Should WWE have faster paced matches?

[Crowley]

The prevailing school of thought among fans and promoters has always been that the average person watching wrestling would rather see a slow, methodical style of match from a guy like Hulk Hogan or Big Show than a lightening fast, stiff match from someone like El Generico or Johnny Gargano.

 

Personally, I think it's total bullshit. Vince Russo once said that the actual wrestling matches were the lowest rated segments of the show, and he was right. But WWE and WCW never even scratched the surface when it comes to experimenting with different in-ring styles and seeing how people respond to them. They just assumed that there is no style of wrestling match that people will want to watch. They never considered exploring different styles of wrestling. Even the cruiserweight division in WCW was a watered down joke compared to what was happening in ECW and Japan at the time. The truth is, we don't really know how the average viewer would respond to something like Kota Ibushi vs. Kenny Omega. They've never seen it.

 

I think people need to take into consideration that WWE is aimed at kids, and kids have no attention span. This is especially true in the case of this MTV generation. They can't watch television or go see a movie without glancing at their cell phone every two minutes. If the matches moved more quickly and consisted of flashier moves and spots, I think it'd be easier to keep their attention. Not only do I think it'd be easier to keep their attention, I think you could get them to drop their phones and really focus on what's going on. I think these styles of matches have the potential to bring more attention to WWE and create new fans. It could even spark another pro wrestling boom period.

 

Just watch the first minute of this match.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcAYB40oQxw

 

Look how quickly it moves and notice how it doesn't appear as clunky and choreographed as WWE's matches. You can't honestly watch that and tell me the average person wouldn't prefer watching that to what WWE offers. I'm not saying it's my favorite style or even that I'd want WWE to book matches like this. I'm just saying that I think now that their target audience is kids, this would be the way to go. You can't tell me that the toddlers at ringside in the John Cena shirts wouldn't love this. Actually, Cena could be having an amazing, four star match with Punk but if you look at these kids in the audience, they're all yawning and staring up at the ceiling. I don't think they'd react that way to the match I posted above. It'd probably blow their minds. It's like a live action version of the cartoons they watch on Saturday Morning.

 

The best thing about this style of match, is that it puts more of an emphasis on the athletic aspect of wrestling. Most non-wrestling fans just can't seem to get over the idea that wrestling is fake. A lot of the not-so-educated attitude era marks grew up to be UFC fans, because they see it as a real life WWF. They need to learn to enjoy wrestling like you'd enjoy a kung-fu movie instead of a competitive fight. When people can finally acknowledge that the wrestlers are amazing athletes despite the matches being fixed, I think only then will we finally see WWE become as popular as it was in the early 80's and late 90's.

[Soap]

DUde you totally stole one of my thoughts. I want to reply but I can not put it any better. Damn.....

 

[Mango kid]

the prob is faster matchs equals a bigger chance of a botch or injury

[Muur]

That seemed too dast, maybe a bit slower than that, but faster matches would probabaly help me focus more. I barely pay any attention to matches.

[Counting Lights]

Damn it Crowley, I love your posts

[Gucci J]

Could be a thought for them as well, since they already have signed PAC.

[Brahma Bull]

I'm sure the superstars' demanding schedules have something to do with this.

[JayBee.]

This is why you're one of the best members of this forum. Always take the time to deliver a well-thought out post.

 

I agree WWE matches could be a little faster but I really appreciate psychology and storytelling. I do feel a lot of matches get overlooked with regards to their underlying stories. For me, good storytelling and/or psychology can make a 2 star match a 3 star one, and one of my favourite matches from the attitude era is a very good example of this: Chris Benoit vs. Triple H at No Mercy 2000. The psychology in this match is fantastic up until the finish, which regrettably takes a bit of the shine off it, and I think anybody should check it out.

 

I think WWE needs a good blend of matches like that AND faster paced ones.

[Counting Lights]

This is why you're one of the best members of this forum. Always take the time to deliver a well-thought out post.

 

I agree WWE matches could be a little faster but I really appreciate psychology and storytelling. I do feel a lot of matches get overlooked with regards to their underlying stories. For me, good storytelling and/or psychology can make a 2 star match a 3 star one, and one of my favourite matches from the attitude era is a very good example of this: Chris Benoit vs. Triple H at No Mercy 2000. The psychology in this match is fantastic up until the finish, which regrettably takes a bit of the shine off it, and I think anybody should check it out.

 

I think WWE needs a good blend of matches like that AND faster paced ones.

That's a good way of putting it. It would be a win/win. Think back to Evan Bourne vs Sin Cara. It was also a fast paced match(not nearly as one as the video showed, but still very fast for WWE standards) and the fans ate it up. I do think fast matches would get boring after a while if that's all that went on, but to have both psychological matches and fast ones would be ideal. If WWE does wind up debuting the rumored cruiserweight show, it would be perfect and allow us to get that variety once a week.

[Crowley]

the prob is faster matchs equals a bigger chance of a botch or injury

You're right. It's definitely a riskier style. But sometimes I think that WWE forgets that these guys are professionals. They need to trust them to know what they're doing. That goes for matches, promos, everything.

 

And to be fair, there are a ton of guys out there that wrestle this style with as many as two matches a week, and they're doing just fine.

 

Could be a thought for them as well, since they already have signed PAC.

 

Well based on what we've seen so far, I think it's safe to say PAC won't be having matches like the one I posted in WWE. If you compare Sin Cara's current stuff to what he did as Místico, it's so much slower and watered down. I've noticed that even with his age and bad knees, Rey Mysterio's matches move more quickly and smoothly than Sin Cara's. Rey's definitely a superior wrestler, but there's no reason why Sin Cara shouldn't be bouncing off the ropes faster and having flashier high spots.

