10 Words That Most Accurately Describe Wrestling Right Now
6. Progressive
Eric Bischoff propelled WCW above the WWF during the Monday Night Wars by knowing exactly what to plagiarise. The massively lucrative New Japan/UWF-i inter-promotional war inspired the New World Order. The electric, international flavour of the midcard scene, for which Bischoff raided ECW without paying it forward, astutely satisfied the traditional wrestling set who had always favoured Crockett over Kennedy.
Triple H has echoed this approach since growing in power. His vision of NXT borrows from both the modern independent scene and the NWA scene of old in that fuses progressive wrestling with a more modest, threadbare, sports-oriented approach rich in the lost southern tag tradition and body part-targeting psychology. He knows what the hardcore fans want. That's why, even in a relative lull period, NXT on TakeOver weekends garners more critical acclaim than the main roster musters.
Triple H also seems to exist both inside and outside of WWE's bubble. He recognised the pulse of the mainstream and borrowed both the essence and the very language of UFC's own women's revolution through rebranding Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch as his version of the Four Horsewomen.
The relentless PR bluster can grow tiresome - but the Mae Young Classic demonstrates that age, ethnicity and aesthetics are no longer are a barrier to success in WWE.