2. Raising The Bar Too High
Even though WWE had toned down the more extreme parts of wrestling, outside of special occasions, the way the business has developed has trained fans to expect more and more. No longer are TV shows (and even Pay Per Views in the early days) full of three minutes squash matches where wrestlers barely leave their feat, or long main events full of rest holds to slow down the action. Every match on the card now needs to be high quality, with everyone firing off big moves and back-and-forth action and huge finisher spots. And then the Pay Per View matches have to be even better, because people are theoretically paying to see them. And don’t forget, because even wrestlers who lose need to look strong, matches now end with multiple high-impact finishers being delivered and getting kicked out of. Not to mention, the impact of finishers have escalated over the years as everyone tries to find a unique one, and older ones get devalued through repeated use. Does anyone remember when the DDT, the spinebuster, or the powerslam, all of which involved landing on your head, neck, and/or back, were deadly finishers? Now they’re transition moves at best and get used multiple times a match!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32xxew Source: dailymotion.com
1. We Know Too Much Now
Access to information is great, and even the kayfabe-clouded world of pro wrestling has not been immune to the curtain getting pulled back farther and farther as time marches on. In years past, it’s entirely possible that just as many injuries were happening, but we just didn’t know about it, and the lack of regular televised shows, the Internet not being a thing yet, and the existence of only four Pay Per Views a year meant that it was possible for a wrestler to disappear for a few months without anyone noticing (and thanks to syndication and lengthy taping sessions, possibly without actually missing any TV time). These days, when Seth Rollins blew out his knee in a non-televised house show in Ireland, there was video of it happening on the Internet within hours. WWE itself is forced to address injuries as part of their programming, rather than just quietly taking someone off TV through a carefully constructed injury angle, making up title changes at non-existent house shows to justify missing champions, or just by not putting them on TV at all and moving in a new direction. These were all possible solutions, but in this era, WWE doesn’t even pretend that fans don’t know who’s hurt and who’s not going to be at shows, so we’ve become more and more informed as a result.
http://makingbettervideo.com/category/important-info/copyright/ Makingbettervideo.com
Stephen Randle
Stephen Randle is an avid wrestling and film fan. He's been writing about WWE, movies, and video games for Goliath since 2015.