2015 Wrestling Observer Awards

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Boxing has been doing "pro wrestling" style promotions for ages as well, even going back before the time of Ali. Guys trash talk, exaggerate beefs, and sometimes even admit to the media they're merely playing characters to get people hyped up about the fight. Nearly all of the great rivalries in combat sports have a clear Protagonist vs Antagonist, no different than pro wrestling.

Ok. Boxing doesn't have one promotion that would qualify them like the UFC that holds 99% of the top mma fighters under one brand. And sure, some boxers sell fights with their mouths but nothing like the UFC that blatantly rips pro wrestling to sell fights. Also if boxing had any characters worth a fuck they may get a mention for best interview or charismatic? I don't know that it is against the rules.

 

[Snowman1]

Shit with MMA now you see guys wanting to fight the best talkers instead of the best opponents. Conor running his mouth = more buys for your show = more money

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Shit with MMA now you see guys wanting to fight the best talkers instead of the best opponents. Conor running his mouth = more buys for your show = more money

Conor is the best talker and fighter tho

 

[Snowman1]

Conor is the best talker and fighter tho

Well I just suck at giving examples though, you know that

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Well I just suck at giving examples though, you know that

Chael is a better example. He was a relatively boring grappler who sold fights exclusively with brilliant trash talk. Conor inside the cage is actually a spectacle in addition to his sharpe tongue.

 

[The GOAT]

Ok. Boxing doesn't have one promotion that would qualify them like the UFC that holds 99% of the top mma fighters under one brand. And sure, some boxers sell fights with their mouths but nothing like the UFC that blatantly rips pro wrestling to sell fights. Also if boxing had any characters worth a fuck they may get a mention for best interview or charismatic? I don't know that it is against the rules.

Pretty much all fights or almost all are sold with their mouths. People generally want to see personalities and egos clash, not just an exciting fight.

Ali is the biggest boxing star in history and he admitted years after his retirement that he was only playing a character to sell tickets. And no matter how much of a great, great talent Ali was, only a fool would deny that his charisma and flamboyance isn't a big reason why he is so iconic. He's arguably the greatest/most entertaining trash talker of all time. (Fitting enough, he even admitted to being influenced by Gorgeous George as far as developing a persona and promoting himself went. And GG is widely recognized as the first true 'character' in pro wrestling and also one of the most influential.)

Mayweather does the same thing. Admits he plays a character and makes himself the villain so that people will buy his fights in the hopes of seeing him lose. He's an excellent example to compare with wrestling too, since his "persona" is clearly an exaggerated version of his real-life personality just like a lot of wrestlers' are.

Tyson Fury says a lot of things to stir up controversy and the manner in which he confronted Deontay Wilder over a week ago was very pro wrestling-like:

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

I'm still not sure what point you are trying to make. If Ali were around in the Observer era he probably would have won best on interviews a handful of times.

 

[The GOAT]

People are always fond of saying UFC is similar to pro wrestling sans the real/fake aspect, I'm simply pointing out that boxing is no different and that most of what people claim UFC borrowed from wrestling existed in boxing long before UFC was even a thing at all (and yes, I'm aware UFC in the beginning was a lot more similar to pro wrestling than it is now, but my point still stands.)

Combat sports, be they real or fake, both draw heavily from the strength of characters and not just the quality of fights.

 

[Swift]

That white guy in the video is such a tryhard lol. Wtf.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

People are always fond of saying UFC is similar to pro wrestling sans the real/fake aspect, I'm simply pointing out that boxing is no different and that most of what people claim UFC borrowed from wrestling existed in boxing long before UFC was even a thing at all (and yes, I'm aware UFC in the beginning was a lot more similar to pro wrestling than it is now, but my point still stands.)

Combat sports, be they real or fake, both draw heavily from the strength of characters and not just the quality of fights.

Agree to disagree. If you made a couple of venn diagrams you would see that the way the UFC promotes itself is much more in line with WWE antics than they are boxing promoting.

 

[Roadster]

Using Reid Flair isn't as bad as people are making it out. The same people who are praying for a return to the days of fake deaths, chopped off penis', hit and runs and man on women violence are crying because there was a mention of a dead guy? Out of line, yeah. Disgusting? Long shot.

 

[The GOAT]

People are bitching and moaning about Flair forcing himself onto Becky and giving her a kiss at the Royal Rumble too, saying that that type of thing is inappropriate even for a wrestling show. People are such pussies nowadays.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Flair kissing Becky was more disgusting than it was inappropriate.

 

[The GOAT]

...Which was, of course, the whole point.

Funny that the people complaining about it don't realize that their reaction to it was the exact reaction they were going for.