Unpopular Wrestling Opinions

[Sheppy]

I don’t think it’s unpopular.

Steamboat/Savage from WM, if rewatched, probably doesn’t get the same love it did back then from the audience today.

wrestling is super cyclical and audience tastes change. I think very few matches from that time frame hold up to today’s audience as being on that level, especially with more people using Meltzer as a reference and his ridiculous 7 star ratings and whatnot.

Honestly, the only 5 star match of the 90’s for me was Bret/Owen at WM.

 

[ColePens]

Bret/Owen at SummerSlam 1994 was a godawful match.

No, honestly. When you have a cage match where the only way to win is "Escape", the match consists of mostly escape attempts.

And, frankly, that's why cage matches suck in general.

It's a good shout because cage matches are TERRIBLE as an adult but really fun as a kid. When I was a kid, every escape attempt I was on the edge of my seat. Now as an adult it's like sitting in a waiting room until you are called in.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Honestly, the only 5 star match of the 90’s for me was Bret/Owen at WM.

Taker/HBK HIAC still holds up imo, but it’s not the undisputed GOAT HIAC match and I’d be willing to make debates for Lesnar/Taker 2002 and, yes, Usos/New Day.

Steamboat/Savage wasn’t a 5-star match when I watched it again and that was back in like 2013 or 2014. Again, different eras and audience tastes.

 

[Sheppy]

Taker/HBK HIAC still holds up imo, but it’s not the undisputed GOAT HIAC match and I’d be willing to make debates for Lesnar/Taker 2002 and, yes, Usos/New Day.

Steamboat/Savage wasn’t a 5-star match when I watched it again and that was back in like 2013 or 2014. Again, different eras and audience tastes.

Actually yeah, Taker/HBK was probably a 5 star for me too. I haven’t watched it in a while, might pop it on. That match had everything.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Since I already mentioned it, I think Usos/New Day is one of the GOAT HIAC matches ever. The hate and rivalry that culminated in that match after months of wars that put the division back on the map, a feud that actually warranted HIAC in this era, the brutality and them trying to kill each other plus the innovative spots utilizing the cell rather than just ramming their opponents into it.

I think it was a perfect HIAC match imo and one of the GOATs with Taker/Lesnar I and Taker/HBK.

 

[Sheppy]

Taker/HBK
Taker/Lesnar
Taker/Mankind
Usos/New Day

 

[ColePens]

Not a popular opinion on a wrestling board but the only match i'd give more than 5 stars to is Taker/HBK WM25. I think it's the GOAT match and nothing is even close. It had entrances, stars, the biggest stage of them all, and the match was flawless. The story of a perfect match w/ HBK making 1 mistake is the ultimate story.

Flawless and perfect.

 

[JackSlater]

Not a popular opinion on a wrestling board but the only match i'd give more than 5 stars to is Taker/HBK WM25. I think it's the GOAT match and nothing is even close. It had entrances, stars, the biggest stage of them all, and the match was flawless. The story of a perfect match w/ HBK making 1 mistake is the ultimate story.

Flawless and perfect.

Great match.

A trio of opinions:

David Otunga was good in his on screen role circa 2012ish in the thermos era. Terrible wrestler and commentator, but good on screen performer nonetheless.

Jonathan Coachman was good as a heel and is very capable of being good on screen.

Byron Saxton is not nearly as bad as people think - at times he's decent. He's still a work in progress but I think there's potential there.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Not a popular opinion on a wrestling board but the only match i'd give more than 5 stars to is Taker/HBK WM25. I think it's the GOAT match and nothing is even close. It had entrances, stars, the biggest stage of them all, and the match was flawless. The story of a perfect match w/ HBK making 1 mistake is the ultimate story.

Flawless and perfect.

To me that is a hyped match that lives up to it in rewatches.

It is also why I really don’t like the two HHH matches that followed despite them being good because they tried to ape the Taker/HBK story way too much.

That and it also pretended the x7 match never happened, which is sad because it was a pretty good match as well, and I say that when I absolutely hated the Biker Taker gimmick then and now.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Depending on who you listen to, he was also instrumental in the screwjob and aftermath.

If you listen to him. So many versions of that story exist, though they all do seem to boil down to who you think was the bigger twat backstage, Shawn or Bret. I would guess Shawn. 90s Shawn sounded like a nightmare to be around.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

If you listen to him. So many versions of that story exist, though they all do seem to boil down to who you think was the bigger **** backstage, Shawn or Bret. I would guess Shawn. 90s Shawn sounded like a nightmare to be around.

That’s usually the problem when someone thinks you’re cute and you already know you’re sexy.

