RE: In Love With Pro Wrestling Again
I used to love wrestling as a kid. I think the biggest problem with wrestling today is there isnt enough crazy characters. Think back to Doink the clown, Razor Ramone, Macho man, Ultimate Warrior, Sycho Sid etc. Now everyone just seems the same, a man in pants. They need to bring back parts of the attitude area that made it very exciting to watch. Also i think todays wrestlers dont look very tough at all. Its mainly due to the fact steroids got banned because of the health issues associated with them, look at Scott Steiner, he was a freak. Also many wrestlers died from health issues relating to steroids.
Ive tried watching wrestling recently and i dont find it very entertaining. I end up watching old matches from youtube that i watched as a kid. It makes me wonder if wrestling is still good or not, and maybe the fact i enjoyed it so much was because i was a child.
Actually, the crazy characters nearly killed the WWE back in the day. A lot of the child fans, like me, grew up, and thought the product was unwatchable. WCW at the time decided to go with the more "real" approach with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall invading, and for while, WWE was getting its ass handed to them in the Monday Night Wars. Eventually, the return to the hyper focus on soap opera killed WCW and that same mentality made TNA unwatchable. I can understand the current product is not for you, but out of necessity WWE had to return to some sort of realism in the ring. The closest competition in the US isn't even professional wrestling -- it's MMA and the UFC. This is why there are so many submission holds now in the current WWE. Professional wrestling has to be in the business of giving people what they want to see, and the days of outlandishly roided up guys with limited move sets is a thing of history now. Over the years, physiques have mostly gotten more natural, and the size of the performer has gotten smaller. If you are a fan, like I am, of telling an athletic story inside the ring, full of ring psychology, selling you're opponents pulled punches as real these changes are great. Sure, I worshipped Hogan as a kid, but that was me being a kid who liked watch wrestling as a human cartoon. Now, as an adult, I know Hogan really wasn't a good wrestler -- he had a limited move set, and I can't watch the matches that had me amazed as a kid. They are actually quite boring. However, a smaller guy like AJ Styles is not anywhere near larger than life, but damn, can he put on an entertaining match to watch.