Lesnar has a presence that Benoit never did. Granted, part of that is due to his size and he knows how to leverage that by looking like a badass. Benoit was just a little guy trying to look tough. That just doesn't work. Little guys don't look intimidating in wrestling. Little guys need personality and mics skills as well as in ring talent. They have to work harder. I'm not saying that's fair, but it's the truth. All the great little men had to be the total package. HBK, Eddie, Punk, Bryan, Jericho, etc, etc. They have to work harder. Compare them to a guy like Rey Mysterio who is just plain boring because he doesn't have the mic skills and looks like a shrimp. He's over because of his in ring skills, but he'll never be regarded as well as the other guys I just mentioned. If Benoit had the attitude and mic skills of a CM Punk, he'd have been far more interesting. Look at Daniel Bryan. He's everything Benoit was and so much more. Benoit never could get it all right, and many thought Bryan would fall into the same mold and he surprised us all.Menegrothx wrote:Does that mean you don't enjoy puroresu at all? Atleast I never watch japanese promos, interviews etc, only the matches, I have no idea what's going on story wise, but I enjoy all the cool and hard hitting moves
On the whole Benoit thing: I don't see how he is that much different from, say, Goldberg or Lesnar. If being stoic and scary can work for big strong guys, why not for smaller and more technical guys like Malenko and Benoit? As long as they have presence and look confident in what they do (mannerisms, how they walk to the ring etc). And I think it's important to realize that the same formula doesn't work for all wrestlers. A guy like Benoit shouldn't put in a situation where he has to do a lot of back and forth talking, but rather keep it short and sweet, that way it might have more impact.
Btw, which do you guys prefer: the old bad ass Rock of 1998-2000 or the hyper active Rock of 2001-2002 (I'd put Hollywood Heel rock in the same category). He had a lower voice and was more bad ass when he was heel, and then when he was doing the heel to face transition. Later on he got rid of the flashy clothing, his voice was more high pitch and rather than acting cool and callous, he was super hyped up and excited in his promos.
I kind of bring this up because my previous point about Chris Benoit reminds me of this:
at first Rock was just a regular bad ass, and he's say something amusing and insulting like "go suck on a monkey's nipple" to the interviewer. Later on as he was the face of the company, he would set up his jokes for minutes before there was finally a punchline (at times). I feel like the comedy stuff carried over from his heel antics to the point that they got carried over with his whole funny guy role.
Getting back to Lesnar, he benefits a lot right now from having Heyman as a mouth piece plus the UFC credibility. Goldberg was a no talent guy who just got booked very well and had size on his side too. Goldberg was an experiment done well, but not one of the true greats of wrestling. I'm not hating on him, but that's the truth.
As for the Rock, I'm biased. He is in my opinion one of the best characters and talkers of all time and even at his worst was better than 90% of WWE's roster in being a talker and entertainer. He is one of the true icons of the WWE, along with Hogan and Austin and probably one or two other guys who are before my time. Those three transcended the sport, more so Hogan and the Rock in my opinion. Cena has been pushed for years to be on the same level, but he's never had the talent to hang with those three guys and never will. Eventually, another guy will come along and be the TRUE face of the WWE on the same level as the Rock, Hogan and Austin and will show us all how truly inadequate Cena was in that role. That guy could be Daniel Bryan. He certainly is being pushed that way right now.
