Steve Austin criticizes new era wrestlers

[Lockard23]

I've been calling this, but here is ANOTHER all-time great speaking on the current company stars!!!


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...lems-they-face

WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin spoke out about the troubles facing younger WWE wrestlers today in a column for U.K. wrestling publication Fighting Spirit Magazine this month (via WrestlingInc).

Writing for the magazine, guest columnist Austin mainly complained about newly called up wrestlers lacking any real prerogative in the ring and relying too much on instructions:

Today's guys are very impressionable, and don't really call it in the ring anymore. Some of the guys don't know whether to s--t or wind their watch; when they get in the ring, they have some basics, but they've always been told exactly what to do before they go out there. Back in the day, we were calling it all in the ring; we didn't have anything to be nervous about, because we didn't have to remember anything. All I had to do was listen to a hellacious worker like Billy Joe Travis or Jimmy Jack Funk, trusting them to help lead me through it.

Austin also criticized WWE for bringing up newcomers to the main roster before they were ready:

The guys today are on a big stage, and none bigger than WWE. It's up to the promotion to bring these cats in light, establish them, and help them get over. You can't just bring in someone new and expect them to work a Wrestlemania calibre match right away.

Some thoughts on Austin's remarks.

The star is right to note that many younger wrestlers today do only know what WWE's rigid training system has taught them.

Considering the lukewarm state of the wrestling business and the company being the only real game in town (the perpetually struggling TNA cannot be seen as true competition), something like this was probably inevitable.

This isn't the '90s anymore. Wrestlers don't have a chance to hone their craft in places like ECW or WCW. No wonder we're generally seeing only one in-ring style and guys too hesitant to try anything new.

However, it's worth noting that WWE has made the effort in the past couple of years to sign more indie guys, like Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, both of whom had wrestled all over the world prior to signing their WWE deals.

Hopefully, with the company's new approach to talent signings, the problem Austin is talking about will soon be rectified.

But certainly, the star is correct to point out that the company does have a bad habit of calling up inexperienced developmental workers long before they should.

Indeed, in the last couple of years fans have seen numerous FCW names placed on the main roster, only for them to disappear without a trace soon after (Mason Ryan, anyone?).

 

[Albert T]

Steve Austin is absolutely right about today's wrestlers as most of them are simply imitating the actions of the successful few and are left to hope and pray that they become the superstars that they crave to be. All that the modern day wrestler needs to succeed is creativity and confidence, but since most are lacking one or the other, they find themselves with little to nothing to show for their efforts.

My hope is the same as yours in that hiring proven independent talent will be the revitalization the WWE needs for a better product and given the success of Punk and Bryan, I think that sentiment is right.

 

[Chicago1989]

I think The Nexus is a good example of a group of newcomers coming in before they were ready to make a big impact. I believe Wade Barrett was the only one who benefited and made good use of the exposure, while the other guys were just taking in orders and lacked direction.

These guys need to come up with something that would give the fans a reason to care for them on their own. As much as it sucks to say this, there are people in the wrestling business that don't know shit about what the business needs and instead feed everyone garbage, and then expect wrestlers to make chicken shit into chicken salad.

If you have a great idea that you would want to use, don't waste it! Suggest it and talk it out. If you say nothing, it shows that you really don't care about where your career's going. Sometimes, you gotta speak up and talk it out. That's what CM Punk does. He normally doesn't go by what creative gives him. He would rip the script and either come up with his own stuff or talk it out with creative about making some changes.

In the end, it really is WWE's fault. It's so script-heavy that it has grown guys shook up about speaking up.

 

[dukes07]

I think The Nexus is a good example of a group of newcomers coming in before they were ready to make a big impact. I believe Wade Barrett was the only one who benefited and made good use of the exposure, while the other guys were just taking in orders and lacked direction.

These guys need to come up with something that would give the fans a reason to care for them on their own. As much as it sucks to say this, there are people in the wrestling business that don't know shit about what the business needs and instead feed everyone garbage, and then expect wrestlers to make chicken shit into chicken salad.

