Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 28, 2022 2:12:30 GMT -5
Asuka's credible. End of, honestly. Like, if she beat anyone short of Ronda on any day of the week, fans would basically say, "Ah, that makes sense." So, it's never been that issue. When you've tapped out Becky, beaten both her and Charlotte in a triple threat and tag title matches, etc, it's not an issue of credentials.
I think the main thing is they just have zero interest in putting effort into making angles for her because Japanese. Which, if you had managers, that'd be less of an issue, but they so inconsistently do that.
All that being said, if I was WWE, I wouldn't likely bring either Bayley or Asuka back pre-Mania unless I either had something planned that couldn't wait, or doing it at the show with some kind of surprise like the tag champions getting cocky and issuing an open challenge, only for Asuka and someone else to show up. Or hell, have her win the women's battle royal. It isn't a lot, but it'd get her on the show and give her something she hasn't done yet.
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Nosnorb
El Dandy
Nachos and Fraggle Rock are TIMELESS.
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Post by Nosnorb on Feb 28, 2022 2:29:46 GMT -5
From PWInsider: They also mentioned that its very possible one (or both) of them will be gone until after Wrestlemania at this point. But I would be shocked if Bayley is cleared before Mania AND not part of it in some fashion. Hell, I will go as far to say that she will be the first challenger for Bianca or Ronda. Creative having nothing for Asuka is sad but predictable. WWE's treatment of Japanese talent has gotten incredibly bad ever since Bruce and Johnny gained way more power and Triple H lost his.Their fantastic wrestlers, but the problem is always whenever they have to do promos. Shinsuke was getting what chants when he was feuding with Jinder Mahal, and Asuka was getting what chants when she was doing a promo on raw a few years ago. Some people have suggested giving them managers, but the WWE doesn't use managers these days, so that creates another issue. Then what the hell have Paul Heyman and MVP been doing?
The biggest problem with the Shinsuke/Jinder promo, aside that the feud was happening in the first place, was Nakamura not leaving Jinder in a pool of his own blood, vomit, piss and bacne pus after that promo.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Feb 28, 2022 2:40:59 GMT -5
I mean, the reason they have no depth is because they fired most of the depth so it’s hard for me to sympathize with the struggle of that, to be quite honest. And yeah, the wins and loss perception is entirely their own doing and it’s been this way for way too long so they’re just reaping what they sow at this point. And the thing is, it’s not like there’s some magic solution where they don’t have to do clean losses or protected losses and somehow everything is OK. You have a wrestling match, someone wins, someone else loses. End of. At some point WWE have gotta figure out how to make it OK for someone to lose clean, because, as we’ve been saying for years, nobody gets over by doing protected finishes all the time. And it has to be for the WHOLE ROSTER, not just those we don’t like or those we’ve arbitrarily decided have won too much and need to be taken down a peg.
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Bo Rida
Fry's dog Seymour
Pulled one over on everyone. Got away with it, this time.
Posts: 23,534
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Post by Bo Rida on Feb 28, 2022 2:46:35 GMT -5
"Creative" aren't ready for Asuka.
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Post by thelonewolf527 on Feb 28, 2022 3:30:14 GMT -5
I mean, does it make sense to rush Asuka back just to have her in a pointless match at WrestleMania? She's not fighting for either title, so maybe better off just waiting after to incorporate her so it makes more sense. She can feud with Bianca or Ronda.
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Post by theironyuppie on Feb 28, 2022 3:33:22 GMT -5
Asuka's credible. End of, honestly. Like, if she beat anyone short of Ronda on any day of the week, fans would basically say, "Ah, that makes sense." So, it's never been that issue. When you've tapped out Becky, beaten both her and Charlotte in a triple threat and tag title matches, etc, it's not an issue of credentials. I think the main thing is they just have zero interest in putting effort into making angles for her because Japanese. Which, if you had managers, that'd be less of an issue, but they so inconsistently do that. All that being said, if I was WWE, I wouldn't likely bring either Bayley or Asuka back pre-Mania unless I either had something planned that couldn't wait, or doing it at the show with some kind of surprise like the tag champions getting cocky and issuing an open challenge, only for Asuka and someone else to show up. Or hell, have her win the women's battle royal. It isn't a lot, but it'd get her on the show and give her something she hasn't done yet.
It's probably worth remembering with that Becky tap-out that:
1.) It was so Becky could win the Rumble later that night. 2.) WWE made virtually no mention of the match for weeks afterwards. 3.) Becky got her win back (plus one more) a year later.
