Stories and Matches
A few weeks ago I tweeted out a #WrestlingQuestion As a wrestling fan would you choose a good story and an average match or a good match and an average story? Today I heard Jason Mann and Casey of The Hammer Dialectic talk about this question on the latest episode of Wrestlespective Radio. Casey said that this question is a false dichotomy. You can have both good stories and good matches.
He also said that you can have a good story just in a good match. His example of this was the matches of King of Trios 2012. He said at that show they told really good stories without words or outside acting. Everything was going on in the ring in the context of the match.
On some level he is right. A really good match can tell a story all by itself. But that is not a good match, it ls likely a great match. I think good matches do not reach the level of great matches. If you can tell a story to me about the wrestlers without me knowing anything about them, that is a great match.
I picked my words carefully when I sent out this tweet. Charles Barkley has a great quote "winning is the best deodorant". In wrestling you can say a great match is the best deodorant. It can also be said that a bad match can destroy any good story telling. A lot of the tweets I got back were about bad matches at the end of good stories.
If I did not have to limit my question to 140 characters, I might have been able to cover all this. When I think about this question I think about the idea of having a free afternoon with the time to watch on wrestling DVD. The one tells a good story, the other is full of good matches. I would take the DVD that tells a good story. My example of a good story with average matches is the story of Tommy Dreamer v. Raven.
I am not sure I have a great example of a good match that has an average story. My first thought is about a lot of those WCW Nitro Cruiser-weight watches. It got to the point where many of those matches told no story week to week. I am not sure Dolph Ziggler has told a good story yet. He has been in lots of good matches, but I am not sure they add up to anything yet.
He also said that you can have a good story just in a good match. His example of this was the matches of King of Trios 2012. He said at that show they told really good stories without words or outside acting. Everything was going on in the ring in the context of the match.
On some level he is right. A really good match can tell a story all by itself. But that is not a good match, it ls likely a great match. I think good matches do not reach the level of great matches. If you can tell a story to me about the wrestlers without me knowing anything about them, that is a great match.
I picked my words carefully when I sent out this tweet. Charles Barkley has a great quote "winning is the best deodorant". In wrestling you can say a great match is the best deodorant. It can also be said that a bad match can destroy any good story telling. A lot of the tweets I got back were about bad matches at the end of good stories.
If I did not have to limit my question to 140 characters, I might have been able to cover all this. When I think about this question I think about the idea of having a free afternoon with the time to watch on wrestling DVD. The one tells a good story, the other is full of good matches. I would take the DVD that tells a good story. My example of a good story with average matches is the story of Tommy Dreamer v. Raven.
I am not sure I have a great example of a good match that has an average story. My first thought is about a lot of those WCW Nitro Cruiser-weight watches. It got to the point where many of those matches told no story week to week. I am not sure Dolph Ziggler has told a good story yet. He has been in lots of good matches, but I am not sure they add up to anything yet.
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