If you have a great idea that you would want to use, don't waste it! Suggest it and talk it out. If you say nothing, it shows that you really don't care about where your career's going. Sometimes, you gotta speak up and talk it out. That's what CM Punk does. He normally doesn't go by what creative gives him. He would rip the script and either come up with his own stuff or talk it out with creative about making some changes.

In the end, it really is WWE's fault. It's so script-heavy that it has grown guys shook up about speaking up.

The Nexus is a prime example of WWE being a bunch of fucking dumb asses. Really there is no logic in what they did and how they did it. It is Vince being afraid of change. Also, Punk most likely talks nothing out. Everything is scripted. Now, some might speak up for themselves. But it is hard to believe that Heath Slater would wonder why the WWE is fucking up a great angle.

The WWE ultimately refuses to make many changes and fans sit there passive-aggressively whining about it. But still watch it. For the most part I am guilty too. It is like watching the Cleveland Browns, just that one win, and your season is made. That is not how wrestling should be or should be booked but unfortunately more often than not it is....Case in point: Last Monday. Fucking atrocious.

The machine needs to get behind new guys and take more chances. Instead we get a PPV win by Ziggler then dominated for two RAW's in a row and then a month of all face victories....

 

[dotty_84]

WWE putting them on a leash with a typical and basic moveset and not letting them truly feel a match due to 'injuries' that ocur. When injuries mainly come from wrestlers over working and not getting sufficient holidays or time to heal from niggling injuries.

WWE send out guys to so they have a polish in ring but at that expense they don't make too many mistakes which is bad as they don't learn and their matches are predictable and boring.

Saying that i think lots of talent don't have the balls to stand up for themselves or try and get a creative push by coming up with ideas, i think waiting and seeing if they get a chance is what most accept.

 

[Bad Booking]

The big thing with talent is that everything WWE does to them is in-house. There is no real territory system where the younger talent can travel, hone their skills, and then become a player. Also, with the development system, all the new guys are given forced gimmicks that may or may not be a hit depending on what script writers have for them. The business is very different now than what it was in 1996.

 

[Jenna.]

But of course. Everything Austin said was spot on. Nothing groundbreaking there, just completely stating the obvious for how many years now.

A little random, but what's funny to me is how IWC losers were so pissed The Rock beat CM Punk for the title, and some of the asinine scenarios people were coming up with saying that an up and comer shouldn't been the one to stop his reign. Austin just basically shot that argument down. You can't expect to bring someone new and have them work WM or winning a major title etc. It takes time to build the right stars and legends. (Granted WWE has had plenty of opportunities to do so but I digress.) But of course IWC smarks know more about wrestling than the experts and legends themselves. Lol.

Spot on Mr. Cold. Spot on.

 

[Dalinkwent]

In my opinion, it isn't the talent, it's the structure of progression in WWE. WWE has so much control over what the wrestler say and do, how could they learn to hone their craft and naturally evolve? They don't have the freedom to try new things and see where it goes, they have to deal with Hollywood writers dictating their characters action's and thoughts. That makes no sense to me. Austin also spoke on this as well a few years back. Another problem is the politics in WWE. People aren't pushed on their own merits or success, but for who they know or who favors them. Punk had to be a overnight success just to get some attention from Vince, while Del Rio was constantly pushed as a top heel despite getting no heat.

 

[Da Solo]

To be fair, you really can't blame the talent. The talent is good. Really good, actually. Ziggler is the best seller anyone's seen since HBK and Attitude Era Rock. Kofi Kingston is more athletic than anyone in the Attitude Era, period. Punk, Bryan and Kidd are all comparable to Malenko, Benoit and Jericho in terms of technical skill. The problem is the booking.

Austin even inadvertently admitted it. Back then, there was so much creative freedom: If you didn't like the script, you could improv it and hope for the best. Nowadays, if you go off script, it becomes headline news (Punk). WWE has no competition though, so they'll continue to program their stars because there is no desperation factor like when WCW was still around.

