Smark Era..... Good or Bad?

[Stickman]

Remember when The Rock came back and stood toe to toe to Cena and he made Cena look small? Cena does look like a champ but these stars from yesteryear were stars, guys today not so nuch. I think a big part of it is also charisma and understanding how to sell. Guys showing emotion and intensity helps the believability as well. Watch the Rocks facial expressions when he wresltes, watch Stone Cold, HHH, Goldberg, Lesner. These guys looked pissed off and are there for a fight. I think thats one reason why Cena and Reigns had a hard time connecting, it doesn't seem sincere.

I actually do buy Owens as a champ. Sure he isn't built great but he is built like that guy who picked on you in highschoool. He acts like that bully who picked on you. He has charisma, he can sell the opponents moveset but can sell his own moves also. He looks smug in the ring, he looks like he is there for a fight, and he does look like he could beat you up, but you want to see him get beat up. Him as a face champ would not work, definitely works as a heel.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Stickman Remember when The Rock came back and stood toe to toe to Cena and he made Cena look small? Cena does look like a champ but these stars from yesteryear were stars, guys today not so nuch. I think a big part of it is also charisma and understanding how to sell. Guys showing emotion and intensity helps the believability as well. Watch the Rocks facial expressions when he wresltes, watch Stone Cold, HHH, Goldberg, Lesner. These guys looked pissed off and are there for a fight. I think thats one reason why Cena and Reigns had a hard time connecting, it doesn't seem sincere. I actually do buy Owens as a champ. Sure he isn't built great but he is built like that guy who picked on you in highschoool. He acts like that bully who picked on you. He has charisma, he can sell the opponents moveset but can sell his own moves also. He looks smug in the ring, he looks like he is there for a fight, and he does look like he could beat you up, but you want to see him get beat up. Him as a face champ would not work, definitely works as a heel.

Lol, Owens is shorter than 6'0. He acts like the fat kid who mutters something under his breath and then shies away when you confront him about it.

Good for a weedy heel, don't get me wrong, but I don't get where this "tough guy" visual comes from.

[Destor]

Originally Posted by Noid Lol, Owens is shorter than 6'0. He acts like the fat kid who mutters something under his breath and then shies away when you confront him about it. Good for a weedy heel, don't get me wrong, but I don't get where this "tough guy" visual comes from.

Steen being a top guy in the business is basically why im against this era as a whole. Looks like a fan crawled over the barrier and started putting matches together.

If he was booked like a pussy I'd be able to deal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Destor Steen being a top guy in the business is basically why im against this era as a whole. Looks like a fan crawled over the barrier and started putting matches together. If he was booked like a pussy I'd be able to deal.

I think I told this in 100,001 replies, but I showed him to a friend and she thought he was a joke wrestler, just because he's so "not what you'd expect." You'd think it'd be in a good way, but not so. He's the antithesis of what people associate with wrestling in many ways. It never dawned on me until someone laid it out like that. He doesn't look ripped, he doesn't have crazy hair, he's not loud and riddled with catchphrases, he does "joke moves" (that was in respond to him faking a dive and hitting a clothesline) and he does a "stand-up routine." He was described as a kid trying to be cool. I honestly think you need to be a smark to "get him." If you like wrestling, you might have time for his shtick, but he's not hooking your average person.

But she also thought Dolph Ziggler was a freak too. That's just anecdotal, but maybe we should face the fact that some of the guys "we" love just don't draw. Sorry guys.

When it comes to a guy like Kevin Owens, I think about Bobby Heenan. Now, I might be off on this. I've looked for the reason Bobby Heenan quit being an active wrestler. I've heard he was a pretty good worker though. Maybe he got injured and tried to make another go of it, but he still took the occasional bump as a manager. I look at Heenan and I don't see a wrestler though. I see a smug weasel whose brain is his best weapon, realized it, and became a bonafide legend because of it.

Heenan might have been a wonderful wrestler, but he was never going to be the AWA World Heavyweight Champion, or WWF World Champion. He could manage them though. I hate to sound like millenial-hating CyNick, but we live in a world now where everybody gets a turn, and if a dude can technically take bumps and chain together a sequence of moves, then he's counted as a worker and he gets the same sort of push as someone else. Brian Hildebrand becomes to mind too. He was apparently a great little worker, but was too small to be a threat in the day, so he was a referee.

Now it's like "Well, Spike Dudley works hard and can put together some moves. Maybe we should make him the World Champion? It'd be different and people seem to really love Spike." You're seeing James Ellsworth beat the WWE Champion each week, Kevin Owens is the RAW World Champion, Goldberg is legitimately the most bad-ass star they have in 2016, and it's fine that he beat Brock Lesnar because no one else could do it believably. But it's all fine, because the boys can all "work" right. Part of working is making people believe in you, thus putting asses in seats.

I'm just ranting and raving now, but I honestly think it is more damaging to the business than a "feel good" brigade would have you think. Somewhere the ceiling became lower and the prerequisites for being a top guy were lifted. Do you really think Kevin Owens is better than Bobby Heenan? It seems like a weird comparison to make, but I need to use someone that is loved that never got given a World Title despite their talent. What about Brad Armstrong? Dean Malenko? Mr. Perfect? These guys never got WCW or WWF World Title reigns, despite being so good in the ring; Mr. Perfect was good on the mic too. But apparently you're a cunt for thinking that maybe the nut-busting for Kevin Owens isn't proportionate.