Is the current WWE style really safer?

[Nic Nemeth]

Considering every match features someone throwing themselves outside the ring with a dive and the opposing wrestler ricocheting off the barricade each time, is it really? Not to mention all the stiffing lately.

Especially when guys are working more dates than they were when they were doing Piledrivers and Powerbombs all the time so bumps accumulate faster.

[bigjohnsons]

Especially Those DQ finishes wow someone's gonna get hurt !

[Kiaraa]

Yes I've lately been very surprised by the offense they all are mounting. It sure doesnt look safe at all. The punches have gotten real and the throws extremely stiff. It all looks legit real. Except for those cinder blocks ofcourse.

[Old Jack Burton]

They're still doing diving head butts too.

[Bub (BLM)]

Not much, no. So that being said, bring back the piledriver!

[Mozenrath]

Depends on how you look at it, really. Guys are likely getting far fewer stingers.

[joediego]

It's much much safer for a number of reasons.

First of all, any non-common move that may lead to a neck injury is delicately screened by the 'producer'/road agent beforehand. A great example of the process is at NOC with Sheamus vs Cesaro - Sheamus did the overhead slingshot powerbomb of the middle turnbuckle (there's probably an actual name for that one); that isn't in his 'usual' arsenal so whoever came up with the idea to do it had to run through it with the agent beforehand, who would have signed off on it on the basis that Cesaro and Sheamus are hugely experienced and capable ring workers.

If Bray Wyatt had asked to do it on Xavier Woods on Superstars then I would anticipate it would either be a flat out 'no' or the road agent would have to be massively sure (probably to the point where he's seen it practiced) before he could give it the green light.

Goldust was fired as a road agent for 6 months or so (and may not return to that role) for allowing the Prime Time Players to perform a risky move (can't remember the details) which they almost botched.


Before the safe style era wrestlers had far larger control over how their matches came together, and the safety oversight was close to non-existent. Their would only be general rules like 'no piledrivers'.

Secondly, weapon shots to the head are obviously banned, this will add years to wrestler's lives when they hit 60 (as long as they haven't already died/polluted their body from growth hormones and painkillers.

And finally, you're overestimating the risk factor of the middle rope/over the top rope dive as seen in WWE. Almost every time it's performed by a screened performer who has done it 30+ times already, and you rarely see the more out of control dives that have the potential for bad landings, it's almost always the classic "you cushion my fall, my arms will fall into yours and my feet touch first" dives which carry little risk to either as long as Sin Cara #1 isn't doing them.

Also, you probably think there's more concussions these days because of WWE's strict policy, I can assure you there were probably 3-5x more pre-safe-style they were just unmonitored and unrecorded.

[nisidhe]

I like to think that many more injuries that would have been ignored/downplayed in 2004 are getting earlier intervention and treatment now. That includes concussions. I think WWE has its wrestlers undergo a brain scan and other tests to determine a baseline against which they can measure after each incident of possible brain injury.

That said, I think today's wrestlers are somewhat sloppier with the execution of their moves than a cohort ago, and obvious botches on TV and PPVs seem to be more common. In the past, such errors might have been covered up by on-the-fly booking and, when necessary, by changing the outcomes. Today, with creative teams working possibly several months in advance, such errors without the cover-up are left hanging there without a context and take fans out of the match mentally.

[Sephiroth]

Compared to what went on during the Monday Night War/Attitude Era? Lets find out!
Exhibit A

[Adam Black]

the safe style is used to compensate with the insane schedule.This is why guys just get injured instead of dropping dead early.

[HMARK Center]

"WWE Style", regardless of how it looks in a given era, will never be safe so long as the wrestlers work, and more importantly bump, 300 or so dates a year.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Everything except having your only proven top star repeatedly take reckless german suplexes onto a surgically repaired neck.

[Saiyanic Panic]

Sept 23, 2014 3:08:07 GMT -5 joediego said:

Goldust was fired as a road agent for 6 months or so (and may not return to that role) for allowing the Prime Time Players to perform a risky move (can't remember the details) which they almost botched.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnJtk7ennKw

Crushed Yoshi with a clothesline into a powerbomb during their second week as a team on the main roster.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5UvKRkABPI

They attempted a spinebuster variation the week before that didn't work out all that well either.