 

[BonMorrison]

Speaking of rewatches and this thread - I have a new one.

I'm bad and generally don't enjoy rewatching entire matches - no matter how legendary it is. If I know what's gonna happen, I just check out mentally. That being said, I happily will re-watch moments from matches like the finishes or big spots but having to sit down for entire ones - I just can't get myself into it.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Speaking of rewatches and this thread - I have a new one.

I'm bad and generally don't enjoy rewatching entire matches - no matter how legendary it is. If I know what's gonna happen, I just check out mentally. That being said, I happily will re-watch moments from matches like the finishes or big spots but having to sit down for entire ones - I just can't get myself into it.

Kinda the same tbh.

Very few matches hold my interest on rewatch. The way I feel about it when I watch it live is pretty much the only way I’ll feel about the match and won’t give it a rewatch even if it’s five stars. The only ones I’ve seeked out to rewatch recently is Lesnar/Bryan and Usos/New Day HIAC.

 

[Disclose]

i usually tell people who watch wwe with me..... "you have to watch this" and put whatever nxt, njpw match was outstanding. so i rewatch alot.
also since we're usually partying on ppvs, we dont put much attention. so i dont mind rewatching the whole show (skipping the garbage)

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Young Bucks are garbage, spot monkeys at best.
The Revival are also pretty f***in' boring, won't be sad to see them go.

 

[Disclose]

well saying the Bucks are garbage seems actually popular, as an opinion.
i think its a really stupid one. but everyone seems to want to hate them..... also convinced people arent watching their matches since they already decided what they think of them.

 

[Paris in Flames]

I don't like the Bucks. I think the opinion on them is fairly split.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I don’t like them but I don’t think they’re garbage. They’re just not my “cup of tea.” I’m not going to actively seek out any matches involving The Young Bucks.

I guess it’d be partly unpopular here because of how people perceived him after a certain point, myself included for a bit, but I think Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt should have been the top guys out of that 2012-2014 time frame leading the charge right now with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins behind them. I don’t think Seth has the natural charisma as a babyface to lead a brand, and while he’s the best in-ring of The Shield, I would have had him solidly as the #3 in terms of everything else.

Dean was so naturally over as a babyface, a role he hadn’t really played before in his career, and at times he was easily the most over guy (this was when Bryan was retired). He should have had the HHH match at Wrestlemania for the title, not Roadblock. He was the best on the mic of The Shield, oozed charisma and presence and he was unique. Every demographic loved him. He appealed to women, he appealed to men, he appealed to children. There was no reason he shouldn’t have been the man other than the obsession with Roman Reigns, who I’d have #2 because he can go in the ring, good on the mic when not overly scripted, has presence, a good look and can switch between being a bully heel or a babyface even if fans don’t take to him. He’s also a good ambassador for WWE.

Bray Wyatt speaks for itself. I don’t need to justify this. Big man with presence, oozes charisma, agile as hell, a unique ring style and one of the best talkers of this generation, and maybe ever when all is set and done. Dean and Wyatt were the top two talkers in the company and both were totally screwed by booking.

I KNOW Wyatt won’t be the unpopular portion here, but Ambrose definitely is if I’m remembering the board’s perception to him over the last little bit, and I was the same until you realize he was overworked to hell and had to work a safer style that can keep him going, and could very well have been creatively unmotivated long before his injury (I personally noticed a dip after the Austin podcast and how he was booked thereafter).

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

I would argue both are unpopular for me lol.

I don't buy Wyatt as one of the best talkers of his generation. I'm hoping his repackaging can finally prove if he can talk or not when he has points he has to get across. I view his vocal skills similar to say Cena's. Both can technically speak well, neither have anything interesting to say though.

Wyatt wasn't a great character, but good in ring.
Ambrose had potential as a top character, but wasn't particularly great in ring.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I would argue both are unpopular for me lol.

I don't buy Wyatt as one of the best talkers of his generation. I'm hoping his repackaging can finally prove if he can talk or not when he has points he has to get across. I view his vocal skills similar to say Cena's. Both can technically speak well, neither have anything interesting to say though.

Wyatt wasn't a great character, but good in ring.
Ambrose had potential as a top character, but wasn't particularly great in ring.

Name five of his peers who are better.

The only ones I think who could give him a run for best mic work, currently on the roster, are Daniel Bryan and Miz.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

Name five of his peers who are better.

The only ones I think who could give him a run for best mic work, currently on the roster, are Daniel Bryan and Miz.

