it silly when wrestlers removed the monitors (because they're sharp and dense I assume) before doing spots on the announce table. 

I always liked when a wrestler would hit their opponent with the monitor first - that gives a kayfabe reason for removing it before a table spot, while people just clearing everything off the table to make it a safer bump always looks stupid in a blood feud. 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

57 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I always liked when a wrestler would hit their opponent with the monitor first - that gives a kayfabe reason for removing it before a table spot, while people just clearing everything off the table to make it a safer bump always looks stupid in a blood feud. 

Yeah it's fine to make them bleed, but don't risk hurting them in the process!

[Carbomb]

But then they also always remove the big plastic cover!

[tiger_rick]

Given that we could never see them anyway, why didn't they just unplug and remove them before matches with an announce table spot? Then not remove the cover as Carbomb says. 

Or at least have the announcers remove them once the plastic cover comes off. They could waffle about the cost or the danger or how they are going to cope without them. 

[Michael_3165]

Things that may have been mentioned but still bug me...

The blatant catches of dives. This will never get less irritating. If you cantmake it look decent don't do it. 

Bleeding on every AEW show I've watched. Danielson and Moxley seem to have heads like watermelons, the amount of bleeding I've seen from them. It isn't edgy, stop it. Save it for something major. 

Stupid shit like skewers in the head. No  it's bullshit. 

No rules followed in tag matches. There is NO point having tag matches if everyone can just get in and out. It's ridiculous. Tag wrestling is the best when they actually  tag in and out. Shocking!!

 

[Dr. Alan Grant]

It bugs me when a wrestler wriggles into position to be on the receiving end of a top rope manoeuvre. Why can’t the top rope fella just drag his opponent to where he wants him first?

When a wrestler makes eye contact with a referee to watch for the three count. 

Similer to Michael’s comment above, a group of wrestlers waiting to catch someone jumping off a cage or cell. Always looks stupid. 

The sling blade move. Seth and Finn both do it and it never fails to make me die a little inside.

Overuse of the word “bitch” during promos.

And my most petty annoyance, Corey Graves makes a little hand gesture when he introduces himself on screen. Two hands together, in a praying type sign. That. I hate it. 

[air_raid]

10 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

It bugs me when a wrestler wriggles into position to be on the receiving end of a top rope manoeuvre. Why can’t the top rope fella just drag his opponent to where he wants him first?

This. RVD was great at his opponent not having to do this, he’d just frog splash them wherever they laid, twisting a little in mid air if needed. But somewhere along the way the spirit of co-operation has meant more convoluted-looking stuff creeping in all over the place. Like, as I’ve griped about before, wrestlers finding ways to drape themselves over the middle rope for a 619 in ways that strangely don’t happen when they’re wrestling anyone else, a far cry from when Rey has done a drop toehold to land them there by design.

[Version1.0]

Michael Cole is still saying kick instead of kickout.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

I dont know if its just me, but I feel the trios belts The Acclaimed have look absolutely shite and cheap! Compared to the other belts, it's like TK just said 'stick some metal on leather look material and get something out there for the lads'. 

 

Compared to other trios and tag belts, they are ridiculous looking.

[Your Fight Site]

Seems wrestlers asking fans to “name this move” on Twitter is the new “Here’s a list of people I want to do a wrestle with”.

[air_raid]

16 hours ago, Your Fight Site said:

Seems wrestlers asking fans to “name this move” on Twitter is the new “Here’s a list of people I want to do a wrestle with”.

As an aside, seeing via Twitter than Martina does a forward flip type abdominal stretch turned into a crucifix bomb and called it the Jägerbomb absolutely made my day.

[The Masked Poster]

On 11/6/2023 at 9:22 AM, air_raid said:

Is that a kayfabe reason though? If the wrestlers in storyline are liable for damages then the Dudley Boys will have virtually been wrestling for free for all the tables they obliterated in 2000. And Big Show destroyed a Titan Tron once.

From a kayfabe perspective why do they need so many tables under the ring? 😂

[air_raid]

10 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

From a kayfabe perspective why do they need so many tables under the ring? 😂

Well, you never know when a show might feature five or six impromptu contract signings.

Major WWE plot hole over the years, that some matches needed contracts that the wrestlers had to sign, and plenty of them just happened because two wrestlers got into a spat and a ref and timekeeper sanctioned a match there and then.