killeroflegends

I know I have been saying that the wrestling style of some divas is too spotty, while other women seem to represent the style they use. I know that these terms may be vague. People who actually read my writing regularly may not understand what I mean. That is why I am taking this time to explain it using examples from both male and female wrestlers.

First of all, when I use the word “spotty”, I am not referring to “spot monkeys” or wrestlers who mainly only do moves to garner top responses, but they may rarely actually do much in terms of other styles of offense. That is a different issue for debate. When I use that word, I am think mainly of an imaginary board of various types of wrestling styles, including technical, submission, high-risk, power, brawling, and a few others, and a wrestler may just take one move from each area, and then say he represents that style. Maybe he does, but not really. Examples will help me explain it better.

Take The Rock, the guy who called himself “The Great One” during his WWE run. Was he really a great wrestler? Look beyond the hype, his charisma, and his good ring psychology, and you may see he was not. The Rock Bottom is not really a technical wrestling move. Many of his other moves were simplistic, such as his DDT, but he backed them up with that electrifying energy to make it seem more. He used the Sharpshooter, but that hardly makes him a great submission wrestler. He was never known for taking risks by going high. The People’s Elbow is just an elbow drop that follows a dance. The guy just picked out a set of moves and never really had a mastery of an offensive style to compliment it with. He did, as I said before, have that ring psychology to help him even make basic moves and counters seem so much more.

Look at a number of wrestlers who go to the top rope just to do an elbow drop. There is a list of wrestlers who only did that in terms of high-risk, but is it fair to say that these guys are representative of a high-risk style? It would be easier to say that they just mastered a spot from that department, not that they really trained to wrestle that style. Rob Conway fits in this category. If you do not remember him, there is also Lance (Garrison) Cade.

Let me turn to some wrestlers who I think are representative of a style. I have to mention Rob Van Dam right away. Risk-taker? Yes, he was. He had multiple high-risk moves and variations on how and where he can hit them from. Frog splash? Where do you want it from, off the top rope or from the ring apron? He also had a great agility that he utilized to hit such moves as Rolling Thunder, which he also had more than one variation of. Rob Van Dam is also representative of a good martial-arts training. He has those “educated feet”, as they always used to say. And he really could pull off various kicks from all over the place. He was definitely representative of these styles. I did not mention grappling, but the guy still had a few moves of that in him too. It is not what he is known for, but it is there.

Staying on the similar theme, look at Rey Mysterio. His style is definitely unique. You do not see him trying to lock in STFs or countering a Boston Crab into a Crippler Crossface. You do not see him picking his opponent up for a running powerslam (even if he could). He focuses on high-risk moves. He can springboard off the ropes to hit a number of moves. And I want to make a distinction between high-risk moves and moves of agility here. Mysterio is an awesome flier, but do you consider moves like the 6-1-9 or countering when an opponent lifts him up into a bulldog as high-risk moves? High-risk moves are usually associated with flying off the ropes or ring apron. That is why I classify these other moves as making Mysterio representative of agility as a style of offense. He even makes countering a style in itself, representing that as well.

I want to mention Chris Masters. The guy had the Masterlock, but that does not make him representative of submission wrestling. Nevertheless, the move focused really on strength. Look back at much of this guy’s work in the WWE. That is what he is representative of, power offense. His submission was just a spot he chose to highlight the power more than his actual submission prowess.

JBL, “The Wrestling God”, is a horrible wrestler in terms of pure-technical wrestling. He can try to grapple, but it usually looks obvious that his opponent in giving JBL the time and chance to do it. What is great about JBL? He is strong. More importantly, he represents brawling as a style. Watch this guy in a hardcore environment. That is where his punches, big boots, and few power moves shine the most. Incidentally, I mentioned his big boots. He can do a kick, but does that mean he is really representative of martial-art styles, like RVD? I will not even answer that.

Lastly, for the sake of naming someone who represents good technical ability, I have to mention Kurt Angle. Those gold medals were not handed to him for just showing up, he earned them. He has a great grappling style. He can turn that into a great submission mix. He was also strong, and he did have that moonsault, but I would not say he represented power wrestling as well as Mark Henry, or that he was a risk-taker like Evan Bourne. In terms of those styles, he could be seen as spotty, but he is still representative of real, technical, grappling wrestling.

