What matters more?

[Alex Scott]

A question that is inevitably asked every time we watch wrestling: what matters more to us? Wrestling ability or character? When you look at a wrestler, do you favor his ability to wrestle or his ability to convey a certain demeanor and character? This isn't about what a wrestler needs more of to get pushed. This is your personal opinion of what you need to favor one wrestler over another.

For me, the decision was difficult. I always love a good match but I also enjoy a memorable promo and character development. In the end though, character is needed more for me to get into a Wrestler. For example, the rock. I know he's had good matches. His matches with Austin at Wrestlemania defined an era. But what I remember most as his best moment was his promo in Toronto. For me, it's the promos that stick most with me and the character. JBL was not the best ring technician by any means. But his character made me watch him. A lot of guys can put on classic bouts. But what makes me care about a wrestler is his character.

Thoughts?

 

[Wangman Page]

I would say it's the guys who can do both. You mentioned Austin and JBL both were not horrible by any means in the ring but were not great either. They were both able to convey that story that they were to tell in the ring with whomever they were in a match against. The same can be said about the bigger names as well. Hogan, Flair, Andre, Diabase, Savage, Steamboat, and this can go on.

With me its everything that goes along with the match. It starts with a small thing then it turns into a little feud and it continues. They have matches that go back and forth back and forth. You begin to see the hatred between the two guys and then the finale match.

It is the whole story the promos, the matches, and the epic clash to end the whole damn thing.

Mega-powers exploding and matches I loved no matter how bad the matches were but Savage can carry any match to look wonderful no matter the opponent.

Andre/Hogan feud.

Austin/McMahon

Sting/Flair

Flair/Hogan

those are what I like and what makes these people stand out and its not just one match but multiple things that they have done to make each other mad or irritated.


This is one of the issues with wrestling today. They lack decent story ability telling in the ring and try for the homerun in the promos and that is the bottom line because Shark Boy Said so. Can I have a Shell Yeah.

 

[Postman Dave]

Considering the talent on today's WWE roster, and how much I still give a damn about half of what goes on, I'm inclined to say character.

 

[The Great Cochrane]

What's the point of a wrestling match if there's no point of interest?

Wrestling is all about story telling, and in order to have a good story you need some good character depth. It's very hard to find someone who does both, as a matter of fact I have to say the best of both worlds is Chris Jericho.. he's the perfect blend of both. He can pull off memorable promos and than when the in ring work comes he pulls off stuff that makes you go "Oh wow...". Kofi Kingston seems like he's having a hard time getting to the top for that reason.. if only he could evolve his character to make it seem more interesting he would definitely be WWE Championship material.

Truth is... wrestling is a huge part of pop culture today. And the problem is that there's nobody in today's world that really fits the description of someone who could be truly iconic and stand out because even WWE itself is evolving. Let's face it, John Cena is stale.. maybe back in 2005 he was good but I could imagine people are getting pretty bored of him. So the fact of the matter is character is much more important, than of course the moves have to mean something.. they all don't have to be flashy but they have to have meaning themselves. Wrestling itself means a lot, but flashy moves with no character doesn't make a wrestling superstar. The fact that The Rock could make The People's Elbow as memorable as he did or Hogan with the leg drop says a lot about their character.

 

[Alex Scott]

Another thing to add to my argument. We've had great wrestlers who didn't reach the upper status because of a lack of character. Case in point: guys like Lance Storm and Shelton Benjamin. These two men were two of the most phenomenal wrestlers. I could watch either of these guys put on a match any day. But, I never cared about them beyond that. Neither of them were that great on the mic or in their characters. Shelton was Kofi before Kofi. Don't get me wrong. They were fine on the mic. But beyond "Let me be serious for a second," I can't remember anything either of them said. I remember Shelton's theme song more than his character. Even when he was the gold standard, it was just Shelton with blond hair.

 

[Fuji Vice]

To be fair, Bret Hart and Chris Benoit never had any problems sucking on the mic but being good enough wrestlers to get past it. On the flip side, The Honky Tonk Man and King Kong Bundy couldn't have a great match to save their lives, but their characters made them famous. I'm not sure there's a legitimate answer to this question, but I'd tend to side with characters being more important these days. Even a great worker like Daniel Bryan wouldn't be where he is in WWE right now without his character.