Do you agree with Kurt Angle

[Psykohurricane55]

I just finished watching the hall of fame and the highlight for me was something that kurt angle said during his speech. He said that fans will remember your matches but character moments lives for ever. He also said to the guys to go out and take chance with their characters.

Listening to this, I thought he had a point, there's a new trend in wwe both with the fans and wrestlers wher they concentrate too much on the moves and not enough of creating compelling characters. It's like they want the quality of the matches to make them stars now. If you look throughoit history, all the wrestlers they became legends or hall of famers we're great characters. If you takes guy like daniel bryan, cm punk, jeff hardy, shawn michaels, aj styles, all guys that are great wrestlers but until the found the characters aspect of the character, they we're just guys that could wrestles and only I small group like. As soon as they found that character moment, their career skyrocketed and became mega superstars

Again nothing against fans and the wrestlers bur it seem like a lot of the wrestlera in wwe are scared to take chance with what they are given and would rather cost on their ability and follow the script that they are given then try to stand out. Then when they get release, they bitch about how wwe didn't give them a chance, tjat they had good idea for the characters and they got turn down (ryback is the best exemple of this).

I think that's why wwe doesn't have that big mega star rigt now, because evrybody is so scares to take a chance that they go out there, do what they are told and then really on their wrestling to get over. If you ad more character momnts and less wrestling moment, wwe would probably have more main event stars right now.

 

[Navi]

For once I totally agree with what Angle and the OP said. It doesn't matter how great you are in the ring, how good looking or how cut you are, if you can't sell yourself to the crowd then it's all for not.

Fans like myself want to see the personality behind the wrestler's character. Maybe not their real personality, but every wrestler is playing a role and the role they are playing should have a personality to it. Those moments when Angle was wearing that stupid cowboy hat, and playing that plastic guitar were gold. I've seen them replay that over and over again. He would never win an Academy Award for it, but it entertained the crowd and we remember it.

Take Jericho and his stupid saying's like "It" and "Stupid Idiot" and "You just made the list.", no one else could have got them over. Even "Drink it in mannnnnj" is on a t-shirt. The one's we remember are the ones that aren't afraid to take a chance, to show some umph, and give the crowd a laugh. It should be a fun time and some in the ring take it way to seriously. Ambrose get's criticized for being a clown, but the guy is over with the crowd, they love him.

Yea get out there, take chances, show you're human. It's not going to hurt and will make the highlight reel for years to come.

 

[OYDK]

Of course I agree with Kurt Angle. People will obviously remember incredible matches but its personality and character depth that make somebody a real star. Take Daniel Bryan for instance. The guy could have incredible matches all day long, but that's not what made him a star. His personality as part of Team Hell No and his ability to play the scrappy underdog is ultimately what got the fans behind him to such a degree.

At the same time, it's easy for past guys to say that without having to really go through what modern wrestlers do. When Angle came in, guys were given a lot more creative freedom than they are today and although many were given an outline of what to do and say, they could have fun with it and take it in any direction they wanted. Today, it's not like that. I remember reading a story on the main page where Vince absolutely roasted Braun Strowman for saying "title shot" instead of "title match." If you have to worry about saying one word wrong, you have to wonder about what would happen if you took a risk and it didn't work out. You have to worry about punishment.

It's not like wrestlers love to have everything laid out for them word by word, or at least I doubt they do. But that's the nature of the business now. If you get over in the way that they don't want you to get over, than they'll try to find ways to kill that momentum.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I think the post above touched on the main issue, and that's that stars today seem to be refused the creative freedom to do creative things outside of what is scripted for them. Bray Wyatt seems to have some sort of freedom to do things and that is why he thrives right now. And someone like AJ Styles already had that allure about him and so it was not hard for him to thrive.

But in essence, of course Angle is right. Character is everything. But so is opportunity. I mean, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows could be great, but the reality is that in WWE they are not. And that is because they don't have those opportunities. Look at Enzo and Cass. Incredibly hot and popular when they came in, but what now? And they have the characters down.

But, if you had to choose between being the best wrestler in the world with little gimmick, or a massive gimmick bigger than the actual wrestling ability, I suppose the second option works better. But if you look at the greatest of all time, they truly did have both. There's few that I can think of that severely lacked in either department.

Just look at the Hall of Fame class this year. They were ALL charismatic. Christ, even Rick Rude's son is getting praise for being more charismatic in a Hall of Fame speech than half the damn roster. Kinda true though. Point is, Angle is right. The personality is the driving force. Hopefully some guys take that to heart and try and do something. You can see personalities are waiting there to push through, but something is holding them back.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

I think you have both confused having Character to being a Character.

I think Angle was talking about how his character moments will live forever. Such as when he took HBK's 'Sexy Boy' song and made his own version of 'Sexy Kurt'.

He's not talking about the character of wrestlers. He was meaning actual characters (Undertaker, Honky Tonk Man, Mizdow) which we don't really get nowadays.

 

[Makaveli31]

All you have to do is listen to Ultimate Warrior's last speech and you have your answer.

 

[ShinChan]

I agree with Kurt Angle.

But as mentioned by OYDK, the wrestlers today don't have the creative power to do so. Just think how many people cut promos on their own at present? I would say that only a handful.

You can't prove a thing when you ain't given any chances to prove it. You need to give opportunities to people who could make it. That will lead to profit of everyone involved.

 

[sikkbones]

You know, if we actually saw Finn balors demon character instead of spot monkey finn, he might have less injuries.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

The problem is everything is so scripted.

Honestly, how much character can you show when you're just saying the same scripted lines every week?

It's like everyone is robotic like Miz when he was impersonating Cena. Take Reigns for example "This is my yard now" How many times have we heard that? I'm guessing at least 50 times since Fastlane. I know I've said this a million times, but turn Reigns heel and let him cut promos like he did in NXT. But no let's give him the biggest push in wrestling history and force him to become the next Cena instead of letting him get over naturally. Whatever, what's done is done.

Of course it's not just limited to Reigns. Almost every wrestler is affected by this. Vince should really stop micromanaging everything, but it's not gonna happen.

That's what the last few years will be known for. Great wrestling but bad stories and no character development. Yet again, booking is to blame.