MOTYC THIS MONDAY ON RAW!!!

[Ripper 0]

.... Of course, you won't see one.

 

And no, not because it is RAW and will probably just be announcers fighting all night...it's because no match will ever live up to the hype. If I tell you that a match will be MOTYC on Monday, you will have reasons why it wasn't on Tuesday.

 

If you are watching a match on live television and it turns out to be the most incredible thing that you have ever seen, you will tell others. You tell them "This is the best match of the year, hands down." You have it on tape; you want them to watch. So you sit down and watch. I guarantee that you didn't see the incredible match that you saw before. Why? Because when we are told something is great before we see it, we will watch it and want it to prove its perfection. You wait for every flaw, every mistake. The spontaneous nature of it is gone. Like it or not, but without knowing it, you are no longer seeing this match to enjoy it, but to find its flaws.

 

That is the problem that the Internet has brought to professional wrestling. I will take the Lesnar/Angle match as an example (although I would like to admit that I have never liked a Iron Man match and this one was no exception, my point can be made). Every since Tuesday Night, or Wednesday morning, we have heard the celebration of this match as incredible, MOTYC for sure, incredibly exciting. Each report of this came from those who saw it live. They were surprised by its spontaneous nature. They heard no praise of the match before hand so they didn't sit and find its flaws. They sat back and enjoyed.

 

AMW vs. XXX in the TNA 1 cent PPV was another match that due to it being talked up, couldn't live up to the hype. All it received was criticism afterwards, mostly because people went in looking for perfection. As everyone who saw that thing live knows, it was one of the most spectacular things to watch when you didn't know what was happening next. Without the hype, all we could do is sit and watch, and the match became praised for it.

 

We can't help it. If we watch films that is suppose to be the best, we will find why it is not. If we listen to music that is supposed to be perfect we will find its imperfections. Matches like Hogan and Warrior weren't plagued with the problem of expectations due to reporting that the wrestling community is subject to today. That’s why their match was so enjoyable despite, technically, being a train-wreak of guys who couldn't REALLY perform.

 

While there will be matches that may fare well against the "search it for flaw" technique that we all employ, most will not.

 

It also works the other way. Guys like A-Train, Billy Gunn, Mark Henry, Test and others will not have matches that don't go trashed unless it is against a wrestlers perceived to be great. The thing is, all of them have...well...maybe not Mark Henry, but the rest have. Our perception of their inadequacies in the ring leads us to believe that every match they perform in will be trash.

 

Think about it. Do you find yourself disliking a wrestler you liked in your mark days after you were exposed to their faults that you didn't care about before? Do you find yourself praising a guy you at one point didn't care for?

 

Lesnar/Angle, AMW/XXX could not live up to the hype of what was placed on them, and I truly believe that it lead to disappointment in each of their respective matches.

 

There really is no remedy for what I am saying has happened. We can't change the fact that the way we come in seeing a match, hearing music etc. is changed due to the hype or lack of hype surrounding it. All we can do is try and watch and enjoy them for what they are worth and not for the flaws that others MUST have missed.

[Slickster 0]

You hit the nail right on the head, Ripper. I agree because I have a MUCH more favorable opinion of RAW every week. Then, I go to my computer after the show and see people shit on it and it kind of ruins it for me, like someone who shits on your favorite movie after you've watched it together.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

You hit the nail right on the head, Ripper. I agree because I have a MUCH more favorable opinion of RAW every week. Then, I go to my computer after the show and see people shit on it and it kind of ruins it for me, like someone who shits on your favorite movie after you've watched it together.

But that's not the same thing as what he's talking about. He's talking about spoilers and hype making us expect more going in.

 

RAW on the other hand is just people watching and saying it sucks.

 

It's not the same thing as what he was saying. I went into the Iron Man without any expectations and liked it, but even then I still know it had flaws.

 

He's definitely right that if you go into something with lots of hype and high expectations most of the time it won't live up.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

For me the XXX v AMW Cage Match was magnificent.

 

The only reason it got criticism was probably because some people just WANTED to criticise it.

[AndrewTS 0]

You can like a match and still see its flaws. That just allows you to appreciate the truly great matches more.

