Wrestling ideas that should go away for awhile

[Guest creativename]

It's all in the conditioning.

 

I can watch someone like Royce Gracie beat much bigger men in real fighting...so if they put Rey over bigger guys in fake wrestling (without the commentators making it sound like it's the biggest upset ever) people will be conditioned to beleive it.

Yes...that whole "OMG look at that Rey just beat that hoss what a monumentous upset!!!" thing really holds him back. The "loveable underdog" gimmick is not one that a superstar should use.

 

It's fine for a jobber like Spike, but marks won't cheer as hard for a guy with no cred. Especially in Rey's case, this "gnat" thing is terrible. He ran away from Angle and was shown quivering in the corner during his match with Brock, for goddness sake. When the hell do you ever see a face act intimidated??

 

While I don't think it's right that a hoss squash a cruiser ever, I do think it is a bit unrealistic for someone like Rey to beat a huge wrestler like Brock or Big Show. I think a fan would not be able to suspend belief while watching someone Rey's size beat up someone Brock's size.

 

Oh no, not at all. bps mentioned Royce Gracie already. Bruce Lee weighed 140, but most people would agree that he would have killed Big Show in a real fight. And Bruce Lee was never even a "real" shootfighter, as he never participated in tournaments of any sort. But given his mythical reputation, most fans would probably laugh at the notion of Paul Wight hanging in there with Bruce Lee. And they might very well be right. However while the reality of Lee vs. Show is not as clear cut as most fans would think--he was an actor, and trained in martial arts from an acting sense--a guy like Tito Ortiz would probably be able to kill Big Show (and I mean kill quite literally, as in he would be able to end Big Show's life).

 

As bps said, it's all about how the wrestler is built up. Rey is currently built up as a "gnat", so yes, fans would find him kicking Show's ass unbelievable. But if he was built up as a guy with a lethal moveset capable of seriously injuring his opponent, people would easily accept such a result.

 

And of course, in the WWE itself, it would be a tremendous upset if Big Show defeated, say, Austin or Rock clean. Fans would find that truly surprising.

[Guest buffybeast]

While I don't think it's right that a hoss squash a cruiser ever, I do think it is a bit unrealistic for someone like Rey to beat a huge wrestler like Brock or Big Show. I think a fan would not be able to suspend belief while watching someone Rey's size beat up someone Brock's size.

 

Oh no, not at all. bps mentioned Royce Gracie already. Bruce Lee weighed 140, but most people would agree that he would have killed Big Show in a real fight. And Bruce Lee was never even a "real" shootfighter, as he never participated in tournaments of any sort. But given his mythical reputation, most fans would probably laugh at the notion of Paul Wight hanging in there with Bruce Lee. And they might very well be right. However while the reality of Lee vs. Show is not as clear cut as most fans would think--he was an actor, and trained in martial arts from an acting sense--a guy like Tito Ortiz would probably be able to kill Big Show (and I mean kill quite literally, as in he would be able to end Big Show's life).

 

As bps said, it's all about how the wrestler is built up. Rey is currently built up as a "gnat", so yes, fans would find him kicking Show's ass unbelievable. But if he was built up as a guy with a lethal moveset capable of seriously injuring his opponent, people would easily accept such a result.

 

And of course, in the WWE itself, it would be a tremendous upset if Big Show defeated, say, Austin or Rock clean. Fans would find that truly surprising.

Excellent point. I hadn't thought of that. I guess if the WWE presented Rey in that light, built him up that way over a sustained period of time, the fans, being the sheep they are, would suck it up and believe it.

 

Of course, Rey did beat Kevin Nash and the fans ate that up.

[Guest Luke Cage]

My question is, if you're going to match up people with 100 plus pound weight differences, why bother having weight divisions?