Bigpapa42

Intriguing question.

To me, wrestling is pretty much entertainment. I approach it much the same way I approach movies - while I respect true greatness in film-making, I can enjoy a wide variety of films if I accept them for what they are. I know the average action flick is not going to stand up to The Godfather or Not Country for Old Men, but I don't watch that action movie expecting it to. If that action film has most of the elements I look for in an entertaining action movie and is decently done, I will probably enjoy it. Wrestling is much the same. I don't expect an NWA title match from the mid 80s, an All-Japan match from the mid 90s, and a current WWE match all to offer the exact same things. The elements I look for are going to be slightly different.

There really are a ton of elements that that can play a role. Intensity, as previously mentioned, is so very important. If even just one of the guys is clearly going through the motions, it makes it hard to get into it at all. Pacing has to suit the situation - a couple of high fliers working a very slow match just isn't going to work usually, especially if they do hit any sequences that move quickly. Whether its technical or brawling, it again depends on the situation and the workers. Finisher-fest matches often seem over-done, but it can certainly work - I think it did in the Undertaker-Michaels WM - but if its done poorly, it just devalues the finishers. Execution matters, as it doesn't have to be perfect, but a lot of botched moves tends to kill things. As for realism, well, it is wrestling, but it has to be there to at least a small degree - having someone act dead for 15 minutes because of a shot that would normally barely put them down is tough to swallow, even when I try to suspend disbelief. And then there's the crowd, which can make or break any match. A hot crowd makes a mediocre match seem really good, or kills another otherwise good match.

Context matters. So does characters, story, all of that. It all usually adds something to the match - one more element. Watching a bunch of 90s All Japan stuff has made me realize that context only matters so much, though, when other elements are in place to make the match entertaining (aka good). I don't need an intimate understanding of a feud to realize the tension between two guys and what it adds to the match. Knowing the history and the story does help usually, but its not going make a poorly-worked match that's lacking in intensity that much better.

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