WWE Needs To Break THIS Habit Of A Lifetime

We have arrived at a point at which there are significantly more dreaded “Indy guys” in WWE than from-scratch Performance Center graduates. And yet, WWE’s creative output remains deeply—and increasingly—unpopular. While WWE has broken one lifetime habit by not burying acts who got over elsewhere, another, entrenched mentality undermines them.

WWE’s in-ring style, broadly, operates in a certain gear. Jim Ross always used the word “methodical” to describe it on commentary. The New Generation style sprinted past it, as did the crazed brawls of the Attitude Era. There are exceptions to it now—several—but the methodical sprawl of a WWE match has remained a constant feature of the product, consistent across every logo change and talent roster.

The pace comprises performers and programmes alike.

Jon Moxley is currently embarrassing WWE throughout his incredible run in the NJPW G1 Climax. His match against Tomohiro Ishii was a masterpiece; as physical and gladiatorial spectacle as the best Brock Lesnar matches, fought at New Japan’s trademark unwavering pace, the mesh of styles was as seamless as it was mind-blowing. The match was a new breed of physicality.

Compare Moxley Vs. Ishii with Seth Rollins Vs. Dean Ambrose from TLC ’18. One was pitched as a deeply personal grudge feud; one was performed as a physical war. At TLC, Ambrose and Rollins wrestled a slow, methodically-paced grind of a wrestling match; were it not for the hysterically poor taste build, nobody watching would have inferred that the two men hated one another. In contrast, Moxley squared up to Ishii, nose to nose, as if he was the toughest son of a bitch in the prison yard he just walked into.

He had to prove himself against the Stone Pitbull, and he did.

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