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Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame
I generally agree with your insights, Cap.
One thing I will say - the fans may demand more high-flying moves, but I actually place the blame for this on the promoters and bookers. Modern promoters and bookers are defaulting to high-flying moves and spot-fests for the ticket sales and clicks.
There is definitely an absence of skillsets today on ring psychology, pacing, realistic selling, and story-driven move sequences. Bookers and promoters just don't seem to want to put those kind of matches on regularly, even though a double axe-handle or a suplex can be huge moves that change momentum. The audience needs to get invested in the match story.
Some of the NJPW matches among and between Omega/Naito/Okada/Tanahashi over the last 10 years really captured that you don't need to be stuntmen for every waking minute in a match. Even some of those 90's matches between Austin/Hart/Michaels/Razor had some of the best story-telling and pacing that made you invested as a fan.
It's why I find NXT completely unwatchable, and some of the people in AEW like Guevara; being a spot monkey and constantly flying off the turnbuckle and jumping over the ropes has diminishing returns.
And selling, oh god selling. It's atrocious today. I'm on Bret Hart's side on this one. I know he's a crank, but damn if he wasn't right about the lost art of selling.
I swear, patience and build that you saw in classic wrestling matches is gone as we know it. WWE and AEW just don't cater to that kind of match anymore (although Swerve and Hangman II really captured that IMO).
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Its funny, I've watched a lot of vintage matches.
I look at things like this
1. In Stampede Wrestling the Sleeper was promoted as the most dangerous move in wrestling. It cut off blood to the brain. So after a match it was up to the winning wrestler to wake up the losing wrestler. So the faces, would sit up their opponent, rub their shoulders and then slap them squarely in the back and the wrestler would wake up. Even the heels for the most part would wake them up by kicking them square in the back. If you wanted to be a psycho heel you'd stand there and laugh and watch your opponent slowly dying on the mat before the ref would jump in and wake them up.
2) I got back to the Shawn Michael's Flair match. While there were some high flying moves, it was based in the emotion. And Shawn mouthing I'm sorry, I love you before kicking Flair's head off was a master class in story telling.
3) Kevin Nash versus Bret Hart when Hart took back the belt. There was nothing flashy about that match. But Hart took a beating, it was the whole chop the tree down match. Then Nash was setting up Hart for the power bomb and Hart collapsed. Nash sat there looking like he didn't want to do it and showed compassion and Hart rolled him up for the win, then Nash snapped and did the instant heal turn.
4) A simple arm drag. 123 kid versus Hart the veteran. Kid gives him an arm drag and Hart sits up and has that look on his face like damn, I didn't expect that, and it made kid look lime a million bucks without having to jump off of the top rope and rotate 7 times to the floor.
And yeah, its not only the promoters and producers, but the workers themselves that are deciding to do this stuff.