It was definitely a moment, but not one where (for understandable reasons given the Rumble was to set up the WM 35 main event) the focus was Asuka.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 28, 2022 3:35:44 GMT -5
Asuka's credible. End of, honestly. Like, if she beat anyone short of Ronda on any day of the week, fans would basically say, "Ah, that makes sense." So, it's never been that issue. When you've tapped out Becky, beaten both her and Charlotte in a triple threat and tag title matches, etc, it's not an issue of credentials. I think the main thing is they just have zero interest in putting effort into making angles for her because Japanese. Which, if you had managers, that'd be less of an issue, but they so inconsistently do that. All that being said, if I was WWE, I wouldn't likely bring either Bayley or Asuka back pre-Mania unless I either had something planned that couldn't wait, or doing it at the show with some kind of surprise like the tag champions getting cocky and issuing an open challenge, only for Asuka and someone else to show up. Or hell, have her win the women's battle royal. It isn't a lot, but it'd get her on the show and give her something she hasn't done yet. It's probably worth remembering with that Becky tap-out that: 1.) It was so Becky could win the Rumble later that night. 2.) WWE made virtually no mention of the match for weeks afterwards. 3.) Becky got her win back (plus one more) a year later. It was definitely a moment, but not one where (for understandable reasons given the Rumble was to set up the WM 35 main event) the focus was Asuka.
Yep, which is why I also listed several other accomplishments. Like, it was something they definitely downplayed to an extent because they were walking on eggshells with Becky for ages, trying to not squelch her flame.
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Post by facethatrunstheplace on Feb 28, 2022 3:41:28 GMT -5
Their fantastic wrestlers, but the problem is always whenever they have to do promos. Shinsuke was getting what chants when he was feuding with Jinder Mahal, and Asuka was getting what chants when she was doing a promo on raw a few years ago. Some people have suggested giving them managers, but the WWE doesn't use managers these days, so that creates another issue. Then what the hell have Paul Heyman and MVP been doing?
The biggest problem with the Shinsuke/Jinder promo, aside that the feud was happening in the first place, was Nakamura not leaving Jinder in a pool of his own blood, vomit, piss and bacne pus after that promo.
I'm not sure of the difference, but Paul Heyman calls himself an advocate, not a manager. I can't remember what MVP calls his current role. And I've just remembered that Malcolm Bivens is a manager in NXT 2.0. But it wasn't that long ago when there were reports about how Vince hates managers. I've just googled this for a reminder of when that was, and I was reminded of the fact that this was being reported by Dave Meltzer in 2018. In that same year, AOP turned on Paul Ellering the night that they debuted on Raw. It was initially reported that he didn't want to join them on the main roster, but he said that he loves to travel, so he would've been ok with it. The language barrier is still an issue though.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Feb 28, 2022 4:01:39 GMT -5
Asuka's credible. End of, honestly. Like, if she beat anyone short of Ronda on any day of the week, fans would basically say, "Ah, that makes sense." So, it's never been that issue. When you've tapped out Becky, beaten both her and Charlotte in a triple threat and tag title matches, etc, it's not an issue of credentials. I think the main thing is they just have zero interest in putting effort into making angles for her because Japanese. Which, if you had managers, that'd be less of an issue, but they so inconsistently do that. All that being said, if I was WWE, I wouldn't likely bring either Bayley or Asuka back pre-Mania unless I either had something planned that couldn't wait, or doing it at the show with some kind of surprise like the tag champions getting cocky and issuing an open challenge, only for Asuka and someone else to show up. Or hell, have her win the women's battle royal. It isn't a lot, but it'd get her on the show and give her something she hasn't done yet. It's probably worth remembering with that Becky tap-out that: 1.) It was so Becky could win the Rumble later that night. 2.) WWE made virtually no mention of the match for weeks afterwards. 3.) Becky got her win back (plus one more) a year later. It was definitely a moment, but not one where (for understandable reasons given the Rumble was to set up the WM 35 main event) the focus was Asuka.
