What TO YOU is being good in the ring?

[BodeineBrazy]

I was on reddit, (yeah I know) just browsing cause it was dry for post on here.

The subject of The Big Boss Man came up and everyone is like "oh well if he was better in the ring he'd be a legend" etc. I'm reading this shyt baffled because I always thought this nikka was great in ring. Especially for his size. He moved well, looked legit, his punches we good, his selling was dope, he made you buy in every time he was out there for the most part and that sidewalk slam.

So I wanted to ask TSC, what exactly is GOOD in the ring. Like what makes Hogan bad, and AJ good.

What I notice nowadays is that flippy shyt automatically equals good to alot of folks and that makes no sense at all to me. I think AJ is dope btw.

TO ME, Hogan was fukking great in the ring. He could hold the crowd in the palm of his hands. Thats what the ring is for, him shaking his bald spot and going "YOOOOOOUUUUUUUU" is a dope high spot. Like, thats a high spot too, a spot isn't just hammerlock, reversal, counter blah blah blah... and it aint falling off a ladder 50 feet. It's whatever makes people get emotionally invest and tells a story.

People overlook alot of the 80's wrestlers in that way. Even the Attitude Era gets shytted on now for match Quality. But have you ever been invested in any era of wrestling more? I watched Mankind vs. Rock the other night, when Foley won his first title. That match was amazing, they mostly punched but the psychology, facial expressions, where they positioned themselves for certain moments. Made it better than any match you'd see now.

So yeah, my question is basically what makes a certain wrestler good, or not good "in ring". Im not even trying to shyt on anyones opinion. Just get some thoughts.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Storytelling, selling, move set, presence, timing. There are so many intangibles to consider, if youve been watching wrestling long enough, you should know who is great, good, serviceable and shyt in the ring.

 

[Mack de la Rocha]

Great question man, I feel like a lot of times I have to watch several matches with a guy and I'll know. Being able to perform with different styles is a great indicator of how good different wrestlers are. But confidence, consistency and storytelling are the big things for me.

I think off Savage, HBK, Flair, Austin and Guerrero off the top of the head that personify these characteristics. Recently, Joe, Generico, Styles, Angle, Lesnar and Banks have all operated with great attention to detail and I really enjoy that.

 

[Kill Dat Noize]

people confuse great athletes with great wrestlers. a great wrestler needs to work the crowd first and foremost. a lot of these guys feel more like stunt performers. they get the occasional ooh and ahh but for 80% of the match no one gives a shyt.

hogan was an amazing wrestler. the audience hung on every punch.

 

[Silkk]

Flippy shyt

 

[Mr. Negative]

people confuse great athletes with great wrestlers. a great wrestler needs to work the crowd first and foremost. a lot of these guys feel more like stunt performers. they get the occasional ooh and ahh but for 80% of the match no one gives a shyt.

hogan was an amazing wrestler. the audience hung on every punch.

I wanna disagree with this,

but then I think about folks like Dean Malenko.

Contrast Malenko with Eddie or Benoit. Malenko was prolly a better technical wrestler than either, but mostly got pushed because his brother was the plug.

Charisma and persona really are the "intangibles" in the ring.

 

[Mr. Negative]

Flippy shyt

young bucks.


*note I don't like the Young Bucks strictly off the sight of them. They may have fans or some shyt. Who knows.

 

[Notorious 1 E.Y.E.]

depends on the match and whos in the match

 

[Hoss]

a great wrestler needs to work the crowd first and foremost.

This. Psychology. Especially for the heel.

It's kind of a lost art (especially in WWE) but the best workers know how to draw huge heat from a crowd without any kind of physical contact at all. Great ringwork is a lot more mental than physical.

 

[Cheech&Chong]

selling. Any a$$hole can come in with muscles and look the part, you gotta be able to make it believable. You also have to mesh well with the opponent and carry him in his shytty areas.

 

[Love Sosa]

Storytelling and psychology. Simple.

A wrestler doesn't need a million different crazy moves. Yeah they're cool to watch, but the matches I always go back to are the ones that are like movies. I don't care about eight thousand variations of suplexes and flips.

 

[dh86]

Capable of a good match with anyone on the roster, in a non gimmick match. Cena pulled a decent match out of Great Khali. HHH was terrible trying to do the same with Vladimir Kozlov. Both had classics with Daniel Bryan

 

[Hope]

Flippy shyt

90's ECW and WCW Cruiserweight matches are the only things I'd replay more than twice.

I also appreciate chain wrestling, submissions, crowd involvement, and some brawling. So overall a great wrestler is someone like Austin, HBK, Angle, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Jericho. Of the new school I like Rollins, Kofi, Ambrose, Cesaro, HHH, Owens, and Ziggler the best.

 

[mrken12]

selling. Any a$$hole can come in with muscles and look the part, you gotta be able to make it believable. You also have to mesh well with the opponent and carry him in his shytty areas.

Selling is a major component of what makes a great wrestler. And not over the top selling like Ziggler but selling that makes the match look convincing and authentic. That's what Reigns does very well which is why I put him above Cena when it comes to in ring skills.

 

[Notorious 1 E.Y.E.]

a great wrestler needs to work the crowd first and foremost.

and sell the move