10 Times Wrestling Fans Didn’t Know Better
We're not awesome.
I'm as guilty as any wrestling fan of professing to know better than those who produce it.
Complaints directed towards WWE are as numerous as they are justified. Scripted promos haemorrhage a performer's ability to connect with the crowd. Cheap finishes, legion in 2017, create apathy, not heat. Inconsistent booking patterns - Sasha Banks recently revealed, with some frustration and bemusement, that she has no idea what creative has planned for her from one week to the next - render it very difficult to invest in a performer. There remains an almost comical disconnect between the company and its audience, creating a multiverse of storylines both real and fantastical, the latter of which are so often significantly better on paper. Genuinely sublime performers, like Sami Zayn, are treated as either punchlines or invisible men. Wins and losses apparently do not matter, and the correlation between that philosophy and the amount of stigmatised losers on the roster is just yet another inconvenient truth WWE chooses - and sadly can choose - to ignore.
That said: WWE is not as big as it is because Vince McMahon is a moron...
10. New Japan Is Dead, Long Live New Japan
Deviating from WWE briefly:
The January 2016 dual departure of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura compelled many to forecast the end of New Japan Pro Wrestling's second Golden Age.
The two men had just contested a cast-iron classic at Wrestle Kingdom X. Both were bonafide headliners. The latter in particular was the cult favourite of many domestic and international fans alike, and a money feud with Kazuchika Okada was left tragically unexplored. Stars, not storylines, maketh the promotion. You needn't look past the WWF circa 1999 for proof of that. As talented as Gedo was with the booking pencil - and he's all but considered a genius at this juncture - without star power, you toil in the shadows. Gedo proved the doubters wrong by elevating Tetsuya Naito to the top following his miraculous Mexico seasoning expedition and elevating Kenny Omega into the heavyweight ranks. Crazy as it may read now, many considered his G1 Climax '16 tournament win a risky left of field venture. Omega proved those doubters wrong by wrestling one of the absolute best matches in the history of the business, ushering in an unprecedented level of critical acclaim - as, all the while, Gedo fortified Kazuchika Okada and elevated him from Ace to Legend.
The foundations of New Japan's continued ascension are shaky - but at this point, doubting Gedo is the errand of a fool.