That's all true but the fact of the matter is she still cleanly tapped out Becky Lynch who since 2018 has been mega protected (Could be wrong but I don't think she's had any other clean losses since then). That's a huge deal. They could've easily just had her win with a fluke rollup or something but the fact that they had her win in the most decisive way possible, a submission right in the middle, is saying something. Granted they did ignore it afterwards but that's understandable with where they were going with Becky. What I don't get is why they had a tap out finish to begin with. Having your top star on the verge of a huge win at Mania tapping clean is an incredibly questionable booking decision imo. Also if you don't want to make Becky look weak by bring it up then why even do it to begin with? Just have Asuka catch her off guard with some kind of cradle or something. I guess it did make Asuka come off more as a legit threat to her when they started feuding again the following year but I seriously doubt they were planning that far ahead.
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Post by mistery on Feb 28, 2022 7:07:08 GMT -5
It's probably worth remembering with that Becky tap-out that: 1.) It was so Becky could win the Rumble later that night. 2.) WWE made virtually no mention of the match for weeks afterwards. 3.) Becky got her win back (plus one more) a year later. It was definitely a moment, but not one where (for understandable reasons given the Rumble was to set up the WM 35 main event) the focus was Asuka.
Yep, which is why I also listed several other accomplishments. Like, it was something they definitely downplayed to an extent because they were walking on eggshells with Becky for ages, trying to not squelch her flame. And if you look at those accomplishments, those are all tainted as well. Her Smackdown Women's title win? Tainted because she couldn't win it on her own. Ronda had to help her. Her RAW Women's Title win? Also tainted because WWE made absolutely sure that everyone knew she was just a paper champion by having every single female heel on the roster calling her one. And at the end of the day, while she eventually regained the title, it was purely through fluke means because Bayley interfered to help her. And her other accolades were entirely just so she could be fed to other women. Notably Charlotte. Because lets not forget that all of Asuka's title reigns ended in the most disappointing fashion possible. Its absolutely correct in saying that Asuka has a lot of accolades. It is even more correct in saying that she wouldn't have those though if people like Becky weren't pushing for it. Because with Asuka, its 100% safe to assume if she is given something, its entirely because of an ulterior/nefarious (for Asuka fans) reason coming down the line. But I am not shocked Japanese talent in particular isn't treated well, because Bruce Pritchard has said he sees nothing marketable about them. Hell, Kairi had mentioned in her first post-WWE interview earlier this month that Bruce saw absolutely nothing in her and Asuka, but Heyman did. Which is why they were booked so poorly until they moved to RAW. And I don't think its a coincidence that their booking went back to being half-assed once Bruce took over RAW as well.
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Post by polarbearpete on Feb 28, 2022 7:35:38 GMT -5
Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches. Yes, and that's their f***ing fault.Sure they could have more depth which would help. But again, talent doesn’t need to be constantly winning to be credible, especially for someone that has had as significant a career as Asuka has had. Asuka can come in and lose to Bianca and she’d still be credible enough to win a title at any given time. The arguments around Asuka are odd to me. From what I glean, it’s basically that she should dominate and be the centerpiece of the division no matter what.
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Post by polarbearpete on Feb 28, 2022 7:39:27 GMT -5
Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches. Because it's WWE. The same company that is so afraid to have people take a clean loss, they spam countouts and DQ's like crazy. It's practically meme worthy at this point. Oh and if you do get a win, it's via surprise roll-up. If you get a decisive win over someone you're being pushed. If you get a decisive loss from someone you're expendable. From WWE to AEW I find it very bizarre how the super fans view the product. This one is clear as day. WWE don't know how to book people to lose. Unless you're not important. Wouldn’t consider myself a super fan. Just someone that watches and enjoys Raw and Smackdown (and Dynamite and Rampage). And I don’t think that’s even true that if you get a decisive loss, you’re toast. That’s more a case of fan projection in recent years to me. Heck, wasn’t there a running streak of post-Mania world title challengers being guys who lost at Mania itself.
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Post by mistery on Feb 28, 2022 8:07:55 GMT -5
Yes, and that's their f***ing fault.Sure they could have more depth which would help. But again, talent doesn’t need to be constantly winning to be credible, especially for someone that has had as significant a career as Asuka has had. Asuka can come in and lose to Bianca and she’d still be credible enough to win a title at any given time. The arguments around Asuka are odd to me. From what I glean, it’s basically that she should dominate and be the centerpiece of the division no matter what. No one is saying Asuka needs to win 100% of the time. But you obviously haven't been paying attention to her booking since late 2020 if you think she is still seen as even remotely a threat at this point. And she has NEVER been the centerpiece of the division opposed to women like Bianca, Ronda, and the 4HW. She has always been the "panic button" of the division and even then she is still treated like a side act whenever she was champion. WWE has a chance to reestablish her as a major player in the division when she returns, and its their last chance to do so. Her coming back and losing another title shot will kill her credibility entirely. No matter how "competitive" the match is. And then they would need to follow up on it by giving her an actual meaningful reign where she is treated like the main eventer she should be. Otherwise I can easily see Asuka trying her luck in other promotions.
