Monday, December 26, 2011

Note To Wrestlers: Quit Telling Me What You're Bad At

Imagine you're trying to sell something to someone. Now, you're not going to tell the potential customer "Well, this product isn't the best. It doesn't do this and it  doesn't do that, but it does this really well." because if you draw attention to perceived negatives the potential customer isn't going to fork over their hard earned money to buy your product. No, you're going to focus on what the product does really well, and even kinda stretch the truth about just how good it is at what it does to get the potential customer to put money in your pocket.  Common sense stuff, right?
Apparently, the next generation of wrestlers skipped wrestling school the day they were teaching that. I say that because, and he isn't the first nor will he be the last, Daniel Bryan cut a promo that made me think "Why the hell did they put a title on this guy?" instead of "Damn, I want to see more of this guy!" Now, I know that Bryan is on a short list of guys who can have a great match with a mop so, of course, when a match between him and Dolph Ziggler(AKA The Guy Who Makes Everyone Look Fantastic) is announced I'm going to watch because I know I am going to get a great match.

However, in the promo leading up to that match, Bryan started with, "I am not the biggest, strongest, or smartest. But, I am a really good wrestler.". Huh? To the casual viewer he might have just said "Change the channel when I come on the TV, because I will just bore you." Maybe it's because I am old enough to remember promos like this from the guys who had the titles.

And

But I don't want to hear wrestlers tell us how average or "really good" they are. That doesn't make casual fans think "I want to see this guy kick some ass!" or "I really want to see someone kick his ass!" and become long time, hardcore fans like myself. Recently, the WWE has been pushing a "WWE Superstars Are Just Like You!" angle that I feel isn't going to be very productive. I don't watch wrestling because I feel like I can relate to the guys in the programming. If I wanted to relate to the guys while watching wrestling I would start a backyard wrestling promotion where most disagreements are sorted out by the silent treatment, making fun of someone behind their backs, or over some beer. I watch wrestling because the characters are larger than life and they settle their problems with highly stylized fights that are entertaining to watch. So, to wrestlers, stop trying to be the common guy and start trying to be the guy we want to see kick someone's ass or have someone kick your ass and PLEASE stop telling us what you're not and start telling why you rock. Basically, tell us why we need to give you our money.

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