Paul Wight thinks too many wrestlers have stopped wrestling for the people in the arena and started wrestling for the clip that’s going to end up on social media. According to the WWE and AEW veteran, chasing viral moments has replaced one of the most important parts of the business—telling a complete story.
While appearing on Planet Tyrus, Wight said modern wrestling has become obsessed with creating GIFs, highlight reels and viral videos instead of making fans emotionally invest from bell to bell. He explained that too many wrestlers now hit a big move, stop, pose for the crowd and wait for validation instead of letting the match naturally flow. That philosophy, Wight said, is disappearing.
“Everybody wants to slam a giant. Everybody wants to be everybody wants to do this that and the other and then after a while it’s like you know what I learned in my psychology is I can sell anything it’s how I respond that makes the difference and if you’re not closing I will… Jerry ‘The King’ Ross was always like, ‘If you’re not a foot from them I’m not interested in your match.’ Yeah, and once you look away… like I tell… like I hate the new… I don’t hate it. Times change. I hate change a lot. But now it’s become everything is driven for social media, for looks, for likes, for short videos, not telling the complete story because it’s one move. Look at the crowd. One move. ‘Look at that. Look at me. Acknowledge me.’ If I’m a heel, ‘Hey, boo me.’ If I’m a babyface, ‘Oh hey, cheer me.'”
For Wight, that’s the biggest difference between wrestling then and now. He believes the reaction to a move has always mattered more than the move itself, but too many performers are now thinking about what will look good online instead of what makes sense inside the match.
That led the conversation into another topic Wight believes permanently changed wrestling—the line between heroes and villains. Rather than blaming today’s wrestlers, Wight argued the shift really started during wrestling’s hottest boom period.
“I blame Stone Cold for killing heels because he was supposed to be the bad guy, but kicking your boss’s ass, he touched the hearts and minds of every person.”
Almost immediately, though, Wight admitted Steve Austin wasn’t the only reason wrestling evolved that way.
“But here’s the thing, he had to because if you go back, the nWo kind of ruined everything for babyfaces.”
According to Wight, once villains became cooler than the good guys, wrestling psychology changed forever.
“When the guy who’s doing all the dirty things is also cooler than you… Ricky Steamboat, who I love to death, all of a sudden isn’t as cool. Ricky’s tremendous, but he’s not as cool as the guy that has that raspy voice, drinks beer, and says, ‘I’ll stomp a mudhole in your ass and walk it dry.’ And he’s given the opportunity to back it up and do it consistently.”
Wight isn’t calling for wrestling to go backwards, and he knows the business has to evolve. But if there’s one thing he wishes today’s generation would bring back, it’s making fans remember the match, not just the ten-second clip that ends up going viral after it’s over.
Do you agree with Paul Wight that social media has changed wrestling for the worse, or is today’s style simply the natural evolution of the business? Let us know in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
