Wrestling Tropes You Love / Hate

[Brian Fowler]

2 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

I'm personally on the fence about these since I don't mind showing your opponent up if it happens in the context of the match. At least the Nakamura one was from a house show and those always have silly stuff in them (which is partly why there fun to attend). 

My first thought was "is it weird that the one on TV bothers me but I think the house show one is kinda cool?"

[kafkonia]

1 hour ago, Brian Fowler said:

My first thought was "is it weird that the one on TV bothers me but I think the house show one is kinda cool?"

It also doesn't hurt that Nakamura's pose is cool, and Black's is... sitting on the floor like he's in kindergarten.

[tbarrie]

On 2/7/2021 at 2:10 PM, BobbyWhioux said:

part of what make the Royal Rumble so fun and something that even the casuals and lapsed show back up for is it's the one night on the WWE schedule that comes closest to still doing it.  Time lasted, number of eliminations, which numbers are historically more lucky. STATS. And as much as I've been joining in with the laments about "The Floor Is Lava" the underlying premise that there is a Letter Of The Law that's gotten divorced from the Spirit Of The Law as athletes find a competitive edge in the loophole is great, and all over real sports -- and not coincidentally, I think, the moments that tend to draw the most controversy (or as we wrestling fans call it, heat) -- just think about how much "did both feet hit the floor?" feels like "did he get both feet in bounds?" or "did he break the plane of the goal line?"  It's really not that different.

Of course, if it were a real sport, the much bigger loophole - that if you go out under the top rope, you can hang out on the floor as long as you want - would have been closed long ago. When your match rules strongly disincentivize the competitors from getting in the damn ring at all, you have a problem.

[odessasteps]

It was funny on the new day pod this week to hear Kofi being relieved in a way that he wasn't in the Rumble and didn't have to come up with a new spot this year. Of course, everyone still asked him about it. 

[BobbyWhioux]

54 minutes ago, tbarrie said:

Of course, if it were a real sport, the much bigger loophole - that if you go out under the top rope, you can hang out on the floor as long as you want - would have been closed long ago. When your match rules strongly disincentivize the competitors from getting in the damn ring at all, you have a problem.

at least there's the baseball-esque rule that if you get lapped by the runner/number behind you, you're out, but that only applies if you never get in the ring in the first place and not even then if you're 2019 Billie Kay

[tbarrie]

23 hours ago, BobbyWhioux said:

at least there's the baseball-esque rule that if you get lapped by the runner/number behind you, you're out, but that only applies if you never get in the ring in the first place and not even then if you're 2019 Billie Kay

Is that actually a rule, though? I know Piper said so one year, but as far as I know it's never been referenced since and there have been plenty of counter-examples.

[AxB]

Well, there's the whole issue of whether you can eliminate yourself or not as well. Because that's been called both ways.

Then again, that's one of the ways Wrestling is like real sports; The fact that different referees interpret the rules different ways. Like how Fiveyards Holding deserved to be MVP of the Superbowl, or how John McCarthy insists a 12-6 Elbow is only a 12-6 elbow if the person delivering it is standing vertical. The exact same motion from a prone position is just a horizontal elbow.

He must think that gravity adds an awful lot of power to a strike. Like he doesn't know that "Heavy Handed" is a euphemism and hands don't actually weigh that much.

[zendragon]

Things I miss; the idea that a good tag team is better than two singles wrestlers teaming for the firs time, needing a managers license to be at ringside, newly turned heels growing and EVIL goatee.

things I don't like doing a rematch after the champ has lost because he had a "rematch clause" in his contract. there was a period where WWE did this constantly  also in the Royale Rumble tag teams or people who should be friends not working together just because its "everyman for himself"

[NikoBaltimore]

I'm sure this was mentioned before so apologies in advance.  But one main trope I miss is heels who grab something while applying a hold and the ref has to keep checking them a couple times.  Then when they hold it too long the ref freaks out and either the hold is broken or the face makes a small comeback.  It's such a simple thing for a heel to do but I've always been a sucker for it.

[Curt McGirt]

11 hours ago, zendragon said:

newly turned heels growing and EVIL goatee.

One of the Deaners just turned and shaved his head and beard in TNA. It was pretty old school. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

35 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

One of the Deaners just turned and shaved his head and beard in TNA. It was pretty old school. 

He got it wrong by shaving his beard. Shaved head and a beard = EVIL

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah but it made sense in this case because beard = Deaners and because Eric Young also shaved his beard. 

Hell when you think about it NOT having facial hair in wrestling these days is almost a heel move. Like it would be to not have shaved sides to your haircut in WWE. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Curt McGirt

[odessasteps]

When I had Ron Fuller on the pod, we talked about evil mustaches for heels in the 70s. 

