Ring Psychology

[CH David]

Reading KB's reviews in the Old School section (check them out bitches) there is always a common theme in each review. He always looks for psychology in the ring. After reading his reviews when I first started posting, I started looking for it myself in modern day wrestling. To be honest, I don't see much psychology in the nowadays, whether it be WWE, TNA, whatever. Do wrestlers not look for an attacking point?

Chris Benoit was a great example of wrestling with psychology in mind. He always worked the shoulder and neck area, because that was where the crossface did it's damage. Ric Flair would attack the legs because the Figure Four would be more effective on weaker legs. When it comes to a big guy like the Big Show, or a speedy guy like Evan Bourne or Rey Mysterio, wouldn't you want to work their legs and ground them so they can't move that well? Or work a Flair who needs his legs for his finisher, or Benoit's arms for his? It is a little thing, but it truly is effective.

It also helps when the wrestler getting worked on would continue to sell it throughout the remainder of the match as well. Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero saw Eddie working Edge's arm/shoulder for a solid five minutes, but Edge wins with a spear, using that same shoulder. Why the hell would Eddie spend a good portion of the match working the arm, if it isn't effective?

Do you like matches where psychology is shown, and is continued throughout the match? Do you not care? What are your thoughts on ring psychology in general?

 

[Hawkeye]

I see it in modern wrestling more now than I used to,but i think that's because now I know what it is.They always use mat wrestling and grappling to ground Bourne,kick the big guys in the back of the legs and counter the hell out of pure strikers.It's almost like paper rock scissors in that sense.You don't really see them focus the attack on one body part,however,unless the fans already know it's a weak point or injured so I agree with you in that aspect.

 

[TSG]

Psychology is a very important in-ring aspect. Psychology can be used in many different aspects. You can be slow and methodical, with a speedy opponet, high paced and fast against slower guy, working on certain parts of the body which your finisher targets, using certain basic moves and strikes to wear down your opponnet, or just playing to your gimmick with your in ring work.

You don't really see psychology in today's wrestling as much. It is still there, and one of the things that make me enjoy matches a little bit more. As you noted, Chris Benoit always used moves to wear down the neck and back to make his Crippler Crossface more effective. With today's stars, you can find it in different varieties, but just not as often.

For example, Randy Orton, whose gimmick is that of a Viper, slow and methodical, brutal and violent, cold and emotionless, plays that to a T in any match you watch. He always goes psychotic, playing in with his Voices he hears in his song torwards the end of the match, and he is slow and always looking for oppurtunities to strike, just like a Viper.

Zack Ryder, something I noticed in his matches with Evan Bourne, tried to slow the pace down and wear down Bourne, keeping him grounded. Ryder realized, even though he was cruiserweight himself, Bourne was much smaller and quicker and he needed to slow the pace to control the match.

In his NXT match with Alex Riley, just to through out something very fresh in our minds, you noticed Kaval connecting with sharp and hard kicks throughout the match. That is an example of wearing down your opponet through the match to get him weaker. I also enjoy when poeople go for multiple pinfalls in a match, as it will help wear an opponet out as it takes energy to kick out each time. It is also good when announcers sell it. William Regal is good at using brutal and basic offense to wear his man down also, and Finlay is good at using the ringside enviroment and his brawling style to do it.

Ring psychology is something that adds to a match overall, and helps tell the story in the art of professional wrestling. Good in-ring psychology i seen less and less today, which is a shame, but it is still used in many different forms and to me a very important aspect of professional wrestling.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Psychology is a hit and miss concept when you apply it to professional wrestling. On one hand, selling is an important part of the business. You can't have wrestling matches if someone doesn't know how to bump or doesn't know how to cut a convincing promo, whether it be via mic skills or simple acting techniques. It's illogical to have somebody work on a body part for most of the match to then only for the other person to miraculously recover from said injuries and use that body part to do major damage. However, this is the other side of the story as the audience needs to suspend their disbelief to understand what's going on. Rational thinking like this ruins the entire experience and is designed to make you feel emotion for the recovering superstar.

