Why wrestling is not as good these days?
With roots in carnivals at the turn of the 20th century, professional wrestling has grown to become a phenomenon and a huge entertainment outlet for millions of people.
Some might say it is a huge con that tricks people out of their money and that combat sports are more worthwhile. I used to be ashamed to admit I was a fan of wrestling. But professional wrestling is an art that needs to be respected even if it’s not for you.
The basic aspects which make wrestling entertaining to watch are simple. We, as the audience, need to be able to get behind our favourite wrestlers. We want to see our favourites not only win, but overcome adversity, outsmart their foes and do everything with style and showmanship. The job of the wrestlers and the “bookers” is to get us invested in their story by showcasing each wrestler’s personality and reasons for wanting to beat the other wrestlers by pinning his shoulders to the mat for a three count or by submission. I, personally, am a fan of old wrestling from 1990s and even the 1980s. Most wrestling events of the past have been “called on the fly” by the wrestlers. They work together using the reaction of the crowd to determine how they will get the most out of their match. Here is a list of reasons why I think the wrestling of today doesn’t compare with yesteryear.
- Censored dialogue scripts. Sponsors of the wrestling events might drop out of the show if it has content not suitable for their image.
- Short term storylines. Not enough time for the fans to be emotionally invested.
- Little character development. I believe the best characters are ones that are the most true to the real person but highly exaggerated
- Heavy TV production. Takes away from the grittiness of the fight
- Political correctness. “Heels" or bad guys don’t need to be politically correct. We need to hate them and we need the “baby faces” or good guys to beat them.
- Wrestlers not spending enough time with each other. Since most wrestlers take flights to events these days, there isn’t much time for the wrestlers to share knowledge with each other or to plan how they will get their match or storyline “over". In the territory days, wrestlers rented cars and drove for hours together to the event and this is when the young wrestlers really learned the trade from the experienced veteran wrestlers.
- Wrestlers don’t keep to themselves as much. As in, they are very active on social media, which can compromise the integrity of the storylines if they don’t keep “kayfabe"
- Not keeping “kayfabe". “Kayfabe" is a wrestling term that relates to keeping the secrets of wrestling from the “marks" or audience. I realise “kayfabe" is not a secret anymore and the wrestling secrets are out in the open. But I think people still want to see the wrestlers keeping kayfabe as that was where the charm and interest originated from in the territory days. People suspended their disbelief to better enjoy the show.
- Doing too much. Wrestlers nowadays seem to aim to do as many impressive moves as possible in the 15 mins that are given to them rather than taking their time and making what they do count. “Selling” the injuries for their opponent is just as important as doing something spectacular. These moves lose their effect very quickly and fans get used seeing it. That’s why weapons and bleeding should be sparsely used in wrestling events.
