|
This is gonna be kind of a weird perspective, but... 1.) What is professional wrestling to you? Answer this however you want! Pro Wrestling is a weird mix between gymnastics, theater and ballet that happens in front of a combat sport background. That is to say, amazing athletic feats that require good timing and coordination made captivating because of storylines about being "the best at what we do", or simply getting revenge for a loss or a screw-job. 2.) How long have you been a fan? Was there any defining moment that turned you into someone who became a habitual viewer? Okay, so this is the weird part. I'm from Brazil. We have no pro wrestling tradition here whatsoever. Well, "telecatch" was popular during the 50s and 60s, but that's way before me. Before I went to the USA as an exchange student, I had a basic grasp of what "professional wrestling" meant, and that was about it. During my stay, however, I made some friends that were into WWE and ended up exposed to the product. That was around 2009/2010, so I'm a recent convert. Thing is, wrestling around that time was pretty boring, so while I got a bit into it it didn't really made me into a habitual viewer. Around 2012, tho, I had quite a bit of free time and started watching VGCW because the concept was funny to me. People there kept hyping up this "Daniel Bryan" guy and "The Shield" and "CM Punk" so around Wrestlemania XXIX I started watching, lucked into some good months of WWE and here I am. 3.) Who was your first favorite wrestler? CM Punk connected with me pretty fast, even if I found his name dumb as poo poo at first. He was a regular-looking dude with a sharp wit and a cool finisher - I learned about the pipebomb and he became a favorite soon thereafter. 4.) Have you ever fallen out of following this gay sport? If so, what time period was this? When did you get back into it - and what keeps you watching? I guess...now? Main WWE stuff is awful and I only watch PPVs plus the occasional Raw after a good PPV. I still follow NXT every week tho. 5.) What promotion was your favorite, alive or dead? What time period from that promotion did you like best? Ugh, this is hard to answer as a recent fan. NXT is the only thing I can be bothered watching weekly, but claiming a developmental as your favorite promotion ever is strange. I'll say one of the things that made me stick with pro wrestling was watching a LOT of AJW marquee matches - 90s joshi was fuckin' awesome and Akira Hokuto is one of my favorite wrestlers. So I'll pretend this asked what dead promotion was your favorite and saw AJW. 6.) What promotions do you consider your favorites today? What particular things about each one do you enjoy? NXT (it's booked so differently from main WWE stuff I have no qualms treating it as a separate promotion), easy. It mixes the three things I claimed as "parts" of pro wrestling really well, it lets both men and women shine, it doesn't offend your intelligence with its booking and storylines, plus it's only one hour a week. While I really liked what I've seen of NJPW, I think having a weekly TV show lets you build feuds and midcard acts better. Lucha Underground is fun too, but sometimes it's too spot-heavy and I like some psychology in my matches, thank you very much. 7.) Who is your favorite wrestler today, and why? Tied between Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura, for opposite reasons. Sami is the best pure babyface around right now - he's a nice guy that worked his rear end off to be the best and he just feels...sincere. Wrestling is about characters, and I get it, but having a dude that's just a dude does wonders for connecting with the crowd. A lot of the times, WWE booking tells us "this is the good guy" and wants us to accept that even when they act like complete assholes. I don't get that from Zayn. Plus, he's a fuckin' awesome technical wrestler. Nakamura is way more than a dude. He's an embodiment of coolness that should feel forced and terrible, except it doesn't. Shinsuke has fucktons of charisma, to the point that he transcends any language barrier when he talks and you just keep thinking "holy poo poo this guy is the best I have no idea what he's saying but he's the best.". While Sami Zayn connects because he's a normal person, Nakamura is bigger-than-life. There's one major thing both have in common tho - they both never break character. Not when wrestling, not when talking, not when getting beat down, not when transitioning to a new spot. It's a basic thing that many good wrestlers overlook and I value a lot, so there you go.
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2015 00:04
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 01:07 |
|
|
xcore posted:This is interesting. Don't you find yourself wanting to see how the guys you like on NXT fare once the show ends? I do, if I hear about a debut I'll tune in on Raw, I popped off when Paige won the Divas title and all. The thing is, there haven't been many noteworthy promotions since Wrestlemania and the NXT guys that debuted prior to that are stuck in boring feuds right now. When Neville and Charlotte get called up, I'll tune in for them, if they start being mishandled ("look at that crazy Paige!") I'll stop watching again.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2015 00:53
|
|