 

I'm glad I was able to tune into SD and see that much wrestling, although I understand that the task Brock and Kurt had put a lot of pressure on them, plus they hadn't done a match like this before. Since we haven't been able to find two guys these days to have a truly classic, near-flawless Iron Man match to date, I chalk it up as a good try. Even their past matches are somewhat lacking because Brock and Angle have good matches together, but not classics. They aren't to that level, although they are leaps and bounds above almost all wrestlers at the same point in their careers.

 

And when I do watch Raw, I shit on it WHILE I WATCH, and that even goes for the times when I'm not on the O&ORT to boot. Raw is just a horrible show. If you like it, bully for you, but most of us are going to disagree since Raw doesn't have the wrestling and doesn't even have the entertainment except for unintentional comedy.

 

Let me explain--in a match you want to see, you're paying attention to the story...however, when parts of the story don't fit together, parts seem out of place or missing, and there's repetitions of the same action--I don't care if you're watching for the 1st or 300th time--you're going to notice it if you're the observant type.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Yes, because people WANTED all those blown spots.

 

Part of what makes a truly great match is how it holds up to time and criticism. If it can't stand up to it, then it isn't a great match - no matter how great you thought it was at the time.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

And no, I don't hate any of the wrestlers I liked in the past. Still a Hogan fan dispite all of his 'flaws'.

[AndrewTS 0]

And no, I don't hate any of the wrestlers I liked in the past. Still a Hogan fan dispite all of his 'flaws'.

On the other hand, I thought Hogan sucked before becoming a smark, and my opinion hasn't changed.

[Papacita 0]

You hit the nail right on the head, Ripper. I agree because I have a MUCH more favorable opinion of RAW every week. Then, I go to my computer after the show and see people shit on it and it kind of ruins it for me, like someone who shits on your favorite movie after you've watched it together.

That's happened to me a few times. Generally I could give a damn what anyone else thinks as long as I like it...different strokes for different folks, you know?

 

Rip is right, because almost anytime you come into a match or anything with high expectations, you're bound to be disappointed (I learned that with SummerSlam 98...bullshit ass PPV...I'm sorry). But I think some of you are taking it to far with that "you guys look for things to complain about" stuff. I don't think anybody on here watches something with the sole purpose of finding flaws in the matches/show...at least I hope no one does. It's just that when you come into something expecting to be blown away, and it doesn't happen, flaws will come for you. With matches like Angle/Lesnar, AMW/XXX and Austin/Taker from SS98, I REALLY wanted to and went out of my way to TRY and like the matches, but it just didn't happen in any case. I think those who were disappointed feel the same way.

[cawthon777 0]

As someone who avoids Smackdown spoilers like the plague, I did accidentally read that Brock won the title a few days ago on Wrestling Observer but even then I could sit back and enjoy the match unfold without having pre-existing expectations to match the praise already given.

 

Was it good? I thought so. Was it their best match? No - but then again I think they've yet to have the true Angle / Lesnar televised classic.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't think Angle/Lesnar are ever going to have the ***** classic that they promised.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

And I think you suck Andrew.

 

And I bet Hogan does too.

 

I've been disappointed by matches that were hyped up as the greatest ever, but that was mainly because I was listening to morons say that and took their word for it. Now I use my head.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

After 3 less-than-stellar matches, I don't think Lesnar or Angle are ever going to have that 5 star match. People still can't see, can they?

[Jack_Bauer 0]

I used to like Hogan.

 

Most people did.

[Damaramu 0]

After 3 less-than-stellar matches, I don't think Lesnar or Angle are ever going to have that 5 star match. People still can't see, can they?

I never thought they were going to have it in the first place.

Both men are to limited.

With Lesnar not even being what I'd call "good".

[Enigma 0]

As a child, I never bought into the Hogan stuff. When they would pan to shots of little kids crying after Hulk Hogan lost the title, I used to always ask my Mom, "Why are they crying?"

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Most people do.

 

Maybe my ears were fooling me at Wrestlemania 18... Cause I distinctly remember not being able to hear my own voice when chanting for hogan.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

Hogan v Rock at WM made me mark out big time for the Hulkster.

 

That match was legendary, even if the match wasnt that good.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I was hard for Angle/Lesnar, mainly because I was caught up in the potential psychology and storytelling with two world class amateur wrestlers with distincts physical traits. There's so much to do with just that, and the WWE just fucked it up. I've seen better mat work from PRIDE with guys who couldn't touch either Angle or Lesnar on the ground. Angle vs. Lesnar was a brawling-match feud... which is to say it was a WWE-match feud.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Which reminds me.

