10 Reasons Why Old School Fans Struggle With Modern WWE
9. The Deemphasis Of Selling
When was the last time a WWE match generated actual pathos?
When Steve Austin, bleeding like a stuck pig, passed out in Bret Hart's Sharpshooter at WrestleMania 13, fans didn't chant "This is awesome!" with an emotional detachment. They empathised with his plight to such a measurable extent that he became one of the biggest draws of all time. Fans didn't chant "Yes! Yes! Yes!" at the finishing sequence of Shawn Michaels Vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV because they absolutely did not want Flair to retire. That's not strictly true - he had worn out his welcome - but they had been manipulated by Flair's plight so expertly that, for those unbearable final five minutes, it might as well have been 1989.
Nearly thirty years later, the legendary Flair Vs. Ricky Steamboat series of 1989 still holds up as the high-water mark of the wrestling art form. That Steamboat sold his leg as if it was practically falling off in the best match of their series (NWA WrestleWar 1989) is not a coincidence. The conviction with which he sold it is sorely lacking in modern WWE - excessive damage is doled out merely as something to swiftly recover from - and there are no full-time stars who even come close to matching his wattage.
That is not a coincidence, either.