[Nineteen]

Was watching a Bullet Club vs. Chaos 10 man from this week and forgot about this one, when the heel will really build up a piece of offense with an intentionally bad payoff.  El Phantasmo had someone set up for Ishimori to come off the top but it ended up just being... a back rake

[MapRef41N93W]

Just remembered another one I hate: when the name of a tag team is either

(a) A portmanteu of the two wrestlers' names (FinnJuice, Breezango)

(b) A phrase made up of a word associated with one wrestler + a word associated with the other wrestler. (Sky Pirates, Natural Nightmares, Broserweights, Dangerous Tekkers)

This another part of the "cutesiness" trend I mentioned earlier--in that it seems like it's intended just to make fans say "oh, haha, I get that! I get what they're doing there!"

Plus it makes the team seem more like just those two wrestlers thrown together, rather than a special thing with its own identity.

[BobbyWhioux]

yeah it has that same "Create-A-Wrestler" feel as when their finisher is an established hold under an alias that's just a lazy pun on their name.

oblique references to the larger gimmick (Sharpshooter, Tombstone, Pedigree, Camel Clutch, Sister Abigail) are far more clever.  Tombstone is the best because unlike everything else in this post, that already was the established name for that hold.

It's fine if it's a new/unique hold, or at least new to the company (i.e. Rude Awakening, Razor's Edge, Diamond Cutter) or if the character is such a pompous ass that it makes sense for them to arrogantly put their own name on the hold (Perfect Plex, Taz-Mission).

There's also some wiggle room if the character name doubles as a word (see Rude Awakening) though you'll note Ric Flair never used a "Flair Gun" and Randy Savage's elbow drop was never formally dubbed The Savage Elbow, fans just slapped that label on it for expedience

Puns are also fine if they're not necessarily rooted in the character name (Disarm-Her) if the character has a bit of a sense of humor to them and it's also fine if it's not merely a pun but a hold named directly after the character (Asuka Lock, Vader Bomb, AngleSlam) though if the character has a nickname to go with their "real" name, it's better to name the hold after that (Million Dollar Dream, Stone Cold Stunner).

Some characters, conversely, should absolutely eschew cute names entirely (Spinebuster), and sometimes the hold's generic name is sufficiently cool or ominous sounding that it's impossible to improve upon (DDT). A hold also doesn't need a cute name if you protect it's menace and match ending potential enough (Heart Punch, Cross Face Chicken Wing).

But what is The Masterlock? Something cool?  Oh, no, just a full nelson.  Banks' Statement? Twisted Bliss?  It is, as the kids these days say, Cringe.  Reeks of trying too hard.  Now, when Bayley was a hugger and her whole raison d'etre was that she was exactly the sort of massive dork who WOULD slap a stupid cute name on her hold like the Belly-to-Bayley Suplex, leaning into that tryhard cringe actually fits.  And sure, you can survive in spite of it if you're over enough (Rock Bottom), but it's still more likely to make you look like a low-rent knockoff (BookEnd) even if you really are better than that.  Can you imagine if Magnum T.A. called the belly to belly "The T & A plex"?  Or if they'd tried to make Jake Roberts rename it "The Snakebite" [as they'd probably do today in a fit of Branding/Trademarking pique]? J.A.G. with Just Another thoughtless coat of paint covering up the beige loser underneath.  "Create A Wrestler".  Like you got invented in 5 minutes to fill out a roster spot.  And that's if you're lucky.  If you're unlucky you might even stumble into something offensive (The Hollycaust)

and God help you if the character name is a pun to begin with.  Though at least in that case you probably won't be using your finisher often enough for anyone to remember what dumb pun name got slapped on it.

[AxB]

WCW tried to improve on the name of the DDT. They called it the Evenflow DDT for a bit.

[Zimbra]

16 minutes ago, BobbyWhioux said:

yeah it has that same "Create-A-Wrestler" feel as when their finisher is an established hold under an alias that's just a lazy pun on their name.

oblique references to the larger gimmick (Sharpshooter, Tombstone, Pedigree, Camel Clutch, Sister Abigail) are far more clever.  Tombstone is the best because unlike everything else in this post, that already was the established name for that hold.

It's fine if it's a new/unique hold, or at least new to the company (i.e. Rude Awakening, Razor's Edge, Diamond Cutter) or if the character is such a pompous ass that it makes sense for them to arrogantly put their own name on the hold (Perfect Plex, Taz-Mission).

There's also some wiggle room if the character name doubles as a word (see Rude Awakening) though you'll note Ric Flair never used a "Flair Gun" and Randy Savage's elbow drop was never formally dubbed The Savage Elbow, fans just slapped that label on it for expedience

Puns are also fine if they're not necessarily rooted in the character name (Disarm-Her) if the character has a bit of a sense of humor to them and it's also fine if it's not merely a pun but a hold named directly after the character (Asuka Lock, Vader Bomb, AngleSlam) though if the character has a nickname to go with their "real" name, it's better to name the hold after that (Million Dollar Dream, Stone Cold Stunner).

