STFU Donnie
Occasional Pre-Show
I've been listening to the Steve Austin Podcast. His interviews with Chael Sonnen (who is a huge fan and actually attended the Power Plant in 1998 and was invited back, but by the time he finished college, WCW had closed shop) and Jim Ross got me thinking about things that could be done to help wrestler's performance.
JR and Austin were talking about the art of the promo. JR talked about believability and how every time Austin was on the mic, he believed that he was listening to Stone Cold and he believed in the issue he was talking about, which in turn made JR's job so much easier, as JR approached announcing like it was a shoot and these were real wrestlers with real issues. Austin talked about his preparation prior to a show and how from the drive to the show, to walking in the arena, he was getting into a zone, getting into character, and that is what allowed his transformation. So while they mentioned the "amplifying yourself" philosophy, what they were essentially advocating is a form of method acting.
Chael and Austin were also talking about the art of the promo. Sonnen explained that a lot of his stuff is shtick and that he was good at delivering soundbites or clever attacks, but that deep down, he always feels it. Sonnen said he truly does not like Anderson Silva and that they would never be friends. So it's easy when he's facing somebody who rubbed him the wrong way, but when he was matched up with Brian Stann, he was at a loss. Sonnen knew Dana and the media were expecting his usual bombast and he just didn't have it. He liked and admired Stann so much that he just couldn't tap into his emotion, so he actually called Austin for advice. Steve listened to Chael and his advice was if you don't feel that natural dislike then don't fake it, instead put him over. Tell the media he's the greatest and hard as nails. Chael mentioned that Austin's angle with Mick Foley was an inspiration. Austin was still Stone Cold and was still going to kick some ass, but when it was time to talk about Foley, Austin put him over.
What I took away from the Austin/Chael interview was that there is more than one way to sell a match/fight. It can be sold as a deeply personal issue, filled with hatred, resentment, and emotion and the participants are hell bent on putting hurt on each other or it can be about facing an opponent who is a tough, dangerous, skilled SOB and the participants are going to go at it like crazed dogs and somebody is getting hurt in the process. But no matter what, you have to convince yourself that you believe what you're saying.
I think emotion is the key element in wrestling and the young guys in wrestling today just don't have it like those who came before them and I don't think it's their fault. Young guys just don't get the time to develop, they don't get to work with veteran guys who could help that development, and they're not allowed to develop a character within their own mind as they now have writers handing them a script. Young guys today are expected to be excellent wrestlers and excellent actors, without the training and experience to be either.
But wrestling in 2013 is what it is. By that I mean the industry is a monopoly with one company as the driving force with a full time schedule, one much smaller company swimming in their wake with a little more than part-time schedule, and then everybody else part-time or less. There just aren't enough places for a young wrestler to go and learn with full time on the job training like the territories provided and the clock is not going to be turned backwards to recreate what made wrestling work so well in yesteryear.
But there is something I do believe WWE, TNA or any other company could do to turn back the clock in another way that I believe might just help wrestlers become better performers and make the product better. Now I know there will be many who think this is antiquated thinking or would make no difference and you may be right, but at least hear me out before dismissing the idea.
I would bring back Kayfabe...to a degree.
Back in the day, heels and babyfaces were kept separate. They did not travel together, they did not dress together, they did not room in hotels together, and they did not socialize in public together. And I firmly believe this practice helped wrestlers who were not natural actors become much better performers. And this is the practice I would bring back to wrestling.
Now I'm not saying wrestling needs to try and convince the public that wrestling is real. In fact whenever I hear old-timers claim the audience thought wrestling was a shoot or weren't sure or thought the other matches were fake but believed his were real...well I tend to roll my eyes. In my opinion, wrestlers were magicians. Only kids and the feeble-minded think David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear...everybody else knew it was a cool trick and appreciated it all the same. Old school wrestling was no different. Fans suspended their disbelief and got into the show, but the vast majority knew it was all a big trick or work, they just didn't know how it was done. Well, today all the trade secrets are out, but I don't think that's a big problem as millions of fans are still looking to be entertained.
Just imagine WWE hires you to be a wrestler and pairs you with CM Punk. Imagine how much harder it would be to go out in front of the cameras and the crowd and try to pretend that you hate Punk and plan to destroy him next Sunday if you just rode with him to the show, were backstage eating dinner, talking about the Cubs prospects for this season, then going back to the hotel to a shared room. Now the most talented guys can turn it on like a switch and pull this off. But if you're a young guy and everything is new to you, wouldn't you find it easier to get into character and really create the emotion of hatred for Punk if you rode to the show with other guys whose job it could be to also hate Punk, and dressed in a different locker room, and ate catering in a different part of the building, and aside from getting together briefly to talk about the match, that is the only time you interact with Punk?
Back in the day, Vince used to work the boys and create real tension that he hoped would show up on TV, obviously Bret and Shawn would be exhibit A for how Vince used to rile guys up against each other. Now that blew up right in his face, but I still think the idea behind it is smart, there's just a professional way to do it.
So my proposal would be to bring back kayfabe. The babyfaces travel with the babyfaces, the heels travel with the heels. There are two locker rooms, one for heels and one for babyfaces. Catering gets separated for heels and babyfaces. Basically aside from discussing their match, PR stuff, media interviews, every other moment that wrestlers are at work (when they travel, at the arena, at the bar, at the hotel, etc) they observe kayfabe.