 

Daniel Bryan is another good example, and his style was never even that quick or acrobatic. He's always been more of an old fashioned, technical wrestling guy, but still for whatever reason his matches aren't quite as fast paced or exciting in WWE.

[Dazman™]

Great post and topic as usual Crowley. They could definitely be a little faster but probably not as fast as the one you posted.

[TheXtremeOne]

Dont forget this. WWE is about telling a story not wrestling. They´ve been saying this for a long time, even in tough enough.

 

So fast matches would not help to that concept of telling a story. I´m all in in fast matches, cause there is so much talent in the E that could make some big spots (D-Bryan for example) but im not seeing this happening in the WWE

 

Sorry for my english

[Mango kid]

the prob is faster matchs equals a bigger chance of a botch or injury

You're right. It's definitely a riskier style. But sometimes I think that WWE forgets that these guys are professionals. They need to trust them to know what they're doing. That goes for matches, promos, everything.

 

And to be fair, there are a ton of guys out there that wrestle this style with as many as two matches a week, and they're doing just fine.

 

Could be a thought for them as well, since they already have signed PAC.

 

Well based on what we've seen so far, I think it's safe to say PAC won't be having matches like the one I posted in WWE. If you compare Sin Cara's current stuff to what he did as Místico, it's so much slower and watered down. I've noticed that even with his age and bad knees, Rey Mysterio's matches move more quickly and smoothly than Sin Cara's. Rey's definitely a superior wrestler, but there's no reason why Sin Cara shouldn't be bouncing off the ropes faster and having flashier high spots.

 

Daniel Bryan is another good example, and his style was never even that quick or acrobatic. He's always been more of an old fashioned, technical wrestling guy, but still for whatever reason his matches aren't quite as fast paced or exciting in WWE.

 

 

i dont think it about trust i think it they dont want them to be burn out sense there pretty much wrestleing every day a week

[Faster Than Light]

Dont forget this. WWE is about telling a story not wrestling. They´ve been saying this for a long time, even in tough enough.

 

So fast matches would not help to that concept of telling a story. I´m all in in fast matches, cause there is so much talent in the E that could make some big spots (D-Bryan for example) but im not seeing this happening in the WWE

 

Sorry for my english

 

Maybe faster matches would be more entertaining and fun to watch?

[Lyriqz ✪]

I would like a faster pace indeed. The main thing that makes me so bored of matches is the pairings though. I just barely have a weekly that is well build up etc. And even when it happenes, it's something I've seen to often. That's really the main reason I skip allmost everything.

[Poe Øhlin]

Crowley as always you're right, and put it better then I probably could. I know it's a longshot, but when I consider watching a match a chore, it really takes some of the fun away from it. Having to sit for three hours really doesn't help, especially when it's a weekly basis.

 

But I can easily say that I could watch three hours of puro/indy style matches easily on a weekly basis.

 

I'm just going to leave this here to show you all an example of what we could have with faster paced matches.

 

[Jmerc]

Crowley = Wrestling God.

 

I defiantly think they should speed up the pace of the matches, it'll get me more in-to-it for sure!

[ArmVD]

Crowley, I always feel like I learn something when I read your posts. This is how the Cruiserweight show should be set up if/when it ever happens, as I think that they should be the ones that have this fast paced style, for 2 reasons.

 

1. Would make the cruisers more unique

2. The cruiserweights would probably be more able to perform in that style

 

Also, that video makes me sad that PAC/Ricochet never happened in PWG

[Astro Zombie]

I agree, to an extent. A lot of people hate fast, 'spot-fests', but I love them personally. I don't think top guys like Punk, Cena, Sheamus, etc should change their pace, because they probably have enough nagging injuries now, and with a faster pace, combined with the amount of time they work, it could have a worse effect on them. But like I said, I do love the style, and when they have guys like Sin Cara, Pac, Justin Gabriel etc, who aren't working 300 days a year, they should totally let these guys work a faster pace. It is possible to have a faster pace, and still tell stories. I may be totally wrong, but I think Sin Cara would botch a lot less if he was allowed to work a faster pace, because that's what he was trained in. I think if he were put into faster paced matches with people trained in a similar style, he would be better. Look at his work in Mexico and Japan. He botched a lot less.

 

But getting back to the point, You're right on with what you say about how the children would love this, and so would a lot of the casual fans who don't really care for wrestling anymore. The lucha style was one of the things that put ECW on the map, because of it's faster pace. While most others were having typical matches, guys like Rey Mysterio and Psycosis were flying around the ring, and it attracted people. It's sad how this style/pace has pretty much become a lost art in mainstream pro wrestling.

[RVF]

The first minute comes off incredibly choreographed to be honest. It comes across like a pre-planned gymnastics routine. I agree that kids would probably love this sort of thing though. Maybe not all the time, but anything different is going to grab people's attention at the moment.

 

And to be fair, there are a ton of guys out there that wrestle this style with as many as two matches a week, and they're doing just fine.

Lets wait and see where they are in 5-10 years. I imagine they'll be having similar knee problems to Mutoh, CIMA, Rey, etc. if they keep doing this for that long.

[Rockstar™]

Damn it Crowley, I love your posts

[Brahma Bull]

I want Evan Bourne to come back. He's the perfect guy for this. His moves are IMPECCABLE.

[ArmVD]

I want Evan Bourne to come back. He's the perfect guy for this. His moves are IMPECCABLE.

He and PAC (ahem, Adrian Neville) would be the perfect guys to work this style

[ஐ]

Damn it Crowley, I love your posts