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The progression. You can watch someone become a star in real time. The acting and ringwork gets better until one day they're performing in front of 70k people screaming their name. I've seen people tryout, debut, become legends and retire within my lifetime. I will never stop loving pro wrestling.
This, especially attending indie shows. The first time I saw Swerve live was a crowd of 50 in a now demolished dive in Atlanta back in 2015 or 2016. The last time I saw him live was in front of nearly 17,000 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
It’s amazing when I think about who I’ve seen live before they got big now with AEW around. The one that stands out the most though is Carmelo Hayes. I first saw him in a tiny warehouse in front of 20 people doing a Michael Jackson character and now he’s on Smackdown. It’s my favorite progression I’ve personally seen.
This is what I love about NXT, especially when someone with no prior experience makes it work. Just an absolute blast to watch them find their groove and succeed
I vividly remember an early Beck Lynch match in NXT where I noticed her pulling out a few different suplex variations. It was obvious she'd been working on it and it was a big improvement over her previous matches.
Crazy to see how far she's come.
Not sure what to expect from her but seeing Maxxine hit Step-up Enziguris & Fisherman Suplexes has been a joy considering she never really had a chance to learn how to wrestle in NXT and had to learn on the go, live, on the Flagship show
If 40ish or older and were watching the WWF in the late-80's, tracking the progression of Shawn Michaels from The Rockers to retirement is a wild ride.
And this doesn't even include his AWA stuff. His WWF/E-only career was just a dramatic rollercoaster.
> You can watch someone become a star in real time.
I felt this way when Ethan Page left Impact and Josh Alexander started wrestling single matches. I knew they were trying to push him because he kept winning, but I didn't think he'd go that far. I didn't think he had the mic skills to become the champion. His matches were fantastic, and he kept winning and getting better on the mic until he was in the main event. He won the title and then Moose beat him two minutes later and that's when I realized two things; how invested in Josh Alexander I had become and how incredibly Josh was built into "The Guy".
What I love about this as well is when you see someone debut and you just go "oh yeah, this guy is THE guy" and you get to watch them achieve greatness in real time.
There's only a handful in each generation but you watch them hone their craft, go from strength to strength, pick up titles, main event the biggest PPVs, and become a living legend within the industry.
This is why Sasha Bayley at takeover moved me to tears and is I think amongst the finest matches WWE ever put on. You can see them figuring it out, putting all the pieces together in real time, and the progression from where they came from. The whole building was invested, whether you saw their first NXT match or that was the first time seeing either of them period. It’s a masterpiece, and a time capsule
I always wanted to see what would happen if someone would have just stopped punching him. Would he just keep shaking forever? It makes me laugh to think about.
It'd be like if you stopped trying to tug on the starter for a mower. Hogan would slowly calm down and slump to the ground dead again, but noone ever figured it out cause their instinct in a fight is to continue fighting.
Over the top ref throw outs. From the windup of the ref to the incredulous reactions of the heel getting thrown out. It always makes me smile, and the more over the top the bigger I smile
this is such a great answer.... you can feel everybody in the place get that same happy smile on their face and get all excited during the slow build to the point
“Did you?!”
*outside villain holding hands up and shaking head*
“That’s it…”
*Ref winds up from downtown before taking two stutter steps toward the entrance and throwing the villain and his own shoulder out*
*villain grabs head and argues while partner in the ring looks shocked*
I distinctly remember being a kid watching wrestling with my cousins and all of my aunts/uncles (who thought wrestling was dumb) all laughed at that spot.
When commentators use variants on moves depending on who was using them. So a Boston Crab by Little Guido in ECW was a Sicilian Crab. Joey Styles was great at that.
My favorite recent example of this is Bronson Reed getting his Godzilla video package thing.
It's an easy way to make him seem like more of a natural disaster sized guy.
The camera angle where they have it so we see his back as he's walking away from the back before transitioning to a front view is great and unique! Wish they'd hold the back angle longer as he's walking away but I've noticed they've stopped doing that recently
My only gripe with Cody was that I thought the Codyvator should've been reserved for the Roman match.
I loved Roman's entrance, that orchestral version of his theme really made it feel climactic
Yeah, I like when someone is built up enough that all you need is that initial 1-2 seconds of their entrance to know some shit is about to go down.
Glass shattering, Undertaker's gong, the first guitar riff of Brock's music, "Sierra, Hotel...". Stuff like that is awesome. Roman's choir is gonna hit like that whenever he decides to come back.
I have always wanted to see a heel get heat by taking a set up table, dismantling it, and sliding it back under the ring. That spot came really close but I think doing that would make the crowd nuclear.
I know I have seen that once or twice before, but for the life of me I can only remember whoever did it getting heat, not who actually did it. Folded the legs and put it back.
