To what Extent is Unpredictability a good thing?

Tommy Platinum · 05-05-2008, 03:24 PM

I was going to ask this in Jim's thread, but I remember him and Steve saying that a lot of potential thread ideas are being wasted on it, so I thought I might as well post it here. But don't worry Jim, I will keep the questions coming in your thread too.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 20 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Unpredictability is a word often used to describe 'good' wrestling. When talking about WWE people often say that it is not as unpredictable as it once was, and is therefore a bad product. My question is, just how important is unpredictability in wrestling?

I like to be surprised as much as the next guy, and I do agree that there are too many matches in WWE with an obvious outcome, and sometimes there are not enough swerves etc. However, I think the most important thing is just to book a solid show without any stupid decisions, and actually put on great matches. I would rather see a great main event with a fairly obvious outcome (eg some of Cena's. such as the one against Umaga) than to see an average match end shockingly, such as Angle winning the belt back off Sting immediately lol. TNA has an unpredictable product from what I have seen, but when the storylines make little sense and the company as a whole hardly produces any great matches, you start to think that unpredictability is overrated.

It is nice, but it is not the be-all and end-all of a wrestling show. The overall quality is more important.

KenTheKiller · 05-05-2008, 04:14 PM

Unpredictability is mostly important in main stream. Main stream wrestling, specifically companies that have been around for years and probably decades usually have a good portion of fans who have "seen it all". So as important as surprises are, alot of times it's much more difficult to trick that specific fan base. An example would be for some, Y2J's return WAS a surprise because they hadn't seen anything like it before.

I am kind of getting off track but my point is, it is difficult to fool those who have seen it all so to speak, so alot of times trying to target that audience and to surprise them isn't the way to go. It's easier to surprise newer fans or "uneducated" fans and I think that is a much safer route too as it's less likely to cause problems. Bah, what I'm saying isn't being explained right.

horrorfan_1986 · 05-05-2008, 05:10 PM

Unpredictability can be a very good thing, especially if done in a great match or promo. Edge cashing in his MITB at New Years Revolution was something that no one saw and just about everyone loved it. Even things that people would normally not like, can appear to be better. John Cena's surprise return at the Royal Rumble was also something that no one expected. He won the Rumble which disappointed some people, but the surprise of it all made it feel better.

At the same time, unpredictability needs to be logical and not overly done. An example of illogical unpredictability would be the rumor of Vince Russo wanting the WCW World Title to be on the line in a battle royal with Tank Abbot winning. True, it would of been a surprise, but it would of been a complete joke.The nWo is a great example of a storyline that kept doing surprise after surprise, until surprises no longer meant anything. At one time, seemingly every week someone new was joining the New World Order. Hogan, Waltman, Dibiase, Bischoff and a few others were good, but when you have such nobodies as Stevie Ray, Bagwell, Norton and Horace joining, who gives a shit?

Tommy Platinum · 05-06-2008, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenTheKiller
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 20 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Unpredictability is mostly important in main stream. Main stream wrestling, specifically companies that have been around for years and probably decades usually have a good portion of fans who have "seen it all". So as important as surprises are, alot of times it's much more difficult to trick that specific fan base. An example would be for some, Y2J's return WAS a surprise because they hadn't seen anything like it before.

I am kind of getting off track but my point is, it is difficult to fool those who have seen it all so to speak, so alot of times trying to target that audience and to surprise them isn't the way to go. It's easier to surprise newer fans or "uneducated" fans and I think that is a much safer route too as it's less likely to cause problems. Bah, what I'm saying isn't being explained right.

Yeah but was it Raven who said the easiest fan to fool is the one who thinks they know it all? Internet fans for example always assume they know everything that will happen at a PPV, and they are easy to fool with an unpredictable decision. It doesn't have to be something shocking like Edge cashing in MITB or Cena returning in the Rumble, just something like Orton retaining at Mania. I would imagine most internet fans would have put their house on Triple H winning, but Orton retained and shocked everyone.

To what Extent is Unpredictability a good thing?

This is a discussion on To what Extent is Unpredictability a good thing? within the General Pro Wrestling : Classic & General forums, part of the Wrestling Forums category; I was going to ask this in Jim's thread, but I remember him and Steve saying that a lot of ...