There was a conversation on the Internet this past week about danger in wrestling, sparked by the haunting apparent neck injury suffered by Hiromu Takahashi at New Japan’s G1 Special show.
Here’s the thing – Wrestling is an athletic performance that is inherently dangerous.
Its’ history is filled with participants injured off of routine movements and general wear and tear. Its’ more recent history is filled with athletes obsessed with the “performance” aspect of the show, creating a world where guys are still hurt off of routine stuff, but are also hurt by stuff like slams where they land on top of their head.
Because of its’ history of being labeled “fake,” there was a pride throughout the 90s until now of hitting hard and enhancing the danger, and a pride in the last decade or so of doing progressively even more hard-hitting, complicated and dangerous stuff.
But that kind of got away from itself, didn’t it?
The magic of wrestling is taking two ordinary human beings and making them larger than life through simulated grappling. Inevitably it was going to have to go somewhere else beyond foreign stereotypes and muscle men, but here? Really? Here?
Endless head drops? Apron spots? Bumps to the floor? Big bumps off of ladders that happen so often they are rendered nearly meaningless?
Both WWE and New Japan, as two of the larger wrestling organizations in the world, are inherently stupidly dangerous. The schedule, the need to exceed expectations, the bumps and the bumps and the bumps.
And there is a whole market of organizations under them doing even stupider stuff for less reward.
Wrestling can be art. Wrestling can be stupid. Wrestling can be dangerous. Dangerous wrestling can be art. Dangerous wrestling can also be stupid.
That move that hurt Hiromu? It was stupid. It didn’t need to be done. This danger won’t be fixed in a day and I know I’ll be flipping out over some crazy dangerous thing soon – probably in this very post.
Regardless, what gets me real excited about the wrestling isn’t some wild-ass suplex or complicated slam – it’s the characters and the emotion that the conflicts of those characters create. When the match calls for it, sure – go crazy.
But Omega vs. Okada from this year wasn’t just a classic because of Kenny kneeing Okada in the face as hard as he could. It was a classic because it was a story building for a year and a half with stakes and characters and because both guys in the match sold their asses off to the point where the fake wrestling became real. No crazy suplex or dive added to that.
Hiromu vs. Dragon Lee didn’t need that Dragon Driver. Kenny vs. Cody didn’t need that powerbomb to the outside. Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy didn’t need that Spanish Fly on the table. Seth Rollins doesn’t need to do a tope every freaking match.
Selling, power spots, and jokes about *NSYNC will get pops just as much as you modifying a suplex that probably didn’t need a modification.
Just chill, guys. Everybody doesn’t need to be the Crazy Guy. When everybody is the Crazy Guy, we end up in a place where we have two sets of wrestling fans: angry old folks wanting to go back to the way things were no matter how impossible, and excited young folks with dead eyes watching huge bumps and drops on the head saying This is Awesome when it really isn’t.
A chinlock isn’t the answer. But neither is a bump on your neck. Ya dicks.
Be better. Be safer.
That goes for wrestling promoters and wrestlers alike.
Thank you. I love you.
RAW (7/9/18)
I guess the pull-apart brawl was cool? And Seth vs. Drew was good. Otherwise, this show sucked. RAW is bad again. The wrestling sucks, the stories suck. It sucks.
This was a show that had three matches in which a chinlock was applied while an Extreme Rules promo played.
Everything about Reigns/Lashley feels forced but there is an intensity to it, and if the crowd gives it a chance the match could be great. Regardless, was hoping for John Cena to show up in Boston. As far as Vince projects, John would wipe the floor with these two wannabes. The Top Guy pull-apart brawl is such a trope but the live crowd always loses their shit, so whatever.
The Nia Jax/Natalya Hart Attack was nice. Otherwise, their tag with Alexa and Mickie was fine, average, zzzzz. Liked a few spots with Nia being all fired up and Alexa being a bitch, but zzzzz.
No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley was a lower-end Main Event match zzzz.
I like that WWE took a look at the Sasha/Bayley counseling sketches last week and said: “Hmmm these didnt work, I know what the problem was: Dr. Shelby.”
This was a show where Seth Rollins accused Drew McIntyre of fucking a sheep.
Early 40s Matt Hardy carrying the workload in singles vs. The B-Team is not great. Outside of the wild Bo bump into the ropes, Matt vs. Bo wasn’t anything. What a nothing feud this has become.
Liv Morgan vs. Ember Moon was a series of wrestling maneuvers. Would be good if these acts were involved in anything interesting. Liv and Sarah kick at stuff backstage and Ember is – well, uh, a War Goddess.
Balor/Roode vs. Corbin/Elias was just a tag team wrestling match zzzzzzzz. The more stuff like this, the more these guys lose steam. This is why stuff like the Corbin MITB cash-in or Balor wasting time with Wyatt or the purgatory of last month is so frustrating – it takes care to recover from it, and nothing tags like this don’t help.
At least Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre was good. Drew working power guy vs. Seth got me real jacked about the possibilities of pro wrestling, baby: just tossing him around, refusing to lose control, being powerful as hell. I dug Seth mounting a comeback only for Drew to run through him in the corner with an elbow followed by the reverse Alabama Slam.
So much cool stuff packed into the last few minutes that brought the heat too: Drew’s top rope belly-to-belly, the big Seth superkick cracking Drew in the face, the falcon arrow near fall, Seth’s Ripcord knee setup countered with a HEADBUTT, and Drew catching Seth with the Claymore for 3.
Drew carrying Dolph to the back right after beating Seth was so awesome. In Drew We Trust, for RAW seems very bleak without him on the way up.
SMACKDOWN (7/10/18)
Easy, breezy, beautiful SmackDown Live.
