Hulk Hogan's Brother
Stop asking me what I'm gonna do!!!
This is a thread that I have wanted to make for a long time being the Austin fan that I am. Before I proceed further, let me tell you that I am in no mood to here a sermon about how having more moves does not matter much in wrestling and that it is all about storytelling and ring psychology that make you a good wrestler. I know about that, possibly better than a good number of you people that will post here. I do not want to focus on that however, I want you to focus on the question at hand.
The view of most people is that Austin could perform fewer moves after his neck injury as compared to before his neck injury. People state that he was a great technical wrestler before the injury and became more or less just a brawler after it. I, for one, have always disagreed with that. This is because I have always wondered how a neck injury that could affect your ability to perform a particular move. If he could kick and punch after a neck injury, he could sure as hell use a sharpshooter as well. That is part of my reasoning, the other part deals with something called video evidence.
Here are some of Austin's matches after his neck injury:
These are three matches against possibly the two of the best technical wrestlers of all time, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. And in all the matches you can see Austin using quite a lot of holds and variations of suplexes. He uses stuff like German Suplexes and Gutwrench suplexes to go along with a Boston Crab. There is also a very good chain wrestling sequence in his match against Benoit.
Most intelligent fans would regard Austin as a great wrestler. Some even go on to say that he is the perfect example of a guy who could be a great wrestler despite having only two moves or so. I am not disputing the fact that he was a great wrestler or that, IN SOME MATCHES, mostly during 1998 and 1999, he used very few moves in his matches, but I am disputing the fact that his neck injury prevented him from performing more moves in matches.
The reason why he used few moves is because of the fact that he played the role of a brawler and because most matches in 1998 and 1999 involved nothing more than wild brawling. As such, he did not get a chance to show his technical expertise. It was more by design rather than by any sort of limitation. Everyone used just punches and kicks during that time including guys like Rock and HHH whom most people erroneously suggest could perform more moves than Austin.
The era underwent somewhat of a change in 2000 and 2001 and people started wanting to see more styles of wrestling rather than just a brawl. The arrival of guys like Kurt and Benoit also helped because they more or less ushered a style into the WWF that had been cast aside for a few years. In such an environment, Austin got a chance to show more of his technical skills and the result is there for all of us to see.
The neck injury did affect Austin but I feel that it mostly affected him bumping ability. If you see his matches in 1997, Austin bumped quite hard but his selling ability was affected a bit after his injury. He did not take huge bumps after his neck injury and never took chairshots to the back of his head, but dished out quite a few as we all know. It was a neccesary precaution and I fully understand why it was done. All I am saying is that and maybe some of his high flying moves, like a flying clothesline, were affected as a result of his injury. Nothing more and nothing less.
So now after seeing this pretty long post and a few videos would you still say that Austin could perform less moves after his neck injury?
What do you have to say regarding this matter?
The view of most people is that Austin could perform fewer moves after his neck injury as compared to before his neck injury. People state that he was a great technical wrestler before the injury and became more or less just a brawler after it. I, for one, have always disagreed with that. This is because I have always wondered how a neck injury that could affect your ability to perform a particular move. If he could kick and punch after a neck injury, he could sure as hell use a sharpshooter as well. That is part of my reasoning, the other part deals with something called video evidence.
Here are some of Austin's matches after his neck injury:
Kurt Angle v Steve Austin January 2001
[YOUTUBE]Zf_iWmBdU2o[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]faSSuS61MIo[/YOUTUBE]
Steve Austin v Chris Benoit May 2001
[YOUTUBE]OcM9YVUsuM8[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]JMtGlpwZXR8[/YOUTUBE]
Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit Raw 2000
[YOUTUBE]48EsZAWcWz0[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Zf_iWmBdU2o[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]faSSuS61MIo[/YOUTUBE]
Steve Austin v Chris Benoit May 2001
[YOUTUBE]OcM9YVUsuM8[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]JMtGlpwZXR8[/YOUTUBE]
Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit Raw 2000
[YOUTUBE]48EsZAWcWz0[/YOUTUBE]
These are three matches against possibly the two of the best technical wrestlers of all time, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. And in all the matches you can see Austin using quite a lot of holds and variations of suplexes. He uses stuff like German Suplexes and Gutwrench suplexes to go along with a Boston Crab. There is also a very good chain wrestling sequence in his match against Benoit.
Most intelligent fans would regard Austin as a great wrestler. Some even go on to say that he is the perfect example of a guy who could be a great wrestler despite having only two moves or so. I am not disputing the fact that he was a great wrestler or that, IN SOME MATCHES, mostly during 1998 and 1999, he used very few moves in his matches, but I am disputing the fact that his neck injury prevented him from performing more moves in matches.
The reason why he used few moves is because of the fact that he played the role of a brawler and because most matches in 1998 and 1999 involved nothing more than wild brawling. As such, he did not get a chance to show his technical expertise. It was more by design rather than by any sort of limitation. Everyone used just punches and kicks during that time including guys like Rock and HHH whom most people erroneously suggest could perform more moves than Austin.
The era underwent somewhat of a change in 2000 and 2001 and people started wanting to see more styles of wrestling rather than just a brawl. The arrival of guys like Kurt and Benoit also helped because they more or less ushered a style into the WWF that had been cast aside for a few years. In such an environment, Austin got a chance to show more of his technical skills and the result is there for all of us to see.
The neck injury did affect Austin but I feel that it mostly affected him bumping ability. If you see his matches in 1997, Austin bumped quite hard but his selling ability was affected a bit after his injury. He did not take huge bumps after his neck injury and never took chairshots to the back of his head, but dished out quite a few as we all know. It was a neccesary precaution and I fully understand why it was done. All I am saying is that and maybe some of his high flying moves, like a flying clothesline, were affected as a result of his injury. Nothing more and nothing less.
So now after seeing this pretty long post and a few videos would you still say that Austin could perform less moves after his neck injury?
What do you have to say regarding this matter?