Why I Love Wrestling 08.05.07: Big Match Feel

Ok, that sounded like a better opening in my head, but bear me out.

Boxing promotion is all about fanfare. The weigh-in. The press conference. The commercials. The nicknames. The match-up. The fight. There are major elements to every big time bout that help to pique a fan’s interest. Earlier this summer when Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather were preparing for their would-be sport-saving encounter, they took promotion to an even higher level with their four-week HBO reality series. The show documented the fighters’ training and personal lives, focusing on every ounce of drama that could be extracted by the cameras. Whether the show actually helped to increase the fight’s buyrate or increased boxing’s fanbase by any measurable amount is a matter of opinion, but it did do one thing exceedingly well: it helped to create a ‘big match feel’ for the fight.

Wrestling works in a similar fashion to boxing. Practically every big time main event in wrestling history has involved nicknames and commercials and interviews (wrestling’s version of the press conference), all meant to increase fan interest and help sell the eventual clash between the competitors.

However, the strange thing is that in all cases, that highest strata of interest, the ‘big match feel’, is nearly impossible to force. ‘Big match feel’ requires the confluence of good booking, the right fighters, the right timing, good peripherals (like an interesting press conference or great promo work), and most importantly zealous fan interest.

Wrestling history is overflowing with underwhelming main events. Remember Kane vs. Undertaker for the WWF Title with Steve Austin as the referee? How about Scott Steiner taking on Booker T in a steel cage? James Gibson vs. Homicide vs. Spanky, anyone? Jeff Jarrett facing off with Jeff Hardy on the first TNA monthly PPV? All were thought at the time to be big main events, all failed to capture the crowd’s imagination. Each match was promoted by their respective companies as a must-see match with major implications and yet each is all but forgotten today, mired in mediocrity or worse while other matches remain a part of every wrestling fan’s psyche.

Because who truly can forget Steve Austin passing out in Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania 13? Or Ric Flair rolling up Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title at Starrcade ’93? Or Chris Hero finally arriving in Ring of Honor to challenge Bryan Danielson? Or when TNA put Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels all in the ring together for the first time? Matches like those not only pay the bills for promotions of all sizes and styles, but help remind wrestling fans everywhere why they spend so much time and money watching and supporting the product.

Amongst wrestling fans, I have rarely if ever met one without a passionate defense for their chosen ‘favorite match’. Sometimes it’s a mid-card contest that first got them interested in a wrestler or a promotion, but most commonly it’s a big time main event that captured their imagination and allowed them to suspend their disbelief. Most of the time, their choice has as much to do with the story that was told as the actual in-ring performance of the competitors. That’s why there are so many fans that fondly remember Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior in Toronto.

Don’t get me wrong, there are almost countless examples of great wrestling contests that also had ‘big match feel’. Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi. Steve Austin vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania X-7. Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page at Halloween Havoc. Each had high expectations and met them head-on. But that’s the real challenge: dealing with the anticipation of greatness and then delivering.

In the end, what makes a wrestling match achieve that special ‘big match feel’ has as much to do with luck as it does with great planning and execution. Tremendous matches have taken place in front of unresponsive crowds, just as mediocre matches have been taken to heart by fans game for a special experience. The transcendent moments in wrestling have almost always come when the two come together, creating a special, unique atmosphere. I’m not sure if those moments are why other fans watch, but I’ll guarantee you right here that ‘big match feel’ is a big reason why I watch wrestling. It may not happen as often as I like, but it certainly happens more often than it does in boxing.

As and addendum, I want to note a trio of my favorite matches with ‘big match feel’. If you have the opportunity, please consider each of them having my highest recommendation.