Do you think that "new" wrestlers are missing a "style"?

[Maluco]

This is something I have thought about for a while, because I have become disillusioned with wrestling, and in asking myself why, I always thought of this.

The point is this one...that the new breed of next generation wrestlers are missing that style, or that character progression that made so many of the older stars popular. There are so many aspects to this, but for example...

Hogan - Had the big boot, leg drop, all his sayings and the red and yellow and the immediately recognsable music.

Rock - The same, after letting his character build, he has all the different moves that the crowd popped for, his own style, sayings etc..

Steve Austin - Much the same again.


..but when you look at the guys coming up the card now...

Randy Orton - Yeah, he is the Legend Killer, but very fews fans know any moves outside the RKO, he has no real marketable lines and a generic look.

Batista is the same, problems on the mic, no real character progression outside "The Animal", and it looks like WWE are going to fast track Kennedy, Dykstra, Nitro, and all the rest, up the card so fast without letting the characters progress and slow boil over time.

My question for discussion is this...how, at this stage, does WWE go about remedying the situation...or maybe you don't think it is a situation, whatever the case, discuss...

[Destor]

I'm glad catch phrases are out of stlye.

[Xero]

I'm glad catch phrases are out of stlye.
Represent ya Chain Gang, yo!

[Destor]

And look how well thats getting over. Kennedy and Carlito are the only things close to succesful catch phrases. And I hope the trend stops there.

[Maluco]

Realise the post sounds a bit like a mark post, using the three biggest mark examples, but I did not mean it like that....and the catchphrase part is minimal, and personally not enjoyable.

Take Cena for example, its been said before, he was forced up the card and into the top slot, instead of letting him build a moveset and have his cocky persona. Not to exaggerate, but he could have well been a modern day Stone Cold, if the charater had been aloud to grow in that way, but it is forced and rushed...and the result of all of what i was saying is no clearer than in the John Cena present in the WWE today.

(Also, to escape the mark examples, all the details of the Ric Flair character, was not pushed overnight, same with Bret Hart, his style and look suited him, he was comfortable playing that character, and he became popular because of it)

[Indifferent Clox]

My 'gimmick' in wrestling was no Finisher and trademarks so I'd suprise you with whatever I did and it really opened up my arsenal.

I think pro wrestling is evolving. Although my style is highly submissions, high flying, and running moves, I use many 'finisher style moves that add to my match in that I never have the same match twice and I have another level of moves that a lightweight like me couldn't normally do without that de-legitimizing my finisher.


That being said I use a rear naked choke drop known as the Snapper a standing moonsault called the No fear Factor and a swinging neckbreaker into an inverted stunner called Maximum Velocity as trademark moves now but I rarely end the match with those.

so now I just say as a catchphrase

you never know how or when I'll end you, but you know as sure as hell I will.

I think it connects the audience with the wrestler when you do a little bit of something familiar each match/ interview.

[PullMyFinger]

yup, just about most of todays wrestlers are bland.

the only thing entertaining on Raw are most of the older stars. Edge is the only new main eventer thats real good because they worked his ass off for so many years to get to that position. He knows everything pretty well and is experienced. These other people who wrestle for 2 yrs and are shot to the moon can't do anything.

[Funky Fly]

This whole thread can be summed up in one sentence: this is what happens when you don't develop the new guys until it's way too late.

[Fignuts]

We need a new suplex machine.

[Funky Fly]

I mean seriously, the most developed guys they've produced in the last 5 years were Brock Lesnar (rush job, look where that ended up) and John Cena (dropped everything that made him awesome to sell crap to the kids).

[thedamndest]

They have a style. It's called job to Cena.

[Maluco]

This is exactly what I am saying...the rush job that has taken place, so, the question still stands, what can the WWE do to remedy the situation? Is it even possible

[.44 Magdalene]

The remedy to the situation would be to stop doing it. Quit fucking rushing the god damn pushes.

But even slower, more methodical pushes would just be like, one fifteenth of the WWE's problems solved right now.