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Post by polarbearpete on Feb 28, 2022 8:14:05 GMT -5
Sure they could have more depth which would help. But again, talent doesn’t need to be constantly winning to be credible, especially for someone that has had as significant a career as Asuka has had. Asuka can come in and lose to Bianca and she’d still be credible enough to win a title at any given time. The arguments around Asuka are odd to me. From what I glean, it’s basically that she should dominate and be the centerpiece of the division no matter what. No one is saying Asuka needs to win 100% of the time. But you obviously haven't been paying attention to her booking since late 2020 if you think she is still seen as even remotely a threat at this point. And she has NEVER been the centerpiece of the division opposed to women like Bianca, Ronda, and the 4HW. She has always been the "panic button" of the division and even then she is still treated like a side act whenever she was champion. You’re talking about a few matches in late 2020 and 2021. That didn’t kill her mystique. Okay, so she hasn’t been booked as the centerpiece in your opinion (not that I agree). Is that terrible booking? She’s been presented as a complete badass, had an undefeated streak, has held numerous titles, has clean wins over almost all of the other women, and can go into a main event program credibly in the blink of an eye. She’s in like the Kevin Owens/ Chris Jericho spot, which is a great spot to be.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Feb 28, 2022 8:23:56 GMT -5
Yes, and that's their f***ing fault.Sure they could have more depth which would help. But again, talent doesn’t need to be constantly winning to be credible, especially for someone that has had as significant a career as Asuka has had. Asuka can come in and lose to Bianca and she’d still be credible enough to win a title at any given time. The arguments around Asuka are odd to me. From what I glean, it’s basically that she should dominate and be the centerpiece of the division no matter what. I would have settled for being the centrepiece of the division while she was champion, which she wasn't.
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Post by eJm on Feb 28, 2022 8:55:31 GMT -5
I think with Asuka, the issue wasn't that she wasn't pushed, it mostly felt like she was a side character regardless of situation. When she was champ, she was overshadowed by Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, win the Rumble, overshadowed by Ronda Rousey (literally), win the tag tites, overshadowed by the Bayley/Sasha partnership/breakup/whatever.
And this is more a general point but I feel we're past the point of excusing how the company treats talents overall about what their strengths and weaknesses are. The fact the big thing people talk about are mic skills or ability to talk clear English etc, they all feel like solvable things. If they can't talk, give them a manager. If they can't talk long, don't have them talk in 20-minute promo segments. Like, all of this felt like it was solved during the 80s and then again during the Attitude Era but they somehow regressed in talent management to the point where the audience (and a lot of people here) blame the talent for not clicking into the system instead of saying the system barely makes talent. Especially when you're just going to fire a crop load of talent for no justifiable reason to make the talent pool more shallow.
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Post by HMARK Center on Feb 28, 2022 8:59:32 GMT -5
I mean, the reason they have no depth is because they fired most of the depth so it’s hard for me to sympathize with the struggle of that, to be quite honest. And yeah, the wins and loss perception is entirely their own doing and it’s been this way for way too long so they’re just reaping what they sow at this point. And the thing is, it’s not like there’s some magic solution where they don’t have to do clean losses or protected losses and somehow everything is OK. You have a wrestling match, someone wins, someone else loses. End of. At some point WWE have gotta figure out how to make it OK for someone to lose clean, because, as we’ve been saying for years, nobody gets over by doing protected finishes all the time. And it has to be for the WHOLE ROSTER, not just those we don’t like or those we’ve arbitrarily decided have won too much and need to be taken down a peg. The big thing that WWE doesn't invest time in is getting people to pay attention to who's on what "tier" on their roster; a lot of puro booking, for example, really heavily revolves around a hierarchy where you say, for example in NJPW, that Okada is S tier, someone like Tanahashi is A tier, someone like Tomohiro Ishii is B tier, etc. It's obviously not that cut and dry, like I don't think Gedo has a whiteboard where he puts all the wrestlers' names into specific columns to rank them, but let's describe it this way for simplicity's sake. This all means that the majority of the time that someone from one tier faces someone from a lower tier, you'd expect the higher ranked person to win. That doesn't mean they always win, of course: tournaments like New Japan Cup, Best of Super Juniors, and the G1 are big opportunities to have upsets and surprises (e.g. this past fall seeing Tama Tonga pinning Okada during G1). But what this does is set expectations: you get a feeling for who the main