The Piledriver
Paul Heyman is a mad scientist.
He is someone who truly understands the psychology of
wrestling. I remember the Stone Cold podcast where he appeared as a guest. He
explained how one can make a simple headlock as the most devastating move in
history. He explained how to make a move ‘special’. Just have a man like Mark
Henry perform the move and have no one else perform it. Have Mark Henry win
matches with the headlock over a year; and before you know it, people will
actually fear the headlock as a finishing move.
Heyman’s comments did not register completely at the time.
However, these words made great sense after watching AEW and the feud between
Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.
The piledriver has been a long forbidden move in the WWE.
The move has a very slim margin of error and can be actually devastating if
performed incorrectly. Stone Cold himself would testify to the fact. And I have
to say, how WWE used this move in the Orton/Owens rivalry is nothing short of
remarkable. By Owens not performing this move or just being forbidden explicitly
from performing it, has made the piledriver so believable as a career ender.
This is psychology in wrestling. This is how you make something special. In
retrospect, Orton’s punt kick was also an example of how you make a simple move
like a kick as a career ender.
This is the kind of thing where WWE has a clear edge over
AEW. This is not a knock against any AEW wrestler. Majority of them are amazing
athletes. But if every match has furniture involved or blood or a piledriver,
for that matter, the same becomes less special; they lose their impact in the
minds of the viewers. I believe AEW needs a producer or booker in the back who
could explain this to the wrestlers. I have nothing against wrestlers coming
from the independent scene. However, there is no denying that the indie scene
and even the NJPW to some extent, are based on spot-heavy matches with little
or no storylines other than the fact that the opponents hate each other.
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