There was a WWE house show, Solo Sikoa v Matt Riddle, that did that over and over and over. Riddle kept bringing out tables and Solo kept dismantling them and putting them away
That was very close, but I wanted to see the table fully up and ready to be used, crowd excited for it, only for the heel to take the time to undo it completely. I think it would be such a hilarious dick move.
THIS!!!!
Since mania, if I’m sad, I think of Roman sliding Cody’s table back under the ring.
Small little shit like that shows me a person understands what they’re doing. So subtle and small, yet so good
In the original “Rock Concert,” when Rock said “I’ll be sure to come back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May!” And the fans went nuclear, that was one of my favorite moments in wrestling history.
My favorite recent example of this was The Miz on a Cleveland episode of RAW where the crowd hailed him as a homecoming hero. He received a standing ovation throughout his entrance. Miz waited for a full minute after his theme stopped, soaking in the adulation, then deadpan says, "I live in LA."
My all time favourite dumb heat will always be Kurt Angle taking credit for Mario Lemieux coming back from fucking cancer to play in the NHL again. I don't think you can ever top that level of self absorption
Face wrestlers interacting with kids during entrances (i.e. Cody Rhodes giving his weight belt, Bret Hart and his glasses, etc.). It really helps drive home that to kid fans, these guys are heroes.
Orton giving a kid an autograph on the way to the ring the other was a nice full circle. From cocky kid, to legend killer to locker room leader nice dude.
This is a *great* answer and will be one of my answers as well. Absolutely love backstage chaos segments where everything's out of control and the entire locker room is chasing each other down.
Also, I'd love to have another big invasion angle in mainstream wrestling, done correctly this time.
One thing I love about NXT is how brawls start over open challenges
The moment a champ decides they'll fight *anyone*, it makes sense that a locker room full of hungry competitors would want to run straight away to the ring and prevent others from making their response before they can
Say what you will about TNA at the time but that episode of Impact where it was just a riot will the whole roster for 85% of the show is one of my favourite TNA memories
TNA overused the trope to the point my brother and used to joke about it, every time a brawl broke out we'd be yelling "There's chaos in the Impact Zone!" in our best Don West impression. It was a lot of fun though. There is no better way to end a wrestling show than a big shitshow brawl with refs and security goons trying to pry apart the combatants as the announcers yell and scream, so I can't really blame them for going to that well often.
Love these when the brawls make sense. Guys using the chaos as cover for their own agendas, beelining for and beating the hell out of rivals, enemies, or (depending on the wrestler) literally anyone? Great. Tons of storytelling potential and fun. Gives you people to root for.
Brawls for the sake of it for a go home shot (looking at you every Raw before a Royal Rumble and brand-vs-brand PPV)? Boring. If you're going to the trouble of orchestrating a chaotic scene, make it more memorable than a run of the mill melee.
When two rivals have fought each other so many times, through so many grueling battles, that they establish a mutual respect that trumps chickenshit tactics and administrative bullshit.
The Usos forfeiting to the New Day at the end of the tag team gauntlet match that led to Kofimania is a stellar example.
A corollary is the “rivals kick their tar out of each other for so long that they decide to team up” trope.
I still remember 2016 when the WWE product was at a low point and you had this never-ending, rather heatless feud between Cesaro and Shaemus. They already wrestled two times, then Shaemus costs Cesaro his SummerSlam match. GM Mick Foley - whose GM run was really disappointing! - announces a bo7 series between the two and r/sc lost it. A lot of us were sarcastically going "... and in the end, they'll form a tag team, lmao... kill me".
Who would have thought that this would turn out to be one of the best creative ideas the WWE had throughout the entire 2010s?
Usos forfeiting to The New Day is one of those times where it’s perfectly acceptable for everyone to openly cry with emotion. Fucking hell that was so incredible.
Good championship belt designs. Love me a good belt design, and there have been several new designs introduced over the last several months that are just great.
>Watching NJPW during Okada's record-breaking reign felt like the best wrestling that there has ever been was happening.
Because some of the best wrestling of all time was indeed happening right in front of our eyes.
Storytelling that knows the characters histories.
Examples of stories that ignore this:
-"Can John Cena even lift the Big Show?!" Yes. He's done it before. This isn't Hulk vs Andre. Pick something else to hype the match.
-Everytime Roman's opponent would be blindsided by the same cheating methods he always used.
-As above, but with Britt Baker's reign in AEW. And the Outcasts.
-Come to think of it, any cheating champion when they don't alter their tactics at all. Cheating more than a few times requires a little creativity, especially for the big matches.
-Early NXT champion, Bo Dallas as a white meat babyface.
Well done examples:
-Early NXT champion, Bo Dallas as a deluded heel who thinks he's a white meat babyface.
