Squash matches and the likes

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Okay, WWE fans probably seen their fair share of squash matches. People who are spanking new to the show squash jobbers to show their skillz. People who need to remind the crowd they are still bad ass motherfuckers squash jobbers. People who are lower level champs squash to prove why they got that title. And of course, the jobbers get squashed for various reasons.

At the end of it, it is clear who is getting shoved and who might need to find a soma replacement. p)


But do most of them actually like serve their purpose? I am not sure. No one took Sheamus seriously when he was killing Jamie Noble every week. Currently, on SD, Mahal has been squashing people for a month or so. I personally have seen much that would indicate any upside in this dude. He just goes in, does that weird finisher and Khali finishes the guy off with a head vice. And the reaction..? Well, maybe there is a reason he hasn't been put on a live TV show yet. Wade Barrett has been getting squashed by Big Show and Zeke since January; his heel reaction went more missing than a cake someone told Mark Henry to watch.


What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

 

[#hamler]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

They're good on occasion. I like the idea of a jobber like Zack Ryder, Trent Berretta or the recently released Chavo Guerrero jobbing to someone bigger, with more star power. There's nothing wrong with being in squash matches in my opinion. In fact, there are guys who are really great at selling the injuries during a squash match and those are the guys who should job. Could you imagine a jobber like Chavo putting up a fight against someone like Undertaker? I can't. Squash matches are good when they are spaced out.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

Sure. To establish someone as a power house/dominant force you need squash matches. Like Mark Henry or Ezekiel Jackson; you have these two beat the little guys with power like moves so when they put on a proper match, they can display their strength and ability. It makes the squasher look good.

Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

Hmmm, in the past, I'd say Goldberg. He was hilariously great at it. He was over and whoever received the beating sold his moves very well. Now, with the current roster, I would have to say Ezekiel Jackson. He's a big ass motherfucker with phenomenal strength.

 

[Foshinzo]

Squash matches are fine, so long as they serve the purpose is to put a major star way over. But, if guys like Chavo are always jobbing out, then it kind of loses it's symbolism when someone beats him. I've always thought that four fifteen minute matches a show would be best, unless your company hires people like Mason Ryan who can't work a match for five minutes...wait.
Anyway, you're getting a solid match out of at least eight guys, both sides look good because the match isn't ridiculously short which allows offense from everyone, and the winner looks better because he beat a strong(ish) opponent. Also, when squash matches do happen (and in my mind, should rarely happen), the winner should be some top star getting a big push and it would make him look like some unstoppable rising contender. I don't know...these things seem so easy on paper, but I've always felt that there has to be a reason that WWE just books the way that they do. It seems so dumb and lazy to just throw quick matches out on TV...maybe it's because they have a lot of non-wrestling people behind the scenes. Either way, squash matches do occur far too much in WWE (I don't know about TNA and I only see ROH on Pay-Per-View), so I'd have to say that it's bad.
Finally, my favorite squash wrestler is Goldberg. I mean, he made a legend out of himself by crushing opponents in a fake sporting event. Lol. Also, in no way would I pick Hogan; Hogan was the bad kind of squash artist. He only served to make his opponents look bad, never himself look good. At least, that's my opinion.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

I personally like seeing a squash match on the card now and then. But overexposure is a surefire way for me to grow bored and just flip the channel, I'll explain this with the next question.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

Honestly, no. It seems today they don't mean anything like they used to. I don't know what it is, but I think it's just overexposure. Take a guy like Chavo Guerrero facing Hornswoggle. It was done to death, resurrected, and then died again. You know Chavo isn't going to win, and even if he did, the fuck would it matter now? The little person beat him so soooo many times that just one win would be redundant.

It's when one guy squashes the same guy constantly that I take issue with it. I don't care to see the same guy get beat repeatedly. Just not my cup of tea. They can have a 2 minute match and jobber can job, that's fine with me. But when it's done on a weekly basis it's just bland storyline at it's finest.


Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?[/QUOTE]

I'll answer this in two parts:

Squasher- Kurt Angle: I'm talking about his WWE days here, when he was holding "Invitationals" and the like against Greco-Roman competitors all over the United States. I really enjoyed seeing the Olympic Gold Medalist give guys a shot at trying to "beat" him at his own game. It was a fresh idea.

Squashee- Shannon Moore: During his stint in the WWE, it was practically his entire gimmick. He was the butt end of so many jokes, even including then WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (who picked his lottery number as someone to face that night, but after the match dumped the balls to reveal they ALL had Shannon's name on it). It was definitely a paradox within itself; giving a jobber a push for being a jobber.

 

[THEpapachamp]

Squash matches are VERY important not only for the person being pushed but the person making him look good.

This is how Matt and Jeff Hardy became stars in the WWE because they did probably the best any wrestlers have ever done putting a superstar over in any match.

For people who aren't big but very talented this is there one chance to show Vince McMahon they belong.

But aside that, my favorite squasher..