 

Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba from the PrideGP Finals.

 

It was hyped to no end. "Greatest MMA match ever" it was said to be. It went 90 minutes. It lived up to the hype. It had better storytelling with half the workrate and it was a breeze to get through even if there were, what, 5 breaks in all between rounds?

[Jobber of the Week 0]

You hit the nail right on the head, Ripper. I agree because I have a MUCH more favorable opinion of RAW every week. Then, I go to my computer after the show and see people shit on it and it kind of ruins it for me, like someone who shits on your favorite movie after you've watched it together.

I agree to an extent, I have watched perfectly blah normal Raws that become bad Raws by reading the one & only thread. But I doubt I could watchng something especially stupid alone like the Hogan motorcycle bit or this stupid Test angle without busting out in laughter.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Most people do.

 

Maybe my ears were fooling me at Wrestlemania 18... Cause I distinctly remember not being able to hear my own voice when chanting for hogan.

Hogan is one of those things that works only when he has the right opponent.

 

"20 years in the making" or not, the crowd at Seattle was sitting on their hands for Hulk vs Vince, only going "OHHHH!" when something like the ladder came out. During the popular "bloody Vince rises up from under the mat" shot, the guy directly behind me complimented the camerawork for that shot.

 

Which is to say nobody gave a shit about that match. And they weren't like tired or anything either, because people popped big for Austin vs Rock right after.

[AndrewTS 0]

And I think you suck Andrew.

 

And I bet Hogan does too.

 

I've been disappointed by matches that were hyped up as the greatest ever, but that was mainly because I was listening to morons say that and took their word for it. Now I use my head.

And I think it's a shame you think that, since I usually value your opinion.

 

And I think it's improper grammar to start sentences with "and" if you're not using it as a conjunction in a compound sentence.

 

And Hogan aka Mr. Other Guy Who Saw Money in NATHAN JONES' opinion means jack shit to me.

 

I wasn't expected a match as good as other people were, but think I see your point about it. There's only a certain level you can get to by only working in WWE. You'll only get so good and then you'll either stay at that skill level, or improve if new workers with different styles come in and work with you.

 

Angle after a nice long Japan tour would be quite impressive.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

I believe if Angle got used to the Japan style he would be one of the best wrestlers walking.

[Internet Warfare 0]

I have to admit when I didnt see what the match was i was pissed but after reading that little article I totally forgive ya.

[AndrewTS 0]

I believe if Angle got used to the Japan style he would be one of the best wrestlers walking.

Indeed. The same way he's apparently "peaked" in WWE is what probably will happen to Team Angle. They'll get better, but they'll get to the point where there is no way for them to improve under WWE style.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

I'm already VERY impressed with Team Angle mind you. I would KILL to see Angle and Benoit v Team Angle

[Guest MikeSC]

For me the XXX v AMW Cage Match was magnificent.

 

The only reason it got criticism was probably because some people just WANTED to criticise it.

And I went in expecting something special --- and I got a match that didn't measure up to quite a bit of WGTT's work this year (Kidman & Rey v WGTT at Vengeance was considerably better, IMHO). The match was hyped FAR beyond it's true level of greatness (ditto the Ultimate X match) as AMW is hardly a great team (and I fully get why WWE isn't high on them).

 

Heck, Rockers v Orient Express from Rumble'91 is one of the best matches I've EVER seen --- largely because I expected so little after their rather bad match at WMVI. If you hadn't seen the match yet and saw it today, there is a good chance it wouldn't impress you because you expected a lot.

 

That is why I feel I'm probably the only guy who preferred Shawn v Razor's ladder match at SSlam over WM X. It's EASIER to have a "great" match if greatness is not expected rather than to be really good when you're expected to be really good.

-=Mike

[Guest Choken One]

Exactly, No one thought HBK/Taker HIAC would be so classic because it was looking like a overdone gimmick match but it was amazing.

 

Its about expectations...and not over stating them.

 

I didn't care much for the AMW/XXX cage match because the flow was horrible, very little "wrestling" and WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY to many botched spots...XXX has ZERO charisma...AMW looked like Barry Windham/RNR clones...

[Guest Coffey]

Except Barry Windham was good....