10 Wrestlers Who Became Amazing After Heavy Criticism

There is a certain guilt that comes with critiquing pro wrestling.

There is also a certain mentality that suggests it isn't allowed, which is nonsense - if it's an art, it is inherently worthy of analysis and interpretation - and it's telling that, with the exceptions of Kazarian, Dustin Rhodes and Pete Dunne, those who tend to speak out against critical thinking don't do anywhere near enough to make fans of the people they tell to "just be fans".

Shinsuke Nakamura feels very removed from earning the level of praise he garnered at the mid-point of the 2010s. He was an exceptional, wholly unique performer who fused a unique aura with, on his best nights, G.O.A.T-tier bangers. The consensus now is that he is phoning it in, on speaker, because he's so thrashed and apathetic, and wrestling's near-sadistic take on this is 'Constant traveller who physically harms own body for entertainment purposes = Lazy'.

WWE hasn't done enough to emphasise nor market his otherworldly aura, mind you, but his level of performance doesn't much warrant it. He likely doesn't give a single f*ck. He came here to surf. The real guilt occurs when performers are truly invested in their own work, but then, criticism is just a part of it.

And hey, perhaps Nakamura will make like Alan Partridge and bounce back. He could one day have them by the Jaffas - peace of mind, I'm sure, for elderly relatives on board the core demographic.

It's not without precedent...

In 2019, they said Kenny Omega wasn't a star anymore.

They said he had failed to make the transition to episodic television. He couldn't or wouldn't cut promos, couldn't sell people on his matches, couldn't project the charisma with which he had made a mainstream alternative so viable in the first instance. He couldn't replicate those 40 minute New Japan epics on a two-hour TV show with commercial breaks, and as a result, was overtaken in the Best In The World conversation.

In January 2020, he has worked three exceptional bangers in four weeks, all of which have informed and furthered the most intricate, compelling and entertaining storyline in episodic wrestling TV. Omega's current work is unmissable, and the flex on the man is outrageous; as part of this long-term storyline, he had to once more prove himself 'Elite' to further Hangman Page's crisis in confidence. He did so on January 1, in a bravura performance in which he aimed a V-Trigger at Fénix's flying head with jaw-dropping precision.

In addition to perfecting storytelling on a week-to-week basis, his recent tandem work with Page has brought something else back into focus. The chemistry, and feigned lack thereof, serves as an awesome reminder that not since the days of Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi has a performer excelled so abundantly in the both the singles and doubles disciplines.