10 Problems EVERY Wrestling Company Has In Common
8. The Inability To Improvise
In recent months, across both major North American promotions, various matches have totally fallen apart.
Miro's in-ring AEW debut was a catastrophe; very ambitious in its layout, to over-compensate for the idea that Miro and Kip Sabian don't share an organic connection, it packed in too much. After a spot to the outside went awry, deep into the match and in close proximity to the typical modern action-packed finish, the thing went off the rails. Badly. It went off the rails because all four men were flustered and thus unable to remember the next sequence, much less lose themselves and the audience in it.
Over on WWE RAW, a recent injury suffered by Angel Garza caused a match to suffer a similar fate; trained to do whatever comes next, rather than what makes sense, none of the professionals involved could come up with a way out between them; the referee counted a two as a three, without having the wherewithal to do it quickly but not too quickly, and Dawkins, the "winner," didn't have the instincts to sell his happiness at the win.
This is because, for years, most every match has been meticulously laid out in advance. The old working skill has been lost to time - very few know any other way - and while it can guarantee of brilliance, it can't safeguard against disaster. This is an institutional problem in North American pro wrestling.
AEW has done so much to restore its old spirit; perhaps, when crowds return to once more dictate the flow, this is the next challenge the ambitious promotion can set itself.