I’m an avid wrestling enthusiast. To me, (professional) wrestling isn’t all that much a sport as it is a display of athleticism. Granted, these days the politics of the industry seems to play out more it’s still a something I love dearly. That being said, I can actually understand why some tend to stray away from it. There are just as many reasons to dislike wrestling as there are to love it, which brings me to today’s topic. I don’t really consider myself nitpicky when it comes to professional wrestling, but there are things that are common in professional wrestling that I have to just shake my head at every time I see them. Bare in mind, this list is composed to things that irritate ME, meaning this list is solely my opinion. If you disagree, that’s fine, but just know I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I’m just speaking my mind.
Alrighty then. Let us begin, shall we?
5. Inconsistent Heel Turns
Heels to me are a necessity to the world of professional wrestling. Whether they're complex (I.E Jake the Snake and Raven), over-the-top (Roddy Piper and The Iron Sheik) or just threatening (Kane and Meng), heels help bring a level of emotional investment to matches. Think about it, how many wrestling promotions have you seen with all Faces?
That being said, I have very little issues when face switches to a Heel (so long as it benefits his/her career). However, a fair majority of the time when it happens they show no subtlety in doing so. What do I mean by that? Think about CM Punk. When he first came to the WWE, he was a charismatic face who took pride in his straight edge lifestyle. He was always happy to be with the fans and it showed every time he performed. Then he became The Straight Edge Messiah. This gimmick consisted of him coming out night after night preaching of the superiority of the straight edge lifestyle and talking down to anyone to those who think otherwise. I had no problem with the sudden change, but when you really think about it, there was no subtle transition into his new character, taking a bit of realism out of it.
Another example on the top of my head is Dave Batista. Most of career in the WWE was spent as a Face. His last heel turn came in his betrayal of his longtime friend Rey Mysterio. The change in his character hit it's falling point in believability when answering Rey's pleas for peace. Rey said something along the lines of “What would Eddie think of us fighting each other?” to which he replied in a dark tone “Rey, Eddie's dead”. I'll be the first to admit, that the delivery and the harshness of his tone was admirable in drawing genuine heart heat. The problem is, once again, the suddenness in his change killed the believability of the character. Batista had immense respect towards the late great Eddie Guerrero, and he wouldn't so easily speak ill off him.
I don't “hate” this cliche. In fact I don't even dislike it. I simply think it's more effective when we actively see their on screen persona develop.
4. Force Perspective Zoom-Ins
Now THIS is something that thoroughly annoys me, though it seems to persist mainly in WWE and TNA. This is when a wrestler performs a move and the camera zooms in quickly as though to emphasize the impact of said move. Look, we all know wrestling is staged for the most part. Even so, most of what you see in terms of strikes and grapples are actually happening. It's a simple matter of knowing how to react upon the contact with the mat or floor that can minimize damage. Whether or not you believe it's real, it looks like it hurts. Good camera angles can benefit matches but we don't need to be told that a move hurts.
3. The Corrupt Boss
This is a gimmick that is severely overdone in professional wrestling. Ever since Vince McMahon perfected “Corrupt Boss” shtick, it's been replicated dozens of times. Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Shane McMahon, Johnathan Coachman, and the latest is John Laurinitius. Granted, most of the time they're entertaining, that doesn't excuse the fact that it's been done to death.
Allow me to explain what defines The Corrupt Boss. He is notably petty, often punishing wrestlers with excessively difficult matches for the smallest remark. He thinks very highly of himself, to the point that he believes that he is the sole reason for every bit of success in their industry. He is extremely bias and prejudice (this is somewhat more of a novelty to see by today's standards).
To reiterate, I don't outright hate this cliche. It's just severely overdone.
2. “He's gotta make the tag!”
Tag team matches are very special to the wrestling community. The industry simply can't thrive without them. In the WWE they've been severely downplayed to the point that anyone can have shot at the tag team championship without having to earn one. I think a decent step into bringing the credibility back to the tag team division is to eliminate the cliche mentioned above.
You know what I'm talking about. The heel team has managed to incapacitate the legal man and are beginning to wear him down. The face his trying desperately to get to his partner, but he keeps getting dragged back to the corner (or the middle of the ring). The face eventually hits him with his signature move leveling the legal man. Now that they both are lying in the ring they both crawl over to their partners. It's normal for the heel to be tagged seconds before the face; you see, this gives the audience a chance to give him a good pop as he begins to kick ass for a few minutes. Either this leads to the end of the match, or the heel getting a lucky shot and shifting the tone of the match.
Yup, it's really become that predictable.
1. Misplaced Booking
Two weeks ago I witnessed the debut of Lord Tensai, formerly known as Albert. There were promos building up his character as a mysterious and dominating force and fans were eagerly anticipating his arrival. His debut, while showcasing his talent, was somewhat hindered due the suddenness of his appearance. Not to mention the fact that he destroyed Alex Riley, a young man who many believed had a bright future in the industry. The timing and the choice of opponent hurt what was suppose to be a strong debut.
A few days ago, there was a six person mixed tag team match between Drew McIntyre and The Bella Twins against The Great Khali, Natalya, and Alicia Fox The match lasted only one minute and it only served to kill time. Barely. Despite my lack of investment, watching this match insulted me in so many ways. It was so irrelevant, so random, so out of place that I couldn't help but picture the writing staff just picking names and match types out of a hat.
The problem with WWE and TNA is that they try far to hard to get the audience emotionally invested into the matches. In ROH and various Japanese promotions, the drama comes from the sheer intensity of the matches and the competitors. WWE and TNA make an effort to promote the drama themselves but when they put so much focus on storylines and keyfabe, we aren't nearly as invested.
Allow me provide a recent example of how competitors can add drama to the match by themselves.
At Wrestlemania 28 The Undertaker and Triple H battled each other in a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Micheals as special guest referee. The WWE had built up the the match for months, though I have to say, even if the match had come out of left field, it wouldn't have hindered the drama of the match. The two were on the top form dishing out cringe worth blows to each other while Shawn looked on in concern for the two men he respected the most. Shawn, despite being impartial throughout the whole match, added a great deal to it. You could see the pain in his expression as he witnessed his two friends nearly kill each other. At the end of the match, The Undertaker stood victorious and he and Shawn helped Triple H to his feet and they exited the arena together thus creating one of the most emotional moments in professional wrestling. They advertised this match as the end of an era and this very sight made everyone understand the weight and meaning of those words.
The point I'm trying to make here is that emotional investment can be presented by the matches alone. If Daniel Bryan and Jack Swagger were to compete in a standard match, you would get pure wrestling at it's finest. A match like that, even if the two aren't affiliating with each other, would build both their stock by showcasing their talent. You can't just book matches any way and expect something good to come out of it. You need to mix competitors who can work off each other and make the match work.
Well, that was my top five worst wrestling cliches. If you disagree with any of my choices, leave a comment below and tell me what you think the worst cliches are. I'm all for discussions.
No comments:
Post a Comment