Wrestling is killing professional wrestling. There, I said it.
It may sound ludicrous, but it’s true. It’s driven all the casual fans away in their droves, and now all that’s left is the hardcore fanbase who would choose to watch Raw over going out with their girlfriend. Wrestling has never been a cool thing to watch, because it’s guys pretending to hurt each other in their underwear. However, when you add soap opera elements to it, a kick ass attitude and stars that look larger than life, then it doesn’t only become cool, it becomes cutting edge. It becomes part of pop culture. It defines an entire generation.
The biggest problem with wrestling today is how they wrestle. They can’t sell a thing, so instead they attempt to outdo one another with crazy stunts like they’re some gymnastics on speed. It looks ridiculous, it’s shortening careers and it needs to stop. The circus died out a long time ago due to the same antics becoming stale, and the same is happening with wrestling. No one is talking about wrestling anymore because there’s nothing to talk about. I don’t care how many somersaults Ricochet can do, or how many back flips The Young Bucks can pull off. It means nothing.
Another big problem with today’s landscape of wrestling is how professional wrestlers look. Since the 1980s, wrestlers have looked how you imagine wrestlers to look. Big, husky men bulging with muscles. I get most of it can be attributed to steroid abuse, but they looked larger than life. Today, they look like your next door neighbor. It seems the only criteria wrestling promotions are looking for is how many suicide dives someone can pull off. There’s no character. There’s no star quality. There’s no reason to watch.
I’m not saying everyone should start pumping their veins with God knows what to look like the next Hulk Hogan, but I am saying they need to promote themselves in a way where they are must see and they look different to the average guy on the street. Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn’t the biggest guy or best wrestler but he had an incredible personality and character that resonated with fans all over the world. I don’t think we can say the same thing about Seth Rollins.
The only guy on the entire WWE, NXT and AEW rosters that looks like a legitimate star and professional wrestler is Roman Reigns. Love him or hate him, you know I’m telling the truth. The guy is money. He looks the part. He can wrestle with the best of them. He looks like a total badass. That’s how wrestlers should look. They shouldn’t look like they’re coming in after their 8 hour shift at the library. The only reason The Big Dog isn’t a global megastar like John Cena and The Rock is because no one is watching wrestling anymore to see him do his thing. And Vince McMahon is so scared of losing what little fan base he has left to AEW that he won’t push Roman to the top and make him the toughest and baddest man in the business.
That would be the first step in making wrestling popular again. Years ago, fans would be fearful of jumping the barrier at shows because they’d most likely get their asses kicked. Nowadays, my money would be on the fans. It’s a sad state of affairs. I’m not saying you need to be 6’6 and 300 pounds, but I am saying you need to have character and personality. Give us a reason to tune in, other than those over the top flips and flops.
You may have wondered why I haven’t mentioned the women side of things, and there’s a good reason for that.
They’re killing it right now. Becky Lynch alone is the only reason why I still watch wrestling. She’s channelled her inner Stone Cold and become a character we can relate to and root for. She looks like a star. But WWE have watered her down in recent months not to offend the die hard supporters. Hardcore wrestling fans loved Hulkamania, they lived and breathed the Attitude Era and they watched in their droves as WWE and WCW did everything in their power to win the Monday Night Wars. Wrestling is meant to be fun and cool.
It’s time Vince McMahon and co woke up and realized that.
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You can find the author of this article on Twitter @JK_CFC3. Thanks for reading!