What Are The Roads To Superstardom?

[CH David]

So about a month ago I was watching my old Hardy Boyz dvd, I think it was from 2001. One thing that stuck in my head was Matt Hardy talking about the ladder match at No Mercy in 1999, and that the end result was both the Hardys and Edge & Christian went from WWF "wrestlers" to WWF "superstars". I've been wondering for a while, what exactly makes a wrestler take that extra step from wrestler to superstar? Is it a match? Is it a promo? Is it a feud?

Look at Austin, his KOTR win and promo after got the ball rolling, his WM 13 match against Hart made him bigger, and then his WM 14 win and feud with McMahon made him the biggest thing in wrestling.

The Rock got over because of his promos, but I think another factor could have been his ladder match with Triple H at I believe SummerSlam '98. Same goes for Triple H, along with his involvement in DX.

There are obviously a lot more than just the examples I have said. However, when I watch and I hear Cole or Stryker say "superstars" when it is Ted DiBiase or The Hart Dynasty, or even Nexus, I can't help but think, are they really stars at this moment? I'd go so far as to add Kofi, Dolph, and R-Truth to the mix as well. Have they really had that moment in their career that has defined that they are here to be a force? Don't take that literally since Nexus is a force by beating people in sneak attacks at the moment outside of Wade Barrett.

So I guess what I am asking, out of the current wrestlers on Raw and Smackdown, outside of the obvious (Cena, Orton, Punk, Mysterio, etc), who truly deserves to be called a superstar? What did they do to show the audience this? Lastly, how can the regular wrestlers become superstars and be those truly popular guys?

 

[Zsmitty9]

i think john morrison is what i call a superstar i mean look at what he did so far he is a multiple tag team champions with one of the best teams in the wwe and had a tremendous feud with jeff hardy and the miz i think john morrison is the real deal and is destined to become wwe champion really soon

 

[kissfan85]

i think john morrison is what i call a superstar i mean look at what he did so far he is a multiple tag team champions with one of the best teams in the wwe and had a tremendous feud with jeff hardy and the miz i think john morrison is the real deal and is destined to become wwe champion really soon

I agree with you 100% with Morrison I may have hated him in ECW but he had one of the top 5 feuds of the last decade with Punk(which is why I hated JoMo) while in ECW despite the lackluster feel that WWECW offers when it comes to booking

 

[Ferbian]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's anything specific CH. I would lean more to the thing that clicks with the crowd, which makes it anything really. Anyone of those you mentioned could have gotten over in some other way very well, and used the other material in a side track. It's all about how it's handled, and how the crowd reacts to it.

So really there's no right or wrong answer to what the roads to superstardom is. It's all about the different aspects of how the person gets over, and how it's handled. Which makes for many, many different variations of getting over.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

In this day and age, the WWE male wrestlers are referred to as superstars. Hell, they even have a show of the same name featuring talent from the lower ranks of the card. I wouldn't necessarily call any of them superstars by any means. Couple this with the logic that the girls are called "Diva's," which the meaning in itself doesn't really define "smart, sexy and powerful," and you've got your problem. I digress, however...

The time a star morphs into a superstar is when that star has done a number of things. In simple terms, they have to be a mid-card wrestler who has got a following from the crowd and is very notorious. Let's take a step back to Kofi Kingston on RAW right before he faced Randy Orton. He moved on from his Jamaican accent and became his own star, fending off all comers and impressing/fighting for the audience. At any moment, Kofi could have been given the green light and pushed straight up to the sky with the crowd buying/appreciating it. As you noticed during his mini-feud with Orton, he became a pretty intense guy and took Randy to his limits. The spot he performed at Madison Square Garden (I think) with the crowd going wild was time you could pinpoint the transition... the build was working and could have very easily transitioned to becoming a superstar. Alas, a few things happened and he had to retrace his steps on SmackDown!

What I'm saying is you have to polish yourself off in the lower area of the cards, get a connection with the crowd on a personal level and make whatever you do impressive. That could be done via matches, or promo's, or feuds... or a combination of any of them. Look at the Miz right now. He hasn't had anything memorable in terms of great matches... but it's what he has done during them that stands out. He didn't do a moonsault off the top rope with a ladder in the MITB match, but he got the briefcase and cut an (excuse the reference) AWESOME promo.

I guess you have to focus on being a good worker rather than a good wrestler. Matches that involve excellent wrestling will be forgotten... matches that involve excellent working (i.e. emotion, storytelling) will last forever. If you can perfect that, you'll definitely become a superstar.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I think part of your problem is taking what the announcer say too seriously. Just because Stryker or Cole say Nexus are "superstars" doesn't mean it's true. There's not a superstar in the bunch, yet. But it's their job to hype people up. Vince McMahon doesn't exactly pay them to say "And here comes Chavo Guerrero, Jobber of the Year nominee!" "Here comes William Regal. Has he even won a match since coming to Raw?" I don't think that would go over too well.

