7 Things WWE Could Learn From NJPW Dominion 6.9
1. How To PUT WRESTLERS OVER AND MAKE THEM STARS
Theoretically the simplest of tasks in a medium that offers both total autonomy over outcomes and the almost immediate response of a live crowd as to if the decisions being made are good or bad, WWE's recent track record with elevating performers over the precipice into superstardom has been shambolic.
A content overload has resulted in virtually everybody on the roster being reduced to rank-and-file. Those with direction are fortunate to at least have a reason to be, but little else is proffered for the existence of a top 'star' such as Kevin Owens any given week in comparison to the plight of a Dash Wilder.
Both show up to work, face either kayfabe or real-life belittlement irrespective of their skillset and wrestle match routinely rendered irrelevant by the next week.
The above tricks espoused by New Japan during Saturday's legendary supercard weren't actually even tricks , there was no illusory effect employed by Gedo to make his wrestlers feel like megastars and the matches feel as meaningful as they did. What they do - both on the supercards and the televised tours that feed into them - determines their response, the same way wrestling always was before WWE rendered importance only in the perception of the brand rather than the wrestlers within it.
Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and The Young Bucks called themselves 'The Golden Elite' not just as a portmanteu of their prior monikers but an acknowledgment of their sheer excellence. WWE couldn't even collate a calibre to be considered Fool's Gold - though they'd have no problem finding the fools.