Whats worse Underselling or Overselling

[RIPRKO1005]

I apologize if this has been done before and understand if it gets removed.

I was thinking today whats worse to see? A wrestler undersell a move or over sell a move. For example sometimes people will be beating up on a body part an entire match just for the superstar to jump back and win and act like the rest of the match never happened which would be underselling.Or sometimes Stone cold would hit the stunner on people and they would go flying backwards obviously overselling.

So which is worse? I can't choose so i was looking for everybodys opinion.
Let me know.

 

[Dhays9]

I would have to say it depends on the situation due to the fact that every match is different. Some matches it is appropriate to over sell and sometimes undersell. If someone is suppose to look like the comeback kid than he should under sell because if he over sells then it looks even worse. However, if the same wrestlers is suppose to job and make the other person look unstoppable he should over sell to make the other person look like a beast.

So in both these cases it would be unwise to do the oppisite of what the wrestler is ment to look like. It's not directly answering your question but I feel it should provide an appropriate answer.

 

[Ferbian]

I would really say underselling. Considering the fact that overselling in some way or another has the potential to make your opponent look strong, as long as it's not a ridiculous overselling (Shawn rolling around when getting punched in the face).

Underselling makes your opponent seem weak. And a few wrestlers (Austin I believe was the one actually) said that not selling ruins the business. And that's really what it's all about, if you undersell you're obviously not selling the legitimacy of moves to the extend of which it's really possible for you to do it.

Personally I think overselling is watchable to some extend, but I can't stand no-selling unless it's a part of a character (Undertaker and Kane's sit-up for example). Outside of that, I just can't watch no-selling matches. That's what turns me off a lot of the Japanese wrestling and Ring of Honor wrestling, because there's a lot of matches that focuses on just wrestling and hardly ever selling.

 

[One to Remember]

i mean thats a hard one because they are in the VAST MAJORITY of cases two very negative things to do. They both hurt the façade of wrestling being a legitimate sport which is still a vital component in keeping it alive. I think underselling can be explained away with maybe being tired or your opponent being weaker then you. oversells are usually over dramatic. I remember one episode where the rock was stunnered and he did a body flip after his head was bounced. They are both fundementally negative though. even though we view wrestling through the fourth wall you will never here a wrestler admit to his matches being determined or rehersed on a wrestling show or during a storyline. Thats why the oversell is the greater of the two evils, its 51, 49 though..

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Nothing exposes wrestling more than overselling. Are you listening John Cena? If you're underselling, you're still selling, right! A mild grimace is always better than a totally unrealistic cry and wail. Aren't these guys supposed to be tough?

 

[Uncle Sam]

I always quite liked some good ol' fashioned overselling. I wouldn't necessarily identify it as good wrestling but it's nice to see, for one reason or another.

I was going to use AJ Styles as a person who oversells. Every now and then he'll do a crazy bump and sell it by suddenly sitting up like he's having a nervous reaction, staring blankly and then stiffly falling to the side. I mean, AJ's bumps are probably the only situation it's actually appropriate to sell a serious spinal cord injury apart from actually having one.

I leave you on this note:

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

It depends, if they are known for that then so be it..It's the wrestler that is doing the selling, overselling is good as it makes your opponent look strong, but then you get a guy like Goldberg who is a beast character and he has to undersell or no sell, because of his character...

Overselling like HBK against Hogan was too on top, but his selling is good, then you get those that make you laugh e.g. Ric Flair, now come on, they make you roll on the floor dont they? Also I enjoyed it when HHH started to do the smae as Flair back in the Evolution days..

So I think it depends on the match it is and also strictly on who the wrestler is!

 

[Hazardous]

Personally I enjoyed Flair's overselling. Always found it pretty funny. HBK did it quite a bit as well, as did Rock. Mcmahon was probably one of the worst though. Remember when he got stunnered in the early days? would shake and twitch like he was a fish out of water.

But on the other side of it, you have SummerSlam. Cena gets up after a DDT on the concrete. Now even JR made a comment about not buying this one.

For the Undertaker/Kane sit-up reference, there has also been times where they would try to sit up and it not work. I remember a time where Kane got hit in the spine with a hammer, and would try to sit up 2 or 3 times, not being ale to do it. Sold it quite well. I'm on the side of Underselling is worse.

 

[Rayne]

I don't know about this one. Both will usually get you stiffed.

Underselling is usually a rookie error or part of a character. There really aren't any bad undersellers by the time wrestlers get on TV, mostly because on their way through the indies, they got popped in the mouth by a guy who thought they were making him look bad. You don't really see anyone deliberately undersell anymore (since they released Bob Holly, at least); screwing around with a television broadcast is a good way to get released if you aren't a Top Guy.

