Tables, Ladders, & Podcast - Current episode: #74 (October 22, 2014)

[Nowhere Man]

I don't buy that Orton is a good 'psychologist' either.

"Psychology" is one of the most infuriatingly nebulous terms in the entire wrestling lexicon, and I've never seen anyone come to any sort of consensus on what it actually is.

Going by my personal definition of it, psychology is being able to come up with moves and spots specifically in response to whatever is happening in the course of the match, and the larger storyline. Y'know, doing what the match demands rather than what your 'signature' movelist prescribes.

Orton just kinda has the same match every night, going along the traditional 'main event' style formula. Sell for a little bit, then completely stop selling, hit some limp-armed clotheslines and then the falling powerslam (which admittedly is nice, but Goldust and Punk both did/do it better), hit that horrifically contrived and unconvincing elevated DDT, setup for the RKO, miss it, sell for maybe thirty more seconds, then hit the RKO. Every goddamn match. That's not 'psychology,' that's just a checklist.

So no, I really don't see Orton as a good ring psychologist.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Nowhere Man I don't buy that Orton is a good 'psychologist' either. "Psychology" is one of the most infuriatingly nebulous terms in the entire wrestling lexicon, and I've never seen anyone come to any sort of consensus on what it actually is. Going by my personal definition of it, psychology is being able to come up with moves and spots specifically in response to whatever is happening in the course of the match, and the larger storyline. Y'know, doing what the match demands rather than what your 'signature' movelist prescribes. Orton just kinda has the same match every night, going along the traditional 'main event' style formula. Sell for a little bit, then completely stop selling, hit some limp-armed clotheslines and then the falling powerslam (which admittedly is nice, but Goldust and Punk both did/do it better), hit that horrifically contrived and unconvincing elevated DDT, setup for the RKO, miss it, sell for maybe thirty more seconds, then hit the RKO. Every goddamn match. That's not 'psychology,' that's just a checklist. So no, I really don't see Orton as a good ring psychologist.

I consider psychology to basically be in-ring storytelling. Most of the time on Raw or Smackdown it feels like two guys who go out, they know about how much time they have and they just perform while waiting for the finish. Bryan vs Ryback last night, even taking the crowd response out of the equation was fucking brilliant storytelling during a match for example.

All of his matches when he was WHC told a story. I gave the example of his matches against Mark Henry because Henry, while solid, isn't a guy known for wowing you in the ring. And they told a story. Henry's role was the unstoppable monster and Orton was the babyface "king" of Smackdown basically. Both losses by Orton could have ended with a "... That's it?" reaction but he did a great job making it look like he was giving it all and falling short against an unstoppable monster. They told a great story. He came out looking like a million bucks while making Henry look like a million and one. That's not easy to do.