[thedamndest]

Seemed like the King of the Ring was a good idea in principal, except it spanned way too long and only featured one brand. And actually, they have squandered many potential KotR pushes by just having the winner job at Summerslam, and then never really enter the title scene again.

The real problem is how watered down everything is. There are so many limits on everything that the natural progression of the product has been interrupted. In the 80's you had gimmicks, now you have characters. We've had characters for some time now, but now the wrestlers have lost creative control of matches and interviews, and when you have someone else telling them what to do, the product suffers. Now everything is run through so many strainers, there's barely anything left when you get done, and when something does work out well, it is often through happenstance.

[Stickman]

I agree, everything is rushed and no new characters are being developed. I like the Kenny Dykstra "character" but we all know he'll be pushed to the moon within 2 years.
Look at TNA, have they developed any characters whatsoever? Everybody there is the same. In the WWE everybody is the same because you dont' learn how to wrestle over night which is what they are doing.

[ttetf]

Yes a lot of the up and comers (and sadly now even some of the main eventers) have a significant lack of style and character development but more alarming is the lack of simple in ring talent some of these guys have, or rather don't have. Yes character development and style are important but I find it means nothing if you can't get it done in the ring. How many matches do we have to watch were the majority of the action consists of punches, kicks, and irish whips? But I guess that's another crucial element in allowing the wrestler more than six months before putting them in the championship scene. By today's standards it's hard to imagine that the WWF waited almost 10 years before giving the heavyweight belt to Hart, and 8 years for Michaels.

At this point I'm not sure what the WWE could do to remedy this situation. Other than combine the Raw and Smackdown rosters or push the veterans like Flair, HBK, Taker, HHH, Booker, Benoit, Finlay for all they have left for at least a year giving guys like Edge, Orton, Carlito, Nitro, Kennedy and CM Punk somewhat of a developmental period.

[Testicle]

The problem is more than character developement, the wrestlers are simply too young and too inexperinced. The don't spend enough time in the indies. The go to OVW or DSW for a year and then they are expected to be main event quality. It just dosen't work.

Austin was a 8 year pro before he won his first world title. Foley was a 13 year pro. Micheals was a 9 year pro. It just takes time.

[the Illusionist]

Represent ya Chain Gang, yo!

shut the fuck up.

[the Illusionist]

um does CM PUNK ring a bell? the guy is actually over with the fans really fast, but now it looks like the WWE virus is getting to him...speak out= you're screwed. he's the only New Breed face, notice?

[Batsu]

This whole thread can be summed up in one sentence: this is what happens when you don't develop the new guys until it's way too late.

YEP.

[Kane Knight]

um does CM PUNK ring a bell? the guy is actually over with the fans really fast, but now it looks like the WWE virus is getting to him...speak out= you're screwed. he's the only New Breed face, notice?

STFU

And I don't mean the wigger submission.

[Londoner]

I was thinking this the other day while watching some old tapes from 2000. I thought about what the diffference was back then compared to the day, and the key difference is there is no journey to progress to the top, back then it felt like you really knew the character by the time they were on top. Now were not given enough time to actually care about the character,and wrestlers are just 'given' the spot. Another thing is that when we start to like the way things are going, WWE always seems to deliberately fuck it up somehow.

I fear they're doing the same thing they have done with many other superstars to kenny, I don't get why he is being given a '2007 year is the year of kenny dykstra' storyline, he's not anywhere near ready for that sort of push. But yeah, to finish this post up, character progression is definately something that's been lacking for a long time now and is mainly down to Vince hiring shit nothing-to-do-with-wrestling writers.

[Jeritron]

Well in this day and age the wrestler doesn't really progress as much either. In the old days, Wrestlers worked their way up the ladder to the WWE. Even as recently as a few years ago this was the case. Look at a guy like Mick Foley, or Jericho and Benoit who were trained outside of the WWE in a much harder old school fashion and learned the ropes by going through tough times. They wrestled through Japan, the indy scene, ECW, WCW and finally into the WWF. This, in my opinion, breeds a much truer talent.

[Stickman]

I'd love if Kenny didn't win a match all year yet keeps talking about The Year of Kenny.