Both sides considered, there is a fine line which superstars can walk. Using your match example to explain, Edge won the match via a spear despite Eddie targeting the same body part he used to deliver the move for a good portion of the match. There is no reason why a running/launching move such as a spear shouldn't be removed from Edge's arsenal simply because his shoulder has been targeted. It's wise not to go for the spear, but Edge can still deliver the spear. As long as Edge sells the aftermath of him hitting the spear, selling throughout the match and doesn't perform moves that completely rely on the shoulder (such as a back suplex), he's doing the psychology needed for the match. You need to allow for Edge to move around to some extent because completely limiting him would be stupid for Edge/Eddie if they needed to improvise or on the bookings side.

But in saying this, there is a current storyline that has been overlooked a bit in the ring psychology department. Kane, who is currently going around trying to find out who has taken out Undertaker, did an epic promo when the initial storyline started. When he's around the backstage area or doing run-in's, he does stick to the main plot... but sometimes when you see him walk out to the ring, he has no expression on his face. Not the "no expression" expression, but having absolutely nothing to portray his anger and frustrations. He's just been walking out to the ring and chokeslamming random people, or working matches like normal. Technically, the demonic monster should be showing his mental anguish physically by applying a different style of wrestling. Take Mickie James when she did the psychopathic storyline... she acted in character throughout the entire match. Kane with this storyline, has been wrestling only. Sometimes I forget when he wrestles that he is looking for someone due to them taking out the Undertaker.

Ring Psychology is one of the things that can make or break a match, but you shouldn't be using this as THE factor to judge how well a match is performed. Wrestlers, though, should be remembering everything that has happened to them in any state that needs special treatment due to past actions (like Edge's shoulder being taken out). It ties everything together, instead of separating acting from wrestling.

 

[The Brain]

I definitely like a match a lot more if it shows good ring psychology. Psychology has been replaced by counter wrestling and kicking out of finishers. Have you noticed how the announcers insist that a match is great because there are a lot of counters? Many times the counters are the same or not even counters at all. Chris Jericho leapfrogging Edge’s spear is not a counter. He avoided the move, not countered it. Also just because Rey Mysterio spun out of CM Punk’s GTS five times doesn’t mean the match was great. After Rey spun out the first time Punk should realize he needs to work Rey over some more instead of going for the move again twenty seconds later. I like counter wrestling, but when the same moves keep getting countered several times throughout a match the ones trying to execute the moves come off as foolish. There should be a logical series of moves leading up to a finish. Speaking of the finish, kicking out of a finisher has become more common than being pinned by it. I’m more surprised now when a so called finisher actually finishes a match.

He doesn’t always get a lot of love on here, but this is why Triple H has been on top so long (spare me the Stephanie jokes). He has always been good at ring psychology. One big problem is the old territories are long gone. Everyone is learning the same thing at the same place from the same people. Young wrestlers now are more worried about mic skills, look, and gimmick than actually learning how to put on a good match. They feel if they have a few flashy moves that they’re good enough. Sure they learn how to execute the basic moves, but nobody is teaching them when to or why. Knowing how to do good moves can make a good match. Knowing when to do them and why you’re doing them can make a great match.

 

[klunderbunker]

When I talk about psychology, I'm not necessarily talking about picking out a body part. This is an example of psychology and is likely the best example of psychology, but there are far more things to it than that. When I talk about psychology, I mean thinking while wrestling. For every move, there should be a reason why it was made. Now, most of the time one move can be just as good as the other, but why was it there? Another example is continuity. Take for example Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio. In their match at Extreme Rules 09, Jericho won by pulling the mask off of REy and in Rey's shock, Jericho got a quick win. Fast forward a month and it's the Bash. Jericho does the same thing, but Rey is wearing a second mask. Rey learned from that previous match and incorporated it into the current match. he was thinking and it got him a win.

Psychology comes down to answering one question: why did he do that? Now in today's product, you can't have it in every match. In a 3 minute TV match, there simply isn't enough time to do anything more than basic stuff and then the planned finish. That's fine as there's no way you can ask the guys to have a well thought out match in such a short amount of time. However, there are things that are inexcusable. For instance in a Heat match from 2004, Albert was wrestling Tajiri and Tajiri hit his head on the turnbuckle. He's holding his head and selling it, and the Albert throws on an armbar. THAT is inexcusable.