They're also right about the style of wrestling. Too many FCW recruits learning the same style of wrestling and putting on the same style of match. WWE could stand to hire some trainers with various backgrounds. I like the WWE style of wrestling, don't get me wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to mix some Japanese/Lucha style in there for diversity's sake.

 

[Mr-excitement]

The talent lacks the drive, they can always go to Arn, Steamboat, Booker or even King and learn their craft. They don't need the company's permission to push themselves.

 

[robinkom]

This reminds me of the story when Steve Corino applied for a spot on the Creative Team a few year ago and I'm mostly paraphrasing here.

He was basically dressed down by one of their self-important writers when on his mock booking of a card, he simply listed a Batista promo as "Batista promo" without actually writing out the dialog like they do for nearly everyone on TV. As he is from the old-school, his logic is you just cut your own promo based on what you're told to talk about, not "Here's your lines, memorize them, I don't care if your vocabulary isn't as articulate as mine, musclehead."

But this is part of the problem with the WWE, they're ashamed to be professional wrestling so they bullshit themselves into thinking they're "Sports Entertainment" and "real" TV. Like they're some Action Adventure episodic Drama and they're all gonna win Emmy's for their incredibly acting and straight-to-video B movies.

Vince McMahon would rather spend several million dollars on getting a terrible PG-13 film shot starring one of his non-actor "Sports Entertainers" than open his eyes and invest in the core product that made him his money and all the squandered wrestling talent on the pay role that could do a lot in the long run to boost those oh so important ratings that he loses his shit over.

They don't know how to get an angle over without writing "brilliantly scripted" soap opera vignettes because they don't train the young talent how to tell the story while wrestling IN THE RING or cut promos on their own. They don't teach them psychology and how to work a crowd anymore.

They've instead gotten their core casual audience trained like monkeys to pop at precise moments with zero thought or emotional investment, they just know they have to do it. The fans in the arena might as well be behind a glass wall or not even there for all the real attention they get.

 

[Moneyinc]

To be fair, you really can't blame the talent. The talent is good. Really good, actually. Ziggler is the best seller anyone's seen since HBK and Attitude Era Rock. Kofi Kingston is more athletic than anyone in the Attitude Era, period. Punk, Bryan and Kidd are all comparable to Malenko, Benoit and Jericho in terms of technical skill. The problem is the booking.

Austin even inadvertently admitted it. Back then, there was so much creative freedom: If you didn't like the script, you could improv it and hope for the best. Nowadays, if you go off script, it becomes headline news (Punk). WWE has no competition though, so they'll continue to program their stars because there is no desperation factor like when WCW was still around.

They're also right about the style of wrestling. Too many FCW recruits learning the same style of wrestling and putting on the same style of match. WWE could stand to hire some trainers with various backgrounds. I like the WWE style of wrestling, don't get me wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to mix some Japanese/Lucha style in there for diversity's sake.

Stone Cold has some points but the WWE talent is getting better by the day. Find a couple more guys with the wrestling/selling in ring skills of Ziggler and then we are really talking. Guys like Barret, and Sandow, and Rhodes, and Del Rio really give me that old school feel. All new characters that in my opinion are almost on the same level as the undercarders from the late 80s early 90s. I'm not huge on the Cena, Rock, Shamus, Ryback 4some of faces but I am HUGE on CM Punk. I've just started watching again recently. I had been watching old school tapes and realized the WWE is still on, maybe I should give it another chance. My buddy ordered the Rumble and now I'm starting to get back into it. My least favorite stuff right now is Kane and Bryan's comedy act. I don't know why everyone is so big on Bryan. He just isn't smooth in the ring in my opinion and of course is just dreadful on the mic with Kane.

And it will be interesting to see if guys from Shield start getting solo pushes. Ambrose especially has the look of a monster heel. Something about him just looks evil

Oh and Team Rhodes Scholars is pretty cool. We need some more tag teams desperately.

