What does wrestling need to do (for you)?

[DavidB6937]

32 minutes ago, Slapnut said:

For me, there’s no bigger example of this than the backstage documentaries they do about Wrestlemania and you see everybody rehearsing their entrances to the letter. I know kayfabe is dead and buried, and of course you have a choice whether or not to watch these documentaries, but when I see something rehearsed to that extent it completely sucks out any enjoyment of watching the actual entrance itself.

It wouldn’t even be so bad if the entrance didn’t look incredibly rehearsed, but to me the majority of them do. Punk and Sami come to mind as two whose entrances don't seem overly choreographed, but I can’t think of many others who don’t look like they’re making sure they hit their marks.

That's an interesting one, as it's arguably the rehearsed nature that allows a lot of fan interaction - the woahs and clobbering times and YEETs etc. There's an argument to be made for the familiarity being exactly what a lot of people want. Same with moves - it creates an anticipation. It's what people pay for. To see the same stuff over and over because that's what they enjoy.

I don't really see why you'd think Punk's entrance is any less choreographed than anyone else's though. He's absolutely hitting his mark.

[Slapnut]

9 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

I don't really see why you'd think Punk's entrance is any less choreographed than anyone else's though. He's absolutely hitting his mark.

I don’t know, perhaps he’s just better at it than everybody else.

[SuperBacon]

32 minutes ago, Slapnut said:

I don’t know, perhaps he’s just better at it than everybody else.

Well he's the Best In The World so it figures.

[HarmonicGenerator]

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

Bin off the International, TNT and Continental Titles, then introduce the AEW Meat Championship, for all the hosses to fight over, and the AEW Flippin’ Heck Championship, for all the Luchadors to have mad, state of the art spotfests.

New boom confirmed.

They almost got there with the TNT title when it was mostly Joe, Wardlow and Hobbs fighting over it.

This could have been cemented in one match. A match that will go down in history as one of wrestling’s biggest ever “what happened to…” “what if” mysteries.

WHERE IS MY MEAT MADNESS TONY. NEVER FORGET.

 

[Jesse]

I'm kind of in a sweet spot right now. Post-pandemic I stopped really watching wrestling, and I don't have the time to get back into it. So WWE being fairly bland and focused more on 'moments' and AEW being maddeningly inconsistent makes only popping in for the good stuff easy to stay on top of.

I think the thing AEW could do is feel more like it did when they were throwing shit at the wall back in 2020 - just constant mad little stories that hit a joyous climax even when they're not at the top of the card. I still pop in for that stuff (like Hangman/Swerve, Toni/Mariah) but it feels like they're missing it from further down the card. Things like Eddie Kingston picking a fight with someone new for a month, Daniel Garcia's C2 run (tbh the entire C2 booking), Arcade Anarchy, John Silver proposing to Hangman. They still happen, but they feel like they happen less often than they did back then

[RedTwoster]

31 minutes ago, Jesse said:

John Silver proposing to Hangman

I really miss John Silver! They missed the boat on him, he’s so much fun to watch and his comic timing is impeccable. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’d be a very good fit in WWE. He’s the kind of character they do a good job at making the most of. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

I can't say that my level of interest in wrestling has never been lower, there was a while in the early-mid 90s I didn't watch anything, but it's definitely in the lower half of of my interest scale. I went to a lot of live shows, both good and bad and I had a list of who I wanted to see wrestle live. That was completed in 2013 when I finally saw Jushin Liger. Since then I have only been to a handful of live shows usually to support a charity or because friends were wrestling. That has had an impact on the amount of televised wrestling I watch. So to what I do watch and my enthusiasm levels. 

AEW 4/10 I love AEW for the quality of the wrestling. I am guilty of recording Dynamite each week and just fast forwarding to the bits I like. In Danielson, Swerve, Jarrett, Ospreay, Hangman, FTR, Mortos, Okada and MJF you have guys capable of putting on something I want to watch in a match. The worst thing about AEW are what I like to call the three M's Moxley, Mone, and My fucking christ its Chris Jericho. I've nearly worn out two fast forward buttons on the remote on those three. I don't think there is anything they can do to raise my interest levels in their product, its not on them its on me. 

