The future of wrestling

[Guest]

Over the past few years, Wrestling has evolved in a unique way. Wrestling fans, who were once satisfyed by squash matches and un-matched brawls, now expect high quality bouts with athletes who literally BLEED their workrate. If you take a look at wrestling within the early to mid 90's, the main concept of it was 'family entertainment' where there would be no blood, no gore, no nuditiy, just plain, clear WRESTLING. Now i like Stacy Kiebler parading around my TV screen as much as the next guy, but when it comes down to what WRESTLING has become, it has changed dramatically...in a good and bad way.

 

Good - Wrestlers realise they need to up the mark EVERY match (with your exceptions COUGHKevinNashCOUGH), storylines are more, for the most part, believeable and we are now treated to more high calibre matches than ever before.

 

Bad - The fans expect a heck of a lot.

 

This could be a bad thing...what do you think will happen to WRESTLING? Will the fans expectations continue to sky rocket resulting in wrestlers having to cheat death every monday night just to stay over? What lies ahead for wrestling?

[Guest RickyChosyu]

It's hard to say how much more violent wrestling will get as time goes on. I bet you ten years ago no one would ever believe that the WWF would stoop to such indie tricks as having their wrestlers take bumps through glass, but sure enough, last year we got to see Shane and Kurt Angle rolling around in glass on Pay-Per-View. The bar is being raised all the time, with a new generation of psychopaths taking increasingly-gross bumps all the time now. The Hardyz are pretty much a prime example of a team broken down from excessive bumping, and the future doesn't look bright for many of the others emulating them.

 

Right now most of the WWF main events seem stale, slow, borring, and plodding, but really it's only because we're so used to Angle, Jericho, Austin, Benoit, Rock, and, once apon a time, Triple H, putting on fast-paced and exciting main events every night. Maybe wrestling will revert back to matwork and psychology for a while, who knows.

[Guest]

It's hard to say how much more violent wrestling will get as time goes on. I bet you ten years ago no one would ever believe that the WWF would stoop to such indie tricks as having their wrestlers take bumps through glass, but sure enough, last year we got to see Shane and Kurt Angle rolling around in glass on Pay-Per-View. The bar is being raised all the time, with a new generation of psychopaths taking increasingly-gross bumps all the time now. The Hardyz are pretty much a prime example of a team broken down from excessive bumping, and the future doesn't look bright for many of the others emulating them.

 

Right now most of the WWF main events seem stale, slow, borring, and plodding, but really it's only because we're so used to Angle, Jericho, Austin, Benoit, Rock, and, once apon a time, Triple H, putting on fast-paced and exciting main events every night. Maybe wrestling will revert back to matwork and psychology for a while, who knows.

Thats a good point you made. We have wrestlers like Jeff Hardy, 24 years old, who is ALREADY having back problems due to the sort of bumps the kid is taking. Not only will wrestling get more bizarre if it stays at this pace, but wrestlers career's will be considerably shorter...

 

Jake "The Snake" Roberts once said in an interview that by age 40, Jeff Hardy won't be able to walk if he keeps up his current ring work...there's a thought for you all.

 

This has been the Taker Mark...glad that Taker isn't diving off cages.

[Guest Risk]

This has been the Taker Mark...glad that Taker isn't diving off cages.

 

You're right--he just throws OTHERS off and through them.

[Guest]

This has been the Taker Mark...glad that Taker isn't diving off cages.

 

You're right--he just throws OTHERS off and through them.

Hey, if it wern't for Taker throwing Foley off the cell (JR - GOOD GOD! GOOD GOD! HE KILLED HIM!), how would of that classy catch phrase 'HOLY-SHIT!' of came about on WWF TV?

 

This has been the Taker Mark...HOLY SHIT TAKER!

[Guest Dace59]

Nothing wrong at all with the odd sick bump... but it should just be the ODD sick bump.

I love glass/lightbulb bumps... but if anyones ever seen the fan's bring the weapons + 200 lightbulb death match from CZW Un F'n Believeable the lightbulb shoots get boring after a bit..

 

The way to go is take it back to the mat and the old school, show all the newer fans they haven't seen, and stuff the older ones have forgotten about. You can only get so much hangtime for a move, or so sick a bump before someone dies.. but you can chain wrestler for ever.

[Guest red_file]

Hey, if it wern't for Taker throwing Foley off the cell (JR - GOOD GOD! GOOD GOD! HE KILLED HIM!), how would of that classy catch phrase 'HOLY-SHIT!' of came about on WWF TV?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are not the "holy shit" type of stunts in lieu of wrestling the main objection of your original post?  Could our good friend the 'Taker be responsible for bringing hardcore indie-ness to the mainstream (or are we going to place that blame soley on the shoulders of Foley?) and thereby creating an environment in which basic wrestling was cast by the wayside?

 

Look, I don't know if the spot oriented attitude area was a good or bad thing.  It brought in fans but also fostered an environment that was dangerous to work in.  The WWF seems to have realized this and are cutting back.  I don't see things getting all that more extreme than they currently are, at least not with the wrestlers currently working on the shows.

