Thanks for joining me.
Despite enjoying a lot of the wrestling we’re offered at the moment, I can’t help but feel like some rather fundamental issues have arisen and created numerous problems. Problems that restrict the talent, the fans, the promotions and the industry overall. I don’t suspect many will agree with my safety/common sense-based suggestions to improve wrestling or our enjoyment of it, but please hear me out.
Time away/apart from things is often good to gauge if something was needed in the first place. Although I’ve suggested below that these issues should make themselves scarce via a vacation, I feel that some of these things could do with going away forever.
Starting with…
1. Head-shots with Weapons
This one’s more for the wrestlers themselves, but as a fan, I think it’s fair to say that nobody wants to see anyone get their brain scrambled live on TV. Looking back at Mick Foley being handcuffed whilst The Rock batters the brain-matter out of his skull should be difficult for anyone with half a conscience to watch.
If Cody Rhodes INTENTIONALLY taking this shot with his hands where they were doesn’t say “hey, guys, head-shots are encouraged here, go nuts!”, I don’t know what does. Just because he often pisses reckless, sadomasochistic behaviour all over the place, it doesn’t mean others need to hold themselves to that (lack of a) standard.
Following up from his example-setting, the head-shots in the Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega Lights Out Match were a few steps too far and would prompt me to order something else the next time I looked at the menu. Needless to say, no right-minded individual would crave a concussion so much that they start taking unprotected head-shots. It would be totally out of line for any of us to demand this as a means to entertain us.
2. Bending Over Backwards For Television Companies
People need to/like to make money, I understand that. The Vultures of Television are still alive and well!
People also need the creative space and freedom to make something personal and unique; something that doesn’t just tick a load of boxes and end up being the same as everything else on the channel/aimed at that same target audience.
In a time where the internet and streaming services are so accessible, and not forgetting the potential the WWE Network has, it truly baffles me that the NWA is the only one without cause to appease the needs and narratives of TV companies…yet.
3. DDTs
I know I’m not the first to mention this, but it’s something that’s still quite an issue in the wrestling world. It’s a great old manoeuvrer and it’s a real shame it’s been relegated to serving as a transition to something else. I think their popularity rose somewhat with the banning of piledrivers from many promotions.
Once he got to AEW, Jon Moxley had to adjust his DDT-based finisher, The Paradigm Shift in order to make it stand out from the hundred other similar looking moves being performed by the majority of the roster. Sadly, it wasn’t long until Moxley had to resort to hitting it from the second rope to secure him a victory against a questionable opponent in Darby Allin.
I remember when people weren’t allowed to use super-kicks because WWE was protecting Shawn Michael’s Sweet Chin Music. This meant that when HBK got around to hitting it, it got a much bigger pop and more often than not, the win. Imagine how stuck some people would be in their matches if they did with this DDTs, super-kicks or something else that’s over-used.
Less is more.
4. 9999 Kick-outs Per Match
Not every match has to be the Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Iron Man Classic!
NWA get this…boy, do they get this. Ten minutes of Josephus running around the studio and gobbing off at James Storm, then the bell rings and Josephus gets 1-hit KO’d by Storm. This did plenty for the characters of both men.
Now, Becky Lynch isn’t the guiltiest party by any stretch of the imagination. There are plenty of people that have more near-falls and finisher-negating kick-outs than her on all rosters. I use Becky as an example due to her over-rehearsed, over-used, “ah, c’mon now, ref, dat wus tree, not two!” routine that she busts out a couple of times per match as a means to highlight how heavily these near-falls are leaned on and overplayed by ALL THE PROMOTIONS.
Everyone seems to be obsessed with running the concept of 2.9-second near-pin-falls deep into the ground, despite their experience or place on the card. I get that people are wanting to demonstrate their endurance, but when you go like-for-like with another wrestler in the same way, you both look like you can take a beating, but your arsenal of offence eventually looks like dog-muck.
Again, less is more.
5. Spoilers & Dirt Sheets
I’ve only just finished writing about how (too many) spoilers are ruining our entertainment and slowly making us miserable, and that’s not just applicable within the wrestling realm.
Many are quick to poke holes and feign indifference when it comes to critiquing things, especially wrestling. I would listen to these comments more willingly if it wasn’t for the fact that many are based on ruined chances of being surprised and even enjoying something. This is due in part to the fact that said critics already read every single word of news, backstage reports and general spoilers available and instantly gave up on trying to enjoy it for what it is.
I’m obviously not saying there shouldn’t be any kind of coverage, but there’s already enough out there to sink your teeth into WITHOUT worrying about what might be, without laying out and observing/obsessing over every potential outcome for every possible scenario and without further increasing your anxiety levels.
Enjoy what you have and worry about what you CAN change, not what you can’t…you’ll probably sleep better.
[…] If you missed it, the first part of this venture can be found HERE. […]
[…] with fireworks and screaming people. What did he think was going to happen? He then took that stupid unguarded chair shot. This was a dumb move both for his own scrambled brain and setting the bar for the rest of the […]