5 Things You No Longer See in Pro Wrestling

[LoudClearVoice]

Here's an opinion piece from Yahoo! Sports of all places:

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By Patrick Michael | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 1 hour 14 minutes ago..


COMMENTARY | Professional wrestling, like everything else, has evolved through the years. Many of the holds, matches, and types of wrestlers that were staples of the industry years ago are now extinct. With society and the demands of fans changing, promoters must adapt or risk bankruptcy like many of the great promotions of the past.

Take a look back at five things you no longer see in pro wrestling.

Jobbers

Jobbers were wrestlers who never won and always made their opponents look great. Today's wrestlers who usually lose are in great physical condition, have gimmicks, and cut promos. This is why I don't consider WWE wrestlers like 3MB and JTG jobbers. At times, even these wrestlers get pushes, which most jobbers of years past almost never received. Today's promoters likely feel that competition is too fierce to put squash matches with jobbers on television.

Feuds with foreign heels

When the Nazis threatened to take over the world, promoters capitalized on this fear to pit American wrestlers against German foes. Then the same thing happened with Russian wrestlers during the Cold War. Today, it would not be considered politically correct to exploit this storyline. Another problem with this stereotype is that top wrestling promotions like WWE and TNA are truly global enterprises and this theme would not play out so well on tour.

Foreign objects in tights

I can't even begin to estimate how many wrestling matches I saw in my youth in which a heel secretly reached into his tights for an illegal foreign object. The referee would never catch it, but every fan both in attendance and watching at home would see it. This is how Ted DiBiase went heel against the Junkyard Dog in his epic Mid-South turn. Today's heels still cheat, but for some reason, the hidden foreign object is just as extinct as the foreign heel.

Lights-out match

As a child, I wondered what the allure of a wrestling match was in which the lights went out and the fans couldn't see what was happening. I later learned that the term meant the promotion wasn't sanctioning the match, but the lights technically stayed out. This was a match that pitted two rivals that were such bitter enemies, the promotion didn't want to be libel for what might happen. A lights-out match was virtually guaranteed to end in a bloody mess.

One hour time limit draw

The closest thing we have today to the classic one-hour time limit draw is the one hour iron man match. But an iron man match has a number of finishes, so it's really a series of matches with the same opponents. The one hour time limit draw was usually a match between one or two world champions. I'm sure today's promoters are too terrified of "boring" chants to book this type of match. However, I'd love to see one-hour time limit draws come back to wrestling.

Patrick Michael lives in New Orleans and has always been a big fan of pro wrestling. Patrick's favorite wrestling promotion was Mid-South Wrestling back in the 1980s. Patrick's favorite wrestling angle of all-time was the NWO and his favorite wrestler is Roddy Piper. Follow Patrick Michael on Twitter at patmichael84.




http://sports.yahoo.com/news/5-things-no-longer-see-pro-wrestling-162500459.html

I agree in general with all his points except for the "foreign heels" one. Right now we have ADR, and Cesaro as two foreign heels. One guy is the World Champ, other was recently US champ. Khali was a heel several years ago and we also have Jindar Mahal. There's also Kozlov from a few years back.

I don't think the foreign heel is a thing of the past per se but I think what the author is alluding to is a foreign heel as the main event storyline with the fact that he's foreign being front and center.

What are your thoughts?

 

[jpickens]

I agree they are missing the boat on ADR they should reveal that he is a cartel thug and have him offer Zeb Coulter a briefcase full of money thus forming an alliance with Coulter as the manager Alberto as the Champion and Swagger and Cesaro going after the tag team gold. What's really missing is a strong stable not factions but a stable with a manager and what I mentioned above could be the solution.

 

[shalliin]

The foreign heel concept doesn't work in today's society. When the majority of the world is trying to find ways to draw nations closer together, having a foreign heel just cries out that you are stuck in the past and aren't looking forward. It worked for a long time (from 50s to early 90s) because of the series of events that came after and including WWII. Once the 90's hit, and the Cold War ended, then this type of role started to fail.

You can't have russians or germans any more, at least not the old style of nationalistic villains. You can't do muslims because that strikes too close to current reality.

