Should WWE tone it down on the spots?

[Deleted]

Lately, there seems to be a lot of injuries, a lot of mistakes, and a lot of audible spot-calling. The matches are also as spot-heavy as they've been in a long, long time. I think there's a relationship there.

It's also become a crutch to make the repetitive booking watchable. They have the same people wrestle each other over and over and they're always trying to up the ante to keep the crowd invested, and create new fancy reversals and spots, and things are getting more and more complicated.

I love the effort and creativity in the matches lately, but I think they might need to tone down the spots just slightly, because lately I feel like it's getting overboard and it's just going to keep on going off the rails.

[Deleted]

I don't think that decreasing the spots would help the calling issue. You catch guys muttering stuff like "Suplex." It's not like they're going "Double flip moonsault." That's gonna happen anyway. It's its own problem.

But no, i think they're in a decent spot right now. I don't feel like things are that injury crazy. It just feels like it because Bryan is hurt

[Pillman's Pencil]

Its actually the production crew's fault they're picking up the in ring communication not the wrestlers, they should turn down the boom mics and the mics on the camera or adjust audio levels so they are not heard, in every WWE televised event, you may see a mixing board (also used in live concerts and stuff) where the hard camera is, its those guys and those guys in the production truck who control what goes out to TV viewers who need to fix it.

[Deleted]

I've said it before but this current era reminds me so much of the late Attitude era/early post Attitude era where guys were just getting wrecked from going all out i.e. Benoit, Angle, and Edge all having major neck surgeries and tons of other injuries all in the same time frame. I think that often the WWE relies on the wrestlers to go out there and pop the crowd with good matches instead of coming up with engaging and interesting storylines that can pop the crowd but is also easier on the performers bodies.

I'm not really sure what the answer is at this point though, because WWE crowds have been conditioned to the style of Bryan, the Shield guys, Cesaro, etc.

[Deleted]

It'd be tough to pull out now. They've conditioned people to think that frenetic matches with crazy, often illogical spots is what wrestling is. Now only dopes like us really appreciate the finer points. The casuals need this type of stuff.

[Deleted]

Jul 22, 2014 20:12:55 GMT -5 @akeem said:

I've said it before but this current era reminds me so much of the late Attitude era/early post Attitude era where guys were just getting wrecked from going all out i.e. Benoit, Angle, and Edge all having major neck surgeries and tons of other injuries all in the same time frame. I think that often the WWE relies on the wrestlers to go out there and pop the crowd with good matches instead of coming up with engaging and interesting storylines that can pop the crowd but is also easier on the performers bodies.

I'm not really sure what the answer is at this point though, because WWE crowds have been conditioned to the style of Bryan, the Shield guys, Cesaro, etc.

Now they're going more with the stiff strikes than the more dangerous suplexes. But that's resulting in a lot more shiners/busted eyes, not to mention concussions, and we may see more of those effects down the line. I agree though, it does feel like that era to me, and it's fun but I don't want to see the wrestlers pay the price later.

[Venti]

I do think wrestlers should save the big spots for the pay per view matches. Every time someone dives head first out of the ring on Raw, it's neat for a couple of minutes but I can guarantee most people forget about those spots.
It's possible to have an exciting match without completely destroying your body 2x as fast I believe.

[Boo!]

I wonder if the injuries are a result of how a lot of these guys learned to work. The indy scene post 2000 (and maybe before, but definitely then) has been all about doing ridiculous things to get noticed. Whether we're talking hardcore wrestling or just absurdly high-risk wrestling. Maybe a lot of these guys work that way as they don't know any other way. They've entered the business at a time when WWE was the only game in town and their only choice was to wrestle a way that got WWE to notice. Now they're there and made it - they kinda don't have anything else in their arsenal so that's why there are more risk move these days and guys, arguably like Bryan, who don't seem to be able to protect themselves very well in the ring, hence the injuries.

Compare that to WWE-grown talents in Orton and Cena. Now you may find their style less interesting but at the very least it's safe. I'm not sure guys who come from the indy-scene have that 'grounding', if you will.

[Supercheese]

It only seems there are more spot calling because of the HD cameras and sound systems picking up more.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Wrestling is about the guys doing the moves, not the moves being done. As Mick Foley said in his book, the Undertaker gets a bigger reaction jumping over the top rope twice a year than Taka Michinoku gets doing a twisting sakahurah every night. This is why Hulk Hogan is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, because (in North America at least) he did sweet f*** all in the ring and yet still got enormous reactions and great psychology.

[Adam Black]

I think they're insane schedule has to do with it too they have to wrestle a lot of times per week and not to mention the house shows too that can take a toll on you too.

[Mozenrath]

Dusty hasn't worn them in years, let it go people!

[mrbananagrabber]

I complained about the amount of calls in the Miz and Dolph match and it got me thinking, do you think HD is to blame?

The sound quality on the TV shows I watch on HD is noticeably superior to standard def, so it stands to reason that I'm going to hear more now that all WWE programming is recorded in HD, and I imagine most other people watch it in HD as well. Is this why we're noticing more of this sort of thing?

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Jul 23, 2014 4:13:12 GMT -5 Venti said:

I do think wrestlers should save the big spots for the pay per view matches. Every time someone dives head first out of the ring on Raw, it's neat for a couple of minutes but I can guarantee most people forget about those spots.
It's possible to have an exciting match without completely destroying your body 2x as fast I believe.

Even some of the PPV matches could stand to be toned down. Dean Ambrose suplexing Seth Rollins off a ladder at MITB was the most amazing ladder spot since Edge's spear at Mania X7, IMO - but it is highly unlikely that anyone will remember that spot with the same wow factor that Edge got. I think part of that is a wider problem with WWE not emphasizing certain things properly.

Some of the stiff strikes can definitely be toned down a little. I'll take it over the late 90's chairshots, but, still.

[RIHT]

I think there are many injuries because without a brand split, many guys wrestle on TV and at house shows many times a week. You can still have a brand split but one set of titles. That's how it originally worked in 2002. Hell, it'd be very interesting if some bigger names were on Smackdown. Then inter-promotional matches on Main Event and Superstars would also be more interesting. It'd make the shows more important, in general.