[Guest]

Hey, if it wern't for Taker throwing Foley off the cell (JR - GOOD GOD! GOOD GOD! HE KILLED HIM!), how would of that classy catch phrase 'HOLY-SHIT!' of came about on WWF TV?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are not the "holy shit" type of stunts in lieu of wrestling the main objection of your original post?  

It was merely a comical comment made my myself just to retaliate towards the previous post. Im also not shunning the current aspect of today's perception of the word 'wrestling'. I made this post hoping to discuss where wrestling is headed, not wanting an oppurtunity to complain about how many wrestlers try to kill themselves every pay-per view.

 

This has been the Taker Mark...who is no hypocrite

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

I'm not sure what long terms low's are ahead, but in the short term we have the very real possibility of Hulk Hogan winning his seventh WWF title.

[Guest Nevermortal]

Jake "The Snake" Roberts once said in an interview that by age 40, Jeff Hardy won't be able to walk if he keeps up his current ring work...there's a thought for you all.

Jake Roberts is also a cracksmoking loser. What's your point?

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Nothing wrong at all with the odd sick bump... but it should just be the ODD sick bump.

I love glass/lightbulb bumps... but if anyones ever seen the fan's bring the weapons + 200 lightbulb death match from CZW Un F'n Believeable the lightbulb shoots get boring after a bit..

 

The way to go is take it back to the mat and the old school, show all the newer fans they haven't seen, and stuff the older ones have forgotten about. You can only get so much hangtime for a move, or so sick a bump before someone dies.. but you can chain wrestler for ever.

I think the reason they get borring is because they just wander around hitting each other with them wontonly without any build up, so they quickly lose their dramatic appeal. I think the main problem with most death matches like that isn't that they used gross weapons such as light bulbs, but that they do it in such a way that it cheapons the appeal of them so that they don't seem like a big deal anymore.

 

If you watch the few "death matches" in the WWF that involved barbed wire and thumbtacks, you'll notice that they don't just go in there and start impaling each other right away, they slowly build to the shots so that they mean something and don't become borring. While tables in general have really lost their meaning in the WWF, they are still used in dramatic ways that make them interesting.

 

Sorry, went a wee bit of a rant, there.

[Guest]

Jake Roberts may be a crack smoking loser, but he was the Lord of the Ring in his day, He teaches Ring Psychology, People like Dreamer and Raven were his students.  people seem to just dismiss Roberts, is it his fault that a angle with Rick Rude actually was true to life, and his wife was banging Rude???

 

Wouldn't you drink?

 

and geez Lets simply ignore the Hart's on dabbling in substances,  Shawn Michaels, Marty Jenetty, he wasn't a High flyer, he was High as a Kite!

 

but wait, they are Wrestling darlins, thats different.

 

Sandman drinks a dozen Beers,  and thats BEFORE he gets to the ring. while he stumbles around the stands, wondering how all these people got in his room.

 

We are obviously not gonna see Japanese Deathmatch material no Broken Glass, Exploding Boards,

 

hell we can't even get the WWF to do a barbwire match

and the NWA use to do them alot.

 

Hell Hardcore matches aren't anywhere near ECW Calibur.

 

Maybe Violence will be simply stiffer moves

 

Regal and his Borrowed Hardway Taz Kobashi Half Nelson Suplex

 

Jazz busting out a Fisherman's Buster

 

Whats next?? Lyger bombs,  Ocean Cyclone Suplexes  Dragoncarana's???

[Guest Loss4Words]

Wrestling can continue to be progressive without upping the ante as far as highspots are concerned. The goal should be to work smarter, not harder.

 

That doesn't mean aerial moves should be pretty much eliminated, a la JR. What that means is that the big bumps should be well-timed and smart so they're more than just gratuitious and good for five-second pops.

 

There's a reason Steve Austin has been the biggest star of the past few years and not the Hardy Boyz. The fans want to be emotionally involved. The bar can be raised by how smart wrestlers and bookers become.

 

The way to keep the fans satisfied is to actually engage them in storylines. Make us feel like we're a part of what's going on. The reason Austin v McMahon worked so well was because EVERYONE could relate to having an asshole boss and finally, someone was doing all the things to his boss that we only dreamed of doing. See, there's an emotional connection. There's a reason to care.

 

As far as ring work, I think the WWF needs to continue to move toward a psychology that relies heavily on near-falls and build to keep people interested. If you look at the matches that have had the best reaction over the past few years or so, namely the 05/21/01 Hunter Killer tag and the Austin-Benoit feud, those matches were hot because of in-ring storytelling, not because of huge bumps. Unfortunately, it seemed like even Benoit didn't fully realize this based on the excessive cage match with Kurt Angle just a few weeks later.

 

The key is to continue to improve from a production standpoint and to come up with more emotionally-involving storylines that aren't dropped in mid-stream. The ringwork can supplement that quite nicely without the wrestlers having to kill themselves to get a reaction.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Wrestling can continue to be progressive without upping the ante as far as highspots are concerned. The goal should be to work smarter, not harder.

 

That doesn't mean aerial moves should be pretty much eliminated, a la JR. What that means is that the big bumps should be well-timed and smart so they're more than just gratuitious and good for five-second pops.