Today you don't see it as much because of the faster pacing. It's a problem of wrestling today as the older ways which flat out work are being forgotten in favor of flash with a lack of substance. Everything is about getting your signature spots in and that's it. Even in a 3 minute match you can have psychology, which is where stuff like a wristlock or an armbar can do wonders. It's so basic yet it works. It's not hard to do, but sadly it's being phased out in exchange for all kinds of flashy stuff, which scares me at times.

 

[Tastycles]

I think ring psychology is a strange topic. Some matches that don't have it, you can forgive because they're still thoroughly entertaining. TLC II is such an example. Almost nothing that happens in that match would actually assist in a victory, but most people would still consider it to be good.

However, there are some wrestlers totally incapable of having a good match because they don't have any. Matt Morgan is probably the best example of this in the world right now. His matches are totally devoid of any selling and as a result suspension of disbelief isn't possible.

At the same time, people misinterpret what it means, an often matches that are slow and boring are heralded as some psychological masterpiece. Psychology adds to a match, it's not the be all and end all, and doing something slowly doesn't mean it's good psychology, and Randy Orton's fans would do well to take that on board.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is very true. You can't grade every match the same as all others. I will however disagree with not having psychology in matches like TLC 2. For instance rather than going for nothing but highspots, they still have to go after the title. Psychology isn't just about going for a limb or somthing like that. It boils down to "Why did he do that?" There's little reason to put someone through a table if they're already down and out and there's nothing stopping you from climbing a ladder for a title.

The X-Division is the same as Morgan. They'll take huge bumps and be down for the same amount of time before popping up like they were only hit by a stiff breeze. On the other hand, guys like Orton have no psychology. He just moves around slowly because it's allegedly his character to do so. That's not psychology. That's just being boring.

 

[Checkmate]

Psychology comes down to answering one question: why did he do that?

I've always looked at ring psychology in a similar light, namely: If I were in the ring, what would I do?

Now, I get that I am not a wrestler, nor a sports-entertainer in any way, but the key word in all of this is the "why". This can vary through many different things, but should likely encompass everything from "why are they fighting each other" to "why is he targeting that body part" and even to "why did he do that move". Ring psychology, to me, has always been about why everything in the match is supposed to make sense.

There are many things that I have liked recently that involve great psychology in the ring, and many that have been quite terrible. For a great example, I would go with Randy Orton vs Triple H (I forget which match exactly), where Orton was setting up Triple H for the RKO, but then backed off and went for a Punt instead. Now, any random critic could call that a waste of time, where Orton should have just went for the Punt from the get-go, but to me this shows character, psychology, and allows the character the ability to think. Orton clearly thought to himself that he wanted to hurt Triple H (again, the "why" of their intense rivalry) and that the RKO was not sufficient punishment for his nemesis, so he switched moves. "Why" would Orton simply finish the match when he could potentially put Triple H on the shelf? The psychology in the ring is retroactive to the entire angle, and this is something that makes the match worth watching.

On the flip side, there have been many matches that have been rather poor in terms of thought and psychology. I'm not overly critical of the "flashy, high flyers" as most, mainly because their style is meant to entertain and does have a unique psychology (some would say lack there of) to it. Normally, the plan of a high flyer is to just throw caution to the wind and hit the opponent with enough high impact moves to put them away, often at the cost of their own body. While this is quite the suicidal plan, it sometimes works, and I get that some guys would like the high-risk, high-reward lifestyle.

However, there are some things that I just don't get. When an opponent is clearly selling an injury, why not exploit the injury? There have been plenty of matches where one guy comes in with a taped up body part that is always exploited, so it baffles me that some guys don't work a similar match without the tape. Hell, this has been a basic aspect of any match for as long as I can remember, especially in the face vs heel matchup:

Face vs Heel
Face gets injured, possibly by heel tactics
Heel exploits the face's new weakness
Face overcomes weakness to win, or heel really exploits the injury to win

Simple concept really, and it can bring a great amount of in ring psychology into play. Just because a match is slower doesn't mean it isn't good. I do agree that some new age matchups ignore psychology in favor of flash, and that is a shame in my eyes. I appreciate two (or more) guys getting in the ring and really telling me a good story, preferably without all the plot holes.