Part of why some of these would work is because of how easy it is thanks to our technology for those wackos of any foreign/alternate group to take offense and attempt to retaliate against the offenders. With most wresling being focus on attracting a world audience and wanted ot be able to travel the globe and interact with fans, it would be easy to take the foreign option too far and then what happens? you're visiting the nation you were using as the 'heel' and some nutjob decides that you are referencing negetively about his/her nation or religion and do some type of attack.

That's not to say you can't have a heel who is foreign, but you can't make his foreigness the central aspect of his heel nature.

ie: a jihadist bent on taking over america would not work today. Neither would the stereoypical rich sheik type of character. But if a wrestler happens to be from Iraq, and loves his country, he could be a heel in the more neutral style of wanting to show he's better then everyone else. like if punk was egyptian for example, play it exactly he same he is now but add the occasional 'yeah, i'm from egypt, but that doens't matter I'll still kick your ass' style comment.

Of course those are only some options. let's not forget that Shaemus is Irish, Drew is Scottish and both have had good runs as heels where yeah, they mentioned their origins, but it wasn't central to the fact that they were heels. They weren't heels just because of being foreign but because of their actions and attitudes.

Let's not forget that Nikita Koloff, Iron Sheik, Baron von Erich were all pure americans who played foreign roles, maybe tying a bit of their real heritiage into it, but their roles were heels because of their nationality first then their actions and that just doens't work anymore.

 

[Reno Riggins]

There are plenty of jobbers around.

Wrestlers like Ryder, JTG, and all of 3MB all job more than they win, but they don't have that same vibe that Iron Mike Sharpe, Brooklyn Brawler, or Pete Doherty had.

Re: the 60 minute time limit. The old weekend shows even had a 15 minute time limit. I'm not sure when that went away, but I've seen quite a few matches end back in the day thanks to the time limit, even during the last part of the 3 count.

 

[shalliin]

Time limit matches don't make sense now, since it's extremely rare for a match to go more then 6-7 minutes unless it's a PPV or lead up to a PPV. TNA had hte right idea for a while when they actually used their TV title with the 10minute time limits, but they just scrapped the tv title altogether.

I miss chain wrestling instead of a lot of the stuff that goes on now. I liked watching the ebb and flow of a match between two talented wrestlers who could speed up and run the ring, or slap on a wear down hold and go into a series of attacks and counters, drawing out the effect of moves like a chin lock, or armbar.

I enjoy a good brawl or and thrill at hte sight of a spotfest but I still am a technician at heart and miss the glory days of Bret Hart and the like.

 

[dolphinzigglah]

Using the ropes to pin somebody or add leverage to a submission.

This was perfect for dirty heels, like Ric Flair or maybe a young Randy Orton. Instead of doing a roll up you could do a roll up and use the ropes, or even grabbing the tights.

 

[SSJPhenom]

That was a great list and I agree with it. There were two that I thought were spot on though.

1. I miss the ole brass knuckles in the tights win. You know: The heel's manager slips the knucks in the ring while the ref isn't paying attention, the heel uses the knucks, and then slips them down his tights like nothing ever happened. Ric Flair was great at this. JJ Dillon or whoever from the 4 Horsemen that would accompany Flair to the ring would slip him the knucks and Flair would use them and get away with it. They didn't call him the dirtiest player in the game because he wasn't clean.

2. The time limit draw. It doesn't necessarily have to be a 60 minute time limit. There just aren't any time limits anymore. Now days, you never hear the ring announcer say, "This is a singles competition with a blah blah blah time limit". I miss that as well. Those were some of the greatest matches ever. Flair vs Rhodes or Flair vs Steamboat. They may have ended in a draw a lot of times, however, the matches were pure gold.

 

[actionsub]

The foreign heel concept doesn't work in today's society.

You can't have russians or germans any more, at least not the old style of nationalistic villains. You can't do muslims because that strikes too close to current reality.

Part of why some of these would work is because of how easy it is thanks to our technology for those wackos of any foreign/alternate group to take offense and attempt to retaliate against the offenders. With most wresling being focus on attracting a world audience and wanted ot be able to travel the globe and interact with fans, it would be easy to take the foreign option too far and then what happens? you're visiting the nation you were using as the 'heel' and some nutjob decides that you are referencing negetively about his/her nation or religion and do some type of attack.


ie: a jihadist bent on taking over america would not work today. Neither would the stereoypical rich sheik type of character. But if a wrestler happens to be from Iraq, and loves his country, he could be a heel in the more neutral style of wanting to show he's better then everyone else. like if punk was egyptian for example, play it exactly he same he is now but add the occasional 'yeah, i'm from egypt, but that doens't matter I'll still kick your ass' style comment.