Moving onto the women, I have said that I was never impressed by Trish’s style, and now Maryse’s style, because it was spotty. Trying to define Trish’s style is not something I can do easily. She was solid, I am not saying otherwise, but what style did she really represent? Trish used the Sharpshooter for her retirement match, does that mean she is a submission expert? No. She had a kick, but as in the case of JBL, one kick does not do it. Even I can do a somewhat impressive kick, does that mean I am the next Bruce Lee? I have never trained to fight. Can you really argue she was a great technical wrestler? No. She showed agility here and there, but she did not really take it to an impressive level as others. She never made countering a style in itself. That Matrix move may look impressive, but it is only one counter and showed no real nimbleness. To put it flatly, and as I have said before, Trish just seemed spotty. She did a wide range of moves, but she never seemed to master any style for my tastes. Now Maryse is following a similar path, but I am thinking it is easier to compare her to The Rock, which I am basing on what I have seen from her so far. She has a range of moves in her arsenal, but it is really her ring psychology that is the draw in her wrestling style, not focusing on mastering a specific style.

There are women I feel represent a style. Natalya is definitely known for her technical style. Lita is known for representing the high-risk style. Mickie James, in my eyes at least, seems to represent a great style of agility. She has more than one variation of the head-scissors, can turn a simple clothesline or flying forearm into a high-impact move by leaving her feet, and has pulled of a number of other impressive situations in the ring. Like Rey Mysterio, Mickie seems to make countering a style in itself, not to the level of Mysterio of course. Unlike Trish Stratus, Mickie James has a finisher kick and a number of other kicks. I have seen her get out of a lot of situations with a good use of her legs. She can use those kicks in helping her counter. Mickie James also takes risks in the ring. In the WWE, I have seen her go up and use dropkicks, crossbodies, and the move we see regularly, the Lou Thez Press. Why does Mickie only use that move regularly now? It can be partly her choice, but also partly the WWE’s treatment of the women that typically holds them down. But that does not take away from Mickie still taking a risk there. She may not be walking well after she retires after those hard bumps on her legs. What makes me still say Mickie is representative of high-risk as a style? She does not have only one way to hit you with the Lou Thez Press. It can come off the top rope or come running off the apron to the outside. There is also further innovation in it that Mickie can follow through with the move by punching away at her opponent, which is brawling, or turning it right into a pinning predicament, which is grappling. Mickie is also representative of grappling. She has not had a match to shine in a while, but her regular offense consists of a few actual wrestling moves, such as her DDT and neckbreaker, as well as her kicks, counters, moves of agility, and so on. I have seen her hit fisherman’s suplexes on occasion in the WWE, lock in half-Boston Crabs, and do other actual grappling moves. Despite the fact that she does use that submission, I will not say she represents that style. I will also not say she represents a style focusing on power, although she is not the weakest diva despite her height. I have seen her lift a few women up. In the end, I can actually associate styles with Mickie James and a few other divas.

What is this distinction I am making really about? If you have a philosophical mind, consider the concept of “being” vs. “belonging”. I can be a guy that has been to every country in the world, but to which of them do I actually belong? Which do I really represent? Turn that back here now. Is a wrestler’s style really representative of an offensive style? Did they take time to actually try to train in a style, or did they just pick and choose a few spots from everything? I find the person who focuses on honing their talent a little more impressive. And it is not impossible to master more than one style. Look at Rob Van Dam. At the same time, just because you master a style, it is not necessarily bad if you sometimes use a move outside that style. Kurt Angle is a technical wrestler, he has mastered that very well, but still pushes himself further with a high-risk spot here and there. In the case of Trish Stratus, what style did she really master before deciding on picking up the Sharpshooter? I also want to note that I have tried to focus my discussion on only things the wrestlers have done in the WWE. Outside of the WWE, where women are treated better for one thing, these people may be able to do a lot more and actually refine their skills in certain styles instead of being spotty. I know for a fact that Mickie James did a lot more high-risk moves in the indies. Finally, I did not form this distinction just to praise some and bash others. This is just one of the standards I use in judging wrestlers.

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