Defining "WWE Style"
- Thread starter Funkydr79
- Start date
TheHellmouth
Dark Match Winner
To me "WWE Style" is the punch-kick style that Steve Austin evolved into after his neck injury. A guy working it uses less moves then he may use in other promotions but it's also safer for its stars and helps insure their longevity.
When I think of a good WWE match I think highly emotional matches that tell a story through the actions of its wrestlers portraying it. This goes hand in hand with the punch kick style of safe working that I just described. Their "spectacle" doesn't come from dangerous stunts (with some exceptions) or technical showcases (once again with some exceptions) but through the story of the match and the ability of each wrestler to work together to get the crowd involved. The Undertaker vs Triple H at WM XXIII or Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk at Summerslam 2013 are two recent examples that come to mind of good matches that I can't picture seeing done in other promotions. Neither match was exceptionally violent or filled with technical wrestling but both were incredibly dramatic do to the skill of the performers at telling a story.
When I think of a good WWE match I think highly emotional matches that tell a story through the actions of its wrestlers portraying it. This goes hand in hand with the punch kick style of safe working that I just described. Their "spectacle" doesn't come from dangerous stunts (with some exceptions) or technical showcases (once again with some exceptions) but through the story of the match and the ability of each wrestler to work together to get the crowd involved. The Undertaker vs Triple H at WM XXIII or Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk at Summerslam 2013 are two recent examples that come to mind of good matches that I can't picture seeing done in other promotions. Neither match was exceptionally violent or filled with technical wrestling but both were incredibly dramatic do to the skill of the performers at telling a story.
Aeon Mathix
Has Ascended
A lot of people call the WWE style "toning it down" in regards to indy wrestlers or people they pretty much worship around here. Truth is, it is merely changing up a style to better suit a mainstream audience. That technical masterpiece hour long match seen in the indies or something is cool for hardcore fans but what about the casual fan? I would get bored as fuck switching the channel and see 2 guys in trading armbars on the mat for 15 minutes. But then I could switch on WWE and see a guy like John Cena throwing Big Show around.
All that said, I want to talk about this philosophy that comes with John Cena namely and the "five moves of doom". Let me tell you why this is ******ed. First of all, every single face has a set number of moves they use. Ever play WWE 2k14? You have signature moves then your finisher. Every. Single. Face has them. Don't believe me? Lets break it down:
John Cena: shoulder block, shoulder block, back suplex, five knuckle shuffle, AA, STF. Thats not counting his top rope fameasser, dropkick, tilt a-whirl suplex, fisherman's suplex, the once in a while crossface, the sitout powerbomb, the sunset flip, etc. But the first ones I listed up to the STF are his signatures and finisher. Heres more examples.
Daniel Bryan: running up the turnbuckle flip over, running clothesline, corner dropkick YES kicks, diving headbutt, YES lock, running knee.
CM Punk: clothesline, clothesline, neckbreaker, running knee into the corner/bulldog, macho elbow, GTS, Anaconda vice.
Triple H: High Knee, Knee to face while opponent is bent over, spinebuster, pedigree.
Shawn Michaels: running forearm/kip up, Atomic drop, punch, bodyslam, top rope elbow, sweet chin music.
You get the idea. Every face has that finishing sequence for the crowd to get fired up for. It's the face's job in a match to get the crowd behind his or her comeback. The heel controls the majority of the match, needing the crowd to get behind the hero. It's been done since before the Hogan days. It's the face formula or the WWE style as you will.
All that said, I want to talk about this philosophy that comes with John Cena namely and the "five moves of doom". Let me tell you why this is ******ed. First of all, every single face has a set number of moves they use. Ever play WWE 2k14? You have signature moves then your finisher. Every. Single. Face has them. Don't believe me? Lets break it down:
John Cena: shoulder block, shoulder block, back suplex, five knuckle shuffle, AA, STF. Thats not counting his top rope fameasser, dropkick, tilt a-whirl suplex, fisherman's suplex, the once in a while crossface, the sitout powerbomb, the sunset flip, etc. But the first ones I listed up to the STF are his signatures and finisher. Heres more examples.
