When Flyers Can't Draw Flies
Will Ospreay and Ricochet had a match on May 27 at New Japan's "Best of the Super Juniors" in Tokyo. Maybe you've heard.
It was the talk of the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) for days after Vader, a Hall of Famer with a tremendous legacy in Japan, Tweeted critically about a choreographed spot early in the match. Predictably, IWC sentiment sided with the young blood, while a few old fogies (and people who admire old fogies) defended the big man.
Overlooked, at least until the June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer was perused, was the fact that the match didn't draw. Patches of seats at the 2,005 seat Korakuen Hall were visibly unfilled during the match, and the announced attendance was a mere 1,505. The flyers match couldn't draw flies.
Best of Super Juniors ran over two-and-a-half weeks and Ospreay vs. Ricochet are both non-Japanese headliners, so perhaps the lukewarm attendance was predictable. Though the show was on a traditionally strong drawing night of the week, Friday, Ospreay and Ricochet had no past storyline issue between them.
It was 'just a match', and we all know that 'just a match' is no way to draw crowds and viewers to wrestling matches.
Only, in this case, the booking was set up to make Ospreay vs. Ricochet more than 'just a match'.
It was the fourth match of a seven match round-robin, and the two men entered the match at opposite ends of the standings. Ricochet was 3-0 and Ospreay was 0-3. That meant that if Ricochet would have won, Ospreay would have been eliminated from title contention.
Ospreay was one of the favorites entering the tournament, so New Japan was ostensibly trying to create 'booking drama'. An Ospreay loss would eliminate him, so New Japan was trying to goad people into watching by adding jeopardy to Ospreay's quest for the title.
It appears that New Japan's booking backfired, as so much old-timey booking does nowadays. Fans who are 'smart' had to know that there was no chance that Ospreay would lose to Ricochet. Creating the "one more loss and he's eliminated" booking drama robbed the match of any real drama.
Smart fans could see New Japan's booking arc coming from a mile away. They knew that New Japan was trying to create a four match-long story that Ospreay had to 'win out' in order to keep his quest for the championship alive.
Having to win out is a neat story in real sports, and it draws all the time. TNT just rode Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors to the highest TV ratings in Turner networks' history (yes, even bigger than Sting vs. Flair at the Clash in '88 or Goldberg vs. Hogan at the Georgia Dome in '98) in part because the babyface needed to win out to keep its title hopes alive.
Pro wrestling -- for better or for worse -- simply can't draw like a real sport anymore. Smart wrestling fans, whose ranks seem to be increasing as a percentage of overall fans, can't get revved up about wins and losses the way sports fans do. No matter how much they want to suspend disbelief, it's still a work and they know it. It's just too hard to get emotionally invested when all you're really following is a booker's pen.
It was the talk of the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) for days after Vader, a Hall of Famer with a tremendous legacy in Japan, Tweeted critically about a choreographed spot early in the match. Predictably, IWC sentiment sided with the young blood, while a few old fogies (and people who admire old fogies) defended the big man.
Overlooked, at least until the June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer was perused, was the fact that the match didn't draw. Patches of seats at the 2,005 seat Korakuen Hall were visibly unfilled during the match, and the announced attendance was a mere 1,505. The flyers match couldn't draw flies.
Best of Super Juniors ran over two-and-a-half weeks and Ospreay vs. Ricochet are both non-Japanese headliners, so perhaps the lukewarm attendance was predictable. Though the show was on a traditionally strong drawing night of the week, Friday, Ospreay and Ricochet had no past storyline issue between them.
It was 'just a match', and we all know that 'just a match' is no way to draw crowds and viewers to wrestling matches.
Only, in this case, the booking was set up to make Ospreay vs. Ricochet more than 'just a match'.
It was the fourth match of a seven match round-robin, and the two men entered the match at opposite ends of the standings. Ricochet was 3-0 and Ospreay was 0-3. That meant that if Ricochet would have won, Ospreay would have been eliminated from title contention.
Ospreay was one of the favorites entering the tournament, so New Japan was ostensibly trying to create 'booking drama'. An Ospreay loss would eliminate him, so New Japan was trying to goad people into watching by adding jeopardy to Ospreay's quest for the title.
It appears that New Japan's booking backfired, as so much old-timey booking does nowadays. Fans who are 'smart' had to know that there was no chance that Ospreay would lose to Ricochet. Creating the "one more loss and he's eliminated" booking drama robbed the match of any real drama.
Smart fans could see New Japan's booking arc coming from a mile away. They knew that New Japan was trying to create a four match-long story that Ospreay had to 'win out' in order to keep his quest for the championship alive.
Having to win out is a neat story in real sports, and it draws all the time. TNT just rode Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors to the highest TV ratings in Turner networks' history (yes, even bigger than Sting vs. Flair at the Clash in '88 or Goldberg vs. Hogan at the Georgia Dome in '98) in part because the babyface needed to win out to keep its title hopes alive.
Pro wrestling -- for better or for worse -- simply can't draw like a real sport anymore. Smart wrestling fans, whose ranks seem to be increasing as a percentage of overall fans, can't get revved up about wins and losses the way sports fans do. No matter how much they want to suspend disbelief, it's still a work and they know it. It's just too hard to get emotionally invested when all you're really following is a booker's pen.
Much like TV comedy had to evolve to survive (at one point there was only one three-camera sitcom on network TV), pro wrestling has to move through dark periods. Breakout stars draw. A Daniel Bryan comes along every generation. Longtime fans will wait patiently. We've been through this before.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that we'll get new stars eventually. I also think that booking has to change. I just don't think you can draw with the same old booking. You have to make sure that fans don't see the story arcs coming.
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