Random Musings

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

with shawn michaels returning on raw, and the mass reminiscence of his glory days in the mid 1990's, it got me thinking about the wwf style of match, where it is, and where it is going.

 

through the bulk of the 1990's, the wwf style was definitely that of power.  with the exception of shawn, and to a lesser extent bret, the main eventers were all huge, lumbering men, ala hulk hogan, diesel, the undertaker.  however from about 1996, when diesel blew his title run, this wasnt really what fans wanted to see, and hence the wwf shifted its emphasis.  Austin 3:16, and with it the attitude era were born, with extreme storylines and bizarre gimmick matches.  however this created problems, as fans became desensitised to the action, resulting in midcarders like Jeff Hardy having to push themselves further each week, doing progressively more dangerous things.  it became quickly apparent that this was unsustainable, however in the main event, not a great deal had changed, as many of the uppercarders from the last era such as taker were lingering, although it became apparent that the uppercard was now not totally hoss orientated, yet the matches were still not very good.

 

from 1999 onwards, the attitude era was at its apex, and the new main eventers who were created in this time were hitting their stride.  HHH was pulling out awesome matches all through 2000, and rock was establishing himself as a huge crossover star.  the main events became quicker and better, and as a result a vibe about the product was created.  following wrestlemania X-7, the attitude era was at an end.  hhh was injured and rock was off making movies.  this left steve austin, as well as the emerging kurt angle, chris benoit and chris jericho at the top of the card.  this led to some incredible matches over spring/summer 2001, yet the vibe wasnt there, and the product suffered.  the impending returns of the rock and hhh did little to spark fan interest, and subsequently such wrestlers as the undertaker were pushed up the card, and other names from the past such as kevin nash and hulk hogan were brought back.  this represented full-circle for the now wwe, as the energy and excitement of the main event scene through the year 2000 was now replaced with the plodding, boring scene of the mid 1990's.

 

this now brings us to the current question, where does the wwe take its main event style from here?  we saw that at the apex of the attitude era, quality matches as well as quality storylines created a huge swell of fan interest.  but those days are gone now, and as the last 6 months have shown, names from the past do very little to freshen the scene.

 

the wwe currently has a group of main eventers who are collectively aging and entering the twilight of their careers.  steve austin is broken down and aging, hhh is slow, and a potential injury hazard due to his large bulk.  even rock, the final member of the wwe's current bona-fide main eventers has his shortfalls due to his growing stardom in hollywood.  as a result, the style needs to evolve.  in recent weeks, edge was being pushed towards the main event, however no matter who they give him wins over, i and everyone else still class him as an attitude era midcarder, attempting to grow into an attitude era main eventer.  also, we have seen the repeated failures at pushing big men such as test towards the main event.  these styles of wrestlers and wrestling are now totally old-hat, we need something new, something for the 21st century.

 

in the last few years, the only real success the wwe has had in elevating somebody towards the main event is in kurt angle, and to a much lesser extent chris benoit and jericho.  there is a reason why angle (and benoit) got over, its because the fans see and appreciate their ringwork.  its different, its very fast-paced, it acually looks like it will hurt.  people cringe when they see somebody hit with a release german suplex, and that is something they certainly dont do for a pedigree.  everybody knows wrestling is fake, but the rise of shoot-sports in japan has shown that fans want to see real action, or at least be convinced that what they see hurts legitimately.  it is this quick, legitimate-seeming style which is the direction forward, and this is one attribute that a character like edge lacks, it is a quality which is present amongst those workers with either an ecw or japanese background.

 

in 2001, two workers got over based solely on their ringwork, rvd and tajiri.  the fans bought this offence, and they bought their charisma - not mic charisma like edge or jericho, but rather in-ring charisma like benoit and angle.  the advantage of this style is that the variety of matches is increased, as the workers are generally smaller and much more versatile.

 

with the changing of the guard in terms of main eventers not terribly far off, who should the wwe elevate in order to evolve this style?

kurt angle and chris benoit are already there, they are credible and would easily form the austin/rock roles of this new generation

RVD- he was/is hella over, and the fans simply go nuts for his moveset.  he has toned down the high risk, and is simply electric in the ring.  he could be a total breakout star, he just needs to be built properly

lance storm- could be a decent uppermidarder/top card, but his mic skills let him down.  he has a ring presence, and his offence is both quick and stiff-seeming

booker t- on the verge of breaking out as a mega-face, his ringwork is reasonably fast, and when he is on, his kicks look fairly good and believable.  all he needs is really a finisher, and he is there.

eddy guerrero- hes there, great moves, great speed, great look, good mic skills, he fits in here perfectly.

 

where does this leave edge? imo edge needs to apapt and become quicker, as well as gaining some impact moves.  his spear is good, tho his ddt finisher totally lacks any sort of believable impact.

 

in terms of the midcard, rhyno would be a top player, with a possibility for future main eventing.

other midcard players could be christian, shawn o'haire, and the cruiserweights.

 

now what about rock, provided he doesnt leave for hollywood, rocky can still play an integral role in this style.  he would be sorta like foley, as the last remnant of the previous era, which would allow him to be in the main event, yet also have a deep character.  also, unlike the other present main eventers, rock has the athleticism to keep up with the likes of angle and benoit.

 

shawn michaels was in the wrong era, if he was coming up today, he would have fit perfectly into this style, and been an even bigger star than he was.

 

sorry about the essay, and there will probably be a heap of spelling errors.  tell me what you think.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

bump

[Guest Flyboy]

That was a damn good read, Midget.  

 

Keep it up.

[Guest Special K]

Here Here, Midget.

 

I am eternally obtomistic about these guys. Workrate hopefaully CAN translate to a bit of ratrings though, otherwise they will always go back to the big guys. Personally, the last 2 weeks have been 10x what has been expected, though,

[Guest]

Seriously - Vanilla Midgets Rule!