BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) LIFE LONG GRUDGES
There are points in a wrestler’s career when a feud gets to heated that fans just automatically assume they’ll still hate each other years down the line. It’s cool that we connect to a rivalry so much that it becomes and implanted impulse. If you see Hogan and Flair in the ring you always expect one to attack the other. If Vince and Austin are ever in the ring together, under ANY circumstance it would be expected to see Austin drop a Stunner on him. There is a level of mutual respect, but as a fan you anticipate the hate.
(THREE) LOGOS
This is probably something only the artsy marks get obsessive about, but I’m one of those people. As a kid I’d find myself trying to draw the logos of my favorite wrestlers myself. There is just something awesome about the branding of the wrestlers. Sometimes the branding will catch on in a huge way like an nWo, DX, 3:16, and all of those big big ones. Even the logos of those who don’t catch on are memorable. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always paid a lot of attention to the logos of wrestling.
(TWO) FOREIGN STYLES
As a child I learned more about foreign culture from wrestling than probably anywhere. It was bad stuff to learn. It was all stereotypes and horrible characterizations. As I got a little older that expanded to learning through the real foreign wrestlers like Muta, Liger, Regal, Rey Mysterio, and even the Canadians. I didn’t neglect my studies in school at all, but I know more about Canada based on professional wrestling than what Indiana public schools taught me my entire schooling.
(ONE) SURPRISE PINS
It can’t happen all the time, but when it does it’s always a fun surprise. Wrestling has a common trend of finishing matches the same way. It’s almost always a big finishing move and then the dude gets the pin. Sometimes they’ll stall it for dramatic effect, but it’s almost always like this. Occasionally a pin will come out of nowhere. Be a “school boy” or a “small package”, a wrestler will quickly get the pin and stun the opponent, announcer, crowd, and often themselves. In my mind, the “go-to” surprise pin was when 1-2-3 Kid getting the pin on Razor Ramon but there are plenty others.
|
