Opinion: Is In-Ring Psychology & Selling Being Forgotten In Pro Wrestling?

Over the weekend, Vader created an interesting debate by attacking the Super Juniors match between Ricochet and Will Ospreay.

The match was a twenty minute non-stop spotfest that was either highly entertaining, fast paced, and fun for you, or it was an embarrassment to the future of pro wrestling if you think like Vader.

The real issue is about selling and telling a story of a match. The ultimate question is if today’s matches are too choreographed, lack story, and the psychology that old legends complain about today.

Everything after this paragraph is my opinion, and in no way is my opinion intended to offend anyone who given their blood, sweat, and tears for this business. I truly respect the effort, and I really appreciate it.

Having said that, ALL things evolve. In my opinion, Vader scolding two extremely athletic guys, who are two of the most impressive athletes in the entire world, for having an insanely entertaining match is unfair.

I understand where he is coming from, and in-ring psychology and selling is tremendously important to the ring and pivotal to many of the stories that are told in the ring even today.

However, what Ricochet and Will Ospreay accomplished over the weekend was a completely different style of in-ring storytelling that relied on athleticism and endurance to tell.

It was a perfect example of fast paced in-ring storytelling when “selling” would have slowed the match down and turned it into something completely different. That’s not the story those men wanted to tell.

This argument comes along every once in a while that a lot of Indy wrestling is just a “spotfest” of big moves that have no concrete story other than “can you top this?”

Frankly, that’s insulting to some of the best athletes in the industry. The point of the matches is to bring high impact and fast paced style that are a completely different style of in-ring product than what’s mainstream.

It’s like the difference between the next Marvel superhero movie and The Fast and the Furious movies. Few are going to argue that the Fast and the Furious movies are better than The Avengers movies, but it doesn’t stop people from liking fast car chases and The Rock.

We don’t have to choose because WWE is ultimately the Hollywood of the wrestling industry. Independent films can make a splash, some money, and create careers, but a ton of talent does that to make it to the big time. That’s the difference between the Independents and Raw and SmackDown.

If Vader is that worried about the future of the business after Ospreay vs. Ricochet, he should watch more NXT. Those same guys he’s accusing of lacking psychology become stars in WWE developmental and learn how to do it the WWE way.

It’s really simple. If you want to watch meaningful action movies, watch Marvel superhero movies or Bourne movies. If you want popcorn fun, there are a million choices for that too.

Wrestling is the same thing. The day that everyone is wrestling the same style is the day the industry stops evolving into something new, and that is just unacceptable.

Simply start watching the right movies for your taste and start watching the wrestling that you want to see. There is plenty of room in the industry for both.

Do you think too many wrestling matches are lacking psychology?