Wacky Wrestling Theory 4.24.08: Chasing the Title

Posted by Jake Chambers on 04.24.2008

Where I argue against the 'title chase' storyline and suggest a new way to enhance this stale pro-wrestling stereotype.

Whenever online fans and critics dislike the stories and champions in their favorite pro-wrestling company, I often read comments and editorials espousing the concept of ‘the title chase' as the most efficient way to fix the direction of the show. ‘The chase' is the struggle for the fan favorite or good guy character to fight through a number of obstacles or gimmicks on the way to unseating a hated, evil champion. This concept has become a staple in fan logic that somehow guarantees a pro-wrestling company will be able to build excitement for a storyline, create new or stronger stars, and do bigger business. I believe that ‘the chase' is a horrible cliché and is not an effective long-term format for entertaining pro-wrestling.

The ‘title chase' storyline is very predictable. In the world of movies or novels, a common storytelling climax, purge and conclusion may work repeatedly on an audience, but the pro-wrestling narrative universe does not have a beginning and an end like those genres. Wrestling is a quasi-real, ongoing meta-serial and thus ‘the chase' would work best in theory only if the hero could pursue the title forever. If not, what is the now ‘strong' hero supposed to do once they have won the title? The hero's fulfillment of ‘the chase' gives the audience a perfect queue to tune out. How is that better for business? If there is no ongoing storyline planned to continue the momentum of ‘the chase' then the formula is naïve at best.

Before I get to what is surely to be considered a very wacky theory, I would like to examine the stereotypical deficiencies of the ‘title chase' scenario. To avoid being redundant I will call upon an often scrutinized period of the seemingly critic proof Ring of Honor.

In June 2006, Homicide was ‘screwed' out of a victory against longstanding ROH champion Bryan Danielson. In order to secure another title shot, Homicide then had to go through a number of trials before winning the title from Danielson at the final show of the year. The fans were then conditioned to accept that a long drawn out ‘chase' was representational of the ROH Title. Yet after only a few defenses, Homicide was quickly put into a no-win situation against Takeshi Morishima, whose irrationally gifted title shot, massive size and international reputation made his victory a foregone conclusion. I may be contradicting myself here by criticizing a chase-less title switch, but all I see are two incredibly predictable title changes that make ROH look like they cannot create surprise with their World Title. The message is being sent out that they want to quickly jump back into the ‘chase' format, which is exactly what they did by setting up Nigel McGuiness as the new hero pursuing the title. The biggest damage was then done to all other title matches in between, even challenges from stars like Bryan Danielson become moot points because a victory by him, or others, would destroy the catharsis hinted towards with the underlying McGuiness ‘chase' scenario. The reliance on the ‘Road to Homicide' storyline hurt the organic flow of the ROH narrative and stained the Morishima title reign before it even started. Currently, ROH has again seemingly turtled back into the safe ‘chase' scenarios of the past with Nigel McGuiness having illogically morphed into a villain champion, in spite of the heroic status he'd struggled so hard to justify.

The harm of the ‘chase' is apparent here because it created a culture of predictability in the main event scene. Can it be a coincidence that fan interest and possibly business took a downturn in ROH after this chase? What about the likely damage caused on an even bigger scale by the WCW Title chases by Sting and Goldberg? Was there a trickle down effect into the creative (and financial) bankruptcy of that entire company? It is difficult to criticize ROH since the quality of their in-ring product is so fantastic, especially in comparison to WCW, yet the storylines in ROH are definitely deeply rooted in the old fashioned mentality of ‘the chase.' Even in the sophisticated landscape of ROH there can be little proof of the success of ‘chase' storylines, so I wonder why fans still latch onto this theory with such vigor?

Fans may preach the gospel of ‘the chase' because it is very old school and thus promoted by territory bookers or wrestlers from the past, the people who may not be successful in the modern climate of pro-wrestling business and use easily accessible outlets, such as online forums or shoot interviews, in order to promote their small ventures. Authoritative as these experts may sound, their theories don't mesh with the tight-lipped multi-million dollar success of the McMahon machine (or even the little TNA that could) that has constantly developed risky and innovative models of storytelling in the era of network television, online traffic, and monthly pay-per-view. Another reason why I think many fans insist on the predominance of ‘the chase' is because it's easy. Thinking up something that's been done thousands of times in the past really can't be that difficult. Some fans take up the criticism of pro-wrestling as a hobby, and more power to them, but when you are a critic and not a creator there is no pressure to produce a million dollar theory. When critics don't subjectively like a certain trend they start to wonder why these stupid pro-wrestling companies aren't following a foolproof formula, but that's kind of like asking why a Major League Baseball pitcher doesn't just keep throwing fastballs down the middle of the plate. Sure, everyone wants to see a good guy catch and beat up a bad guy, it's simple cartoon stuff and it can work, but it does not have to be the premiere storyline in a pro-wrestling company's creative arsenal.

That being said, if fans still want to promote the ‘title chase' then I have a theory for a way to liven up this stereotypical program: have the challenger chase the champion. Literally… on foot. Simple enough. It may sound ridiculous, but bear with me.

‘Chase' scenarios, which take over six months to apex, can slap you with their obviousness. Yet this is a delicate point to criticize because ‘the chase' storyline is literally at the crux of pro-wrestling's overlap between fiction and reality. If this is a story, then a ‘chase' is fine, but fans also want to be fooled into thinking things are real and thus in reality no fight or conflict can end so tidily. How can you suggest a new layer to this scenario without confusing the audience or infuriating the critics?

