I see we have quite a few here judging by the popularity of the WWE thread. So I figure I’ll ask a question. I’m an on and off wrestling fan who is recently back on again. So anyway, here’s my question:
What kinds of dumb things do you see often in wrestling that are so dumb that it makes it impossible to suspend disbelief? Of course there’s a lot of ridiculous in wrestling, but I’m cool with a lot of it. I willingly suspend disbelief for the ring action, the cheating, and the blind refs.
What bugs me though are run-ins. IMO, a run-in should be a shocking event with major consequences, instead of just something that happens whenever they want to advertise a match but not have it end in a clean pinfall. If a run-in happened in a boxing match it would be a bigger story than Mike Tyson biting someone’s ear. If the title changed because the ref didn’t see a boxer get hit with a crowbar, that title change would so not be valid. It’s just stupid and I’ve never heard of a fan that appreciates it. I still remember when nearly every WCW Nitro ended with the NWO running in.
Anyone have anything else that really bugs them when they watch?
I haven’t suspended disbelief in wrestling since I was a little kid, but you are not alone in being tired of run-ins. There’s a reason they can’t even give away tickets these days.
Very few wrestlers sell convincingly these days, especially on injuries that logically should be serious or career-ending. A few weeks ago, Dean Ambrose did a stretcher job on Smackdown where the announcers declared that he had been diagnosed with a crushed larynx, which is less a “will he be cleared to wrestle in time for the PPV” injury and more of a “will he live through the night” injury, but three days later he was back on Raw just fine with no indications he’d ever been hurt.
On the subject of run-ins, it bothers me how the interfering wrestler always has their theme music cued up to play just in time for their entrance, even in circumstances where it makes absolutely no sense that they’d be able to do so (like Sting’s appearance at Survivor Series, or various Shield run-ins.) Coupled with this is the fact that the sound of theme music playing always has a paralytic effect on the wrestlers in-ring, such that, instead of going for the pin, they immediately stop what they’re doing and stare at the entry ramp. In Sting’s case, all the crooked referee had to do was slap the mat one more time to deliver a three-count for Team Authority, but instead he stopped everything and just stared at Sting while he gradually made his way down the aisle to interfere in the match.
The biggest thing that bothers me, though, is champions losing non-title matches. The Intercontinental and United States champions seem to be the go-to guys to job out to main event talent week after week, to the point that they lose over and over again, but somehow manage to actually win the one or two matches a month where the title is on the line.
I haven’t regularly watched wrestling in over 10 years but the stuff that really pulls me out are the unconvincing attacks that are supposed to destroy an opponent but just look weak or bad. I want to use the word “stiff” but I know that’s not the right word because stiff in wrestling terms means using legitimate excessive force in a match. I’m thinking about someone’s punch that looks like a rusty gate slowly and creakily swinging open.
Hulk Hogan is one of these guys to me. Hogan has some decent matches in the mid 80s but hasn’t had a good one since probably WrestleMania 6. His comebacks were always no sell the opponent’s offense, some bad punches, maybe a boot, a slam, and the leg drop of doom. I know he was never the best worker but I always thought his matches would be better if he could just add 3 or 4 moves to his typical repertoire.
Some of those foreign objects are ridiculous too. Steel chairs work fine as weapon but nobody should be walking around using a sledge hammer as one because everyone knows that a real one could legitimately kill a person.
I mourn for Lady Kayfabe. I quit watching the modern product after the Katie Vick incident, but during the “Monday Night Wars” it became common to break kayfabe during the TV shows, with worked-shoot style interviews openly acknowledging the backstage aspects of the business.
I liked the old school style, where, for all the theatrics, the product overall was presented as a competition. Bill Watts produced compelling TV…Vince Russo produced garbage.
Now Hogan, maybe because he was my first wrestling hero, I never get tired of the “hulk up”. But speaking of Hogan, the Hollywood version, what a crappy heel. He had so many examples of badass heels to draw from but instead chose to be a chickenshit. Am I really supposed to believe that one of the biggest, strongest guys in wrestling cowers before smaller guys and can only win by cheating? I don’t think he won one clean match as heel Hollywood. I realize that the heel turn revitalized his career, but it sure didn’t produce any good matches. Hogan just doesn’t know how to work as a heel. He’s only interesting in the ring as a face.
