Are there any Performance Wrestling competitions out there?

[Damien 0]

I've been googling and I've seen the term "peformance wrestling" coined to describe wwe-style wrestling we know and love. They named it as such to distinguish it from mat wrestling. Now, what I'm wondering is if there have ever been competitions involving performance wrestling. Our artform gets a bad rap from the mainstream because they think its "fake" and don't grasp the fact that us fans do not in any way see this as a sport. So a large portion of the ESPN crowd shuns performance wrestling because it is not a sport. However, if competitions can be set up involving performance wrestling, then they can be shown on ESPN and WWE can find a whole new fanbase. Here's what I'm thinkin:

 

WWE can set up shows where their workers will compete for a decent cash prize. There can be like 6 matches set up and the wrestlers involved in the match of the night gets the prize. So basically, the wrestlers who kayfabe compete against one another (and the referee) will act as a team, competing against other matches. A panel of judges can be lined up at ringside to judge the matches. So basically, it'll be like gymnastics or figure skating (except manlier, of course). The wrestlers would have their match, then wait for the results to be posted on the TitanTron. Finally after the final match, the current scores leaders will enter the ring alongside the wrestlers who just performed. They wait for the score to be posted for the final match to see who wins Match of the Night.

 

Instead of promos, post-match interviews conducted during the show will ask wrestlers to analyze their performances and talk about which spots they hit or missed. The on-screen graphics during the show (like balls/strikes/inning/score during a baseball game) can tally the number of hit or missed spots. The commentators would describe the match in terms of workrate and point out which spots were timed correctly and so on (instead of any storyline nonsense that we're acustomed to).

 

Booking limitations can be discussed before each show (like when the rules are presented onscreen before boxing matches). I.e. "tonight's booking limitations are 1. maximum 3 wrestlers in a match. 2. No run-ins. 3. DQs and ref bumps are allowed 4. No foreign objects or steel cages 5.Time limit draws and countouts are allowed"

 

The WWE wrestlers can still use their stage names and ring entrances but the show would be remarkably different from a typical WWE show and this new sport can probably take on a life of its own. Finally, sports entertainment wrestlers can find themselves in the actual sports pages if they participate in these meets. I think something like this would be a smart mark dream come true.

 

 

 

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I can't decide whether this is the stupidest idea I've ever heard, or merely the stupidest idea I've ever heard about wrestling.

[Maztinho 0]

My friend came up with something like this during the last BOOM period saying that prowrestling could be in the Olympics. Ten years later and it's still a dumb idea.

[Bix 0]

The idea has actually been floated by various people in the business at times, by people as varied as nuts like John "Pee Wee" Moore, idiots like the TNA writing team (the infamous "shoot X division" idea), and even more reasonable types like Nick Bockwinkel. I seem to recall someone doing it in the midwest for one show (possibly involving Moore) and it bombing horribly.

[BUTT 0]

Wasn't this the idea behind Bischoff's "MatRats" promotion?

 

This could never work because what makes a "good wrestling match" is so subjective. If you're Scott Keith, you'd probably think a high-flying flippy-floppy spotfest was worth a 9 out of 10. If you're a DVDVR poster, two fat guys punching each other for five minutes might be your ideal match. Plus it would be totally reliant on the wrestlers to work out the whole match by themselves. Without road agents to help them lay out the match, I could see a lot of today's stars being completely lost.

[RepoMan 0]

My friend came up with something like this during the last BOOM period saying that prowrestling could be in the Olympics. Ten years later and it's still a dumb idea.

 

I had the same exact idea during the last boom period. It'd be no more less legitment than gymnastics or figure skating. I'd watch at least.

 

[Damien 0]

I can't decide whether this is the stupidest idea I've ever heard, or merely the stupidest idea I've ever heard about wrestling.

 

this could only appeal to smarks. marks like yourself would have to have a storyline involved to be interested. if Vince or Jarrett tried this out, there might be a distinctly different audience to come out for this than for sports entertainment. It would obviously be less popular than sports entertainment, but I think its worth a shot.

 

The wrestlers can hire road agents to book the matches and they'd share in the prize $$ as well, provided that the agent can only book one match per card and not create a conflict of interest.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Marks like myself? You can fuck right off.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I can't decide whether this is the stupidest idea I've ever heard, or merely the stupidest idea I've ever heard about wrestling.

