10 Things In Wrestling That Can’t Be Taught

10. Charisma

This is the one. This is the criteria that separates the stars from the hands.

Consider Jerry Lynn, an innovative, athletic worker capable of ungluing crowds into a frenzy. That frenzy was conditional. With an act perfectly calibrated to steal the midcard, Lynn did not project the intangible charisma with which to ascend to the ranks of headliner. He was a great hand that stood no chance of ungluing those not already predisposed to reacting to a pro wrestling match, irrespective of how good that pro wrestling match was. Lynn was an anonymous promo, projected zero star power, and possessed little in the way of cool, what with his 1980s heavy metal hand signals looking far behind the times in the Nu-Metal clime he came up in.

Certain wrestlers simply command a reaction by breathing in the crowd with their eyes closed and nostrils flared. Big Cass can only remind everybody of his sole selling point to the point of parody in an attempt to mine a postmodern source of heat amongst an audience that resents him for it.

It doesn’t work, because he doesn’t radiate anything in the way of charisma. The Realest Guy In The Room cannot command one.