I don't see Bryan on the same level as Malenko and the guys you listed. I gotta see Kidd though last time I saw him was a few years ago.

 

[Josh26]

Stone Cold has some points but the WWE talent is getting better by the day. Find a couple more guys with the wrestling/selling in ring skills of Ziggler and then we are really talking. Guys like Barret, and Sandow, and Rhodes, and Del Rio really give me that old school feel. All new characters that in my opinion are almost on the same level as the undercarders from the late 80s early 90s. I'm not huge on the Cena, Rock, Shamus, Ryback 4some of faces but I am HUGE on CM Punk. I've just started watching again recently. I had been watching old school tapes and realized the WWE is still on, maybe I should give it another chance. My buddy ordered the Rumble and now I'm starting to get back into it. My least favorite stuff right now is Kane and Bryan's comedy act. I don't know why everyone is so big on Bryan. He just isn't smooth in the ring in my opinion and of course is just dreadful on the mic with Kane.

And it will be interesting to see if guys from Shield start getting solo pushes. Ambrose especially has the look of a monster heel. Something about him just looks evil

Oh and Team Rhodes Scholars is pretty cool. We need some more tag teams desperately.

I don't see Bryan on the same level as Malenko and the guys you listed. I gotta see Kidd though last time I saw him was a few years ago.

If you have doubts about daniel bryan's wrestling skills i suggest you check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MlbBwzy67s WWE won't let daniel bryan show his true potential, or noone can work as good in the ring matching up to his skill level in WWE.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

My least favorite stuff right now is Kane and Bryan's comedy act. I don't know why everyone is so big on Bryan. He just isn't smooth in the ring in my opinion and of course is just dreadful on the mic with Kane.

Daniel Bryan is dreadful on the mic? And not smooth in the ring? That's asinine to me but you're entitled to your opinion.

The Dazzler is usually involved in the best if not one of the best segments on every show he's on. He's looking more and more like the WWE's future brightest star every week. Everything they've given him since they started pushing him has been turned to gold. I've been bored of Kane since his World Heavyweight title run ended, and it's only because of D.B. and the whole Team Hell No moniker that I'm enjoying him again.

On my behalf it probably doesn't hurt that I was a big fan of Bryan Danielson before he ever even got a chance with WWE. His ring work was state of the art on the indy scene, and he made a lot of ROH shows worth watching during his title run there.

And it will be interesting to see if guys from Shield start getting solo pushes. Ambrose especially has the look of a monster heel. Something about him just looks evil

I hope the opposite happens because the major thing the WWE has been lacking for a long time is well thought-out stable play. The Shield doesn't need to go solo, they need to stay together and aligned with Heyman/Punk, and potentially Lesnar.

There's plenty of time down the road for all three guys to get their just dues with solo pushes, but right now they're extremely interesting as a trio. Their work already speaks for itself considering they threw down a 4.5 star match against Team Hell No & Ryback in a TLC match.

 

[DirtyD79]

You can't really blame the current crop of WWE wrestlers for "lacking prerogative in the ring and relying on instructions. Everything WWE does nowadays is formulaic. You have hollywood writers scripting their promos instead of letting the wrestlers come up with their own material and putting their own voice to it. Every indy wrestler who gets signed gets a new generic name and is sent down to FCW to learn to work "WWE style" instead of doing the stuff that made their name.

And look at Zack Ryder, the guy did all the legwork himself to get fans interested in him with his YouTube show and Twitter posts. How does he get rewarded for it? By getting to serve as a punching bag for Kane and being a cuckold for Eve. They finally put him on TV and they make him look like a putz.

If you're a female wrestler be content to either work one minute matches or serve as an armpiece. If you're lucky you'll get put into a love story angle with some creepy guy who is old enough to be your grandpa. Oh and no fat chicks.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Austin isn't blaming the talent, he's blaming the system. He's right.

