March 2023 AEW Discussion

[John from Cincinnati]

15 minutes ago, JLowe said:

A 20-minute tag match where the first 10 minutes, including a PiP break, are just Penta and Jarrett spamming their taunts back and forth.

Certified frontrunner for Dean's poll that week.

[AxB]

60 minutes. Like that staredown match with Kazuyuki Fujita and Go Shiozaki.

[DEAN]

Sooooo adorable.

 

[odessasteps]

Great Grandson of a plumber 

[Octopus]

Likely not going to overly ramble as @Matt D already did so beautifully. But I’ll briefly contribute to the discussion on Wrestling Psychology. 

Narrative - The story being told. Usually told in a traditional story arc, does what’s being done in the ring make sense based on the world or environment the story is being told? This can also be done in more experimental ways as well, but the heart of storytelling is having something the audience can follow along with or be moved by, consciously or subconsciously.

Spots - Often “High Spots” or “Moments” these are the exciting pieces of a match. The highlight reel. Flipping or weapons or comedic relief, etc. If combined with story, be it a moment as a callback or a built to spot or even momentum changing move. Spots are a wonderful tool in Wrestling Psychology. OR, everything is built around spots. Utter chaos of throwing a toaster at a guy’s head or a sequence of high flying acrobatics. That’s fine too, in some environments. 

Crowd Reading - I wish I could think of a better title for this but that’s usually how I hear it being referred to. Literally reacting to the crowd. The crowd wants a chop, you give ‘em a chop. I remember hearing Adam Cole on a podcast talk about how he learned to build a match like a rollercoaster. Pacing of the action and the slowed down anticipation of being down and being patient enough to wait and then give them more action. I’m paraphrasing but I think it was on Unrestricted. A good use of crowd reading would be Jerry Lynn talking about a match he was having at a small town show with a X-Division guy (don’t remember who) and the crowd gave no reaction to their usually exciting sequences of spots. Someone yelled out something about Lynn’s hair being long and Jerry reacted by flipping his hair and giving a look and the crowd laughed. Low hanging fruit but it got the audience on their side and it became a comedy match. Story likely went out the window, but in that moment, it was the right use of Wrestling Psychology. Combing an ability to get more out of a crowd along with the Story you are telling and even to milk a Spot, hot diggity dog!

Wrestling Psychology is all of these things. Ideally, (or at least how I like it) a wrestler or match can combine these elements. 

[southofheavy]

Grampa Dustin!!! And that lil' peanut!!! 

[DreamBroken]

the next House Rules house show events are announced as May 12 in Corbin, KY, and May 13 in Salem, VA

[Dolphman 3000]

Jacksonville Dixie living up to his name

 

[Matt D]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

the next House Rules house show events are announced as May 12 in Corbin, KY, and May 13 in Salem, VA

It's probably too much to hope that they run one at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

[Ramo2653]

On 3/29/2023 at 7:00 AM, HarryArchieGus said:

 I had no idea Keith Lee's been online stirring things up. What's he been saying?

Every time I see Keith Lee trend on Twitter, I have to search before I figure out if it's the wrestler or the former MMA fighter turned food vlogger.

[odessasteps]

15 minutes ago, Matt D said:

It's probably too much to hope that they run one at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Real baltimore as opposed to Fake Baltimore

[Octopus]

Quake by the Lake 2, baby! Have twice as long of a Liontamer this time.

[John from Cincinnati]

2 hours ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

Jacksonville Dixie living up to his name

 

Dixie's tendency to oversell has come up a few times on Jarrett's show. Tony should have a chat with him about it. 

[twiztor]

3 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

Every time I see Keith Lee trend on Twitter, I have to search before I figure out if it's the wrestler or the former MMA fighter turned food vlogger.

well the MMA guy was Kevin Lee, so that should help in the future. Also, TIL that he is now a food critic

[Nice Guy Eddie]

22 hours ago, DEAN said:

Sooooo adorable.

 

Lil Rowan, huh?

Run

[Cobra Commander]

This might not be a problem in a few weeks, but for some weird reason, I keep confusing Jeff Cobb and Brian Cage. Like when I saw the Omega/Cobb match, I thought it was Omega/Cage before realizing "no, that's not Brian Cage"

Cobb and Cage really don't even look alike either. Cobb is like Pacific Island Rhyno and Cage is on all the steroids.

Cobb's also better than Cage although it seemed like Omega/Cobb took some time to warm up with the crowd, or at least with the crowd on the hard cam.

[JLowe]

23 hours ago, Octopus said:

Likely not going to overly ramble as @Matt D already did so beautifully. But I’ll briefly contribute to the discussion on Wrestling Psychology. 

Narrative - The story being told. Usually told in a traditional story arc, does what’s being done in the ring make sense based on the world or environment the story is being told? This can also be done in more experimental ways as well, but the heart of storytelling is having something the audience can follow along with or be moved by, consciously or subconsciously.

Spots - Often “High Spots” or “Moments” these are the exciting pieces of a match. The highlight reel. Flipping or weapons or comedic relief, etc. If combined with story, be it a moment as a callback or a built to spot or even momentum changing move. Spots are a wonderful tool in Wrestling Psychology. OR, everything is built around spots. Utter chaos of throwing a toaster at a guy’s head or a sequence of high flying acrobatics. That’s fine too, in some environments. 

Crowd Reading - I wish I could think of a better title for this but that’s usually how I hear it being referred to. Literally reacting to the crowd. The crowd wants a chop, you give ‘em a chop. I remember hearing Adam Cole on a podcast talk about how he learned to build a match like a rollercoaster. Pacing of the action and the slowed down anticipation of being down and being patient enough to wait and then give them more action. I’m paraphrasing but I think it was on Unrestricted. A good use of crowd reading would be Jerry Lynn talking about a match he was having at a small town show with a X-Division guy (don’t remember who) and the crowd gave no reaction to their usually exciting sequences of spots. Someone yelled out something about Lynn’s hair being long and Jerry reacted by flipping his hair and giving a look and the crowd laughed. Low hanging fruit but it got the audience on their side and it became a comedy match. Story likely went out the window, but in that moment, it was the right use of Wrestling Psychology. Combing an ability to get more out of a crowd along with the Story you are telling and even to milk a Spot, hot diggity dog!

Wrestling Psychology is all of these things. Ideally, (or at least how I like it) a wrestler or match can combine these elements. 

Maybe this should go on the main wrestling board and hopefully bring in a lot of the OG DVDVR contributors and old school RSPW folks, but I feel like this deserves some reflection. 

[Dolphman 3000]

 

[John from Cincinnati]

I wish he would stop trying to tell us. People don't deserve to know, and most aren't going to believe him anyway. 

https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/1641903593287737349

[DragonZombie]

22 hours ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

Jacksonville Dixie living up to his name

 

Yay! Goldberg!

[DreamBroken]

20 hours ago, twiztor said:

well the MMA guy was Kevin Lee, so that should help in the future. Also, TIL that he is now a food critic

he means Kevin's younger brother Keith, who was fighting in Bellator and then a food critic

[twiztor]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

he means Kevin's younger brother Keith, who was fighting in Bellator and then a food critic

well fuck. i guess i'm learning lots of things.