10 Surprising Wrestling Inspirations
In wrestling, everything is borrowed. But just where did some of the big stars get their big ideas?
It's okay for wrestling companies to borrow from each other from time to time.
All Elite Wrestling has made "Don't Do What Donny WWE Does" corporate policy, but it hasn't stopped them copying JCP’s homework, and if Vince McMahon somehow miraculously redeveloped a Midas touch, it’d be understandable if they tried to siphon some of that gold for themselves.
It’s already happened the other way around, if only in small doses. WWE rejigged the look of their Performance Center pandemic shows when AEW smartly put their entrance way in front of the hard camera. Elsewhere, NXT stopped delivering quite so many non-finishes because Dynamite served as a weekly reminder that they’re f*cking sh*t.
David Brent was armed to the t*ts with flawed philosophies in The Office, but his "a good idea is a good idea...forever" concept is one that applies to pro wrestling more than it ever could to paper - as long as fans are given time to forget the last iteration.
There are only so many original ideas left, and things typically feel slightly different through the differing prisms of the performers anyway. And that differentiation is what turns innovation into inspiration…
10. The Miz (John Cena)
To some - your writer included - it may appear as if The Miz has always been one of the few WWE Superstars to actually make John Cena feel a little bit threatened.
There's at least 10 examples of times this notion appeared on screen, in fact. Yet, from the mouths of the men themselves, you'd never know. 'The Champ's been complimentary of 'The A Lister' whenever asked in his second life as a crossover star, and Miz offered some revealing insight on his tenured rival during a 2019 interview with radio station Hot 94.1.
Citing Cena as the biggest influence on his career, Miz said:
"Who have I learned the most from? I would say John Cena. Being in the ring with John Cena taught me how to become a main event caliber superstar"
He'd back it up in future WWE Network profiles and the like, and the comparison that might have once doomed now has at least provided him with some additional validation. Miz has also found modest success away from professional wrestling, having built a legacy somewhere in the milqtoast middle of WWE's all-timers.