 

this could only appeal to smarks. marks like yourself would have to have a storyline involved to be interested.

 

... wow, no. That's... no. Really very no. I suppose all of pro wrestling everywhere is "sports entertainment," then.

[Damien 0]

Marks like myself? You can fuck right off.

 

Rather than prove you're not a mark, you tell me to fuck off. Nice, very markish behavior.

 

Anyway, I think it'd be cool if, at the end of a 5 star spotfest, both wrestlers can bow to the crowd who'd give them a standing ovation, rather than have the kayfabe losing wrestler act pissed that he lost.

 

I would much rather hear the commentators discuss spot setups and their execution rather than hear JR act like an idiot and call every heel "sick and despicable" even though the previous week, he would praise the same wrestler who was a babyface at the time. Or with the female wrestlers, JR calls them all "jezebels" when they turn heel but when they're faces, they are hard working role models.

 

I appreciate the artform of wrestling, but sometimes the storylines are unneccessary because they are so fucking absurd most of the time, WWE is basically insulting our intelligence. It'd be one thing if they distinctly said their target audience was preschoolers, but it seems they think we are all like the David Arquette and his friend characters from Ready 2 Rumble.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Last time I checked, if you're not in the business, you're a mark. So, unless you yourself are in the business, you probably get your "inside" information from the same places as all the rest of us. And not that I need to prove myself to you, but exactly what the hell would I have to provide that you would accept as "proof," anyway? A membership card?

 

Again, fuck off.

[King Cucaracha 0]

at the end of a 5 star spotfest

 

Oh dear god.

 

Please do not use the high and mighty "I'm above you people intellectually" act again after this. Not gonna cut it.

 

 

The closest you're ever going to get to this is Bill Watts' performance related contracts in WCW, or whatever the real story was, can't remember off the top of my head.

[King Kamala 0]

PAX tried something vaguely like this a couple years ago with a professsional amateur wrestling show. I don't think anybody else here would even remember that show. It only lasted 2 or 3 weeks IIRC.

 

 

[Damien 0]

Y2J, I was 5 years ahead of ya:

 

If the International Olympics Committee is going to drop wrestling from the Olympics, WWE star Chris Jericho says why not add choreographed pro wrestling to the summer games?

 

“Think about it, pro wrestling as an Olympic sport would be pretty cool. Look at figure skating or gymnastics, what is it? It’s a choreographed performance that is judged. It’s whoever puts on the best performance," Jericho told Scott Fishman of the Miami Herald in an interview promoting Syfy's new "Robot Combat League" show.

 

"Why can’t you do that with different countries like a Canadian team, an American team, and a German team go in there. Then whoever puts on the best match according to the judges wins. You take two of the best American workers in a match against each other and get scored by the judges. It’s the exact same thing as figures skating, so why not?”

 

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_New...cle_68650.shtml

[bob_barron 0]

I appreciate your efforts in trying to keep this board alive Damien. You're a hero. You should be made an admin, or at worst, a moderator. Have you thought of contacting Mike?

[Twisted Intestine 0]

I'm in

[bob_barron 0]

I pmed Mike. Let's get this going.

 

And lol, Mr. S£im Citrus. What a mark. And a nigger too.

 

Who writes in teal!

[tekcop 0]

Tell barron to stop being a fag and come back.

[Damien 0]

I appreciate your efforts in trying to keep this board alive Damien. You're a hero. You should be made an admin, or at worst, a moderator. Have you thought of contacting Mike?

I should. How do I contact Mike?

 

Why did everyone ditch this joint? They gotta come back and merge both archives. I'm not gonna make a new account for the new place.

[bob_barron 0]

Go to the moderating team and pm Mike or admin. I pmed him, but no response. Maybe you'll be a more persuasive voice. I added him on AIM but have not seen him on.

 

Where are you Mike?

[bob_barron 0]

I applaud you, Damien. Why post at a board that everyone went to, when you can help relaunch TheSmartMarks 2.0? Many years from now, you will be looked as a hero of internet message boarding on a board that was one primarily geared toward discussion of professional wrestling.

[bob_barron 0]

Tell barron to stop being a fag and come back.

 

I thought you weren't allowed to say fag at TSM anymore.

 

CWM doesn't seem to want me back and if there's one thing I'm known for during my years of posting on message boards, it's agreeing with the administration in charge.