The last attempt at such a thing was Muhammed Hassan and Shawn Daivari. That angle went bad when Hassan "sacrificed" Daivari to the Undertaker on a Smackdown episode that just happened to air the night after a suicide bomber hit a London subway with numerous casualties.
The network got hit with so many complaints over the angle that Hassan and Daivari ended up getting fired over it in order to keep Smackdown from getting cancelled.
(Daivari ended up showing his true colors a couple of months ago by coming to the aid of a woman who was getting assaulted on a train. Daivari gave the dude his comeuppance, and to put a point on it, threw the guy out of the train when it stopped!)

 

[keith hall]

how about a match between two hated rivals at a ppv with no dq rules?...
I'm not talking about a tables match at extreme rules...I mean a no dq match at summerslam or something...

look back at the del rio v.s sheamus feud...all of those rematches...were regular one on one matches...those too did some things to each other that were worth an added stipulation...yet where was it?...that's how most feuds go nowadays though...no escalation, no sense of real importance

 

[Slash-LN]

I know we don't see jobbers on a regular basis but we had them with Ryback and people hated it. It was "boring and got "stale".

I think people are spot on with the foreign heel gimmick. You can't get away with it anymore. If the WWE (for example) brought in a wrestler and made them a Syrian sympathizer there would be a total backlash. No wrestling company wants to risk losing sponsors.

The brass knuckles thing is okay when it isn't overused. I could see someone like Zeb slipping the knuckles to Antonio or Swagger.

I don't think there should be any 1 hour draw matches but a 10 or 15 minute one wouldn't be bad. It's a good way to keep both workers looking strong and continue a feud. I also agree with the people who said they should state a time limit during the entrances.

 

[ABMorales787]

how about a match between two hated rivals at a ppv with no dq rules?...
I'm not talking about a tables match at extreme rules...I mean a no dq match at summerslam or something...

look back at the del rio v.s sheamus feud...all of those rematches...were regular one on one matches...those too did some things to each other that were worth an added stipulation...yet where was it?...that's how most feuds go nowadays though...no escalation, no sense of real importance

You mean like Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk this year at Summerslam? Or Triple H vs Brock Lesnar lat year at Summerslam? Those two certainly felt deep and personal as the interaction built.

There's a lot of things that seem to be gone but pop out once again. A superstar being built on wins and simple popularity had been lacking since the days of Cena and Batista. But Daniel Bryan showed up.

If there's one thing missing that is sorely lacking, it's an established hierarchy within a midcard. WWE's is so messed up their United States Champion has a better and more impressive win/loss record than their Intercontinental or World Heavyweight Champion. Mr. MITB has done nothing but lose despite being a "rising star" at the moment. They win and lose so often you can't tell who's growing and who isn't. And TNA doesn't even have a midcard title anymore because they spat on any chance to have a growing star hold it. Fuck Devon.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

You don't see enough valets in wrestling any more in my opinion.

There has always been the female manager of superstars, who would often end up in storylines, be it when they screw the face over and align themselves with a heel (see Francine in ECW) or be the object of desire for other wrestlers which leads to a feud between the guy she manages and someone else, or even where the man is mistreating his female valet and the fans eventually want to see her break away from him (e.g Sable and Mark Mero).

I know there was the storyline with AJ Lee and Punk/Bryan etc and I know Fandango has his valet, but I think there could be more, especially in TNA. At the moment, I can't think of anyone in TNA who has a woman accompanying them to the ring. The last one I can think of was Tara coming to the ring with Jesse (lucky fucker).

 

[SkyCommanderWinky]

Most women in wrestling are wrestlers themselves these days so using them as only valets (Rosa Mendes, Summer Rae) is a waste of talent IMO.

I hate the concept of foreign heels, being Canadian, because it really shows up how dumb Americans are with geography. When The Hart Foundation came to my city, Jim Ross always said that they were "in their backyard". I'm from Toronto...

One thing I miss is stables that brought their own signs to the ring like Lodi from Raven's Flock (WCW) and Sign Guy Dudley.