Real Pro Wrestling?

[Slayer 0]

I was listening to sports radio this morning, and several times they've aired commercials for something called "Real Pro Wrestling". They even have a website. Anyone else heard anything about this?

 

Looks like something to check out once, just out of curiousity, but I wonder how they can keep it from getting 1) gimmicky and/or 2) cheesy

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I would've put this in sports.

 

I guess Rulon is done with MMA, which is a shame, as I'd say after reading his letter it sounds like all the rhetoric I hear when people bring up mixed martial arts.

 

Good for the wrestlers I guess, good way for them to be professional athletes in a sport that they like, although I doubt this will last. Mainly because there's no satisfying ending in wrestling like a KO or a submission, so it's hard to find something to hook people that don't normally associate themselves with it.

[Styles 0]

I've read about this in the Observer for a while now. I guess it's debuting on PAX this Sunday. It should be interesting to check out but amateur wrestling is just so boring to me. They can spice it up with flashy entrances and graphics but the product is what it is. Yeah, I'd say this goes either in Micelaneous promotions (it's kind of like MMA) or Sports...

[Ace309 0]

I'm really hoping this succeeds, but some of the developmental rules (I've sort of watched it as it developed on the forums at TheMat.com) are sort of tailored to people who understand amateur wrestling already - not the audience they need to be attracting.

 

The 'bonus' and attempt at making passivity objective are ridiculous.

 

They also really don't want to say that everything defaults to 'normal' freestyle and Greco rules, thanks to the shakeup that's thrown them more towards judo - RPW is sticking with last year's rules, which is going to make an even bigger problem. Their idea was to make freestyle and Greco, rather than American folkstyle (which is wrestled in high school and college varsity competition), palatable and familiar to the masses. Now, instead of having a nice bridge point, they've basically created an entirely new style.

 

Blah. I'm ALL for amateur wrestling getting popular. This isn't going to do it.

Edited March 22, 2005 by Ace309

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

What is American Folkstyle? I know Greco and Freestyle, but not that.

 

What bonus and attempt at making passivity objective are you referring to?

[Vern Gagne 0]

I know the WWE had interest in Damion Hahn, who wrestles for the Minnesota team. Saw, a match with him last year at the U, and he was very impressive and dominate.

[Ace309 0]

What is American Folkstyle? I know Greco and Freestyle, but not that.

 

What bonus and attempt at making passivity objective are you referring to?

The American folkstyle is the style that they wrestle in high school and college. It's characterized by a focus on controlling the opponent on the mat, with the bottom man having to work for an escape (whereas in freestyle and Greco, the bottom man's job is not to get turned - he can reverse, and until recently could escape, if he wants, but he won't get penalized for not attempting to like he would in folkstyle). The scoring is totally different - back points are awarded differently, stalling is penalized differently, etc.

 

The 'bonus' is a rule that RPW added. It's a penalty for one wrestler wrestling passively, where the aggressive wrestler gets an advantageous position and a 20-second period where only he can score. If the passive wrestler hits a move that would score, the 'bonus' period ends. It's a stupid rule.

 

Passivity is, of course, the rule pertaining to wrestling without attempting to score. Traditionally, it's a judgment made by the officials, and of course there's a lot of grousing about it. RPW is adding an "action meter judge" who will man an allegedly objective "action meter" that measures... yup, how passively each guy is wrestling. They're crowing about how it's taking passivity out of the referees' hands, when it's leaving it right there but adding a set of knobs in between.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

There was a 1-page article in last week's Sports Illustrated about this. I believe I read that point differential in individual matches goes to the team score, which should make it more aggressive (i.e. you beat your opponent 5-1, your team gets 4 points).

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I'd have liked to see them use basic pro style storylines ie arrogant wrestlers, etc. and have each PERSON working for belts in the weight divisions ala MMA with custom gear as long as it conforms to MMA style rules ie vale tudo shorts, singlets, short tights, probably not muay thai shorts and use "real" (I'd go for worked shoot style) amateur matches

[Ace309 0]

The individual competition was considered, but the RPW guys decided that having regional teams would make the promotion more popular. Of course, making sure that the guys on the team had anything to do with the region would have been a good idea - there's no excuse for Lowney, for example, not to be on the Minnesota team.

 

They also specifically want to avoid storylines. They feel it mucks up the focus on the wrestling. Good or bad, I don't really have an opinion except to say that arrogant wrestler storylines don't work without either having a guy who's proven himself already or worked matches. Taking a guy like Lowney, who's been on the world team several times, you could get an arrogant wrestler storyline, but a lot of the top guys tend to be strongly religious types for whatever reason and so that doesn't work out well. They don't want to be characters, which will hurt their marketability.

 

I'm in total agreement about using more MMA-styled attire.

[Mole 0]

I've read about this in the Observer for a while now. I guess it's debuting on PAX this Sunday. It should be interesting to check out but amateur wrestling is just so boring to me. They can spice it up with flashy entrances and graphics but the product is what it is. Yeah, I'd say this goes either in Micelaneous promotions (it's kind of like MMA) or Sports...

I remember reading the same thing a while back, I think during the Summer. Meltz was saying how it will be really hard for the show to do well; being on PAX, not too many wrestling fans and how it might get too gimmicky.

 

I'd watch the first few episodes, but I don't think I get PAX at school.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

What is PAX? I've never heard of it. Is it national?

[Downhome 0]

Well, this show just started.

[Slayer 0]

Problem #1: Fifteen minutes in and we get match summary packages. Not good

[Guest Shadow]

I got PAX and it's not on.

[Slayer 0]

Problem #1: Fifteen minutes in and we get match summary packages. Not good

Funny enough, I quit watching after this post

 

Now, the NC-Wisconsin game didn't help, but the format of the first fifteen minutes really turned me off. I hated how they just kinda summarized the matches with bad music in the b/g. It was like how ESPN mistreats the NCAA Wrestling championships...

[Ace309 0]

Sigh.

 

Amateur wrestling's never going to catch on.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I watched it for a few minutes, just couldn't hold my interest.

[Ripper 0]

Yeah. It looked kinda gay honestly.

 

Usual wrestling attire...works. Two guys shirtless, no head gear in tiny little spandex shorts....looked like they were just waiting for someone to drop the gello on them. I mean, if they were punching each other in the face, its okay and not gay looking.

 

Plus one of the guys picked this pinkish color spandex underwear.

 

 

And the announcer was just way to excitable. I mean, take a pro wrestling commentator to any other sport and it just doens't work. This is proof of it.

[LessonInMachismo 0]

I found the camera work funny in its desperate attempt to make the matches seem exciting. Constantly changing angles, zooming in and out...funny stuff.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Amateur Wrestling is just not something, you can force excitment with. People might decide they like it, but it won't for the most part be, because of the music they play, or camera angles, or team nicknames and how the logo looks.