 

There's a reason Steve Austin has been the biggest star of the past few years and not the Hardy Boyz. The fans want to be emotionally involved. The bar can be raised by how smart wrestlers and bookers become.

 

The way to keep the fans satisfied is to actually engage them in storylines. Make us feel like we're a part of what's going on. The reason Austin v McMahon worked so well was because EVERYONE could relate to having an asshole boss and finally, someone was doing all the things to his boss that we only dreamed of doing. See, there's an emotional connection. There's a reason to care.

 

As far as ring work, I think the WWF needs to continue to move toward a psychology that relies heavily on near-falls and build to keep people interested. If you look at the matches that have had the best reaction over the past few years or so, namely the 05/21/01 Hunter Killer tag and the Austin-Benoit feud, those matches were hot because of in-ring storytelling, not because of huge bumps. Unfortunately, it seemed like even Benoit didn't fully realize this based on the excessive cage match with Kurt Angle just a few weeks later.

 

The key is to continue to improve from a production standpoint and to come up with more emotionally-involving storylines that aren't dropped in mid-stream. The ringwork can supplement that quite nicely without the wrestlers having to kill themselves to get a reaction.

I don't know, just last year alone we got a TLC match, the RVD/Hardy hardcore matches (with hardy taking excessive bumps) and the cage match you mentioned, all on free TV. I realize what the goal should be, but last year especially wasn't a good example of that. Whether it was Booker T randomly putting Austin through a table and nearly breaking his hand, Shane nearly getting killed by Kurt, RVD constantly finding new ways to kill himself, or ladder matches becoming a monthly tradition, the bar for violence was being raised all the time. Hell, the WWF has become a place were wrestlers can be dropped 40 feet in the air inside a car, or be run over with a semi truck, and be perfectly fine a few weeks later, even reconsiling with the person who tried to kill them a few weeks before.

 

Yes, storylines are the way to go, but right now the directions those are taking is becoming increasingly frustrating, with the new brand expansion doing more to confuse people than to interest them. But that's another rant.

[Guest razazteca]

Hell, the WWF has become a place were wrestlers can be dropped 40 feet in the air inside a car, or be run over with a semi truck, and be perfectly fine a few weeks later

 

hey that was in the Ready to Rumble movie

 

It looks like the future in the Entertainment of the angles will result into become softcore porn....eventually Ms Handcock will give Vince a lapdance and he will have a wetspot on his pants and King will say "Did Vince glaze a Donut"

 

The Sports future will hopefully add some psycology to the matches and the matches will be stretches out to be about 10 minutes long with people popping for near falls.

[Guest Dace59]

They also need to bring back the 1 count, as it give you a longer build upto 3 than starting at 2, and it makes more sense for eariler kick outs.

And people need to be trying to kick out of pins (kicking legs/flaying body) in the near falls, rather than just lying there and kicking out in one effort. And people should stop being "knocked out" in the end fall, unless they've taken a bug move (Eg table bump, top rope version of finisher, multiple finishers)

 

Jazz busting out a Fisherman's Buster

 

Whats next?? Lyger bombs,  Ocean Cyclone Suplexes  Dragoncarana's???

 

It's a pretty soft FB, just looks like a non bridging Fisherman's.

Rey Jr. did spring board Dragon Rana's back in WCW.

D'lo's messed up powerbomb on Dros ended as a Running Lyger Bomb

Seen a few Japanese Ocean Suplexs (Eclectric Chair suplexs) before, but not the cross armed Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex.

[Guest]

Jake "The Snake" Roberts once said in an interview that by age 40, Jeff Hardy won't be able to walk if he keeps up his current ring work...there's a thought for you all.

Jake Roberts is also a cracksmoking loser. What's your point?

I agree with Trivia247...

 

To say Jake Roberts is a crack smoking loser just displays your lack of wrestling knowledge, and immaturity. Jake Roberts was one of the most influencial minds to ever grace a wrestling ring, he was the sort of athelete that could reach out of the screen and MAKE you pay attention, something which lacks in many wrestlers of this day.

 

Keep arguing that Jake Roberts is a loser if it makes you feel big, but in all seriousness, i suggest you think before you type.

 

This has been the Taker Mark...DDT! DDT! DDT!

[Guest stretch plum]

"Unfortunately, it seemed like even Benoit didn't fully realize this based on the excessive cage match with Kurt Angle just a few weeks later."

 

Agreed with the points above, but I think Benoit "realized" it. The problem was two fold, a) Heyman had his booking fingers all over it, b) Benoit has always been a 'Point me in a direction and go' type of worker. In the Austin match he was asked to go out there and fill 20 minutes with Steve Austin in a hot match with his home town crowd, giving him freedom to do what he does best. In the cage match, the fear was Angle vs. Benoit wouldn't draw on it's own in the 10:50 slot so they throw in the gimmick out there and the highspots we're expected to follow suit. They delivered...abliet all for not. Part of the blame should go to Benoit for not taking care to reign in Angle (and himself) more, but the booking was the catalyst to that disaster.