I don't care if a heel/face are best friends or like to ride together or share rooms. Wrestling is their job and they should treat it as such, so if observing kayfabe can help bring out a better performance with more natural emotion, then I can't think of a single reason not to make it standard practice...but I'm open to dissenting opinion.
JR and Austin were talking about the art of the promo. JR talked about believability and how every time Austin was on the mic, he believed that he was listening to Stone Cold and he believed in the issue he was talking about, which in turn made JR's job so much easier, as JR approached announcing like it was a shoot and these were real wrestlers with real issues. Austin talked about his preparation prior to a show and how from the drive to the show, to walking in the arena, he was getting into a zone, getting into character, and that is what allowed his transformation. So while they mentioned the "amplifying yourself" philosophy, what they were essentially advocating is a form of method acting.
Chael and Austin were also talking about the art of the promo. Sonnen explained that a lot of his stuff is shtick and that he was good at delivering soundbites or clever attacks, but that deep down, he always feels it. Sonnen said he truly does not like Anderson Silva and that they would never be friends. So it's easy when he's facing somebody who rubbed him the wrong way, but when he was matched up with Brian Stann, he was at a loss. Sonnen knew Dana and the media were expecting his usual bombast and he just didn't have it. He liked and admired Stann so much that he just couldn't tap into his emotion, so he actually called Austin for advice. Steve listened to Chael and his advice was if you don't feel that natural dislike then don't fake it, instead put him over. Tell the media he's the greatest and hard as nails. Chael mentioned that Austin's angle with Mick Foley was an inspiration. Austin was still Stone Cold and was still going to kick some ass, but when it was time to talk about Foley, Austin put him over.
What I took away from the Austin/Chael interview was that there is more than one way to sell a match/fight. It can be sold as a deeply personal issue, filled with hatred, resentment, and emotion and the participants are hell bent on putting hurt on each other or it can be about facing an opponent who is a tough, dangerous, skilled SOB and the participants are going to go at it like crazed dogs and somebody is getting hurt in the process. But no matter what, you have to convince yourself that you believe what you're saying.
I think emotion is the key element in wrestling and the young guys in wrestling today just don't have it like those who came before them and I don't think it's their fault. Young guys just don't get the time to develop, they don't get to work with veteran guys who could help that development, and they're not allowed to develop a character within their own mind as they now have writers handing them a script. Young guys today are expected to be excellent wrestlers and excellent actors, without the training and experience to be either.
But wrestling in 2013 is what it is. By that I mean the industry is a monopoly with one company as the driving force with a full time schedule, one much smaller company swimming in their wake with a little more than part-time schedule, and then everybody else part-time or less. There just aren't enough places for a young wrestler to go and learn with full time on the job training like the territories provided and the clock is not going to be turned backwards to recreate what made wrestling work so well in yesteryear.
But there is something I do believe WWE, TNA or any other company could do to turn back the clock in another way that I believe might just help wrestlers become better performers and make the product better. Now I know there will be many who think this is antiquated thinking or would make no difference and you may be right, but at least hear me out before dismissing the idea.
I would bring back Kayfabe...to a degree.
Back in the day, heels and babyfaces were kept separate. They did not travel together, they did not dress together, they did not room in hotels together, and they did not socialize in public together. And I firmly believe this practice helped wrestlers who were not natural actors become much better performers. And this is the practice I would bring back to wrestling.
Now I'm not saying wrestling needs to try and convince the public that wrestling is real. In fact whenever I hear old-timers claim the audience thought wrestling was a shoot or weren't sure or thought the other matches were fake but believed his were real...well I tend to roll my eyes. In my opinion, wrestlers were magicians. Only kids and the feeble-minded think David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear...everybody else knew it was a cool trick and appreciated it all the same. Old school wrestling was no different. Fans suspended their disbelief and got into the show, but the vast majority knew it was all a big trick or work, they just didn't know how it was done. Well, today all the trade secrets are out, but I don't think that's a big problem as millions of fans are still looking to be entertained.
Just imagine WWE hires you to be a wrestler and pairs you with CM Punk. Imagine how much harder it would be to go out in front of the cameras and the crowd and try to pretend that you hate Punk and plan to destroy him next Sunday if you just rode with him to the show, were backstage eating dinner, talking about the Cubs prospects for this season, then going back to the hotel to a shared room. Now the most talented guys can turn it on like a switch and pull this off. But if you're a young guy and everything is new to you, wouldn't you find it easier to get into character and really create the emotion of hatred for Punk if you rode to the show with other guys whose job it could be to also hate Punk, and dressed in a different locker room, and ate catering in a different part of the building, and aside from getting together briefly to talk about the match, that is the only time you interact with Punk?
Back in the day, Vince used to work the boys and create real tension that he hoped would show up on TV, obviously Bret and Shawn would be exhibit A for how Vince used to rile guys up against each other. Now that blew up right in his face, but I still think the idea behind it is smart, there's just a professional way to do it.
So my proposal would be to bring back kayfabe. The babyfaces travel with the babyfaces, the heels travel with the heels. There are two locker rooms, one for heels and one for babyfaces. Catering gets separated for heels and babyfaces. Basically aside from discussing their match, PR stuff, media interviews, every other moment that wrestlers are at work (when they travel, at the arena, at the bar, at the hotel, etc) they observe kayfabe.
I don't care if a heel/face are best friends or like to ride together or share rooms. Wrestling is their job and they should treat it as such, so if observing kayfabe can help bring out a better performance with more natural emotion, then I can't think of a single reason not to make it standard practice...but I'm open to dissenting opinion.
