10 Things In Wrestling That Can’t Be Taught
3. Intensity
Intensity is such a powerful tool that, if one is equipped with it, it matters little if one is also unintentionally hilarious. Sid comes screaming into the mind’s eye when recalling Kurt Angle’s first “I’; a hulking, sweating mass of primal ferocity, the guy was so credibly insane that you could buy him as a threat even after he delivered his very gentle variation of the powerbomb.
Feigning intensity seesaws a performer firmly into laughable territory, as Alex Riley discovered in 2015 when he repackaged himself as something of a petulant edge lord. Riley was full of rage at his lack of opportunities. He was so enraged that he once Photoshopped a cage in front of his own enraged visage on Twitter to threaten a rampage. Christ, when you supply Adam Sandler with diss material, you must be inept.
Fittingly, since this was very much the work of a teenager experimenting with his first CAW, this translated only as an act of pitiful adolescent rebellion. Simply screaming and hollering isn’t sufficient. A performer of Cass’ limited mechanics requires some sort of intangible to drive a reaction. In effect, he may as well be average in height in build for how intimidating he is.
We won’t bother completing Kurt Angles’ Three “I”s, since integrity hardly matters in the pro wrestling arena.