peter_midnight
Occasional Pre-Show
I haven't watched enough wrestling outside of the U.S. since the early 2000s to make this a worldwide proposal, but I have been watching enough mainstream (and some indy) U.S. wrestling to think this is a valid proposition.
In the early 1990s, Giant Baba the owner and president of All Japan Pro Wrestling decided to get rid of DQ and count out finishes to matches and to make all matches end in clean finishes, which would take his company to the next level in terms of match quality and drawing power for the rest of the decade. I think the WWE and all other U.S. promotions can take some variations on this approach. Mark Madden has proposed a quality control position in order to make sure that wrestling is logical on paper before being filmed on camera. I propose a similar approach.
Pro Wrestling is at it's core a simulated sporting event with the line of reality and fantasy blurred. It is my opinion that it has veered too far off into fantasy land and needs to start being more reality based again. In order to do so, I propose the following suggestions:
1. Make DQs mean something.
It can't be the case that a guy can get disqualified and this mean nothing. In terms of boxing and other sports, a disqualification can be a serious offense resulting in serious consequences from the sanctioning bodies. For example, Mike Tyson was DQ'd for biting off the ear of Evander Holyfield and had his boxing license revoked. How is it that wrestlers can hit guys with chairs in the head/face, use sledgehammers, and commit other offenses that are caught on camera with almost no repercussions?!
I think restoring this kind of credibility would work in the long run as the DQ could be used more sparingly to cause controversy for big money rematches. Also, as an adult it's very hard to take wrestling seriously when guys are doing things that would get them lifetime bans in other sports while merely getting a slap on the wrist in wrestling. Heels can be unlikeable without going to the extreme.
2. Judges.
Most combat sports have judges in case the fights go the distance. Wrestling is the only "sport" I can think of where matches have completely not gone the time limit for years. It used to be pretty often where matches would reach the time limit. This can easily end the DQ madness, which is obviously used to protect wrestlers and draw heat. Instead, bring back time limit draws, then as a result of too many draws, bring in judges. Now you have a perfect reason to have controversial decisions that result in rematches. Protecting wrestler problem SOLVED!
3. Get rid of the dumb rule that DQs and Countouts will not result in title changes.
Exactly what is the point of having these as ways of winning a match if in title matches they can't change hands, especially in the case of a countout. I can understand a DQ resulting in someone being stripped of the title versus winning it, but why is it if I slam a guy so hard on the outside of the ring that he can't physically answer the 10 count, I can't win the title? It's basically a technical pin/submission (depending on how the countout occurs), which is the equivalent of a TKO in other sports.
4. Use the more technical aspects of wrestling to create interest in rematches.
Example: WCW Referee Randy Anderson used to count fairly quickly during the pin. That could be used as an excuse for a rematch with a heel requesting a referee with a "fairer" count. Or a ref could be known as the ref that lets a lot of things slide resulting in babyfaces losing matches due to a lot of rule bending/breaking.
Another example: Wrestler gets thrown into a camera man on accident, which results in an accidental butting of heads or head to camera impact, which results in a knockout or in the wrestler being taken advantage of resulting in a loss. BOOM, you have instant cause for a rematch with a credible reason.
The entire premise of the above is to get wrestling back into reality and more importantly, to make sense. I understand they're marketing to kids, but as a kid, I loved combat sports, so the idea that it can't be reality based in order to appeal to kids is absurd.
Press conferences, training camps, cornermen, etc, are all things that should at the very least should be considered in this day and age. While I love some of the more ridiculous parts of wrestling, it does seem absurd that The Rock could be in a limo (or was it an ambulance? I'm too lazy to look it up) and be hit by a Semi truck at full speed by Hulk Hogan and still be well enough to fight at Wrestlemania in a matter of weeks or ever again really. Furthermore, it's pretty ridiculous that the nWo were basically committing assault/attempted murder on camera and didn't even get arrested let alone go to court for their crimes.
In the early 1990s, Giant Baba the owner and president of All Japan Pro Wrestling decided to get rid of DQ and count out finishes to matches and to make all matches end in clean finishes, which would take his company to the next level in terms of match quality and drawing power for the rest of the decade. I think the WWE and all other U.S. promotions can take some variations on this approach. Mark Madden has proposed a quality control position in order to make sure that wrestling is logical on paper before being filmed on camera. I propose a similar approach.
Pro Wrestling is at it's core a simulated sporting event with the line of reality and fantasy blurred. It is my opinion that it has veered too far off into fantasy land and needs to start being more reality based again. In order to do so, I propose the following suggestions:
1. Make DQs mean something.
It can't be the case that a guy can get disqualified and this mean nothing. In terms of boxing and other sports, a disqualification can be a serious offense resulting in serious consequences from the sanctioning bodies. For example, Mike Tyson was DQ'd for biting off the ear of Evander Holyfield and had his boxing license revoked. How is it that wrestlers can hit guys with chairs in the head/face, use sledgehammers, and commit other offenses that are caught on camera with almost no repercussions?!
I think restoring this kind of credibility would work in the long run as the DQ could be used more sparingly to cause controversy for big money rematches. Also, as an adult it's very hard to take wrestling seriously when guys are doing things that would get them lifetime bans in other sports while merely getting a slap on the wrist in wrestling. Heels can be unlikeable without going to the extreme.
2. Judges.
Most combat sports have judges in case the fights go the distance. Wrestling is the only "sport" I can think of where matches have completely not gone the time limit for years. It used to be pretty often where matches would reach the time limit. This can easily end the DQ madness, which is obviously used to protect wrestlers and draw heat. Instead, bring back time limit draws, then as a result of too many draws, bring in judges. Now you have a perfect reason to have controversial decisions that result in rematches. Protecting wrestler problem SOLVED!
3. Get rid of the dumb rule that DQs and Countouts will not result in title changes.
Exactly what is the point of having these as ways of winning a match if in title matches they can't change hands, especially in the case of a countout. I can understand a DQ resulting in someone being stripped of the title versus winning it, but why is it if I slam a guy so hard on the outside of the ring that he can't physically answer the 10 count, I can't win the title? It's basically a technical pin/submission (depending on how the countout occurs), which is the equivalent of a TKO in other sports.
4. Use the more technical aspects of wrestling to create interest in rematches.
Example: WCW Referee Randy Anderson used to count fairly quickly during the pin. That could be used as an excuse for a rematch with a heel requesting a referee with a "fairer" count. Or a ref could be known as the ref that lets a lot of things slide resulting in babyfaces losing matches due to a lot of rule bending/breaking.
Another example: Wrestler gets thrown into a camera man on accident, which results in an accidental butting of heads or head to camera impact, which results in a knockout or in the wrestler being taken advantage of resulting in a loss. BOOM, you have instant cause for a rematch with a credible reason.
The entire premise of the above is to get wrestling back into reality and more importantly, to make sense. I understand they're marketing to kids, but as a kid, I loved combat sports, so the idea that it can't be reality based in order to appeal to kids is absurd.
Press conferences, training camps, cornermen, etc, are all things that should at the very least should be considered in this day and age. While I love some of the more ridiculous parts of wrestling, it does seem absurd that The Rock could be in a limo (or was it an ambulance? I'm too lazy to look it up) and be hit by a Semi truck at full speed by Hulk Hogan and still be well enough to fight at Wrestlemania in a matter of weeks or ever again really. Furthermore, it's pretty ridiculous that the nWo were basically committing assault/attempted murder on camera and didn't even get arrested let alone go to court for their crimes.