Some characters, conversely, should absolutely eschew cute names entirely (Spinebuster), and sometimes the hold's generic name is sufficiently cool or ominous sounding that it's impossible to improve upon (DDT). A hold also doesn't need a cute name if you protect it's menace and match ending potential enough (Heart Punch, Cross Face Chicken Wing).

But what is The Masterlock? Something cool?  Oh, no, just a full nelson.  Banks' Statement? Twisted Bliss?  It is, as the kids these days say, Cringe.  Reeks of trying too hard.  Now, when Bayley was a hugger and her whole raison d'etre was that she was exactly the sort of massive dork who WOULD slap a stupid cute name on her hold like the Belly-to-Bayley Suplex, leaning into that tryhard cringe actually fits.  And sure, you can survive in spite of it if you're over enough (Rock Bottom), but it's still more likely to make you look like a low-rent knockoff (BookEnd) even if you really are better than that.  Can you imagine if Magnum T.A. called the belly to belly "The T & A plex"?  Or if they'd tried to make Jake Roberts rename it "The Snakebite" [as they'd probably do today in a fit of Branding/Trademarking pique]? J.A.G. with Just Another thoughtless coat of paint covering up the beige loser underneath.  "Create A Wrestler".  Like you got invented in 5 minutes to fill out a roster spot.  And that's if you're lucky.  If you're unlucky you might even stumble into something offensive (The Hollycaust)

and God help you if the character name is a pun to begin with.  Though at least in that case you probably won't be using your finisher often enough for anyone to remember what dumb pun name got slapped on it.

The pinnacle of move naming has to be the Angle Lock.  It works on a lot* of levels.

 

 

*2

[AxB]

Orienteering with Napalm Death is a reference to a Stewart Lee comedy routine.

 

[Technico Support]

On 2/13/2021 at 5:38 PM, Nineteen said:

Was watching a Bullet Club vs. Chaos 10 man from this week and forgot about this one, when the heel will really build up a piece of offense with an intentionally bad payoff.  El Phantasmo had someone set up for Ishimori to come off the top but it ended up just being... a back rake

I always loved when the Young Bucks would do a Great Muta style handspring into the corner, just to do a back rake.  Bonus points for the time they did it in a no dq match and used an actual rake. 

13 hours ago, MapRef41N93W said:

(b) A phrase made up of a word associated with one wrestler + a word associated with the other wrestler. (Sky Pirates, Natural Nightmares, Broserweights, Dangerous Tekkers)

 

Exception to the rule: The Unbreakable Fucking Machines

4 hours ago, L_W_P said:

Dolph Ziggler and his "Zig Zag" would like a word with you...

That aside, how do you feel about ZSJ's full page poetry finisher names?

"Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness."  Always funny to hear Excalibur try to get the full name in before the opponent could get out of it or submit.

More recent trope I can't stand: refs counting dogpile pin attempts.  No.  Just no.

[Shartnado]

11 hours ago, Zimbra said:

The pinnacle of move naming has to be the Angle Lock.  It works on a lot* of levels.

 

 

*2

Maybe even 3, if you count the fact that the ankle is locked in an angle as well?

[Zimbra]

I love in a tag match when the guy getting beat on in the ring staggers into the wrong corner trying to make a tag and gets walloped.  Absolutely top-tier spot.

[cwoy2j]

On 2/16/2021 at 10:00 PM, AxB said:

WCW tried to improve on the name of the DDT. They called it the Evenflow DDT for a bit.

I liked that better than WWE calling it the Raven Effect.

[kafkonia]

Piggybacking on the tag team trope - I hate it when the face is beat down, staggers to his corner, gets the hot tag... and then two moves later is tagged back in. Come on, man.  This happens in modern wrestling, old wrestling, big time PPVs, Dark matches... if the FIP comes back in and gets his ass beat again, it makes him and his teammate look dumb; if he comes back in and is fine and dandy, it makes the match look dumb.

[Matt D]

1 hour ago, kafkonia said:

Piggybacking on the tag team trope - I hate it when the face is beat down, staggers to his corner, gets the hot tag... and then two moves later is tagged back in. Come on, man.  This happens in modern wrestling, old wrestling, big time PPVs, Dark matches... if the FIP comes back in and gets his ass beat again, it makes him and his teammate look dumb; if he comes back in and is fine and dandy, it makes the match look dumb.

He wants revenge and often pays for it but it can be pretty dumb, yeah. But evil often triumphs because good is dumb.