Ramsey Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 (Inspired by the gif thread) What modern wrestling needs is: More feuds that feature taped fists and/or fireballs. A roll of quarters exploding all over the mat after a knockout punch would be awesome too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo Necro Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Jobbers that are happy to be jobbers and wont piss and moan when they dont "get pushed". Not everyone can be The Rock, some people need to be Barry Horowitz. Easiest way to get people over is for them to win, a lot, and you cant do that without a good group of Job guys. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstout Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 More managers, more people down the card talking to try to further their feuds/characters. The only guys who get to talk, pretty much, are the main eventers for 20 minutes at a stretch. In today's wrestling, Jimmy Valiant wouldn't get any mic time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 To break from the formula on occasion: why not have a team fail to make the hot tag on occasion, why not occasionally have an extended squash with no comeback, that will make fans care more about the middle of matches. Not everything has to run through to the end. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 An authority figure who is rarely ever seen or involved in storylines. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.J. Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 This should be renamed the "Jim Ross tribute thread". Anyway, modern wrestling needs a solid midcard. It seems like if you're a wrestler, you're either going to be pushed as a future main-eventer, or total jobber. There's no in-between. I'd love to see some more mid-card feuds centered around the US title or something. WWE's ECW was a perfect example of a great show centered around the mid-card. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 A modern day version of Sherri Martel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 An enema 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Blood, if you will, babies! And less corporate marketing speak in the show. Save that shit to fleece the shareholders. Let the announcers treat it a little more like a sport again. And stop with the idea that the way to get over is to play chant games with the crowd. Ignore the fucking crowd and focus on how much you want to hurt that one guy. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 The return of the territory system. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 More focus on the midcard more direction for the mid card more emphasis on the secondary titles. It seems especially in the WWE. I admittedly don't watch much IMPACT anymore so I don't know if this is the case or not there. But in the WWE it seems that people just wrestle the same people just to wrestle them everybody trades wins and it seems with the IC and US championships that they are defended every month on PPV cuz they gave to be. When was the last time there was a title match on Raw or Smackdown? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 What wrestling needs now, is another folk singer, like I need a hole in my head. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newb82 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 For us to realize that the wrestling we grew up with is gone and never coming back, just like the generations before us had to. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Jobbers that are happy to be jobbers and wont piss and moan when they dont "get pushed". Not everyone can be The Rock, some people need to be Barry Horowitz. Easiest way to get people over is for them to win, a lot, and you cant do that without a good group of Job guys. How can you have a good group of job guys when "pro wrestling jobber" is something which is basically impossible to make a living at? I dunno if there's a single true jobber today who actually does this stuff for their full-time vocation. The money simply isn't there, and if the money isn't there then the talent certainly won't bother showing up or even honing their craft long enough to become "talent" in the first place. Blood, if you will, babies!Blood turns off the mainstream, period. The 3rd-most common question I hear from contemptuous non-fans (behind "Fake?" and "Steroids/drugs?") is "Don't those guys all cut themselves with razor blades on their foreheads? Nobody bleeds like that in a real fight..." And non-insider news agencies almost always mention blading, every single time they did a story about rassling. It may please the hardcore fans, but it's massively detrimental to the business's outside reputation. And stop with the idea that the way to get over is to play chant games with the crowd. Ignore the fucking crowd and focus on how much you want to hurt that one guy.Why would they wanna do that? Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, and the Rock got over way more because of their promos and their charisma and their rapport with the crowd than they ever did because of anything they did from bell to bell. Mick Foley constantly reminds us that he got bigger pops and made more money by whipping out Mr. Socko than he ever did from any of his hardcore masochism. What modern wrestling truly needs is an all-powerful wizard to wave their magic fucking wand and teleport us all into an alternate universe where rasslin' is not rather obviously a dying artform. Let's face it, unless there's some massive unforeseeable shift in the way history is going, pro wrestling as we know it won't even exist a hundred years from now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Cruiserweights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 * Managers. There are probably tons of talented guys and girls out there who aren't athletic enough to be active wrestlers, but still have the verbal performance skills to talk people into the arenas. Zeb and Paul E., I love them, but they can't do it forever. Where is our generation's Heenan, or Ellering, or Blassie, or Sherri? I mean, it's to the point where I was watching old Raws on the Network and I found myself becoming strangely nostolgic for freakin' Johnny Polo. I beyond hated that dude when my dad would rent me the Coliseum Videos from Blockbuster as a kid, but now realize how well Raven did in that role. We need more of that. Not every wrestler is capable of speaking on their own behalf. Don't send someone like Brie Bella out there to drown during a 20 minute promo. And speaking of 20 minute promos... * A format change. Similar to what alstein said above about straying from certain match formulas, when was the last time Raw or Impact didn't open with a long, boring, promo? Full of baaaaaaad acting. It's such a turn off for me, and I'm a hardcore, life-long