[Hypnosis]

Sept 23, 2014 8:44:20 GMT -5 Saiyanic Panic said:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnJtk7ennKw

Crushed Yoshi with a clothesline into a powerbomb during their second week as a team on the main roster.

Unrelated to the topic, but this might be useful:

[Cyno]

It's likely much safer than TNA or the vast majority of indies. But it's still wrestling and it's still an inherently dangerous profession no matter how careful you or your coworkers are. The insane amount of days being worked doesn't help either.

[HMARK Center]

By most accounts, it really is the number of dates that makes the biggest difference in terms of long term damage done to the body.

Bumpin is dangerous, no matter what. Even the simplest pro wrestling, just body slams and what have you, involves falling on your back, hips, knees, and shoulders repeatedly, and if you do it every day for nearly the entire calendar year, you won't be walking around without significant pain in your very scant time off.

Less dates working usually means an ability to take bigger bumps, since you're given more time to recover from them. Really, a lot of the most significant injuries wrestlers contend with don't happen on big top rope spots or neck-drop suplexes or whatever, though those certainly result in the most visible and clearly jarring ones; instead, most of the long term injuries stem from simply overworking on a really, really busy schedule, even just taking basic bumps at house shows for so many dates a year.

[Long A, Short A]

I've never though the safe style was safe at all despite the cries of concern trolls and Freud fangirls. nisidhe brought up a great point about how sloppy today's style looks. Submission holds don't look good. Hurracaranas(sp?) look like something out of some tone deaf movie about pro wrestling. I feel like many people are overlooking the slop because nobody is jumping off of this or hitting someone with that.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Sept 23, 2014 11:35:38 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

By most accounts, it really is the number of dates that makes the biggest difference in terms of long term damage done to the body.

Bumpin is dangerous, no matter what. Even the simplest pro wrestling, just body slams and what have you, involves falling on your back, hips, knees, and shoulders repeatedly, and if you do it every day for nearly the entire calendar year, you won't be walking around without significant pain in your very scant time off.

Less dates working usually means an ability to take bigger bumps, since you're given more time to recover from them. Really, a lot of the most significant injuries wrestlers contend with don't happen on big top rope spots or neck-drop suplexes or whatever, though those certainly result in the most visible and clearly jarring ones; instead, most of the long term injuries stem from simply overworking on a really, really busy schedule, even just taking basic bumps at house shows for so many dates a year.

Yep. There's a reason why touring companies in Japan have a bunch of six-man tags and things of that nature on thier smaller shows while on tour. It's to help keep the wear and tear down to a minimum, especially for their top guys, and lets them rest up for the bigger, more important shows on the tour.

[mrbananagrabber]

Hey, this ain't ballet, Cole.

[HMARK Center]

Sept 24, 2014 12:55:13 GMT -5 Magic knows Black Lives Matter said:

Sept 23, 2014 11:35:38 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

By most accounts, it really is the number of dates that makes the biggest difference in terms of long term damage done to the body.

Bumpin is dangerous, no matter what. Even the simplest pro wrestling, just body slams and what have you, involves falling on your back, hips, knees, and shoulders repeatedly, and if you do it every day for nearly the entire calendar year, you won't be walking around without significant pain in your very scant time off.

Less dates working usually means an ability to take bigger bumps, since you're given more time to recover from them. Really, a lot of the most significant injuries wrestlers contend with don't happen on big top rope spots or neck-drop suplexes or whatever, though those certainly result in the most visible and clearly jarring ones; instead, most of the long term injuries stem from simply overworking on a really, really busy schedule, even just taking basic bumps at house shows for so many dates a year.

Yep. There's a reason why touring companies in Japan have a bunch of six-man tags and things of that nature on thier smaller shows while on tour. It's to help keep the wear and tear down to a minimum, especially for their top guys, and lets them rest up for the bigger, more important shows on the tour.

Bingo.

It's a big reason why I have a hard time supporting WWE, even as it's at least improved with regards to drug testing policies and stuff like that. They just drive these guys into the ground, and toss 'em out soon as they don't need/want them anymore.