Cereal Killer
Boy Better Know
I'll tell you what. They're wrong when they say to be a good professional wrestler you don't have to be a good in-ring performer and when it was said that there are no story in matches. You're right when you say something like Angle is a better wrestler than Cena, but he's not a better pro wrestler.
You see, a good professional wrestler is one that entertains and brings in a lot of money. One way you can do this is by in-ring performance. In-ring performance on a professional level that is, not "just wrestling" as in doing all these crazy moves.
To make a good wrestler, yeah, that's what you need, moves. To be a good professional wrestler in the ring, you need to be able to do 5 things (learnt from an old Sly post):
1. Tell a story.
This is in the name, story. If guys are just hitting each other with all these moves, what are they really portraying? A good example of a story in a match is Hogan vs Warrior at 'Mania VI. Both men were built up as equals with neither man looking beatable. In the match, they came at each other with their best, both men handled their opponents best and reversed the opponents best. There was also a point where both men clotheslined each other. See where this is going? Fast forward, Hogan was going to hit his Legdrop, a move which nobody rolled out of the way from and got their opponent pinned on the first try, even André fell victim to this. Just when Hogan jumped and was going to land, Warrior rolled out of the way, ran and hit the Warrior Splash, followed by just about getting the three count. The story they try to put over is while both seemed equal, Warrior was just that bit better than Hogan, with the Hulkster effectively passing the torch. Hogan almost hit his finisher but it was Warrior hitting his and just about got the pin. Hogan looked strong, Warrior looked stronger.
2. Have good psychology.
Three forms of this.
The first: If I was Bret Hart in a submission match, I would target my opponents legs during the match so when I land my finisher, the Sharpshooter, my opponent easily taps out. So basically a well executed plan in a match.
Second: Behaviour. If you saw Steve Austin on first sight, what impressions pop to mind? A badass that wants to fight. So how would he walk, talk and act? Would he jump around smiling and talking with a high pitched voice or the way we all know he does? Get it?
Third: Your style. You see, Big Show wouldn't exactly come out to the ring jumping from the top rope or doing arm bars, would he? He'd do what you'd expect. Slams, punches, chops, etc. A bad example of this is presented by Luke Harper. While he does his mauling, brawling and slams, he's usually seen doing outside dives. To me, his alligator character isn't conveyed properly when he does that, as opposed to Big Show's 'giant' persona.
So number 2 and 3 are basciaclly ways of conveying a character correctly.
3. Have a good workrate.
Make it look believable. Self explanatory.
4. Sell.
Probably the most important. This gets the audience connected with the guy getting hit, represents a character and shows what's going on. Undertaker doesn't usually sell the opponents punches, that's to represent his 'dead' character who not many can beat. If a guy gets hit and falls down, then we can interpret that he's weak/scared while his opponent is strong/PO'ed. If someone is screaming in pain when in a Sharpshooter and is a face, then the audience pulls for him and hopes for him to escape as they can see the pain their hero is in. The crows is also connected here. Get it?
5. Be charismatic.
Getting the crowd to scream. Again, self explanatory.
So basically, you don't need to be able to land all these flips, twists and kicks. Do the above and you've got a great match. These are some of the reasons guys like Hogan, Austin and Cena are the biggest draws in the WWE, as opposed to guys like Guerrero, Milenko and Angle. If you don't like that style then I'd recommend you watch ROH, plenty of moves down there.
