The Importance of...11.21.08: Diverse Wrestling Styles

Posted by Mike Chin on 11.21.2008

A look at wrestling styles from around the world, plus thoughts on Survivor Series.

Chinsurance Policy
Quick notes on the past week in wrestling

-Survivor Series holds a certain appeal to me, as a traditional event. As a child, my family never ordered PPVs, but I can I still remember growing up, sitting by the TV, listening to the sound of PPVs and trying to see what I could through the scrambled signals, back in the days when you could take in a PPV that way. Survivor Series was one of my favorite shows, for the unique team concept, and because, occurring the day before or on Thanksgiving, it was a show I could stay up until the end of, because there would be no school the next day. Ah, childhood.

It's this nostalgia that has actually tempted me to order Survivor Series this year, and yet I can't quite bring myself to do it. Granted, it's not a bad card. And yet, there's something missing. I'm particularly disappointed by the way in which the elimination tags took shape. They all just seem so thrown together—teams designed to include guys from all three brands, and get face time for all the guys who need it, without any rhyme or reason to the storyline or why these guys would form teams. It's sad when the most sensibly booked match is the Divas one—a shallow revisitation of the 2005 brand warfare storyline.

-Others have already said, but I'd like to reinforce the point that the CM Punk-Randy Orton program should not be over. These guys are two young lions, with a very natural reason to feud, and the beginnings of some chemistry both on the mic and in the ring. Some better showings against Orton would really solidify Punk's place in the main event scene. What's more, the feud is still relatively fresh one for Orton, who doesn't have a wealth of new opponents to take on, who are close to his level. Now, what we can't see is another one-on-one match between the two given away on free TV anytime soon. What I hope to see is some solid build, leading to a true PPV showdown at the Royal Rumble, No Way Out or even Wrestlemania.

On to our regular column...

Before I begin this column, I'd like to issue a public note of thanks to regular reader Davis for suggesting the topic of this column, way back in the summer. I didn't forget, Davis, but did have a schedule of columns in place that I wanted to get through. The time has now come.

To the uninitiated—the non-wrestling fans—wrestling is what it is: performers pretending to beat each other up, within the context of ongoing storylines. To the more initiated—us smarks—wrestling commands some more respect, given the wear and tear these individuals go through. In other words, as much as the outcomes of wrestling matches are predetermined, the guys really are getting beat up pretty badly. If you take a look one degree closer, you can observe the many different styles that are at play in professional wrestling, and what's more interesting is how different styles have developed out of different geographic regions. This week, we take a look at the importance of diverse wrestling styles.

Mexican wrestling, known as lucha libre has developed increasing prominence in the US consciousness since the AAA PPV When Worlds Collide hit the States with WCW backing in 1994. This paved the way for a number of Mexican performers to surface in WCW and, subsequently, other American promotions throughout the latter half of the nineties. Lucha libre is largely defined by the high-flying and fast-paced nature of the action, personified by performers like The Guerreros and Rey Mysterio. Much of today's most innovative high flying action can be traced back to Mexican roots. Another hallmark of Mexican wrestling is use of masks. Where plain colored masks originally served the function of distinguishing one performer from another, the masks have grown more complex over time, and remained sacred to the business—a source of identity and pride for the stars, rather than a simple source of mystery, which has been the typical function of masks in American wrestling. Lastly, lucha libre is defined by placing tremendous weight on tag team wrestling, which stands out a different from the American style, in that tags are typically not necessary—a performer need only exit the ring to allow a teammate to enter.

Lucha libre carried over as one of the three major branches of Japanese wrestling, out of which many remarkable lightweight wrestlers emerged, Jushin Liger perhaps most prominently to American fans. The second major branch, though, would be garbage wrestling. It would be easy to translate this branch of performance what Americans think of as hardcore wrestling, but in reality, the mainstream American product generally pales in comparison. The Japanese have long been watching Death Matches complete with fire, broken glass, and literal explosions. Think live action movies without the special effects or stunt doubles, and you're starting to get the picture. From there, there are the strong style or shoot matches, featuring no-frills legitimately hard hitting action, that sometimes even veers into the realm of legitimate, unplanned fights. These styles have bled into one another a bit (no pun intended) with joint shows and combined products in relatively recent times.

Wrestling in the United Kingdom has its roots in amateur-style wrestling, with men like George Hakenschmidt and Tom Cannon making what was, at the time, a much more subtle jump between the amateur and pro ranks. Wrestling in the UK has had its ups and downs when it comes to popularity and the scope and accessibility of the promotions. Today, the simply named British Wrestling goes by the simple slogan of "We wrestle!" which is demonstrative of the back to basics style the promotion puts forth, emphasizing technical wrestling and the application of holds.

Through all of these different wrestling styles based upon different regions—of which I've only begun to scratch the surface—the USA has represented a bit of a melting pot of styles. This is, in part, due to the regionalized nature from which wrestling emerged—the flashy stars of New York (WWWF/WWF/WWE), the harder hitting, more basic performers to the southeast (NWA/WCW), the fast-paced and episodic action of the mid-south, and so on. Wrestling in America, on one hand, grew more homogenized as Vince McMahon bought out or out-competed so much of the competition, to break down territories in favor of a truly national promotion. However, the domination of one powerhouse also led to some further diversification—most prominently, the rise of hardcore in ECW, to be succeeded and compounded upon by promotions like CZW and countless indies.

With the end of ECW and the buy out of WCW, though, WWE took one step further in the name of unification. Where, in its initial rise in the eighties, the WWF took stars from everywhere and dumbed them down to cartoon characters, ready for mass consumption, in dominating the wrestling scene today, WWE has grown far more open-minded. While the company may not go as hardcore as garbage wrestling enthusiasts would like, the company does feature its share of wild, no DQ action in street fights, Hell in the Cell matches, and ladder matches. What's more the company employs competitors from many different areas—no-nonsense Europeans like William Regal and Fit Finlay, luchadores like Rey Mysterio and Super Crazy, men like Umaga who took time to improve upon and hone their hard hitting style in Japan. Perhaps most impressive of all are stars like Chris Jericho and—for all the baggage he justly carries with him—Chris Benoit, who legitimately traveled the world, assimilating the best of high-flying, hard-hitting, scientific, and brawling wrestling styles to emerge as diversely-skilled, truly brilliant performers.

With the passage of time, wrestling, like the rest of the world, has grown both more diverse and more unified. The world is a smaller place, and movement of talent has grown easier, and more normalized between different areas of the world. Regardless, the unique tradition of wrestling in different parts of the world remains something worth celebrating, and something of the utmost importance.

That's all for this column. Next week, we take a look at the importance of indy wrestling. See you in seven.