WWE 4/10 I watch WWE in the same way as I do AEW, very fast forward heavy, or sometimes just a YouTube recap. The matches are usually the letdown in WWE, the promos are great if sometimes a little overblown, I like the commentary of Joe Tessitore, he's been a great addition, I actually think it will go to another level of greatness when Pat McAfee comes back after college football has finished. I know there has been a lot of Cole discussion. He's OK but he wore out his welcome long ago. Vince may have been removed physically from his ear but the Stockholm syndrome will take years to wear off. The one thing that drives me mad is the "This is cinema" nonsense. It isnt, its wrestling which has always been more trashy soap opera than cinema. Again I don't think they could do anything to raise my interest level. 

One of the best things about wrestling are the write ups by JLM and the enthusiasm of a number of posters on here. My interest would be mutch lower without you guys so thank you. 

All In all I'm happy with my lot, like anyone there will be stuff I don't like and stuff that I do, and I'll more than likely continue to bitch about both. Sorry. 

[garynysmon]

In all honesty my biggest issue is that even as a kid I usually found everything surrounding the actual wrestling, i.e the entrances, promos, interviews, to be more interesting than the matches themselves.

An actual wrestling match isn’t particularly entertaining for me on its own merits, and its usually fast forward fodder unless its a squash. It was so tempting to fast forward through long-ish matches on VHS to the end.

An episode of Superstars was perfect. Match, promo, event centre, match, live event centre, match, promo, main event.

So the older I get and the more evident it is that the workrate guys ‘won the day’, the less there is to keep me around.

Let’s put it this way, if I was 9 years old now rather than 1993, I don’t think I’d be a wrestling fan.

Edited October 10, 2024 by garynysmon

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I'd say my interest is quite high at the moment. The current landscape is quite healthy and I've got into watching old wrestling again too. I wish there was more of a middle ground between the big two companies, but I've enjoyed bits from both this year, especially WWE. I watch most of Raw and Smackdown weekly. Dynamite, I dip in and out.
 

WWE is probably 7/10 and will likely tick up again as we approach Mania season. The way it's micro managed and produced rarely allows it to reach the electric heights wrestling is capable of, but it's become such a well-oiled storytelling machine that you feel rewarded for following week to week. I can overlook the bad announcing, glossy overproduction and adverts everywhere as long as they're making stars and getting people over. That's the most important thing to me. The PPV quality has dropped off a bit from a year ago, but the Drew/Punk cell match showed they can break away from the formula and be electric if they want to. 

NXT is horrible but there's some exciting prospects down there. I'll occasionally check out Oba Femi and Roxanne Perez matches and enjoy Booker T's bad commentary.

AEW is a 5/10 and decreasing. They can deliver the hot exciting in-ring action that WWE doesn't, but less so with a colder product. Matches for matches sake doesn't work for me when the result is a foregone conclusion, they always go 50/50 for 15mins+, and when there's no sense of hierarchy or progression up or down the card. There's a lot of bad old WWE that's creeped into the shows too, in the presentation and in the bad, sloppy storytelling that makes a fool of you for investing, and the feeling that they're getting nowhere near the full potential out of the roster. Swerve managed to transcend all that. Him and Timeless Toni Storm are undoubtably my AEW highlights from the last couple of years.

But yeah, I'm happy where the general landscape is. It's so much better with two relatively healthy companies around. I couldn't give a monkeys about the Lucha Bros, for example. I'd roll my eyes whenever they'd show up just to lose and disappear for another three months. Now I'm pissing myself with excitement at the possibilities of them in WWE and the fresh match ups available.

Also, whenever there's a boring week of tv I can just watch dying days AWA or Greg Valentine matches instead. 

Edited October 10, 2024 by Mr Butternut Squash

[tiger_rick]

5 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

In all honesty my biggest issue is that even as a kid I usually found everything surrounding the actual wrestling, i.e the entrances, promos, interviews, to be more interesting than the matches themselves.

An actual wrestling match isn’t particularly entertaining for me on its own merits, and its usually fast forward fodder unless its a squash.

So the older I get and the more evident it is that the workrate guys ‘won the day’, the less there is to keep me around.

Let’s put it this way, if I was 9 years old now rather than 1993, I don’t think I’d be a wrestling fan.

I'm not sure we can compare at all. I'm not that fussed either about seeing a decent match these days. I suspect that's because 95% of the matches on TV in the big 2 are a solid 3* match. Some stuff stands out but there are very few bad matches. After watching 100s of absolutely fine 3* TV matches that don't have a thread running through them, I dunno how anyone gets excited for them anymore but each to their own.

We grew up in an era where 95% of WWF TV matches were fucking wretched. I really appreciated the good matches and the good wrestling because it was very obvious from the rest. The angles, promos and videos were by far the best bit. It's the complete opposite now.