Post by The Green Ninja on Jan 22, 2008 1:55:50 GMT -5
So, if you're like me, and I think most of you are (well, maybe you aren't) you're pretty dissatisfied with the wrestling product that's being put out. There could be lots of things to blame, the shift to "sports-entertainment," steroid use pushing the big immobile types into the fore-front, the increase in medical technology subsequently increasing our knowledge of medical injuries involved in wrestling (i.e. Spinal Fusion Surgeries, and the scaling down of so many moves deemed "unsafe")
No matter the reason, wrestling isn't what it used to be. For a while I thought it was maybe I was a kid and I liked those punches and kicks and finishing move repeat, boring matches I used to watch. Then I started watching old wrestling matches and I still think they're better. Hmmm.
So what is it? What's missing? To me, it's in-ring psychology. Matches today are just filled with punch, clothesline, punch, grapple...punch, kick, knee, kick, head lock, knee, punch, arm bar, punch, finisher (or awkward sledge hammer use)
Let me tell you what just happened to me. It had been a stressful evening, I was in bed, under the blankets, in my pjs, settled down, flipping through channels to wind down a bit, and I stumbled on a strange sight. Kurt Angle in the middle of a wrestling ring wrestling a japanese competitor.
I hardly get time to watch wrestling at all, and have never been able to follow TNA closely since its inception. Working in theatre, you're in rehearsal every evening. I didn't realize that TNA was working an inter federation program with IWGP in Japan. (FINALLY!) I stayed up to watch one of the best matches I've ever seen in my life, and I'm so excited about it I jumped up to write this.
Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata is the textbook wrestling match. It exemplifies wrestling at its finest. Look at their chain work. Watch how brilliantly they snap in and out of their finishers, cross face to ankle lock, ankle lock to cross face, back and forth. Look at the way Nagata sells the figure four, watch Angle sell Nagata's reversal.
Most importantly, watch the way they focus in and tell a story with their moves. Look at how Angle works Nagata's legs and ankles so intently, and the same with Nagata's focus on Angle's neck. It works because we know what they're doing. The yokle mark in the front, the smarty smark in the back, we both appreciate it. 30,000 in the Tokyo Dome appreciated it. Real Actors are trained to search for objective, and intention - and that's what these two were doing. Excellent stuff.
You must watch this match. YouTube it, Torrent it, do whatever you want, get it, and check it out. It'll give you hope.
P.S. Look at Nagata closely the second time he gets the crossface locked in, the one a few moves after their series of reversals. Notice the way he sits with his legs back...out of the way of the possibility of Angle's reversals. It's small, but it's the sort of attention to details that makes for an incredible match, without the audience even knowing why. It gets me pumped.
No matter the reason, wrestling isn't what it used to be. For a while I thought it was maybe I was a kid and I liked those punches and kicks and finishing move repeat, boring matches I used to watch. Then I started watching old wrestling matches and I still think they're better. Hmmm.
So what is it? What's missing? To me, it's in-ring psychology. Matches today are just filled with punch, clothesline, punch, grapple...punch, kick, knee, kick, head lock, knee, punch, arm bar, punch, finisher (or awkward sledge hammer use)
Let me tell you what just happened to me. It had been a stressful evening, I was in bed, under the blankets, in my pjs, settled down, flipping through channels to wind down a bit, and I stumbled on a strange sight. Kurt Angle in the middle of a wrestling ring wrestling a japanese competitor.
I hardly get time to watch wrestling at all, and have never been able to follow TNA closely since its inception. Working in theatre, you're in rehearsal every evening. I didn't realize that TNA was working an inter federation program with IWGP in Japan. (FINALLY!) I stayed up to watch one of the best matches I've ever seen in my life, and I'm so excited about it I jumped up to write this.
Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata is the textbook wrestling match. It exemplifies wrestling at its finest. Look at their chain work. Watch how brilliantly they snap in and out of their finishers, cross face to ankle lock, ankle lock to cross face, back and forth. Look at the way Nagata sells the figure four, watch Angle sell Nagata's reversal.
Most importantly, watch the way they focus in and tell a story with their moves. Look at how Angle works Nagata's legs and ankles so intently, and the same with Nagata's focus on Angle's neck. It works because we know what they're doing. The yokle mark in the front, the smarty smark in the back, we both appreciate it. 30,000 in the Tokyo Dome appreciated it. Real Actors are trained to search for objective, and intention - and that's what these two were doing. Excellent stuff.
You must watch this match. YouTube it, Torrent it, do whatever you want, get it, and check it out. It'll give you hope.
P.S. Look at Nagata closely the second time he gets the crossface locked in, the one a few moves after their series of reversals. Notice the way he sits with his legs back...out of the way of the possibility of Angle's reversals. It's small, but it's the sort of attention to details that makes for an incredible match, without the audience even knowing why. It gets me pumped.
