I'm someone who likes following a promotion, to the extent that I will sacrifice time watching heavily pimped matches to watch the latest DVD from a group I know well. It's why Big Japan and Kaientai Dojo and Michinoku Pro wrestlers will appear on my ballot for top 100 workers of the year, and why I may overrate matches from those promotions, or at least underplay the mediocrity of some undercard tag match with a couple of guys I have come to like. That's not to say I'm deluded - such things genuinely bring me a great deal of joy. But I acknowledge familiarity and context play a role in that perspective.
I would, however, like a US or English-speaking promotion to watch on a regular basis (other than WWE), not least because in a foreign language, you miss all the talk that goes with an ongoing angle or feud. The problem is, however, that the style (call it the workrate style or, more accurately/less catchily, the no-selling, no personality, thousand finishers style) that has come to dominate US independent wrestling is, well, awful. I am frequently baffled that when it comes to non-deathmatch US wrestling, the basterdised junior heavyweight style of Ring of Honor, CZW and other east coast indies superceded the sheer majesty of what I think of as Southern wrestling. Sure, there is XCW-Midwest, but that sometimes seems like the only champion, and as a UK resident, getting DVDs is difficult and relying on uploads fills me with a huge guilt. What's worse is that if I look closer to home, all your British wrestling promotions have lost all their World of Sport era heritage, in favour of shipping in flippy Americans.
Amongst all that, however, I am convinced there is some good, maybe even something better. So, I'm making it an ambition for this year to check out as many independent promotions as possible and uncover the proverbial hidden gems. If I can find one or two to really get behind, I'll feel vindicated, and if I can turn others on to something new and exciting, I'll feel like a leader of men.
1 comment:
Great idea, and I hope you find that indy. I've been checking some indies as well, hoping to find a non-flippy non-hardcore company. The ones I do find don't seem to have wrestlers who have that great a looking offense. They go for that kind of WWE style, which is kind of refreshing for an indy, but they don't have the showmanship to pull it off completely. It's like they watch old tapes and lay the match out in that style, but they move from section to section with out making you care about it. Kind of like a spotfest with out the 450s.
Post a Comment