eventers are, who the midcarders are, if there's a particular wrestler who seems to have another's number, and, very importantly, if there are lower ranked wrestlers who seem like they might be on the rise for whatever reason. This allows for a booking style that encourages fans to follow someone's story and development; NJPW didn't just suddenly drop YOSHI-HASHI on top of the tag division at Wrestle Kingdom this past January, they instead used the entire previous year to give him his first taste of gold (the 6-man belts), play up that he had to overcome the perception that he was relying on Goto and Ishii to prop him up, and then by January he was a legitimate player in the tag division that people were willing to take as a serious threat to the champs. What they didn't do with him is just suddenly start giving him a push one week and then drop him into a title match the next. They kept the focus on his growth, his rising confidence, and eventually on him being seen as more legit than he's been during his entire run up to that point, and used that to tell a story that a lot of fans wanted to follow. That way he was able to lose singles matches during the G1, for example, without it feeling like he was being derailed; he still fought hard, he still came close in a number of big matches, and he could carry that into the Tag League the next month and use that as a launching point; you never got the feeling "Oh, he didn't get a lot of points in G1, his push must be over", because you knew the narrative was still unfolding, which was that we were watching YOSHI-HASHI grow from a C/D tier guy who ate pins for his team in bigger matches to being more on that B-tier where him being a co-holder of the IWGP heavyweight tag straps feels earned.
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Post by polarbearpete on Feb 28, 2022 9:30:36 GMT -5
Sure they could have more depth which would help. But again, talent doesn’t need to be constantly winning to be credible, especially for someone that has had as significant a career as Asuka has had. Asuka can come in and lose to Bianca and she’d still be credible enough to win a title at any given time. The arguments around Asuka are odd to me. From what I glean, it’s basically that she should dominate and be the centerpiece of the division no matter what. I would have settled for being the centrepiece of the division while she was champion, which she wasn't. I think she wasn’t always the centerpiece of the division while champ, but I think there were times that she was certainly the centerpiece of the division. But again, that seems to happen from time to time where the champion isn’t always “the guy” (Sheamus, some of CM Punk’s early reigns, Hangman currently).
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Post by polarbearpete on Feb 28, 2022 9:34:36 GMT -5
And the thing is, it’s not like there’s some magic solution where they don’t have to do clean losses or protected losses and somehow everything is OK. You have a wrestling match, someone wins, someone else loses. End of. At some point WWE have gotta figure out how to make it OK for someone to lose clean, because, as we’ve been saying for years, nobody gets over by doing protected finishes all the time. And it has to be for the WHOLE ROSTER, not just those we don’t like or those we’ve arbitrarily decided have won too much and need to be taken down a peg. The big thing that WWE doesn't invest time in is getting people to pay attention to who's on what "tier" on their roster; a lot of puro booking, for example, really heavily revolves around a hierarchy where you say, for example in NJPW, that Okada is S tier, someone like Tanahashi is A tier, someone like Tomohiro Ishii is B tier, etc. It's obviously not that cut and dry, like I don't think Gedo has a whiteboard where he puts all the wrestlers' names into specific columns to rank them, but let's describe it this way for simplicity's sake. This all means that the majority of the time that someone from one tier faces someone from a lower tier, you'd expect the higher ranked person to win. That doesn't mean they always win, of course: tournaments like New Japan Cup, Best of Super Juniors, and the G1 are big opportunities to have upsets and surprises (e.g. this past fall seeing Tama Tonga pinning Okada during G1). But what this does is set expectations: you get a feeling for who the main eventers are, who the midcarders are, if there's a particular wrestler who seems to have another's number, and, very importantly, if there are lower ranked wrestlers who seem like they might be on the rise for whatever reason. This allows for a booking style that encourages fans to follow someone's story and development; NJPW didn't just suddenly drop YOSHI-HASHI on top of the tag division at Wrestle Kingdom this past January, they instead used the entire previous year to give him his first taste of gold (the 6-man belts), play up that he had to overcome the perception that he was relying on Goto and Ishii to prop him up, and then by January he was a legitimate player in the tag division that people were willing to take as a serious threat to the champs. What they didn't do with him is just suddenly start giving him a push one week and then drop him into a title match the next. They kept the focus on his growth, his rising confidence, and eventually on him being seen as more legit than he's been during his entire run up to that point, and used that