WWE/Vince bans thigh-slapping

[CavemanLynn]

Let's not forget that the main reason for thigh-slapping is to get a reaction from the audience. Nobody gave a damn about Stone Cold stomping his feet, or Rock whipping guys' cheeks with his floppy fingertips, or Bret pogo-ing both feet with every sock-in-a-cup jab. If you've got the personality and presence, nobody cares. Most of this generation (by which I mean 5+ years of NXT call-ups/stagnation) seem to have relied on the moves they're doing to get over, forgetting that if every strike sounds murderous, then none of them are. It'll be interesting to see who adapts and who doesn't, and if there are any immediate ramifications (pulling from shows, for instance) for those that can't make the change.

[seph]

Is this Vince's Equal-Amount-Of-Blueberries moment? Or is is the one of a million of these that finally tells that he's losing it?

[Guest]

Leg slapping and dozens of chops are meaningless at this stage. Get them trained on punches That look like they hurt that don’t that many seem to skip as takes time to perfect 

[Sphinx]

9 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I do have a pet hate for stomping your foot when you throw a punch, though - a well-timed thigh slap at least conceivably sounds like what a kick to the face or chest might sound like, whereas a punch doesn't sound like stomping on wood. It's also the first thing that someone wanting to pick holes in the match and say "it's all fake though" is going to look for. 

 

3 hours ago, kieranjennings said:

I always thought the 'stomp' was covered by the emphasis of weight moving on to their leading leg whilst they connect with the punch. Not the most logical but it kind of made sense. 

The thigh slap is just trying to make it sound like a good connection whilst at the same time doing something that makes it evident you are not making a connection!

Yeah, the punch isn't to sound like someone hitting someone in the face. Without the stomp, you don't get much of an impact. Someone can groan and sell but it's lacking. If you're good at strikes then it's no issue. If Triple H strikes someone, he makes it count by making the most of the action - reeling his fist back for anticipation, connecting, stomp and sell - rather than making it a throwaway strike whilst going from spot to spot.It's more theatrical and reaches the audience more when someone puts their weight into the punch with a stomp than without.

It's easy to become desensitised to slaps. You've not got anywhere to go once everything's given that treatment as you can't exactly slap harder. The difference is slaps are supposed to sound like connecting to skin whereas a punch is just emphasis on someone putting their weight into the strike. I don't think it devalues bumps. Wrestling's been fine for decades whilst people have got on fine with it. There's a thousand more things that could devalue bumps before a punch comes into it.

[TildeGuy~!]

Well Adam Cole clearly isn’t listening if yesterday is anything to go by.

[Your Fight Site]

18 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

Well Adam Cole clearly isn’t listening if yesterday is anything to go by.

Is NXT pre-taped? Or is it live?

[DavidB6937]

2 minutes ago, Your Fight Site said:

Is NXT pre-taped? Or is it live?

It's live.

[The King Of Swing]

And just in time for Big Johnny to start laying down the law again. 

[SaitoRyo]

Instead of banning it, why not just bring in Tajiri to teach them how to do it properly? 

Done sporadically, it can be very effective, but a lot of guys are either bad at it, rely on it too much or use it at weird times. 

[Carbomb]

Given some of the "comedy" WWE have put out over the years, at least Vince wouldn't have to ban thigh-slapping in the crowd.

[Joe Blog]

I hope the crowd start doing thigh slaps on behalf of the wrestlers. Yeah it will be awful but think how much it would annoy Vince.

[IronSheik]

I've always been completely worked by thigh slapping. Until all this recent publicity I didn't even know the wrestlers performing the kicks were making the noise themselves. 

I haven't watched wrestling since 2003 other than YouTube clips and the odd Wrestle Mania, which wrestlers from 1991-2003 would have been thigh slapping?

[The King Of Swing]

Ted Dibiase used to slap his opponents back during the million dollar knee lift didn he? 

Thinking back 80's/90's WWF was probably more matt stomping than thigh slapping. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

1 hour ago, IronSheik said:

I've always been completely worked by thigh slapping. Until all this recent publicity I didn't even know the wrestlers performing the kicks were making the noise themselves. 

I haven't watched wrestling since 2003 other than YouTube clips and the odd Wrestle Mania, which wrestlers from 1991-2003 would have been thigh slapping?

Tajiri was a big one. I knew that they were slapping thighs to create the sound- I was bullied and beat up as a kid, so I knew it didn't sound like that when you got kicked. But I could never catch Tajiri in the act- he was so quick and adept at hiding it.

Oh, and Shawn Michaels with the Sweet Chin Music.

[Surf Digby]

Thigh slapping should be heard and not seen. 

I'm not 100% certain who it was - possibly Muhammed Hassan - I saw on a house show stomping a guy in the corner, but before each stomp he would openly slap the top of his thigh like Calamity fucking Jane as if he were transferring the power of his slap through his leg into his foot. It looked absolutely ridiculous, like he'd been made aware that wrestlers slap their thighs when they kick, but not why. 

I'm partly with Vince on this one. Learn to do it properly or not at all.