Go out there and do exactly what we've rehearsed. Do your signature pose, get in the moves we've marketed and don't stray from the script.

You see this with today's most generic stars - Kofi, Dolph, Santino, Ryback (who I like), Sin Cara, and even Daniel Bryan (oddly enough, given how creative he can be). Telling a story is almost dead. These guys don't do it, because they don't think they need to.

"Calling a match" is no longer necessary. I think some guys still do it (Cena, Orton, Punk, etc), but those men are veterans. They trained in a different era.

I agree with Austin, and I'm not looking forward to the days when they take over as the top guys in the company. Not sure I'll be a big fan anymore.

 

[theBec2101]

Lack of options on the part everyone.
WWE- no competitions so they don’t really have nor need the option to change product. So they will remain in their ways till then.
Younger talent- The talent pool isn’t that deep so no one really has to try they just have to be good enough or better then that one guy. No one is hungry because there are not many options for them to choose one from another.
Us- we do not have much of an option now. We now have 4 wwe shows a week and 3 of them are the same. Then you have TNA they use to try. Now it’s not even fair TNA could try against Smack down, Main event, Saturday slam. But no.

 

[BTLion1990]

I see it in two main ways. The first being that like most people have stated, most have little to no freedom. And it is ironic. Daniel Bryan took it upon himself to use YES and now look? T-shirts, merchandise and a great tag-team and segments with a reinvented Kane. Zack Ryder has sold a TON of merchandise doing his own thing. Sure he isn't as popular nowadays, but he's made them money when he was looking to be future endeavored. Dare I say Cody's Moustache?

The point is that not everything will be a hit granted, but a lot of stars have their own ideas and input that should be incorporated from time to time. It's like Heath Ledger playing the Joker. He was told how to play the character, he put his own spin on it, and TOGETHER knocked it out of the park. I also really dislike the way people say ''Maximize your minutes etc'' when they're told what to say word for word and how to say it. How can you maximize your minutes really? Guys like Zack Ryder have done that and are still being overlooked. Tbh I don't see the all the hype and the US title is pretty much his limit, but why not keep him on TV, he was over at one point.

The second point is that a lot of the current roster have already achieved their goals and dreams.

Sheamus; Debuted in 2009, already 3 a time champion, King of the Ring winner, Royal Rumble winner.
ADR; Debuted in 2010, 3 time champion, MITB winner, RR winner.

Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler all MITB winners, all former Champions wayyyy before their time with Swagger being the one who never should of held it.

My point is alot of these guys are been thrust into the spotlight way too soon. I know you could say that WWE need stars and in some instances it does work (See: Undertaker, Brock Lesnar) but more often than not it doesn't. Guys like HBK, Austin, Bret Hart, HHH all worked their way to the point they were deserving. Now they just give you the strap and once you've achieved that really what's left?

The night after WrestleMania, the first joke match was Santino, Ziggler and Swagger triple threat. 2/3 were former champions.

They need time and room in my opinion. Whether they get it is a different case.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

There are more styles exhibited now than there were in the Tude era.

I agree that guys should call it in the ring more and that some are rushed. But with the amount of bumping guys do, longevity isn't as great as it once was. Guys are/were killing each other in the ring.

 

[GrandSword]

Austin has been saying this for years. This is nothing new at all. He shouldn't be blaming the talent, but the restrictions put on them by Vince. Just like he barks orders into Cole's ear, he tells the workers what to do. Because the WWE is now the only big guy in town ( TNA is getting there) wrestlers who want to make real money out of the profession they love tow the line to ensure they keep their job.

Austin came from a different time, from the territories, honing his craft, gaining the confidence he needed to speak up against what creative threw at him. Then again, he was screwed around by WCW a lot, that it wasn't until he was fired from there did he start looking to take control of his character.

Until you get to a place where You make money for Vince, talent will have to tow his line, and even then you have to watch your step because it is always reported how bi-polar the man is.