to tell a story that a lot of fans wanted to follow. That way he was able to lose singles matches during the G1, for example, without it feeling like he was being derailed; he still fought hard, he still came close in a number of big matches, and he could carry that into the Tag League the next month and use that as a launching point; you never got the feeling "Oh, he didn't get a lot of points in G1, his push must be over", because you knew the narrative was still unfolding, which was that we were watching YOSHI-HASHI grow from a C/D tier guy who ate pins for his team in bigger matches to being more on that B-tier where him being a co-holder of the IWGP heavyweight tag straps feels earned. That’s the problem with the seat of your pants, write and re-write booking of Vince. It’s more rare for them to have that slow steady build of a character and storyline than it is for other bookers that plan things out more storyboard-style like Gedo or Khan at times.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Feb 28, 2022 9:36:00 GMT -5
And the thing is, it’s not like there’s some magic solution where they don’t have to do clean losses or protected losses and somehow everything is OK. You have a wrestling match, someone wins, someone else loses. End of. At some point WWE have gotta figure out how to make it OK for someone to lose clean, because, as we’ve been saying for years, nobody gets over by doing protected finishes all the time. And it has to be for the WHOLE ROSTER, not just those we don’t like or those we’ve arbitrarily decided have won too much and need to be taken down a peg. The big thing that WWE doesn't invest time in is getting people to pay attention to who's on what "tier" on their roster; a lot of puro booking, for example, really heavily revolves around a hierarchy where you say, for example in NJPW, that Okada is S tier, someone like Tanahashi is A tier, someone like Tomohiro Ishii is B tier, etc. It's obviously not that cut and dry, like I don't think Gedo has a whiteboard where he puts all the wrestlers' names into specific columns to rank them, but let's describe it this way for simplicity's sake. This all means that the majority of the time that someone from one tier faces someone from a lower tier, you'd expect the higher ranked person to win. That doesn't mean they always win, of course: tournaments like New Japan Cup, Best of Super Juniors, and the G1 are big opportunities to have upsets and surprises (e.g. this past fall seeing Tama Tonga pinning Okada during G1). But what this does is set expectations: you get a feeling for who the main eventers are, who the midcarders are, if there's a particular wrestler who seems to have another's number, and, very importantly, if there are lower ranked wrestlers who seem like they might be on the rise for whatever reason. This allows for a booking style that encourages fans to follow someone's story and development; NJPW didn't just suddenly drop YOSHI-HASHI on top of the tag division at Wrestle Kingdom this past January, they instead used the entire previous year to give him his first taste of gold (the 6-man belts), play up that he had to overcome the perception that he was relying on Goto and Ishii to prop him up, and then by January he was a legitimate player in the tag division that people were willing to take as a serious threat to the champs. What they didn't do with him is just suddenly start giving him a push one week and then drop him into a title match the next. They kept the focus on his growth, his rising confidence, and eventually on him being seen as more legit than he's been during his entire run up to that point, and used that to tell a story that a lot of fans wanted to follow. That way he was able to lose singles matches during the G1, for example, without it feeling like he was being derailed; he still fought hard, he still came close in a number of big matches, and he could carry that into the Tag League the next month and use that as a launching point; you never got the feeling "Oh, he didn't get a lot of points in G1, his push must be over", because you knew the narrative was still unfolding, which was that we were watching YOSHI-HASHI grow from a C/D tier guy who ate pins for his team in bigger matches to being more on that B-tier where him being a co-holder of the IWGP heavyweight tag straps feels earned. I understand what you mean, but it's not the kind of thing you can transfer 1:1 to WWE, just because the structure of their schedules are so different to each other. Would New Japan be booking differently if they had a set-in-stone weekly TV show or two to do? Would WWE be booking differently if they had the more ad hoc schedule based around recurring events? I guess what it comes down to for me is... WWE somehow has to change the fan's current expectations that none of anything will actually lead to anything, so why bother getting behind a talent unless they're blatantly just winning every single match without struggle, after all that's the only way we know that the office is behind them? How does THAT happen? Until WWE can get back to a place with their programming where their fans approach a show from AT LEAST a neutral standpoint and without any sort of fear, dread or cynicism that careers will literally live or die depending on who gets counted for three seconds on the mat, we will be having these conversations over and over again.
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