Sometimes an action movie will attempt to make the fight scenes as realistic as possible or other times they exaggerate physics in order to supply a unique, heightened experience. In the case of pro-wrestling, since it's impossible to defy physics on stage, a touch of reality would be a welcome change. Wrestlers already do their own stunts. Pro-wrestling has previously gone through a phase of excessive weaponry and thus hard hits to the head or falling from tall heights does not have the same effect it once had on the audience. Having the wrestlers really fight would destroy the script that is necessary to drive the narrative of the overall program, and also has the potential to be quite dull. A full-out foot chase is something used in action movies that is very realistic and entertaining. ‘Chasing' a champion is obviously what a challenger does, so I think actual running could be imported effectively into pro-wrestling.

Movies like Bad Boys, Point Break, Mission Impossible III, and Casino Royale, have all been memorable for their classic foot chase scenes. What makes these chases so compelling is that the actors are literally running as fast as they can. You can see it on their faces; it's real. Acting like a cool dude or a badass cop, no matter how convincing, we all know it's just a facade. Watching the actors run at full speed is an intense experience that transcends the fictional barrier through pure physical exertion. Pro-wrestling matches have predetermined winners, as much as we'd like to suspend our disbelief we know it's beyond an individual wrestlers' control whether or not they win a match, but having two wrestlers race could be a bit more deceiving to the eye and mind. So what could be wrong with adding something to the pro-wrestling pantheon that masks the predictability with some real adrenaline?

I'm not suggesting that the entire outcome of a title chase come down to a race, just that defeating the champion in one foot race be a qualification for actually getting a title shot. There could be a straight 100-200 meter track set up in the parking lot, or possibly have the wrestlers race to get to the ring first. Give the champion a five second head start and if the challenger can catch him or her, or beat them to the finish line, then they can have a match for the championship. These foot races wouldn't be pretty, since these are mostly 200+ pound men without the magic of Hollywood to gloss them over (and even with it, that didn't help Stone Cold from looking like a cripple when he ran in ‘The Condemned'). As long as we believe that the wrestlers truly are running as fast as they can then there would be excitement in this wacky scenario, as stupid as it sounds it may be just as satisfying as the fulfillment of any ‘chase' scenario I've ever witnessed, and also a de facto solution to some of pro-wrestling's other problems.

You may be saying, "this is a stupid theory because only the small, fast guys would be challenging for the World Titles." I'd respond that this just means pro-wrestling can seriously install something that I think most people would enjoy, especially the online wrestling fans, proper weight limit divisions. Someone like Paul London who could most likely outrun Triple H would not be allowed that opportunity since he's in a lower weight class. A ‘chase' prerequisite would beneficially legitimize lighter weight divisions and therefore a natural cruiserweight like Rey Mysterio would no longer aspire to escape the stigma of this division because he would have no other choice. "But what about Mysterio's surgically repaired knees, or other wrestler injuries?" Great! This means the wrestlers' return would eventually be all the more triumphant because they would have to beat the champion in a realistic foot race. The ‘comeback' video package, with the slow motion injury replay, heartbreaking hospital footage, weight training, and dramatic poses, has become monotonous. If the returning wrestler could actual gut out a foot chase, it would be an impressive feat, and definitely something that would astound the fans and prove to them that the wrestler is back and just as good as ever.

I think having a real chase to decide title contention would also help to solve two major problems in pro-wrestling: over the hill champions and giants that never dominate. In the first case, when a wrestler is past their physical prime it becomes hard to accept them as championship material, yet that hasn't stopped some pro-wrestling companies from courting popularity by using these established stars. Real chases would have saved the audience from some horrible main events during the nWo era WCW. And in the case of giant wrestlers, sometimes it can seem pretty ridiculous that anyone could ever beat the likes of the Big Show or the Great Khali. These giants are promoted as absolutely unstoppable and unpinnable, but of course they rarely end up with long, dominating title reigns due to their lackluster match output. If they needed to win a race to get a title shot, it would neatly explain why they never become champions. In both cases, I think there is real entertainment value in having older or massive wrestlers chasing and losing against the traditional champions, and their process of getting in shape and trying again would be highly watchable. Not only that, but it could open up serious justification for seniors and super heavyweight divisions. Seeing Big Daddy V and Khali sprinting against each other at their top speeds would be more entertaining to me than any kind of match they could have together.

Before critics lambaste my theory, try thinking about why ladder matches are so beloved. Maybe fans just like the fact that a ladder is a prop for wrestlers to fall from big heights, and that's simple and acceptable, but I think it could be a smidgen more sophisticated than that. What may make the ladder match so interesting to the audience is the visual of seeing wrestlers struggle to get to the title first. As they literally ‘race' each other to get to a ladder, or to get up the ladder, you may feel an excitement in the pit of your stomach that would be no different from watching a group of runners approaching a race finish line. There is no referee, no finishing move, no storyline needed, just a trimmed down spectacle of wrestlers trying to be the first to get to the end.

So I want to take that excitement factor from the ‘chase' in a ladder match, isolate it and present it as a serious prerequisite for title contention in the form of a race. I'm not implying that foot races could replace traditional storytelling, only that it may be one way to freshen up the clichés of pro-wrestling that lead to such predictable outcomes. Even if the traditional chase scenario remains in place, and if the predictability of the eventual winner of the feud is still obvious, this foot chase idea can give a new exhilaration to the way conflicts are decided. It is like having a ranking system hidden inside a new athletic storytelling device.

Well, no matter what wacky theory I present, as long as the Internet abounds I'm sure that ‘the chase' will continue to be in vogue with online critics, but don't be so sure that it's the answer to all the pro-wrestling world's problems. Critics may find it easy to support old lines of thinking but I like to think that there are creative options out there. The primal image of people running, with all their might, could just as effectively convey the message of conflict as any contrived, drawn-out storyline. That's just my wacky theory, but maybe I'm wrong and we should just go back to watching the same thing over and over. You tell me.