Kane (Debut) when every week for like two months he just destroyed the roster until Undertaker faced him

 

[neildittmar]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

They're fine if used correctly. Some examples include new, bigger guys dismantling "enhancement talent" for a few weeks upon their debuts. Another good use is when a guy on the rise completely decimates an existing talent whose stock has fallen to some degree. There, you potentially have something that benefits both sides of the equation, story-wise. On one hand, the up-and-comer gets a boost from beating an established name in record time. On the other hand, the guy counting the lights continues his fall from grace and either breaks through eventually or gets future endeavored.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

Sparingly, in order to make some of the points illustrated above. In the 80's, shows like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge were almost nothing but squash matches. These were used to showcase the Superstars without damaging another potential superstar, simply because there was no "potential" in the guys getting beat. The "squashees" often came out in generic wrestling attire, using their real names or slight derivatives thereof, and absolutely, positively never won a match. Putting up a good fight was more than enough for these guys and that point was drilled home on a weekly basis.

This type of "showing" isn't really needed anymore, except in the circumstance of bringing a bigger guy up and showcasing his dominance. Wrestlers are far and away different now than they were 25 years ago, at least from a "big, hulking, mountain of a man" standpoint.

Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

Favorite squasher? Probably Ultimate Warrior. He ran roughshod over an entire roster of enhancment talent for weeks. People WANTED to see Warrior come running out, clothesline, shoulder tackle, gorrilla press, big splash, and leave. That was it and that was enough. Even the Honky Tonk Man fell to this fate and the crowd absolutely loved it. I'd go so far as to say that the crowd was infinitely into Warrior/Honky at Summerslam 88 (30 second squash) than they were for the rematch at SNME that actually constituted something much closer to an even confrontation.

Favorite squashee? I don't have one and that's entirely the point. Your full-time squashee is a nameless, faceless, forgettable "talent" that counts his money while he's counting the lights. Putting food on the table by putting other guys over. Keeping the lights on by wrestling in the "dark." Building guys up while getting broken in half. We tend to remember the guy who climbed the ladder, not the rungs he stepped on getting there. Jobbers, enhancement talent, etc. are those proverbial rungs.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

They are necessary in moderation. And they should only be used with big wrestlers whose gimmick is to be invincible, dominant and powerful. Back in the Wrestling Challenge and Superstars of Wrestling eras, I couldn't stand how every superstar would destroy some jobber. It wasn't exactly "must see" TV. I remember tolerating the weekly squashes just to see how the storylines would progress.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

Yes, they still serve a purpose. Would Sheamus look like a force to reckon with if he couldn't decimate anyone? I mean not everyone should be able to squash people. Daniel Bryan squashing a jobber wouldn't be necessary or believable.


Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

I had some favourite squashers. When Earthquake squashed jobbers back in the day of his initial feud with Hogan, that man scared the fucking piss out of me. The Warrior was another good one. I also liked how the Undertaker would beat these guys up, put them in a bodybag and carry their lifeless bodies off camera. Then the next week that same jobber would be back on TV jobbing to Tatanka.

As for jobbers, I'd say guys like The Brooklyn Brawler, Iron Mike Sharpe, Reno Riggins, Barry Horowitz were my favourites. The guys I didn't quite get why they would job every week were guys like Jim Powers and Paul Roma. They looked like they were in better shape than the guys who were squashing them.

 

[Blue Chipper]

Oh yea, squash matches are very much apart of the nature of professional wrestling. These matches aid in the building of a superstar by making said participant particularly shine in a match. Goldberg had his fair of squash matches, notably in the beginning of his career, where he was doing the squashing and it in turn made him look completely devastating. He couldn't have reached that level without a couple of men who were willing to put him over.

 

[ralphie9181]

We need proper jobbers and squash matches again instead of seeing all the top guys wrestling each other every week. I know they are boring, but you have to give the stars a chance to go in the ring and show off without having to worry about who is taking the loss and if it has to be by DQ or count out or or interference or who's spot is being protected. I'm not saying the whole show has to be squashes. You do need to have a couple for some of the top guys every now and then though.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?



It's a good and a simple way of getting a person over. Of course there have been people who have not gotten over even with the help of squashes but then I feel that is because their characters have not been developed well enough. Take the example of Mahal. We know that he has some control over Khali but we do not know how exactly he does it. It has been implied that he is an important person but why is it so? Why is Khali, who could squash Mahal like a bug if he tried, listening to Mahal? That is why Mahal has not gotten over as yet.

In the case of guys like BrockLesnar and Goldberg, it was easier to tell the story due to their gigantic sizes. Still Lesnar at least had some backstory behind his existence. He was supposed to be this monster that Heyman had discovered in order to get back at the WWE.

At the end of the day squashes are a method of booking and like most other methods of booking squashes fail if you do not invest enough in the characters that are involved in the storyline.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?



Sure, why not? It is a tried and a tested method of getting characters over. Even someone as talentless( at that time) as Chris Masters got over with the help of a squash storyline. That was another case of good character developement. Masters' masterlock was shown to be unbreakable and that was what got him over quickly. I used to see kids imitating the masterlock on their friends each day during 2006.

