My Pro Wrestling Project

Growing up, I was a huge wrestling fan. I remember "The Golden Era," with Hulk Hogan, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Andre The Giant, and Ric Flair (when he was a fresh face). Then there was the Late 90's, when wrestling had edgier characters and story lines, highlighted by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, NWO, and ECW. Then, Vince McMahon bought up all the quality competition, the product got boring, and I stopped watching. Since my college days ended in the Spring of '04, with the exception of a curious gander every once in a while, I hadn't really followed it. I recently had a curiosity about what wrestling was like these days, so I made a little project for myself. I decided to watch every wrestling show on TV(Monday Night Raw, Smackdown, and TNA Impact), then make an educated decision as whether I was missing anything.





WWE




The only company to survive the Monday Night War era, and the oldest, I had watched their shows previously, so I had some idea of what I'd be getting into.

The Good:



Fresh Faces - I knew going in, there'd be a few names I wouldn't know, but when I first turned on WWE's shows, I think I could count on one hand the number of wrestlers I recognized. It made the shows hard to follow at first, but this is a good thing. In the wrestling business, to a degree, the future is always now. The WWE has stocked the rosters of both Raw and Smackdown with fresh, young talent who the company can market and build up for the future.

Cleaner Product- As much as I do enjoy hardcore matches with lots of blood and violence, the concept was beat to death. So were the corny Jerry Springer story lines. It looks as thought the WWE has moved away from these themes and and gone back to a more basic booking style with more actual wrestling and ring psychology. This newer style is actually more watchable and believable. And pretty entertaining.

The Bad:


Slow-Paced Matches - As I mentioned above, WWE has moved on from the blood and guts of years past. While there is an emphasis on doing more wrestling moves, which is great, the matches are slow and sometimes, lack excitement. I do understand a need to save each wrestler from getting too much physical wear and tear, majority of the match doesn't have to be wrest holds.



Too many Squash matches - Again, I enjoy the return to wrestling-based matches. And again, I know that wrestling almost every day of the year takes its toll. With that said, there needs to be better match-ups. I feel as though there is too much filler with matches nobody wants to see.




Weak Storylines - The feuds have weak/little motivation. (By the way, I'm sorry I had no witty picture to go with this paragraph).

TNA
Other than some Youtube footage, I wasn't too familiar with this company. At first, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) had weekly Pay-Per-Views, no weekly TV show when it started back in 2002. Since then it has landed a TV deal with Spike, and Hulk Hogan has been brought on board as some kind of consultant to advise the powers-that-be in TNA on making the company a competitive player in the business.

The Good


Great Roster - The roster is full of great wrestlers. There's a nice mix of established names (Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Team 3D aka The Dudleys, Kurt Angle) and fresh, younger talent (AJ Styles, Abyss, Desmond Wolfe).

Southern Booking style - On each show I've seen, there have been Pay-Per-View quality matchups that have been exciting. Each match places an emphasis on wrestling, and the matches are fast-paced.

Fan-Friendly- I have a DVR, but if you miss their show, you can watch it online a few days later, either on iTunes or on the TNA website. The company also has some sort of agreement in place with Youtube in which segments and matches from past shows can be seen online.

The Bad

Wheel Chair Wrestling II - I really like this product. I didn't find a lot of flaws, but this was big in my eyes. If TNA is going to compete with WWE, having some older, more established stars is a necessary evil in order to steal some fans. However, the focus needs to be more on the younger talent, and less on the older wrestlers. Sting, Ric Flair, Jeff Jarrett, RVD, Hall and Nash.....all great wrestlers. But they're all past their prime, and offer little in the ways of long term drawing power.


In conclusion, wrestling these days isn't anything special. There isn't any one wrestler who is worth tuning in for, and the storylines aren't great. However, the joke was on me, because I got sucked back into it. Watching wrestling did make me remember how entertaining it can be when a show is booked well, and the talent is above average.