It’s not like this brand is on fire but it sure is swell to watch a WWE main roster show that doesn’t feel completely bleak. Team Hell No bantering with New Day, Asuka kicking around Ellsworth, Almas vs. Sin Cara, and AJ Styles brought the fun to Tuesday night.
I’m not sure who decided that Kane should make NSYNC references all show but God bless them. Opening segment with Miz, Bryan, Kane, The Bludgeon Brothers, SAnitY, and New Day was pretty wild. With SmackDown having so many guys on the roster that folks like The Usos and The Bar seem to disappear every few weeks, it’d be nice to see more interactions like this.
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Part 5 (!) was probably my #2 or #3 favorite match of theirs in WWE, mostly because it was stripped down and all the better for it. Just a good solid TV match – cool rope-running, Styles bumping off a Phenomenal Forearm block, Nakamura working offense, and Rusev interference.
The Styles/Hardy vs. Nakamura/Rusev tag was alright too – like 5 minutes long but these folks are over and they brought the action in a nice little WWE TV package.
A Lumberjack Match with like six lumberjacks is kind of a weird idea. The Asuka/Ellsworth match was dumb fun though – I completely approve of this being the way they get to Carmella vs. Asuka Part 2.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara was a match I loved, partially because it finally happened partially because I love Almas partially because I love Cara and partially, between Almas’ gold pants and Cara’s blue gear, it was just so colorful.
It lasted 5 minutes but they packed in all the good stuff – hard chops, Almas’ crazy back elbows, rope-running, a big Sin Cara tope, the wild tilt-a-whirl headscissors that dropped Almas on his head (told you), and Almas taking basically a back body drop to the floor before finishing Cara’s ass off.
Almas vs. Styles is the stuff dreams are made of if we can get there.
The Team Hell No/New Day vs. Bludgeon Brothers/SAnitY 10-man tag was a fun match with a bunch of characters. Real formula stuff, only 10 minutes long, but fun stuff.
205 LIVE (7/10/18)
205 Live basically hinges on if the main event delivers and this one really didn’t.
I do like how 205 has settled into setting up stuff for next week every week, though I don’t like that Drake Maverick has quickly become Just Another GM.
Kalisto vs. Tony Nese was solid – these boys can do some crazy stuff, I just wish it was presented as anything to actually care about. Very much into Buddy Murphy vs. Gran Metalik if they go that route.
Lio Rush vs. COLIN DELANEY was a pretty awesome squash – real rapid fire and I dug Delaney trying to keep up with Lio.
Cedric Alexander vs. Hideo Itami for the Cruiserweight Title was kind of a bummer. Cedric will strike and hit his way into crowd’s hearts but seeing the former KENTA act like a character instead of being a character sucks. So does his attempt at working “methodical.” And the rough complete miss of Cedric’s trope was the spoiled cherry on top. Fun strikes and whatnot towards the end but a really underwhelming match.
NXT (7/11/18)
Crap Adam Cole match aside, a good show – excellent use of the women’s division and an epic main event.
The Cole vs. Danny Burch mad was awful – snoozy Cole offense, a Burch comeback that didn’t get over, and weird stuff like a German suplex no-sell that didn’t belong in this type of match. Just bad and lifeless all-around.
Shayna Baszler and Candice LeRae having a better better pull-apart than Roman and Bob followed by Lacey Evans with a clasp purse calling herself a lady followed by Kairi Sane coming out with a tiny pirate wheel was a tremendous sequence of events. The NXT women’s division is back.
Vanessa Borne kind of wrestles in slow-motion but the match with Kairi Sane was solid, and Borne delivered a much better and more credible beating than Adam Cole’s. Borne just hanging Kairi upside down in the ropes at kicking at here was a cool spot too. Kairi doing air uppercuts to the “AGAIN!” chants post-match was my everything.
Dug Ciampa attacking Black as NXT prepared to cut to commercial – nice touch.
The Undisputed Era and British Strong Style are just shitting out classics at this point, and this NXT Tag Team Title match may have been the best one yet. With the hot brawl-heavy start, Bate’s insane man corner work Seven’s selling, Era being so targeted in their approach – it’s amazing how such an old formula still works so well today.
Great brawl with big crowd heat at the start – the cardio on these guys to keep this thing moving must be wild. Then Seven gets his knee dropped on the stairs and Era goes to WORK. The teases of the Bate hot tag were well-done and his hot tag filled with crazy power spots had Full Sail going nuts. Actually, they were going nuts the entire time.
The dramatic finish put this over the top, with Bate’s hesitance to tag the injured Seven but finally relenting, leading to a one-legged Seven just teeing off on Era and selling their leg submissions big. The towel gimmick felt kind of dumb at first until Bate ACTUALLY THREW IT IN and that is just incredible.
Pro wrestling is always re-enforcing its tropes – a new generation now knows that if your knee gets fucked, your partner is in trouble no matter how great they are doing.
I mean, not sure why Bate didn’t just run-in for the save instead of throwing in the towel. But what a match.
MAIN EVENT (7/11/18)
Man, these Authors of Pain squashes (Titus Worldwide this week) aren’t very good.
Chad Gable vs. Curt Hawkins was pretty good though – a smooth, moderately energetic Main Event match done by two guys who have excellent execution. Hawkins taking Gable armdrags was a good time.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Rollins vs. Drew was high-quality but I think I enjoyed Almas vs. Cara more.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Even 25 years in and running for Mayor of Knox County, Kane is stealing the show.
RAW being phoned in and terrible really drags this whole company down. Extreme Rules is on Sunday and nothing feels important. Either way, SmackDown and NXT were good shows this week. On we go…
RAW: 2/10
SmackDown: 7/10
205 Live: 4/10
NXT: 7/10
