"The Basics of a Great Wrestler"
In the 70's, all you needed to be great at wrestling was the ability to throw a punch, take a slam and just be charismatic.Today's wrestling involves energetic move, brilliant acting skills, an over character and a semi-shaped body. We will be discussing each aspect of how to be a great wrestler.
Note: I am going to be discussing John Cena in a negative form a lot, so if you have a problem with that then take a deep breath and understand I don't care.
Keeping in-ring action exciting
Making wrestling exciting takes a lot of hard work. Take something that has been done a million times over and make it exciting all over again is nearly impossible. To battle this, I figured out two ways that can not only make moves fresh and exciting, but keeping your character interesting as well.
Faces and heels have different jobs inside the ring, although they are quite similar. The faces of WWE are the worst offenders to keeping action hot and exciting. They are the ones that have to invent new moves or increase their movelist. At the same time, they must keep their side of the action energetic and fresh. Just because they are the babyface doesn't mean they can expect the crowd to cheer for them no matter what. The audience is just like a kid with short attention span. Once they get bored, they will let you know.
Now as a heel it's all about being smart or dominate. A smart heel such as CM Punk will use the face's moves against them and counterattack. If you ever find a match with CM Punk vs John Cena, CM Punk always counters Cena's moves. At the same time, dirty moves are being used less and less. No more eye poking or gouging, nut shots are taken away hell even chair shots to the head are gone. What the hell?! Isn't WWE a channel for violence. One of the best wrestlers of all time or is the best wrestler of all time, Ric Flair, was the master of being a heel. From his dirty moves to his technical wrestling, he was certainly the best heel of all time. As a dominant heel, Mark Henry in the Hall of Pain run is the prime example of what a dominant heel is. Much like Andre The Giant did in the 70's and 80's, Henry stomped through everybody in his path.
Selling moves is an artwork. All it takes is courage and acting skill. However, many wrestlers fall in this category. If you are in a leglock, you shriek and wail much like in any hold. When you are out act like you are limping or just can't walk. Strikes and slams take a little more courage. Imagine someone going to punch you in the face, but you weren't allowed to put your hands up for a defense. Pretty hard ain't it? Yeah well Dolph Ziggler is now the master at selling moves.
A somewhat optional need for a great physique
What does Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena, The Rock and Hulk Hogan have in common? Okay, they are all part of a group that frequently visit Club Kiss Vince's Ass, what else? Yes, they all had great physiques in their primes. Vince McMahon's hard-on for his Greek godlike bodies for his star wrestlers is widely known in WWE. Although to become a WWE superstar with a fat flabby body is possible, you won't go far in the land of chiselled abs. Look at the list of wrestlers that are recently underplayed nor can get as far as WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Brodius Clay, Viscera, Bam Bam Bigelow and Rikishi. I do know that Yokozuna did get the WWF Championship, but he lost it quickly to Hulk Hogan. He is a phenomenon like the Big Show and is an exception. However with wrestlers like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Big Show, and Mark Henry all have good physique (In Big Show and Mark Henry's prime) and can get far in wrestling, they just aren't in McMahon's ranking GQ men.
Character Development
A character that is over with the crowd is more successful than most of the roster. Its quite difficult and quite easy at the same time. Finding something is difficult, but what that something is is quite easy to do. How hard is doing Bryan's "yes/no" chants or Caesro's Big Swing? Easy. Wade Barrett still can't find anything to win over the audience. Gimmick after gimmick and nothing. If Wade Barrett turns face and says "Rubbish" a lot, I'm sure people will pick up on it. People love chanting with an easy chant. Most chants are one to two words.
Gimmicks are a great way to bring in new superstars, however if they are booked wrong they will never get over. A good gimmick is being dominate, serious, funny (not the comedic Santino Marella way) and/or downright menacing and evil. A good example is Bray Wyatt or Damien Sandow. However, gimmick can kick you right out of the good graces of the audience. For example well a repeated example, dancing gimmick is just overdone and annoying. When I'm watching a dancing segment, I usually use that time for a piss break along with The Great Khali matches.
Experienced superstars need a character that can be three-dimensional and smart. The best way to put this is they need the ability to play both heel and face. Orton can play both sides whereas John Cena refuses to play the heel. The results have shown that we get boring matches with both of them in the same ring. All because of the kids loving John Cena. Whoopie! Go T-Shirt sales!
Acting Lessons are needed!!!!
In the 80's, we started to see promos and more use of microphone work. Leading up to the Attitude Era, we had funny gags with D-Generation X, Stone Cold Steve Austin would be threatening to the Corporation and The Rock would be nowhere near as popular without his microphoned segments. Today, theater and acting skills are commonplace for wrestlers.
Now in today's wrestling world, microphone work and body language is getting better in the midcard with The Shield and Bray Wyatt. It's the high card that is the problem. The worst offender is Randy Orton with his robotic voice and body language. Maybe that is why you don't see him in movies. John Cena is another bad one, but sometimes he can pull it off. Now CM Punk was great offering some of the greatest lines in years, but he left. In his place, we have Daniel Bryan. Now I know that Bryan is loved on here, but I have to say he isn't as skilled with the mic. Before you shoot me down, he is improving more and more everyday. It is just really hard to fill Punk's boots. Hopefully, either Punk comes back, or acting lessons are handed out.
On a side note, going straight for body language is great with a vocal champion of a manager. Hence, why Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman together are the perfect team. Hell even Caesro and Zeb Coulter is a good team. Another team that reminds me of Ivan Drago and his wife are Alexander Rusev and Lana.
John Bradshaw Layfield repeatedly says, "If you were to build a wrestler from the ground up, it would be like Randy Orton." While Orton could work in the early 90's, but today's wrestling he's a...how do I say this. A B+ wrestler. To be honest, if I could build my own wrestler from the ground up it would be intimidating and mysterious like the Undertaker, the move set of Daniel Bryan, the viciousness of Brock Lesnar, the acting skill of CM Punk and the body of Mickie James.
Mmmmmhmmmm...how can you go wrong with that. Well Vince McMahon would probably be happier with Roman Reigns.
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