Wrestlers ring ability and the fans who judge it

AudioSavior

I have always been bugged by fans who say things like,"His in ring ability was not that good" or " it hasn't improved". I am sorry but I find it laughable that fans think they are such experts of wrestling that they really can tell a difference of ring ability or what "improving" really is.

It is easy to see what someone like Angle or Beniot does in the ring that just shouts greatness but I just don't get how someone can rate someone that may be just as skilled as any other wrestler and then say they have never or are not improving. What are they not improving in? What skills exactly are you referring to?

Personally I don't think it is their wrestling skills rather then their ability to tell a story in the ring. But this I mean making the booking they were given flow or to book their own match and pull it off with out making it look robotic or too staged.

I just wish that when someone mentions their in ring ability that they try not to let it reflect on how someone is in the ring when they fail to say or explain what they think exactly they haven't improved on or to show they followed them from beginning to present and showing where they are the same as when they were green.

If it was any other sport, the fan would never let someone get away with saying they haven't improved on the field while being very vague about it.

K Jay

I think you draw a fine line there Ida. For instance I could easily say Snitsky`s ring work has improved greatly over the last 6 months, and it would hold a grain of truth. To say Snitsky`s clothelines look a whole lot more flowing and his punches seem to snap more than his lumbering right hands when he arrived, is just overkill. I understand that sometimes posters just write off/big up a wrestlers abilities too easily but at the same time I dont want a disection of each wrestlers traits to back up every statement.

I had a sig, once.

Tyler Durden

I just read what Blitz thinks of wrestlers and copy that.

Blitzkrieg

Good call Bulldog..lol


Seriously though, I'm not sure what you are looking for Ida. I love it when members of this board go into detail with their posts, but I'm not sure if everyone should be explaining exactly what is wrong with somebody's in-ring skills every single time they post.

I get your point though, but there are so many things that can make up a great worker.

Can he go for 30 min. and keep a match interesting, does he show good psychology, do his basic moves look realistic, does he have a good move set, does he sell really well, does he show intensity, can he do more than two moves before having to apply a rest hold, etc. Of course a guy's ability can be downsized if he's stuck with a certain gimmick or he's jobber material for the company at that point in his career, However,

All the above that I listed Tyson Tomko hasn't shown that he can do..So I'd say he's a bad in-ring wrestler or else WWE would have him trying more shit right? I don't think WWE makes a guy like that look like shit in the ring on purpose. He just plain sucks.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

Also, the wrestlers themselves call 90% of the spots in any given match. They may be given a few spots to work out like "go through announcers table" or "sell a big knee injury" and then given the finish but all in all they are in charge all all the drama in between. Hence "calling spots" during a match.


Some people just seem to have a natural flow about them in the ring, others look like they are absolutely struggling to make it look real.


I also think its not necessarily the wrestlers fault, I feel that the WWE calls these guys up from the OVW faaaaaaaaaaar before they are ready, then they get chants such as 'Boring' and 'you suck' This can play at least a minor part into their development.

Fans at a OVW event dont mind when a guy screws up or is slow in the ring, after all its a school to learn how to wrestle in the big time. When these same wrestlers advance to the WWE and still are struggling the fans let them know about it. You see, when we watch the WWE we want to be entertained, not constantly thinking to ones self "Man, this guy STINKS"


My overall point is that these guys should be at least 90% there when they are called up from the OVW, not 50% like some of them currently are. I understand some of it is nerves of being in the big time, but when after two years you see little to no improvement then yes, we as fans have a right to criticize.


My analogy

Tyson Tomko still being in the WWE and not the OVW would be like a MLB baseball player being called up to the majors, going 3 for 100 and the manager puts him in a tied game in the 7th game of the World Series. It not only looks wrong, but in baseball the manager would be fired the second the game is over.

When people are paying money to be entertained its not fair to the consumer to have "learning on the job".

AudioSavior

I agree totally what you are saying but when I watch wrestling and a guy like Tomko doesn't really make and fuckups or major mistakes in the ring, I just label him average. He is a big guy so he wrestles like a big guy. His personality and lack of entertaining value overall isn't there but I really don't see any huge lack of wrestling ability in the ring. He has matches almost every week on Raw and granted the matches aren't technical but when I watch wrestling I don't pick it apart move by move by move by move and anilize the shit out of it to the point where I act like I am a pro at booking matches and being able to tell the level one worker to another that are all about average in the ring.

I agree he does lack in making things flow but he seels well from what I have seen.

Most of my reason for this post is people saying Maven has no ring ability. I just don't get how anyone can say that. I think people are just full of hot air sometimes and will dis a wrestler just because they may not like them.

Blitzkrieg

I agree Ida, Maven isn't as bad as he is perceived by most of the net fans. Have you ever watched a match and said, "Wow, Maven really fucked that up" or "Wow, Maven isn't making this match flow at all"


I doubt it. Nobody can tell me Tomko is a decent wrestler, but I do agree about Maven. I've seen plnety of matches where Maven did as good as just about anyone would have done, given the time allowed and the situation he was thrust into.

I think WWE was a little idiotic in the way they handled the Maven feud with Shelton. They said that Maven couldn't stay with the fast pace and action of a Shelton Benjamin. Well...no shit he couldn't..Shelton is one of the most brilliant wrestlers in the company and has grown up a wrestler his whole life.

They could have easily told Shelton to slow it down a little and they could have worked more house shows together and gotten to know each other more and they could have produced a 3 star match of it...who cares? WWE wants Maven to be putting on 5 star matches, but yet has a guy like Tomko employed at the same time? That seems a little unfair if you ask me.

Then Maven goes nowhere with his push where he showed a ton of charisma as a heel, and he ends up getting fired. Well, I think WWE really blew it on this kid, and it's not the last you've heard of Maven..

AznPeoplesChamp

wwe fires maven and other talents, yet still hire dumb divas. Shieet. The main thing I look for in a wrestler's ability is their ability to entertain me. One main factor for me is their moveset. Undertaker has lots of moves. Orlando Jordan doesn't. Neither does JBL. The more variety of moves they have, the more interesting the matches usually are. All I see JBL do are neck breakers, and all I see OJ try to do is box. JBL's character is really funny to me, but when he is in the ring I always seem to get bored. The characters can only do so much for a wrestler. The most important thing in a wrestler's ability is the ability to tell a story, make a match have some sort of show, and make things seem realistic.

AudioSavior

Have you seen Orlando go when he was basicly a jobber and had no hair? He was pulling off some pretty good moves in the ring and I remember being impressed by him and was a fan of his when he was a face. I think now he is in more of the spotlight and gets booked differently than he use to. He use to play the nobody jobber who was there to look good enough to give the heel challenger a run for his money and maing the heel look good when they finally put him away. Now he is in the need champ roll and his matches get booked to make the face look like the stronger guy while he pulls out the cheap win.