I never really liked kayfabe, at least not taken as far as it was, where wrestlers would feel obligated to assault people who said in front of them that it was fake. But I do agree that breaking kayfabe on TV should be used very sparingly. Whenever Russo tried to do it it was stupid. It works best when smart fans actually wonder if it was a work or not, like when Brian Pillman said, “I respect you, bookerman!”
Sometimes a ref gets knocked out and another ref comes running down immediately. Other times minutes upon minutes after a ref bump and still no new ref.
Sometimes both of these happen ON THE SAME SHOW.
I’ve only ever seen it handled well one time, and I don’t recall the event, but refs had been getting taken out all night, so by the end there were no refs left to run down.
Remember when Ric Flair, 16 time champion guest referree, got nicked by a stray boot and was out cold for like 10 minutes in 2002? I think it was Backlash, Austin vs. Undertaker.
Now that was hard to believe. If they needed a ref bump in that match they shouldn’t have used a wrestler as a guest referee, especially not a 16-time champion.
British Bulldog got knocked out for 15 minutes or so when Bob Backlund had Bret Hart in the chicken wing. All of this to set up Helen Hart throwing in the towel for Bret but jeeze it took forever and fricking Bulldog is just crumpled on the floor all knocked out and stuff.
Hogan had the 5 Moves of Doom as did Bret Hart but I never heard it referred to the sequence as that until I read about it in regards to Cena.
Scottie 2 Hottie hits the bulldog! His opponent is down! He’s setting for the Worm! He’s dancing! There it is, he’s doing the worm! Ohh-Oh-Oh! Elbow drop! Pin! One! Two! Kickout!
Really, Scottie, your bulldog kept him down for the 45 seconds it took you to set up and do the worm, you’d be better off just sticking with that.
Yes, Hogan’s stupid boot to the face always twisted my tits. The opponents would barely walk into it and drop like they were suddenly unconscious.
I also hate this trope used in tag and triple threat matches: one guy gets knocked off the ring apron and flounders on the floor for the next five minutes, then regains consciousness just in time to break up a pin attempt. Granted, it works for Miz, because he’s a weasel heel and he’s obviously faking it for a rest break, but not for anybody else.
The overuse of heroic comebacks by faces. Those should be saved for character for whom it makes sense, not be a common thing that signals “Good guy”. WWE does bad guys better. Some bad guys cheat, but others are just mean and bullies. But faces tend to be so cookie cutter.
I actually loved Lex Luger, not because he was a great performer, but because no one was booked more consistently whether he was a face or a heel. Whether the fans loved him or not, he tended to be a choker, rather than the heroic guy who always beats the odds, and he was always willing to take the cheap win if he could get it.
The Rock too, I’ve been recently watching the Rock N Sock Connection period, and it’s just amazing to me that fans weren’t booing him out of the building for how awful he was to Mick Foley. But that’s Rocky, he’s an arrogant prick whether he’s face or heel. And he wrestles pretty much the same way regardless of what side he’s on.
1> Suspend disbelief and enjoy the show.
2> Suspend belief and go into Analyst mode, looking at the psychology and show of what they’re doing in the ring.
Hogan. Well, I haven’t been a fan of Hogan since the Hogan-Andre days. He’s the biggest ego in any room and he’s absolutely delusional, especially these days. What really bugs me about the Hulk Up bit is that, like watching any other TV show or movie - the bad guy is the biggest badass on the planet. Until the good guy gets mad, when the bad guy completely forgets all his skills and even basic self defense, and just stands there like a confused bag of meat getting the crap beat out of him.
The low quality of heel/face turns is pretty annoying. Suddenly Ryback is a good guy, Big Show goes bad again. They actually spend money on scripts now and that’s all they can come up with.
Ref bumps annoy me because they happen all the freaking time and there are never any on-screen consequences for it. In a real sport, if the COO grabbed a referee by the ankles and dragged him out of the ring to prevent him from counting a pin, there’d be Senate hearings.