Did the WWF (now WWE) employ choreographers for it’s matches or was it up to the wrestlers themselves to choreograph the matches?
I was watching a rerun the other day of a Hulk vs. Machoman wrestlemania and was wondering how many people worked behind the scenes producing the actual matches.
Old school guys generally called it in the ring, with a few exceptions. Randy Savage being a major one–from what I’ve heard, he wanted to plan the whole thing out move by move before ever going to the ring.
Lately, with the modern product, there is more pre-planning, and big PPV matches might actually be put together by someone more experienced…like Pat Patterson…before the guys go to the ring.
Another thing you’ll see sometimes is a “special referee”–added for storyline purposes, but sometimes also added to call the moves if the guys get off track, or otherwise need some help.
Different wrestlers have different game plans for matches. In some cases they rehearse together based on a script. Either the bookers or the creative teams come up with an outline and the wrestlers work out the moves and timing. Other experienced wrestlers will just get an outline for a match and rely on communication and experience to just improvise the match.
Refs also have earphones to get instructions from the producers to work on the timing for TV and live shows. They will then rely that information to the wrestlers without the crowd seeing or hearing.
Very rarely is an entire match plotted out from start to finish. (Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI is a notable example of one that was - the two of them rehearsed it for weeks ahead of time because Warrior wasn’t the best at improv, and Hogan wanted the fight to be perfect.) In general, the wrestlers will know the basics - how long the fight should last, what the finish should be, anything they need to do to advance the storyline, if there’s any particular spots they want/need to hit - and they put it together as they go, often shouting instructions to each other over the roar of the crowd (“calling spots”, which you can sometimes hear if you pay enough attention). Here’s a funny video with some examples of it.
The ability to plot this out is part of what’s called “wrestling psychology”, and some wrestlers are better at it than others. To take the current crop of wrestlers, Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose are brilliant ring psychologists, while other guys like Randy Orton or Alberto Del Rio are less improvisational and need to be paired with someone better suited to putting together a good match in order for things to work. (Then there’s guys like the Great Khali, who can barely walk let alone wrestle and are only kept around because they’re too lovable to boo, but I digress.)
Wait…are you guys saying what I think you’re saying???:dubious:
mmm
The “choreographers” of current WWE matches are usually former wrestlers who learned the trade in the ring. They work together with the wrestlers to plot the match, though there is room for some improv depending on crowd reaction. There’s a big difference how WWF matches 2 decades ago were plotted versus today. Most of the current wrestlers learn their trade entirely within the WWE ecosystem, and because of that, they need help plotting matches. Before, wrestlers would travel - Japan, Mexico, WCW, ECW, etc. (this is the area after the local territories died out) and would bring the varying styles and learnings to the WWF. Daniel Bryan is one who traveled to learn the craft, and it shows (in a positive way). Same can be said of CM Punk.
For better and worse, the in-ring product has changed.