Wrestling has evolved over the years.
While back in the day a leg drop could close the main event of WrestleMania, modern day matches could see a Canadian Destroyer off of a ladder through a table only get a two count.
Jake Roberts Reveals Main Issue With Today’s Wrestling Style
In an age of social media, wrestlers arguably need to perform more death defying manoeuvres to get noticed. Sammy Guevara’s fall from the top of the Blood and Guts cage had this effect, with more than 3.5 million views on AEW’s YouTube channel.
The present day matches with multiple finishers and high flying manoeuvres have been nicknamed “spot fests” by some fans, as the matches are known more for a series of big moves put together instead of telling a story. While there can be arguments made for both styles of match, stars of the past and present have frequently voiced their opinions on the matter.
Jake Roberts, a man highly praised for his ring psychology, has been critical of the current style of in-ring work. Speaking with WrestleRant, Roberts stated that while the athleticism is impressive, but nothing will be remembered about the match in the future:
“You know, everything they’re doing now is rushed so much. They’re not taking the time to develop characters. They’ve got a lot of great athletes going out there flying through the air and doing inconceivable things to their bodies. At the end of the night, nothing sticks. What was that? What are they gonna do next? It’s because there is not a character involved and I’d like to see them start working on their characters.”
A master on the microphone, the WWE Hall of Famer continued on to say that he will use his skills to try and help AEW talent tell stories through their vocal skills:
“Of course, they’ll do that with interviews, that’ll help a lot, and hopefully I’ll be able to help some of those guys do better interviews. That’s my new job in AEW and hopefully I’ll do a good job of it. But, the product is still needed, it’s still wanted, but it gets frustrating when you see the same mistakes going on and on. Sometimes I’m like, if I had some teeth to pull out I would but these are connected.”
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcriptions.