The style of Pro Wrestling

[DNA 2.0]

As I was revising Wrestlemanias from the past, I couldn't help but notice how much the wrestling sucked from WM I up until WM 16. Of course the times were different there. Nobody can argue the greatness of Andre vs Hogan for example. But I couldn't help but wonder, how much would today's wrestling fans crap on these events. The answer is a lot. And the reason for that is because the style of wrestling is changing. I bet that the Lesnar vs Reigns match back in 1987 would have been groundbreaking and a classic, but today, it was a clusterfuck.

So, with that being said. What's the limit? Where is this all going. Everybody on the roster these days is flying around, deliver superkicks, powerslams, matches have a quick pace, lots of high impact moves, lots of risky moves. Even Braun Strowman has a dropkick in his arsenal and Samoa Joe is doing flying headbutts. How much more before wrestlers get saturated and no wrestler can look special anymore depending only on his ring abilities? How long before entire cards get saturated and no match stands out as THE main event? The latter has already begun actually.

And the question is, what happens after wrestling companies reach this level of saturation? When they can't present anything new and exciting any more?

[Slyfox696]

I would argue we've been there for a while now. Main-eventers flying like cruiserweights has completely made the cruiserweights irrelevant. Undercard wrestlers having matches that top main-eventers hurt the main-event draw. Everyone trying to top each other has ruined the realism in wrestling and without the element of realism, what's the difference between the WWE and the circus?

The sad part is wrestling as you'd see 30 years ago was a much better product in many ways. Unfortunately, in today's ADHD world, the style just would not work to sell to audiences.

[DNA 2.0]

I would argue we've been there for a while now. Main-eventers flying like cruiserweights has completely made the cruiserweights irrelevant. Undercard wrestlers having matches that top main-eventers hurt the main-event draw. Everyone trying to top each other has ruined the realism in wrestling and without the element of realism, what's the difference between the WWE and the circus?

The sad part is wrestling as you'd see 30 years ago was a much better product in many ways. Unfortunately, in today's ADHD world, the style just would not work to sell to audiences.

I recently watched the contract signing between Hogan and Andre and before that the part where Andre tears Hogan's shirt off. Two 3 minute segments were enough to make me watch their match. A simple, yet effective storyline. Hogan and Andre sold the match perfectly with their expressions.

Another example like this is Goldberg vs Lesnar from last year. Their match had the biggest reaction of the night. Another simple, yet effective story.

People find WM 34 dissapointing, but what is it really? It didn't have a bad match. It didn't have something that didn't stood out. So why was it dissapointing?

I don't really know if this saturation is good or not. DO you really need a TOP main eventer?

[SSJPhenom]

Much like everything else in wrestling these days, this too can be blamed on the internet. The IWC as it were. As the internet grew and grew and became more and more involved in wrestling, everything, including in ring style changed. Us 'hardcore wrestling fans' don't care about story or pandering to the audience. We care about work rate, athleticism, how many moves someone has, etc. People within the business didn't help either as you can repeatedly hear Cornette talk about how Diesel back in the day only did 4 moves or read Meltzer's match reviews. They completely lend to this idea that for someone to be a good wrestler or to have a good match they need to do flippies, reversals, etc. When did people forget that more is not always better? Watch Hogan vs Andre. Wonderful match. Watch Hogan vs Rock. Great match. Hell, watch Hogan vs McMahon from WM 19. That match is even good. Are they clinics? No, but they tell a simple story and because of that the crowd bought into them and they mattered.

Now am I saying I don't like athletic matches with flippies and reversals? No, but that's not all that goes into a good wrestling match. Goldberg vs Lesnar at SS '16 was a perfect wrestling match. Told a story, had the crowd in the palm of it's hand, and did exactly what it was supposed to do. Some fans need to remember what wrestling was before they became 'experts' and started bitching about everything.

[DNA 2.0]

Much like everything else in wrestling these days, this too can be blamed on the internet. The IWC as it were. As the internet grew and grew and became more and more involved in wrestling, everything, including in ring style changed. Us 'hardcore wrestling fans' don't care about story or pandering to the audience. We care about work rate, athleticism, how many moves someone has, etc. People within the business didn't help either as you can repeatedly hear Cornette talk about how Diesel back in the day only did 4 moves or read Meltzer's match reviews. They completely lend to this idea that for someone to be a good wrestler or to have a good match they need to do flippies, reversals, etc. When did people forget that more is not always better? Watch Hogan vs Andre. Wonderful match. Watch Hogan vs Rock. Great match. Hell, watch Hogan vs McMahon from WM 19. That match is even good. Are they clinics? No, but they tell a simple story and because of that the crowd bought into them and they mattered.

Now am I saying I don't like athletic matches with flippies and reversals? No, but that's not all that goes into a good wrestling match. Goldberg vs Lesnar at SS '16 was a perfect wrestling match. Told a story, had the crowd in the palm of it's hand, and did exactly what it was supposed to do. Some fans need to remember what wrestling was before they became 'experts' and started bitching about everything.

I can't get what you are talking about. I loved Goldberg vs Lesnar from SSeries, just thought that I loved the finish more than Goldberg beating Lesnar and found that Goldberg wasn't the right man for that job. Anyway.

Flippy shit is boring. It doesn't excite me anymore. Stories excite me. Give me a nice in-ring story.