Daniel Bryan: running up the turnbuckle flip over, running clothesline, corner dropkick YES kicks, diving headbutt, YES lock, running knee.
CM Punk: clothesline, clothesline, neckbreaker, running knee into the corner/bulldog, macho elbow, GTS, Anaconda vice.
Triple H: High Knee, Knee to face while opponent is bent over, spinebuster, pedigree.
Shawn Michaels: running forearm/kip up, Atomic drop, punch, bodyslam, top rope elbow, sweet chin music.
You get the idea. Every face has that finishing sequence for the crowd to get fired up for. It's the face's job in a match to get the crowd behind his or her comeback. The heel controls the majority of the match, needing the crowd to get behind the hero. It's been done since before the Hogan days. It's the face formula or the WWE style as you will.
Wrestlingfan100
Pre-Show Stalwart
I'm going to plug Talk is Jericho here, he discusses this a lot but in my own words, the WWE style is:
working camera angles, especially the hard cam
showing emotion and determination and your character not only every move but every step they make
working with time constraints
those are the 3 basics in WWE. I bring him up a lot but Evan Bourne/Matt Sydal who's a 14 year veteran, he wasn't to cut down, he couldn't use a lot of his power moves( he suplexed R Truth in 2011, Powerslamed Miz in 2008, top rope gordbuster on Jericho) but on the indies he did bridging suplexes and he has 19 submission variants in his arsenal and of course WWE never gave him the chance to use the Here It is Driver(sit out half nelson pumphandle slam) or the Cyclorama( a belly to belly moonsault side slam from the top turnbuckle)
but he was still able to have a huge moveset in WWE.
Rollins isn't to cut down, dean is pretty cut down though, Punk wasn't cut down to much, Daniel Bryan wasn't cut down. Sin Cara was, yoshi tatsu was
working camera angles, especially the hard cam
showing emotion and determination and your character not only every move but every step they make
working with time constraints
those are the 3 basics in WWE. I bring him up a lot but Evan Bourne/Matt Sydal who's a 14 year veteran, he wasn't to cut down, he couldn't use a lot of his power moves( he suplexed R Truth in 2011, Powerslamed Miz in 2008, top rope gordbuster on Jericho) but on the indies he did bridging suplexes and he has 19 submission variants in his arsenal and of course WWE never gave him the chance to use the Here It is Driver(sit out half nelson pumphandle slam) or the Cyclorama( a belly to belly moonsault side slam from the top turnbuckle)
but he was still able to have a huge moveset in WWE.
Rollins isn't to cut down, dean is pretty cut down though, Punk wasn't cut down to much, Daniel Bryan wasn't cut down. Sin Cara was, yoshi tatsu was
Trill Co$by
Believes in The Shield!
It's not cut down, it's developing a character that makes sense. Let's take the IWC's favorite in CM Punk, admittedly my favorite until he just dipped on his fans. When he was brought up, his fighting style was presented as a Technician and a Striker; and throughout his WWE career that's what he stayed as. Sure he did the suicide dive, but overall he was a Technical guy that could also beat you down with his hands and feet... mostly his feet.
Now with that mindset, why the hell would he go around using a top rope pedigree? Especially when he doesn't even use the regular pedigree, and when it's well known that HHH uses it and to WWE fans, always has used it. The answer: it didn't. CM Punk's character needed moves that made sense and was logical.
People on here have a difference of opinion when it comes to TNA's Gunner. They either say "He's too green" or "I need to see him expand his moveset", but what those morons don't understand is that no he doesn't. Gunner is a power house. He beats you up, steals your money, and then beats you up again when you say something. He's not supposed to put you in the most technical of submission holds, or even do a flashy flipping move that could break his neck. He is simply supposed to show his power and dominate with it.
To me, that along with what Wrestlingfan100 stated is what WWE Style is. It's no longer about showing WWE you can do this move or that move. It's about being able to show WWE that you can develop a character, and then translate that character over television. If that's too complicated to understand, then I don't know.
