Wrestlers becoming to cliche?

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

You know I was thinking.....that wrestlers today seem to be becoming to cliched. They seem to come out like a robot programmed to do the same thing. They say the same catchphrases and do the same things over and OVER AGAIN.

It's kind of frustrating. It seems like they have no room to improvise or do there own thing. Which is one of the things Austin was complaining about.

Is it just me? Has it always been like this? Or has it become a recent trend?

Example. I just rewatched the Steve Austin/HBK KOTR 97 match. Now it brought back memories of old Shawn and old Austin.

Wheras Austin would come out and you didn't know what he was going to do next. He could attack someone, flip them off, cuss them out, hell it was exciting to watch him. There's just something about Austin circa 1997 that keeps me in awe. There's just this mystique surrounding him that is so much different from him 99 and on. He seems to have become to cliched. I mean when he comes out you know what he's going to say and do.

HBK to. He used to come out and dance and he'd be all up in the crowd letting them hug all over him. He'd say something different every week and you never knew what he was going to do next either.

These days he does the same thing over and over. He comes out, poses, superkicks bad guy.

A lot of wrestlers seem to be doing the same thing over and over again every week.

Is it just me?

[syxx2001]

No its not just you. I wanted to go to whatever arena Jericho was in back in 2001 and 2002 whenever he said assclown and when he sang that stupid ass song to Austin "Did you ever know you were a jackass". Not only are assclown and jackass not funny, not insulting but they are like 3-5 years old (not jackass though).

[Zetterberg is God]

Every once in a while I long for the days where people like Austin were fresh and unpredictable.

[Guest Fook_Hing_Ho]

No. It's not just you.

 

I always liked Austin 97 better than the superpopular Austin of 98-99 for the same reasons you just listed: you never knew what he was going to do next. In the later years, you knew he was just going to stun someone, but in 97, it could be the stunner (like when he was attacking announcers), or something else.

 

That something else made it more dynamic and therefore better to watch. Hell, some of his most famous attacks are NOT using the stunner, ie. the Pillmanizing incident, attacking Bret in the ambulance, etc.

 

When all that died and all he did was stun Mcmahon every week, part of his character died too. Granted, it was still entertaining as hell, but IMO it wasn't as good as before.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Thats why the Kurt Angles, RVDS and even to a lesser extend Tajiris of the world are always over as they are. They present something unique and different with every performance or promo, especially Angle who never repeats himself outside of his catchphrase.

 

RVD has phoned in his last 4 months of work but his offense is still different enough from everyone elses that the crowds notice and react accordingly. Thats why no amount of bad booking will ever kill his crowd interest fully, same with Tajiri, he's still insanely over considering he wasn't even on Velocity for a long string of shows. He's unique. Crowds like unique.

 

But fuck it, sleeperhold the hell out of em.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Yeah Austin in 97. He just kicked so much ass. It's just something I can't put my finger on. Maybe I'm building up a false image of it in my head. It was the first time that there had ever been a character like Austin. The ultra-defiant badass. Maybe it was just the awe of his character at the time.

[Guest papacita]

I think it's because back in 97 wrestlers themselves had more free rein on what they said or did on TV. Nowadays, and for the past couple of years in fact, WWE has seemed overscripted to me. It seems more like a (poorly) written TV show than a live event these days.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

And that's what Austin was clamoring for when he was returning. For the wrestlers to have more control. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Sadly Austin fell into the trap that they all fall into:

Austin: Dammit Vince! Things are going to change! I'm back and I'm here to change things!

Vince: Let me add and extra 0 to this here pay check......

Austin: What was I complaining about again? Oh yeah.....do you mind if I call you daddy?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

That's what happens when anything gets popular - people try to milk it for all its worth and it gets watered down to please the masses all-the-while losing the very thing that made it popular in the first place. It's a testiment to the fans' loyalty that they have managed to cheer Austin and Hogan for this long (though long periods of time out of the spotlight *does* help a lot).

[Guest BoboBrazil]

WWE should rehire Russo and get rid of Stephanie and Gerwitz.

[Guest JMA]

Back in 97 Austin was a defiant, anti-authority loose-cannon who didn't think twice about beating the hell out of someone (whether they were heels, faces, or even women). That's what made him so cool. It's why he was called "Stone Cold." The Austin of today is just a redneck. He's actually in a position of authority in an angle. The Austin of 97 would have NEVER sung the National Anthem with Lillian Garcia (he would've stunned her, most likely). He didn't even care if the fans liked him or not.

 

I want the Austin of 97 back.

[Guest bababooey]

with austin came a fresh new air that brought wrestling to the beginnig of one of it's many peaks. now wrestling (wwe at least) is at a plateau. it's gonna take something different to bring it back up.

[LooseCannon25]

Thats the thing about him. Austin, in 97, was a bad ass who did what he wanted, when he wanted, to whoever he wanted to do it too. Nobody knew who he was gonna go after next. He would Beat the asses of faces and heels so he was unpredictable. Then he stunned Vince and it shocked everyone that he did that to the boss. That was the mystique and aura of his character. He just didn't give a fuck

 

Nowadays, Austin, HHH, basically all the superstars go out there with the same damn material every week. Now, imagine how bad it would be if there were no Brand Extension and we had to see the same shit twice in a week. Like RRR said, when something becomes very popular it gets milked to death. For example look at the TV show Survivor. Ever since it came out ALL you see on tv now is reality shows even though MTV started it all with The Real World. IT gets tired and boring after seeing the same shit all the time.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

It's hilarious because the Old Stone Cold said that he doesn't pander to the crowds yet that's all he does now and has been doing so ever since he became a full-time face.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Have some become cliche? Yeah. But like Rudo said, that's what happens when anything becomes popular. Characters rarely evolve in this business. So the audience gets bored and attaches themselves to something new and fresh.

 

It happened to the Rock. It's happening to HHH at the moment. It's happening to pretty much everyone these days.

[Guest razazteca]

Every sound byte now is a catchphrase, its sad really especially when the crowd acts like pavlovian trained fools.

 

Oh and all of the "young new talent" looks the same acts the same with the basic arrogant cocky attitude. Some have the ability to pull it off but others only have "the look" with no worthy skills at all but still get the monster push. Remember that movie Multiplicity starring Michael Keaton? Well Randy Orton is the clone that shaves his tounge.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

"Variety is the Spice of Life" Someone please tell Vince this.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

You are not alone, Damaramu. I know wrestling is supposed to be choreographed, but now every match is the same.

 

Some of the blame can be placed on Austin. It was his "main event"style which made every other new star have to fit the mold. He also pushed the limits of a character using catchphrases, which now every wrestler must have. He now relies on them in every interview (notice how the "What" chants stink up every segment, but Austin still uses them).

[Guest Raven_Effect01]

Some of the blame can be placed on Austin. It was his "main event"style which made every other new star have to fit the mold. He also pushed the limits of a character using catchphrases, which now every wrestler must have. He now relies on them in every interview (notice how the "What" chants stink up every segment, but Austin still uses them).

I know. What happened to Nunzio's technical wrestling? All he does is choke and stomp now in WWE. What happened to Benoit? He's programmed to do chop, chop, chop, Rolling German Suplexes, Diving Headbutt, Crossface nowadays. Oh, and remember in 2001 when Kurt Angle as a face did punch, punch, punch, crossbody, flying forearm, rolling germans, Angle Slam, and Anglelock?

 

This is exactly why many of us are pushing for Indy feds like ROH, MLW, and hell, even Total Nonstop Russo Interviews to rise up and challenge WWE on TV and PPV to hopefully provide an alternative show that features wrestling on it.