Really overall I think it takes a combination of things to really make someone a full fledged superstar. You said it yourself with SCSA. His KOTR promo sort of put him on the map. Then his match with Bret Hart really pushed him. Finally his feud with McMahon is what put him over everyone. It just takes time.

Call me stingy, but I wouldn't put anyone like Dolph or Kofi in that spot yet. Kofi almost had a good feud with Orton that could've pushed him to that level, but it fizzled out. And don't even get me started on Dolph Ziggler. What has he done?

 

[GeneralKarim]

Well to put it pretty simple, like Ferbian said, u need something to click with the crowd so they react to you ( pops or good heel heat ).Its pretty clear u dont have to be the best wrestler alive or have 10000 holds or 10000 monkey flips to reach superstardom.Just have a decent look and have something that the crowd is in tr more so u can be pretty average and you are put in a feud and u make the best out of that feud and u make yourself look very good then u put on a good end-feud match ( like REALLY good ) and people will take notice.But that's for the smart people.
Today to get over u need to have some catchphrases that go along good with the kid's mentality. ( example : "Boom" "Boom" "Boom" ; thats pretty easy ).

 

[WRESTLINGFREAK]

ROADS TO SUPERSTARDOM.

*Physical appearance

*in ring skills, storytelling and great moves set

*Mic Work, good or very good.

*Have some good feud or something good happen with another superstars who is at the time bigger than you, so you're put in the map, put over.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

good thread man.

however i feel there is no road to superstardom.its all about moments correction :unique moments. now im not kidding but if say on raw john morrison were to do something so unique on raw that it captured the imagination of everyone in the audience.there you have a new superstar

with austin you have at least two of those unique moments:the kotr speech and that match with bret hart(more importantly the ending).triple h maybe the ladder match but i think of the streetfight with foley as the making of the game.hbk had his splash from the ladder in wm 10.

what im saying is that superstardom can come out of nowhere.only when a guy becomes a superstar does the talk about talent or the lack of it comes in.before that even if a guy has talent he will be moaned about for a while in the iwc but forgotten soon after.superstars will be remembered for a lifetime.

@ferbian

it seems from your sig that you are a "supernatural" fan. i like that show too

 

[newc868]

The 'Road to Superstardom' for me is to have 3 defining moments throughout your career. 3 moments where people will remember you for it and you'll be mentioned in such things as 'Match of the Year', 'Match of the Decade', 'Best Spot Ever'.
Of course a Wrestlemania moment kind of has to be one of these three.

Example that comes to mind would be someone like Jeff Hardy. Triple Threat Ladder match/Triple Threat TLC matches at Wrestlemania. When he finally won the World Heavyweight title. The Swanton Bomb onto CM Punk at last years Summerslam.

You've also got to have the crowd either strongly with you or against you dependant on whether you're a heel or a face. You've also got to have the in ring ability to help sell every move. Randy Orton at Survivor Series'09 sold the Trouble in Paradise perfectly. On that note Kofi at MSG last year is one of his defining moments... just needs two more...

 

[dionlyone18]

I know the easiest way to superstardom..take what i call the "HBK route" here are the steps
Start out in a tag team-you dont have to win the titles..Rockers didnt...wll technically they didnt but i digress

Get a gimmick that sets you diffrent from your partner-towards the end of the Rockers you saw HBk break out of his shell somewhat he would start wearing leather and sunglasses and look a little cocky..basically think his shit doesnt stink so to speak

Break up with you partner-As we have seen iwth many tags the person thats the breaks the team up..besides Cryme Tyme...usually goes on to be the bigger star e.g Miz and morrison if that means your going to be a heel well so be it.. but make a impact and make it big

Gain a catchphrase-even if your heel the crowd will still chant an repeat what what you say, e.g The Rock and the New Age Outlaws when they were heels.but get something that will stick..Do you smell it?

Get a valet/bodyguard-If your mic skills arent that great get someone to talk for you..probably a sexy valet or in dolph zigglers case...a valet (shudders)....or in the way of HBK get a bodyguard to fight the battles you dont wanna fight...youll garner more heat from the fans and get people talking about you

win a IC/US title- pretty simple win a title and get pushed to that mid card upper mid card area...pretty basic really

around this time the crowd should either hate your guts or love you dearliy and this should turn you in that tweener/heel role which is my fav personally...you should be rasing through the ranks and more importanlty winning a title....


But thats just my opionion