Now with that mindset, why the hell would he go around using a top rope pedigree? Especially when he doesn't even use the regular pedigree, and when it's well known that HHH uses it and to WWE fans, always has used it. The answer: it didn't. CM Punk's character needed moves that made sense and was logical.
People on here have a difference of opinion when it comes to TNA's Gunner. They either say "He's too green" or "I need to see him expand his moveset", but what those morons don't understand is that no he doesn't. Gunner is a power house. He beats you up, steals your money, and then beats you up again when you say something. He's not supposed to put you in the most technical of submission holds, or even do a flashy flipping move that could break his neck. He is simply supposed to show his power and dominate with it.
To me, that along with what Wrestlingfan100 stated is what WWE Style is. It's no longer about showing WWE you can do this move or that move. It's about being able to show WWE that you can develop a character, and then translate that character over television. If that's too complicated to understand, then I don't know.
JoeyJoeJoe
Championship Contender
To me, the WWE style of wrestling being able to wrestle the same match in different time frames: A quick 3 to 5 minute match, an average 7 to 10 minute match, and a long 15-20 minute match. The moves that each wrestler uses within those matches are essentially the same -- they are simply arranged in different orders: Whereas a quick 3 to 5 minute match is going to end as soon as a finisher is hit, maybe the 7 to 10 minute match sees someone counter out of a finisher to make the match go a bit longer, and the 15 to 20 minute match sees guys kick out of multiple finishers.
However, it's very much the 5 moves of Doom -- each guys has his patented moveset and set up to each move. WWE fans come to recognize, and enjoy these movesets not because it's suspenseful, but because they know what is coming next. Ring psychology is still very much in play, but there's no room for ad-libbing. The ring psychology is dictated before hand, and if the crowd isn't into the match, well...the wrestlers aren't going to have a chance to change the tempo of the match.
However, it's very much the 5 moves of Doom -- each guys has his patented moveset and set up to each move. WWE fans come to recognize, and enjoy these movesets not because it's suspenseful, but because they know what is coming next. Ring psychology is still very much in play, but there's no room for ad-libbing. The ring psychology is dictated before hand, and if the crowd isn't into the match, well...the wrestlers aren't going to have a chance to change the tempo of the match.
A11oftheLights
Getting Noticed By Management
crappy wrestling
i kid i kid
Pretty much its not about being a total spot fest, people often whinge and whine about Mark Madden but when he says Indie wrestling is bad because wrestlers do high spots after high spots and just get up like nothing has happened, in this instance he is right i dont want to watch a match where 80 moves that would hospitalise someone only get a kick out at two. You can only stretch the reality of professional wrestling so far.
i kid i kid
Pretty much its not about being a total spot fest, people often whinge and whine about Mark Madden but when he says Indie wrestling is bad because wrestlers do high spots after high spots and just get up like nothing has happened, in this instance he is right i dont want to watch a match where 80 moves that would hospitalise someone only get a kick out at two. You can only stretch the reality of professional wrestling so far.
closet_fan
Mid-Card Championship Winner
This is what I think of when I think of the WWE style. Each match has it's own template that wrestlers shouldn't stray away from while in the ring. It's cool to see them do it every once and awhile, like when Cena gave Punk the Hurricanrana. But the WWE is about emotion, storytelling and ring psychology.
That's why guys like Dean Malenko never got over well with the crowd. He was a tremendous wrestler, but wasn't a very good "wrassler."
I think people who have seen KENTA wrestle will be disappointed because he will ask to be limited with his wrestling style. But he makes up for it with emotion in his expressions.
Kevin Steen shouldn't have much of a problem. He's more of a brawler who fits in with the WWE way of thinking quite well.
what are you talking about? dean malenko was over like a mofo. it wasnt until wwe gave him stupid gimmicks of being a ladys man and whatnot that the crowd turned on him. go back and watch when dean is unmasked in wcw, huge pop. if wwe wouldve let him be himself instead of relying on dumb gimmicks he wouldve gotten a lot more over in wwe.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7g4dh_cruiserweight-battle-royal-wcw-slam_sport
Similar threads
