The Big Fight Atmosphere
by Brady Lewis

"Taz, becoming our ultimate-fight-style persona, carried with it 'the big fight atmosphere.'  And I LOVED the big fight atmosphere.  I thought that was one of the many things that was missing in wrestling in the 1990s."

                                                        -Paul Heyman, The Rise and Fall of ECW

This big fight atmosphere is something that the WWF is really lacking, and has for quite a while.  In fact, most of the wrestling world has been missing this.  And I believe that it may be a very big puzzle piece in fixing what ails the current wrestling industry.

For those of you unsure of what is meant by "the big fight atmosphere," it doesn’t surprise me.  The fact is that there is very little of it anywhere in America.  Boxing lost it long ago, and in other sports it just doesn’t seem to exist as strongly as you’d think.  The Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup, the World Series, nothing really brings out this atmosphere of "this is going to be a great match-up where I am going to see something special."  The only real sport that happens in, and it still only happens sporadically, is UFC. 

For those of you who really don’t follow wrestling or UFC or boxing, the feeling of the big fight atmosphere is hard to describe.  You just FEEL it.  I can try to explain what causes it, but there are just so many factors, and so many exceptions to the rule.

One is that the two guys must have or seem to have a legitimate successful athletic background or have a history of stardom.  Those with the athletic background lately include Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar.  Those with the star power include Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, and the Undertaker, guys who have been around for a while and have a huge reputation. 

Another is that, as Paul Heyman said, it requires a certain ultimate fight style.  Now, not exactly like it, but the fighting styles of the individuals must seem more real than most.  Angle and Lesnar incorporate their amateur wrestling backgrounds into their styles, and it seems that much more real.  Hogan and Undertaker have offenses where they rarely leave the ground, and so it seems more real.  Michaels, while not having the most realistic offense, is so talented at making the people believe in him that he can do anything and make it seem plausible.

Third is that there must be a title on the line.  There must be.  I cannot stress this enough.  Something is lost when there is nothing but pride on the line. 

And fourth, the most important factor.  I know its cliché, but at least one of the wrestlers has to have that certain intangible, that certain "it."  This doesn’t happen too often, where a wrestler just has "it."  You can’t teach it.  But certain wrestlers do have it, and when they do, they can supersede the other three factors combined.  I suspect that this is what Taz had.  Now, I can’t comment on Taz having this atmosphere around him.  I did not see much of him during his ECW days.  He may have had it, he may not have.  I’ll touch on this a little more in a moment, as this is truly the anomaly of the atmosphere.  It breaks all other rules. 

The closest thing the WWF has had to the big fight atmosphere lately was Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XXI.  Oh, how close it was to recreating that feeling.  It was SO CLOSE.  But it ultimately fell short.  Not from a persona standpoint and certainly not from a pure wrestling standpoint (it is, in fact, one of my favorite matches of all time).  But, the problem came from the fact that nothing was on the line.  Sure, it was for pride.  Sure, it was a way for two of the greatest of all time to show the world their greatness.  But it would have meant THAT MUCH MORE if some sort of championship was on the line. 

However, the last time I really felt the big fight atmosphere was at WrestleMania XIX.  Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar for the World Heavyweight Championship.  That was a match that just had the arena rocking in the aisles.  These two had the legitimacy of being the best wrestlers in the world, and not just professional wrestlers either, as Angle won an Olympic gold medal and Lesnar is a two-time NCAA Heavyweight Champion.  Both have more believable arsenals than most wrestlers.  And each one did all the little things to make it seem that much bigger than it was.  Angle used a mouth guard, Lesnar was all taped up.  And while Angle and Lesnar just fall short of the "it" factor (though Angle does come as close as one can without having it), put them together and they have more than enough "it."

Before that, I have to go way back to 1998 to tell you the last time I felt the atmosphere.  July 6^th, 1998 to be exact.  Hulk Hogan vs. Bill Goldberg for the WCW Heavyweight Championship.  The wrestling portion of the match?  Not so good.  But the sheer fact that these two had so much momentum at the time just made it an unbelievable spectacle to behold.  The combined "it" factor overcame all other factors and made this into something that felt special. 

There are other matches that I’ve seen that I believe had the big fight atmosphere as well, but I cannot say for sure simply because I did not see it live.  I only have video tape to judge from.  But if you get that feeling from watching a tape, then I’d say the match definitely had it going.  Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI to unify the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.  Practically any time that Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat fought for a title. 

Some of you may be wondering why I have not mentioned Steve Austin, or The Rock, or Triple H, or Mick Foley, or any of those.  Well, to be honest, I just don’t feel it from them.  Make no mistake, these guys are some of the best.  History will remember them in that golden age of wrestling from the late 1990s and early 2000s.  But they just didn’t carry the big fight atmosphere with them.  They carried a different charisma, one that is necessary for wrestling to be successful.  Quite honestly, it is a near miracle that there were as many strong personalities in that time, and that is why it was a golden age.  The atmosphere wasn’t needed because the wrestlers could get by on sheer personality alone. 

Now, I’m not saying that Austin, Foley, Trips, and those guys aren’t great wrestlers.  They have all put out great matches in their day.  But because of the fact that they all appeared at the same time, the big fight atmosphere wasn’t needed. 

But it is now.  Now more than ever.

Think about it.  Back in the day, when there was Flair vs. Steamboat, main event matches were promoted mainly by the big fight atmosphere.  Sure, personalities were used, and storylines were written, but in the end it wasn’t as necessary because the people wanted to see the match itself. 

Then, in that golden age when wrestling was everywhere, there were more gifted personalities than I have digits.  People watched to see the personalities interact, not always for the match.  

But now, Vince McMahon has publicly stated that he wants to "go back in time."  He wants to slow it down a little.  He wants to try to go back before the "attitude era."  So, the next step is to try to harness the big fight atmosphere again.  That is what worked before, and that can work again.

What the WWF needs to do is try to find someone who has such a strong "it" factor that every match carries the atmosphere with it.  Such a force, when used correctly, could elevate the entire company. 

There is one man out there that I know of.  Samoa Joe. 

Think about it.  Anyone who has seen Samoa Joe can feel it.  He isn’t a flashy persona, but if he was it would take away from what he brings to the table.  He brings a relatively believable arsenal with him.  And he just carries himself with so much pride in what he does that you can’t help but feel it when he wrestles.  It doesn’t have to be for a title either; his "it" is so strong. 

I realize that some may just take this whole article as your standard big long spiel on how WWF should make Samoa Joe a huge star because the internet hardcores love him.  I just hope you don’t.  Samoa Joe is just an example of someone who could be harnessed to provide the big fight atmosphere that WWF so desperately needs.  I would love it to be Samoa Joe, but I really don’t care who it is.  But they need someone who can create that atmosphere, and they need it soon.  Maybe if they get someone like that, I’ll start watching again, because there is without a doubt no feeling like the big fight atmosphere.