fan. I very seriously doubt that they appeal to the non-fan or mythical "casual viewer." I mean, look at that South Park episode for crying out loud-- that sums up what the "acting" looks like outside the bubble. Like, yeah, do a few weeks of vignettes for a debuting character-- that's worked for 20 years now. But these "no 4th wall" conversations and unnatural dialogue and shit, has to go. * Less authority figures, as Charlie M. said above. It was cool when Vince and Bischoff did it in '97/'98 because it had never been done before. You'd get Jack Tunney live via-satellite 4 times a year. Now every damn week it's Steph, and HHH, and like, Kane for some reason, but then also Vickie and Brad Maddox for a bit, plus lets not forget Dixie... blegh. Someone on this board (at least I think it was this board-- if you're reading this and it was you, please speak up and take credit)-- someone on this board said that wrestling was becoming less of a wrestling show, and more of a show about running a wrestling promotion, and I agree entirely. I think wrestling needs to move away from that. This ties right into what piranesi was saying above about the corporate speak on TV, and the announcers treating it like a sport. And speaking of sports... * Titles that mean something! The great thing about legitimate sports is that there is always competition for the top prize. We are only into the 2nd week of meaningless NFL pre-season games, and there is already rumblingz about which starters are looking like Super Bowl caliber players. If the wrestlers aren't chasing titles, like I mean REALLY making it their mission, then the fact that it's a work really, really shines through. Or maybe the announcers should start talking about winners' purses and DA PAY WINDAH on TV again! "Motivated by titles/money" is the perfect way to jazz up a match that, otherwise, has no angle and no heat. * Mystique! The Undertaker was the last guy left who really had an "aura" to him. I suppose maybe Brock too, since he appears so infrequently. But a guy like Bray Wyatt having a Twitter account is a fucking travesty. These are supposed to be larger than life, living comic book characters-- if you keep that built in for the younger audience, you'll have a fan for life, which is key. I'm sorry I can't add more to the discussion in the way of Japan, Mexico, or the indies. I just haven't watched a lot of modern stuff from any of those places 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notoriusvig Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Ugly, and even fat wrestlers who look like they are tough. There's too many tanned, wash-board abs, pretty boys out there who look about as tough as a fly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCM Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Viable competent wrestling companies with cable tv deals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 CATS. LOTS OF CATS. EACH MORE BOMBASTIC AND IN YOUR FACE THAN THE LAST. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muhammedboehm Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Rules and enforce them. If a match is supposed to end if either wrestler or both wrestlers are outside for a count of ten DO IT. Don't have them outside for 3 minutes while the ref acts like hes doing a ten count at the very end! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsey Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Blood, if you will, babies!Blood turns off the mainstream, period. The 3rd-most common question I hear from contemptuous non-fans (behind "Fake?" and "Steroids/drugs?") is "Don't those guys all cut themselves with razor blades on their foreheads? Nobody bleeds like that in a real fight..." And non-insider news agencies almost always mention blading, every single time they did a story about rassling. It may please the hardcore fans, but it's massively detrimental to the business's outside reputation. And stop with the idea that the way to get over is to play chant games with the crowd. Ignore the fucking crowd and focus on how much you want to hurt that one guy.Why would they wanna do that? Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, and the Rock got over way more because of their promos and their charisma and their rapport with the crowd than they ever did because of anything they did from bell to bell. Mick Foley constantly reminds us that he got bigger pops and made more money by whipping out Mr. Socko than he ever did from any of his hardcore masochism.What modern wrestling truly needs is an all-powerful wizard to wave their magic fucking wand and teleport us all into an alternate universe where rasslin' is not rather obviously a dying artform. Let's face it, unless there's some massive unforeseeable shift in the way history is going, pro wrestling as we know it won't even exist a hundred years from now. I guess I'm not seeing any benefits that come from "appealing to the mainstream." The mainstream does not, and will not, give a shit about wrestling. Meanwhile meat-head wrestling fans, we like blood and we buy dvd's and tickets. And as far as referencing Hulk, Dusty, and Rock? No one is at that level right now and haviing lesser lights attempt to get over the same way those guys did reeks of futility. The formula of great wrestling is the same as the formula for great stories. Let them tell stories like pro-wrestlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 The impression I have is that most non-fans, and even quite a few fans, think the blood in wrestling is fake. My mom, who grew up watching Florida wrestling in the 70s, once told me about all the "fake blood" in a match she saw live between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff. Given that, I don't see why they don't just use blood capsules. Or at least let it go if someone gets busted open hardway. That's one of the things that pissed me off about Brock/Cena at Extreme Rules. They have to stop the match when someone gets cut, but not when the referee gets knocked out? How the hell does that make any sense? Anyway, the correct answer to the question posed in the OP is more fat guys doing moonsaults. Scratch that, more fat guys period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 With all the sweat and rolling around, it'd get easily rubbed off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 They should use the blood of non wrestlers who think they should bleed more Ain't nobody coming to your work and telling you to slice your forehead open 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Sugar Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 A huge NO to blood. I get it made for drama (at times), but it was grossly overused to the point of foolishness...and we live in an era of Hepatitis, HIV, etc. No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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