Jim Cornette has given his thoughts on Triple H’s recent comments that pro wrestling is not all about the moves performed in the ring.
For decades, wrestling fans have been split over what makes a great match. While some believe that the mechanics of the wrestling moves in the ring are the be-all and end-all, others gravitate more towards the drama and a good story.
During an appearance on the Impaulsive Podcast hosted by Logan Paul, new WWE Head of Creative and Talent Relations, Triple H discussed the mechanics of putting a match together and where he feels the importance should be placed:
“I like that’s the gap that people have right? Even our talent that have been doing this a really long time. It’s not the moves. It’s like watching a movie. How many movies have you seen with crazy budgets and special effects and CGI that visually you go ‘Holy sh*t that’s amazing’ and no one cares. The movie bombs, there’s no story, no one really fully cares.
It’s not about the moves, what we do. It’s about what you do in-between. The characters, the story.”
Speaking on his Experience podcast, wrestling legend Jim Cornette explained why he agreed with The Game:
“If you are in the wrestling business and are smart to the wrestling business, then you kind of understand what he’s saying in that that is what’s happened to independent wrestling over the last 15 or 20 years. And we’ve talked about it, the guys that have gotten into the wrestling business weren’t recruited by the old-time territory promoters, or by the biggest billion-dollar company in the business today.”
“They got into the business on an independent level because they were the diehard fans of the work rate, that was a term that was coined, maybe by [Dave Meltzer], I don’t know, it wasn’t a wrestling term.”
“But they think that the moves and the stunts are the determining factors and whether a match is good or not. So I agree with Triple H that it’s not about the moves. It’s about like MJF says, I’m the guy that makes you feel so he doesn’t have to do that stupid crazy sh*t that just blends in with everybody else, and it’s all you see now and most people who liked wrestling are sick of it.”
“The small audience who wants to see constant trampolining moves you know is kind of stagnant and is what it is. And that’s the AEW core audience. But they’ve still got a few more that would like to become involved.”
“And with the WWE, they’re unfortunately, their problem is they’ve made the matches so boring and meaningless that even good talent can’t hook the people because they’ve been accustomed to, trained, or educated to that it’s all the drama and the horsesh*t and the soap opera-y and the entrance and the pageantry and not the actual act itself.”
Jim Cornette then continued by saying the sweet spot in wrestling is having story, character, and a great match but if you can only have two of those, it should always be the first two:
“[…] I don’t care how many shooting star presses they do. If you’ve got guys that are crazy over that are also kind of the sh*ts in the ring, then a good smart booker tries to book them with a heel or a babyface to oppose them that is good in the ring and is somewhat over so you can tell those stories and still get a match out of it that didn’t stink the joint out.”
“And that’s the sweet spot where you have personalities that are over in a personal situation where they’re going to have a match that people are interested in, and they can perform at a high enough level that they will give the people the match they wanted to see and hopefully convince them they’d like to see a rematch.”
“But all soap opera drama or all great wrestling is not going to work, either way, however, maybe, unfortunately, but maybe not, Triple H is right in that if you got to have only one thing. You have to have the story and the personalities rather than the match. But it’s best to have all three.”
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