Overselling, on the other hand, seems to be the way you piss off your partner these days. It's a shot right at someone's character- "I'll do the job, but I'll make you look stupid doing it." It appears less selfish than underselling, and far more comical. (I still get a few good chucks out of HBK's run-around the ring after the big boot he took from Hogan.) Scott Hall was so good at overselling that to a casual fan, it almost appeared like part of his character. (Remember Sting chasing him around the ring, trying to catch up and tag Hall on the back of his head?)

I have to say underselling is worse; not because it makes the product look worse (they both have their effects), but because it's more of a bush league move. Big guys with complexes undersell. (Hi, Jim Duggan! Alex Wright says, "WTF?!?!?") Some of the greats deliver something to talk about when they oversell at least.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For me, I'd have to go with underselling. For a perfect example, look at most of the matches Bill Goldberg wrestled in his career. When I look at a guy that's overselling something that looks like it should be extraordinarily painful, I can buy into it more than just a guy that does little more than plaster a grimace on his face.

Universally speaking, I think the low blows are the single most undersold moves in wrestling. I've been unlucky enough in my life to have taken a couple of very good, very hard shots in the nuts and wrestlers simply do not do it justice in the least. Your eyes suddenly water, every nerve ending suddenly lights up, this ungodly pressure builds, you start coughing and gagging and puking like you've walked in on your grandparents having sex, which I've also been unlucky to experience. If I saw a wrestler actually doing that, I might honestly wonder if he'd actually really taken a nut shot.

 

[TellMeWhy]

To me overselling is idiotic. Underselling can be interpreted in any way. It can be translated as meaning that a move didn't really have an effect or a guy has lots of fight left in them. When it comes to overselling, there is a bit of acting involved and helps make wrestling look fake. For example when Rock use to oversell the Stonecold stunner by taking it with a backflip I thought it was so ******ed. It's bad enough wrestling is already openly fake but if we're supposed to suspend our disbelief, we shouldn't have to see ridiculous overselling. When HBK faced Hogan at SummerSlam 05, it was the same crap as well with HBK overselling to Hogan and to me it just made wrestling look bad.

 

[RJJ]

To me overselling is idiotic. Underselling can be interpreted in any way. It can be translated as meaning that a move didn't really have an effect or a guy has lots of fight left in them. When it comes to overselling, there is a bit of acting involved and helps make wrestling look fake. For example when Rock use to oversell the Stonecold stunner by taking it with a backflip I thought it was so ******ed. It's bad enough wrestling is already openly fake but if we're supposed to suspend our disbelief, we shouldn't have to see ridiculous overselling. When HBK faced Hogan at SummerSlam 05, it was the same crap as well with HBK overselling to Hogan and to me it just made wrestling look bad.

Actually, it made hogan look bad.

 

[Gardocki]

Underselling is worse. Cena rarely sells anything, and the only person it hurts are his opponents.

 

[The Raven's Epitaph]

I'm honestly not sure which one is worse to be completely honest with you, guys.

If I were to go with underselling then I'd say that there's nothing worse than watching a match where a superstar undersells something as simple as a punch to the head.

Kane is quite notorious for it. He's been known to have matches where he's stumbling around the ring like a drunken old man (Scott Hall). I've seen some superstars hit Kane and he'll have a delayed reaction of about 2 seconds then just tilt his head back the slightest bit possible. It's very dissapointing to say the least.

On the otherhand, I think that overselling too much can deter viewers slightly. I'm sure everybody knows about the infamous DH-Ladder incident. That was horrible selling and the camera angle didn't help because it showed how fake the move actually was.

Sometimes overselling can be good because it shows that these guys are super powerful and the moves they do cause incredible pain. There's nothing I like seeing more than RVD sell a move in his WWE days. From DDT's to RKO's; Rob Van Dam was the man at overselling. Scott Hall's stunner wasn't that bad either; or Rock's WM19 stunner, that was just hillarious.

So, I'm entirely stuck between the two. I can't say one or the other because they both have their pros and cons.

 

[Smartie]

If i had to choose one , i would go underselling.

Overselling can kill a match and turn it to a joke ( looking at you HBK ) but at least It's a joke and someone may find it funny!

Overselling can also help some maneuvers get over.Evan Bourne is master of this kind of overselling.

Underselling , however , can sometimes really get annoying.To me there is 2 kind of underselling:A)Cena/Hogan type of underselling : you can't blame them that much because it's the nature of their character and it's not beacuse they don't know how or want to sell.Underselling will only hurt their character and matches especially in hardcore fans' eyes.(btw , they can use this when they want to really put someone over).
B)Underselling because lack of chemistry or lack of wrestling ability or being a dick.That's the one that really is annoying to watch and i think they aren't people who do it nowadays.