I think Owens and Sami are both better than him. I would consider Bliss and Samoa Joe better than him too. If Wyatt is near the top then it's by attrition. As I said, Wyatt can technically talk, I've seen and heard it. Can I remember any actually good Wyatt promos? Not off the top of my head. I hope the new character can tell us if he can actually tell a story through talking or not, or if he's just resting on his madman laurels that get pretty old pretty quick.

Between mine and your posts I'd say we got Bryan, Miz, Owens, Zayn, Bliss, and Joe better than Wyatt. That's 6

 

[JackSlater]

I dislike the Young Bucks, opinion does seem to be very split on them. I expect that their popularity will grow when AEW has TV as most who would dislike them gave up on wrestling already.

Regarding Wyatt, he has a cadence that was unique and fit his gimmick but the content of his promos was lacking many times. Above average talker but not great. I do think that he has potential and I hope that his slightly tweaked gimmick gives him further opportunities for different things.

Some further unpopular opinions -

Matt Hardy is and was always better than Jeff Hardy.

Ciampa was (sadly past tense) better than Gargano.

Inspired by Ho Kogan, Ultimate Warrior's "crash the plane" promo was pretty good. The "Ultimate Destruction" DVD did a hatchet job on it and even Edge, who I don't think intended to bury Warrior, misconstrued the content of it.

 

[Paris in Flames]

I don’t like them but I don’t think they’re garbage. They’re just not my “cup of tea.” I’m not going to actively seek out any matches involving The Young Bucks.

I guess it’d be partly unpopular here because of how people perceived him after a certain point, myself included for a bit, but I think Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt should have been the top guys out of that 2012-2014 time frame leading the charge right now with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins behind them. I don’t think Seth has the natural charisma as a babyface to lead a brand, and while he’s the best in-ring of The Shield, I would have had him solidly as the #3 in terms of everything else.

Dean was so naturally over as a babyface, a role he hadn’t really played before in his career, and at times he was easily the most over guy (this was when Bryan was retired). He should have had the HHH match at Wrestlemania for the title, not Roadblock. He was the best on the mic of The Shield, oozed charisma and presence and he was unique. Every demographic loved him. He appealed to women, he appealed to men, he appealed to children. There was no reason he shouldn’t have been the man other than the obsession with Roman Reigns, who I’d have #2 because he can go in the ring, good on the mic when not overly scripted, has presence, a good look and can switch between being a bully heel or a babyface even if fans don’t take to him. He’s also a good ambassador for WWE.

Bray Wyatt speaks for itself. I don’t need to justify this. Big man with presence, oozes charisma, agile as hell, a unique ring style and one of the best talkers of this generation, and maybe ever when all is set and done. Dean and Wyatt were the top two talkers in the company and both were totally screwed by booking.

I KNOW Wyatt won’t be the unpopular portion here, but Ambrose definitely is if I’m remembering the board’s perception to him over the last little bit, and I was the same until you realize he was overworked to hell and had to work a safer style that can keep him going, and could very well have been creatively unmotivated long before his injury (I personally noticed a dip after the Austin podcast and how he was booked thereafter).

I can agree with Bray....but...are you suggesting Roman is better than Seth on the mic? I know Seth is flawed in that area but he's not Roman Reigns bad. Don't be fooled by a couple real talk promos where Roman could be himself that he was great in.

I suppose reading your points that my newest (potentially?) unpopular opinion is that Dean Ambrose has never been above average on his own in the WWE. Surely much of that is creative holding him back...but he's never brought it outside of his first solo feud with Rollins. Besides that feud...he's your standard mid carder. Both Seth and Roman have had significantly higher peaks in terms of performance.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Also the Hardy Boyz were average workers who benefitted from Jeff Hardy's willingness to die and colour his hair fun colours. The mere suggestion they were on E&C's level was asinine then and now.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I can agree with Bray....but...are you suggesting Roman is better than Seth on the mic? I know Seth is flawed in that area but he's not Roman Reigns bad. Don't be fooled by a couple real talk promos where Roman could be himself that he was great in.

I suppose reading your points that my newest (potentially?) unpopular opinion is that Dean Ambrose has never been above average on his own in the WWE. Surely much of that is creative holding him back...but he's never brought it outside of his first solo feud with Rollins. Besides that feud...he's your standard mid carder. Both Seth and Roman have had significantly higher peaks in terms of performance.

I think Seth is a bad babyface promo. I cringe a lot more than I do and a lot of what he says is really fluff to get to his burn it down catchphrase these days. I don’t enjoy much of his work that isn’t in-ring anymore, and I think he has a hard time portraying any sort of personality, more so than a Roman or Dean.