Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to live blog NXT Battleground for Cageside Seats. As the saying goes, when opportunity knocks, you answer. Having never done anything like this, I was particularly excited because I like a challenge.
Following this experience, I have more admiration for the work Claire Elizabeth does as CSS's resident live blogger. I encourage every Cagesider to give her flowers the next time you participate in a live blog.
As I studied Miss Claire's live blogs as a guide, I was impressed by her expansive vocabulary of wrestling moves. As I prepared for this assignment, I was surprised by how many holds and moves I didn't know the name of despite watching wrestling for almost forty years. It would be nice if more announcers called a hold more often.
Now, what I learned next gave me some insight into the mind of wrestling veterans who chastise how the industry within the ropes has changed. And it conjured up a gravelly voice from within my soul that said, "Slow down, kid."
Do you know why veterans tell younger wrestlers to slow down? One, it's because they're moving too fast and are afraid of looking bad because they can't keep up. At least, that's my assumption because often times I couldn't keep up with the action and was worried that I would blow my assignment.
But more importantly, wrestlers are asking fans to process too much. For example, the Heritage Cup match between Dragon Lee and Noam Dar would've been fine had it been a typical wrestling match. But the concept of three-minute rounds and twenty-second rest periods forced them to try to squeeze too much action into three-minute intervals.
I would also say the same thing for the North American Championship match. While entertaining, it was like a merry-go-round on speed as Wes Lee, Joe Gacy, and Tyler Bate played Let's Take Turns Doing Things.
For me, my favorite matches were the ones that were a tad slower and told a story, which allowed me to tell their story, specifically, the Last Man Standing battle between Dijak and Ilja Dragunov.
These two kept a good pace that commanded everyone's attention, which let me process and relay what they were doing and saying to each other, which helped me to, hopefully, paint a better picture for readers.
And in that vein, I came to appreciate Roman Reigns even more. While Reigns' matches are slow at times, his routine is easy to follow and gives room for him and his opponent to tell their story and to have their story told. Indeed, Reigns is the GOAT.
In closing, I want to again express my gratitude to Geno Mrosko for presenting me with such a dignified opportunity, and I commend the entire staff at Cageside Seats for their hard work. And thank you to the commenters who took the time to offer a kind word to the Noble Scribe. I hope I lived up to that title, and I hope to serve you all again in the future.
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