10 Wrestling Secrets Hiding In Plain Sight
6. The Leg Slap
Sound is essential to the presentation of pro wrestling's cavernous arena.
It's not often you see a pool cue wrapped around some poor tw*t's back, and that's because the thin surface area doesn't produce an audible thwack designed to pop the fans in the cheap seats. The wide surface area of a steel chair, connecting so resoundingly with the wide surface area of the upper back, creates an aural thud that itself generates a wincing din.
The microphones hidden beneath the ring accentuate the bumps, but since you can't mic up somebody's face, the practitioners of the Superkick slap their thigh to simulate full-force impact, which you all know by now. But you didn't for years, because Shawn Michaels was such a godd*mn artist. His expert technique, combined with the rousing foot-stomp telegraph, drew attention away from his sleightful hand.
Whether through carelessness, or the warts-and-all confines of the intimate independent venue, or the fact that there can only be one Shawn Michaels sorry Triple H, the gig is up: this secret has been revealed to an extent that it is presented now as damning evidence of modern wrestling's inability to project itself with credibility.
So many modern acts strive to present themselves as strikers, but treat the craft with all the grace of Ade Akinbiyi.