As I said before, there is nothing wrong with the method. It is an evergreen method of getting a guy over. If it fails, it fails due to some bad character developement most of the times.

Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

My favorite sqausher was Brocklesnar. He had a great look and at his peak every time he came out, it looked as if he was going to totally decimate his opponent. He had that look in his eyes. Plus he was agile as any cruiserweight and as strong as any wrestler I have ever seen. No one could not outlast or outwrestle him, not even Hulk Hogan.

My favorite squashee would have to be Mick Foley. The guy was always the first opponent for a guy getting a push. He would bump around insanely and sell his opponents' offense really well.

 

[TheConnecticutBlueblood]

What are your opinions of these matches designed to specifically showcase one side of the coin?

The matches are basically in place to put over a young and upcoming talent i.e Mahal at the moment or like Brock Lesnar when he debuted. Their basically there to showcase and show the dominance by literally squashing a lesser talent.

Do you think squashes are needed these days?

I like the concept, while it may seem unfair for guys like Tatsu and Marella who are normally on the short end of the stick, they showcase and build guys. Brock Lesnar was built up to be this monster after destroying guys on the roster, Sheamus was built to be a monster when destroying noble and the same will happen to Mahal.

Who is your favorite squasher/squashee?

I’ve got to say Vladmir Koslov. I actually liked him when he debuted. Sort of reminded me of a human tank that could be an unstoppable force. He went for months squashing jobber’s like Moore and Wang Yang to showcase him dominance.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Opinion on squash matches and are they needed?

They have their uses. They certainly help to establish a new wrestler as someone to watch, especially if they are big and use their power and strength to dominate an opponent. You wouldn't want to bring in a new wrestler you plan on pushing to the top and have him wrestle competitive matches with your lesser-name talent. They need the big convincing early wins to establish them in the eyes of the fans as a legitimate threat.

However, this usually works best with a big guy as they can dominate the smaller jobber, such as a Goldberg, Lesnar or a Lashley.

I do not like seeing them too often though, as the mismatches can often get boring, and I like to see a good competitive match. But when you want to give a new star an easy win and to show off their moveset, then a squash is fine.

Favourite "Squasher"

It has to be Goldberg. I think everyone got into that streak and looked forward to Bill coming out and absolutely decimating people on a weekly basis. Just beating jobber after jobber made him a superstar and the crowd went crazy week after week for it. Pyro entrance, looking angry, spinebuster, spear, jackhammer, looking even crazier. All over.

Awesome

 

[ABMorales787]

I'd take a squash any day over a lousy backstabbing attack with no match. That offers nothing to me. But as far as squash matches go, they should only be used sporadically. I recall a certain Russian named Vladamir Kozlov who was being built up as a major deal. When he headlined PPV's he just seemed too out of place. Why? He was built up with nothing but squash matches. Today fan's are brought in by a wrestlers ability to entertain and athleticism. Not his dominance. That's why most giants just fall flat after their initial push.

Today's wrestling fan's have evolved past the need for squash matches.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I have mixed feelings on squash matches. They are a bit boring and you already know who is going to win, thus relegating them to the status of a match where I go to the fridge for a snack during it. They are needed today, but only in small doses because guys like Zeke who aren't gifted on the mic can get over by destroying jobbers each week and guys like Trent Barreta can get some time onscreen being squashed. My favorite squasher was probably Kozlov back when he was getting a big push. If they had been a little more patient with that, he could have made it. As for squashees my favorite was probably Colin Delaney. His storyline where he kept getting squashed got really interesting when Dreamer took him under his wing only to get turned heel on by Delaney, but then they released him before it could go anywhere. I say do more squash matches but no more than one per show or else it gets repetitive and boring. Fans will use them as an excuse to grab a snack or any other reason they might need to leave the room for a moment.

 

[Floyd Sinclair]

My Opinion
These matches are good depending on the wrestler they are used to elevate. I don't believe that they should put the effort into even bookin these matches unless the person that goes over is a legitement draw that the company plans to get behind for awhile. Just having a guy come in and do squash after squash just to eventually lose and never be heard from again is just stupid... By the way, anyone else remember rodney mack?

Are they needed today?
Depends on the company. For somewhere like TNA, where, at this moment, they have a roster almost entirely composed of established wrestlers, then it would be very much pointless to try and book these matches, just so someone can boost their ego a little more. For WWE, where the occosional new guy does tend to get a push, these can be used to better effect, but, as I said, if they are done right.

Favorites
Yeah, for Squasher it can be hard... because there are alot of guys can start in that position. I'd have to say Goldberg, though. For all the griping people do abour Goldberg, their is no denying that WCW booked those matches in a way that made Goldberg look like a beast. As for squashee, no doubt, Zack Ryder. I still see potential in him and the fact that he does the job and can still get very over with a crowd speaks volumes for him.