We can all debate until we’re blue in the face surrounding what the best part of a wrestling match is or what makes a given match better than another.
It can be the physicality, the moves, false finishes, mat wrestling, brawling, hardcore, high flying, and the list can go on and on. The one constant that should be prevalent on all lists though is the story. The story between characters or wrestlers is the reason a match is taking place. That reason is the single most important ingredient to any match as it’s the way in which the audience and crowd identifies with and buys into what is taking place and the story being told inside the squared circle. This is always important but it’s especially important now as influxes of talent are being called up the WWE main roster from NXT. They need to be called up with a purpose and the WWE can forget that at times. That purpose is the story.
Let’s use the Divas Revolution as an example. We’ve discussed this in great detail on my PWP Radio show ‘The Bottom Line”. For years and years, the WWE Universe has been pining away for women’s wrestling that actually mattered. NXT began gaining a lot of steam and momentum and a major reason for that were the women of NXT putting on main event caliber matches week in, week out, and on big stages like the NXT Takeover events on the WWE Network.
This momentum generated even more of a yearning for women’s wrestling which the WWE finally saw growing and acted on it with a very big Monday Night Raw segment. The Divas Revolution. On the surface it sounded amazing. Stephanie McMahon in the ring bringing out the big new shiny guns and infusing the WWE Divas division with the top NXT women who were driving the interest in women’s wrestling from the beginning. Divas interest was at an all-time high and they were off to the races.
What followed was a multitude of tag matches, triple threat matches, and a constant focus on the three new teams of Divas; Team BAD (Sasha Banks, Naomi, and Tamina), Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch), and Team Bella (Divas Champion Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Foxx). Raw shows, Battleground, and Summerslam all came and went and even though throughout that time the new Divas put on decent physical matches in the ring with a great deal more time than usual, people started to lose interest and they continue to lose interest to this day. Fans even began chanting for CM Punk and Brock Lesnar during Divas matches. A lame and unfortunate ode to 2013.
Now, first things first. Those people who were rudely chanting during those matches need to check their own egos and just plain stop. I’m sure they are the same people that were craving more women’s wrestling and now they have it, they should work with the performers and do their part to help the matches by paying attention or at least pretend like they are. At the VERY least, be respectful. It’s the decent human thing to do.
That said, there is a reason why these women are getting this reaction and it’s simply unacceptable. There is no story. Zip, zilch, nada. There is no story to this Divas Revolution other than the fact that they are being featured more. That is a company push, and a smart one at that, but it’s not the kind of story that is going to make wrestling fans invested in these women and what they are doing in the ring. Like I said, the matches themselves have been really solid.
The women have had ample time to “go” in the ring, but without a reason for being there, fans are left wondering why? Why is Charlotte fighting with Sasha and Tamina? Why is Becky Lynch in a match with Brie Bella? The why is what makes wrestling great and its being completely left out. For the love of all that is good and pure, give these women a story. Give them a reason. They each have personalities that are dying to come out so give them an opportunity to harness those personalities and their matches will become even better.
Look no further than the NXT Women’s Championship match at the latest NXT Takeover event in Brooklyn. Bayley vs. Sasha banks in front of a capacity crowd in a smark smart wrestling city of New York. From an in-ring perspective, this match was one for the ages. It truly had it all. False finishes, high risk moves, dramatic submission holds, and much more. The best thing that this match had though was its story. It was a simple one, but it was one that people identified with.
That Brooklyn audience connected with the fact that babyface Bayley had opportunity after opportunity at the Women’s Championship and came up short each time. Put that babyface against an ego-maniac like Sasha Banks and we as fans bought it even more. After weeks of building on that simple story, by the time the performers entered the ring we were all in and wanted to see Bayley finally beat her past and win the NXT Women’s Champion.
This match alone with no story certainly was a good one. But it was the story and the drama that the story created that took it to the next level and made it a great match. In addition to that, it solidified both women as stars due to the fact that people now after watching the match are more connected to them than ever. All of this was accomplished by allowing the performers to tell a story that gave people a reason to care.
The WWE needs to give that reason to us now with the Divas Revolution. How? IT’S THAT THING CALLED THE DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP! This is the no brainer place to start. “Nikki, you have the title and that title means you are the best. I’m actually the best and will beat you for the title”. Done. That is one option, but there are countless others. Once this happens, fans will connect with these performers in a different way than they are now and the Divas Revolution will mean more, generate more interest, make the company more money, create new fans, and provide a return on all the time that’s being allocated for it.
This is important to address now because it won’t just be divas being called up in bunches. Eventually it will be a number of male NXT Superstars that will flounder unless they are given a reason for the fans to buy in. The good technical matches that they could have will only get them so far.
Look at the Attitude Era of wrestling. This era is considered by most to be the best and most profitable era in wrestling history. During this time, five star matches on Raw simply didn’t happen each week. Raw was only two hours long and they didn’t have enough TV time to give out two 20 minute matches each week. That didn’t matter though because the stories that were going on in the low card, mid card, and main event were all riveting pieces that drove interest and activity. People would watch each week, become so invested in the stories, and ultimately buy the PPV to finally see the 20 minute matches.
We all love great technical wrestling matches. Seeing that art take place in a ring in front of thousands of people I’d imagine is a main reason why we’ve all become fans of this business. I’d venture to guess though that every single technical wrestling match that fans would say is “the best ever” had a tremendous back story to it as well. Savage/Steamboat. Austin/Hart. Joe/Punk. Flair/Steamboat. HBK/Undertaker. All amazing matches. All amazing stories too. Without the stories though, these matches simply wouldn’t mean as much to us.
Remember that, WWE.