I'm a big mark for Bret Hart. Always have been, always will be. I make a point to go over to the SLAM WRESTLING webpage and check out Bret's Column. Here's an excerpt from his latest column�
"I phoned my dad the other day and he lamented that, like myself, he doesn't watch much wrestling any more. Like me, he misses the way it used to be, when pro wrestling was an art and watches it from time to time to satisfy his curiosity.
We agreed it seems to be coming full circle, back to athleticism and telling stories with your body in the ring. We both hold our breath in relief, anticipation and hope it may yet live on for another generation. It turns out we both enjoy Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. We also both think highly of Kurt Angle's background as an amateur Olympic gold medallist. Stu pointed out Angle's neck and how you can just tell he's a legit tough guy."
You hear workers say it all the time. Wrestling goes in cycles. I think this is very true. Watch some old tapes from the mid-90's. WWF was junk. It wasn't even wrestling. It was just trash TV. The whole show was like a soap opera with various storylines and the matches seemed to be put on the backburner to the storylines. In other words, the stories came first, the matches second. I for one believe that this definitely does not have to be the case. The MATCHES tell the STORY. Don't let the story tell the match.
Here's what I mean�
Bret says, "[Wrestling]seems to be coming full circle, back to athleticism and telling stories with your body in the ring." All the best matches in history from the Steamboat-Flair feuds to the Shawn Michaels-"Insert Big Man here" feuds transcend language and culture. These matches could be put on anywhere and they'd get over because the matches are told with the BODY. That's what makes wrestling so great. You have to tell a story with facial expressions, body movements, athleticism and the like. That's why so many of the great workers go to (and get over) in Japan. An American/Canadian worker can't go to Japan and get on the mic and say "Screw you!" and expect to get heat for it. You just got to go out to the ring with a snarl and a swagger to let the crowd know you are the bad guy. The way you work in the ring, the way your face looks when you hit a move, the way you carry yourself and walk� THAT defines your character as a worker. Not what you can say on the mic.
When I go to an indy show in Skidtown, Ontario, the people don't know who the hell I am. If I'm a heel I can't go out to the ring and say "I'm Cody Steele!" And expect to get a reaction. Of course, considering most of the people in the crowd will be able to speak and understand English I can always just say "Go to hell you skids! You all smell like empty week old Colt 45 bottles!" but that's too easy. I like to go to the ring and establish my character as if everyone in the room was deaf. I get a ridiculously overexaggerated smerk on my face� walk down the aisle like I own the place. You know� simply act like my s*it doesn't stink. If I can get the crowd to hate me without saying a word, then I know as soon as I open my mouth� I'm gonna get wicked heat.
But sometimes this doesn't work. Sometimes the crowd just looks at you and doesn't care if you can smirk or walk with a swagger. THAT'S when you pick out the biggest skid in the joint and tell him his "suck meter" is well past 10. That's when you start working the heat with old yapper.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand. I could talk about trying to get heat from a crowd all night. It seems as though wrestling IS coming full circle. The best matches in the WWF are recognized as the best matches because of work rate. It's not like Stone Cold comes to the ring, sprays beer on everyone and JR says, "What a slobberknocker� oh what a fantastic displaying of ass-whooping ability." No, on today's cards, Chris Benoit comes to the ring and he and Kurt Angle simply WRESTLE. And what makes me smile is that it gets over. None of those "Boring, Boring!" chants that you'd hear back in the mid-90's as soon as someone put on a headlock. Today's wrestling fan tends to appreciate wrestling for what it is� an amazing display of athletic storytelling. Mind you, there are a lot of fans that simply wanna see people literally KILL themselves in the ring� but I don't consider those people wrestling fans. No, today's "smart mark" knows all the lingo, all the carnie talk. They know about "kayfabe" and "getting over" and "heat" and all that stuff. Today's wrestling fan is a fan of WRESTLING. The mid-90's wrestling fan was a fan of SOAP OPERAS. However, there are WAY more people out there that like soap operas and respond to pure shock value, than people that appreciate and respond to a classic Benoit-Angle match. That's why wrestling is experiencing a "down-time" in the cycle. Wrestling has gone back to wrestling, but not enough people simply appreciate wrestling. But I feel it's something that has to be done. Wrestling has to go back to it's roots in order to survive. Wrestling has to go back to telling stories with your body in order to stay afloat. Why? Because the soap opera fan will only watch as long as the soap opera is interesting. The wrestling fan will watch as long as there is any type of wrestling. You have to play to the wrestling fan. Because wrestling storyline writers can only think of so many soap operas until it starts to get out of hand and completely ridiculous. Just look at that HHH-Kane "murder" angle. Simply ridiculous. Storywriters in the Fed have to (and I think they are starting to realize this) let the workers tell the stories. The workers are the artists. The Bret Harts and the Shawn Michaels are the artists NOT the Vince Russos. Russo is an overweight sack of s*it. Russo is an idiotic narcissist that thinks that HE is the reason wrestling was made cool again in the 90's. The workers made wrestling cool again because THEY told the stories. Any promoter can think up a cool storyiline� but without the personnel to actually act out that story IN THE RING� then you don't have anything but a cool story. I get marks emailing me all the time about this new fed they wanna start and they tell me all these cool storylines they wanna do. Shut up. Stop trying to put yourself over and look at wrestling for what it's worth. You have a champion who thinks he's all that� you have a challenger who wants to proves he's all that by winning the title. Put them together and let them giv'er. Let THEM tell a story in their match. If they get over GREAT. If not� give the ball to someone else.
I think that's why NEO is successful. They don't have all these crazy soap opera-like storylines. They just have guys that want to please the hardcore wrestling fans and go out there and put on a 5-star match. I for one get extra excited at a NEO show because I wanna go out there and please the fans and tell an exceptional story. I "get up" more for NEO shows because the fans know my character and they expect a lot from me in my matches. I usually NEVER get nervous before an indy show. But I ALWAYS get nervous at NEO shows. There's always that extra pressure to perform.
Anyways, the point is, wrestling seems to be coming full circle. Although wrestling TV ratings have dropped, the caliber of matches has increased. Wrestling will once again get 5.0-7.0 rating as opposed to 3.0 by attracting people to WRESTLING� NOT crazy dumb-ass soap opera gimmicks. Well� this is my wish anyways� only time will tell. Now all I can do (as a worker) is perfect the ARTFORM of what is known as professional wrestling and simply aspire to be a Steamboat, a Flair, a Hart, or a Michaels. Because ya, all these guys were great storytellers� but not with their mouths� with their bodies. These guys told stories IN THE RING.
Well� that's my latest rambling for you guys. Let me know what you think on the message board. And be sure to come out to NSP on May 24th because I've finally got another shot at the NSP Independent Title vs. JC Owens. And believe me� we are gonna tell one hell of a story.
"Completely" yours,
Cody Steele