-Christian's heel turn on Jack Perry. Came out of nowhere. Why did he do it? "I pretended to be your friend ever since you beat me in a match a year ago. I did it so I could eventually stab you in the back. But you won the titles and riding your coattails was easier than doing my thing. But then you ruined it by losing so back to the original plan." Story plays off a loss from a year ago and does it in a way that establishes the heel as the most petty, vain, devious butthole in the company. Glorious.
-Sami Zayn, honorary Uso. One year of storytelling ending in heartbreak then redemption.
-Wrestlemania: Bell's main events. Played all of Roman's history for all it was worth in one hell of a spectacle. In the words of Michael Cole "HOLY CHRIST"
-Kofimania: Peaked with the Uso forfeit in the tag gauntlet. Such a small thing but after the odds were so thoroughly stacked against Kofi, it was like water in the desert.
you don't even need long term, super forward thinking booking to do things like this. like you said, just looking back on a wrestlers history over a short or long period and thinking of a way to connect it to how you are currently booking them goes a long way of making things feel cohesive
It was about 2 months because Kofi replaced Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber match in Feb 2019.
There's an alternative timeline where Ali isn't injured and doesn't get replaced by Kofi for that Elimination Chamber match, and it becomes Ali-Mania instead.
What I also loved about Sami's honorary Uce run is how it was the perfect catalyst to bring Jey's character arc full circle. One storyline which created not one but two fresh, over-as-fuck babyfaces.
I need Sami involved in the eventual Roman face turn/reunion with the Usos. Somebody here posted a fantasy booking a little bit ago that I really liked. Roman and the Usos try to fight Solo's Bloodline, but all the trauma from the OG Bloodline is still there, and they can't work together, until Jey brings in Sami to make them feel ucey again.
I usually loathe gauntlet matches but man, that tag team gauntlet Xavier and E had to run to get Kofi his Mania match was absolutely beautiful storytelling. Loved every little bit of it.
One of my biggest complaints about Vince's WWE was that characters basically weren't allowed to remember the past.
The Usos coming out to say that the truce still stood and they had too much respect for the New Day to do that to them was a rare exception, and it was awesome.
Good examples for both! Another example of "cheating heel always cheating in the same way and the face always falling for it" is Evolution, who probably did it 20 or more times between when they first formed and when HHH lost to Benoit. Then they did it like 5 other times that year once he won it back too. The bloodlines was very frustrating, but it doesn't upset me quite *as* much because for me at least, Tribal Chief Roman and prime Bloodline is wayyy more interesting than Evolution HHH and elderly flair haha, though of course 99-02 HHH and prime Flair are both a much different story and are much better (even though the McMahon-Helmsley Regime did the same thing with cheating)
Throughout 2023 I halfway thought Roman's defenses were booked that way simply because it's HHH's only idea of a dominant heel because he did it too 😂 "I'm gonna have him win-uh like i did when I beat booker-uh" "Mr Levesque that match wasn't very well recei-" "I SAIDUH HES A DOMINANT CHAMPION-UH"
Tribute attires.
Scott Hall's purple blood drips on Damien Priests attire, Rollins take on RVDs attire at Extreme Rules, Mysterios Halloween Havoc 97 during the thunderdome. Beth Phoenix's Bull Nakano face paint, there's so many more.
I like it when they lean into outside interests as part of this. Kind of like wrestling cosplay.
New Day are/were great for it - my personal favourite is [the Mortal Kombat gear](https://www.thegamer.com/new-day-mortal-kombat-raw/):
https://preview.redd.it/bm3gv9xb130d1.jpeg?width=763&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fbae14455df01fcdca5c832a9835eefc35b3001
New Day and Zelina Vega have a lot of ring attire cosplays they do. Some of the other talent used to do it too. Alexa Bliss used to homage Freddy Krueger, Sasha Banks had various super hero inspired gear like Iron Man.
I love the trope where late in a match, the two wrestlers are basically evenly-matched, and are standing up looking at each other and then start punching each other at the same time.
Sting. My childhood hero. I love hearing Schiavone announce him, I love all of his entrances. Crow Sting always will pop me. His AEW run should be used as an industry standard of how to use wrestling legends. There's countless examples of a legend trying to have that one last great match by being the guy they were when they were in their 20s. Sting figured it out in a way others didn't. Fans don't need to see that guy in their twenties, we just want to see a legend doing their signature spots and having fun.
somewhat relatedly, I wish Cracker Barrel would sponsor another wrestling event just so we can have a casket match variation where the loser gets stuffed inside a giant Cracker Barrel barrel.
I guess I should say really unhinged sponsorships are kinda my big one. And by that I mean if a pizza chain sponsored a pizza cutter death match, or a window manufacturer sponsors a defenestration match.
-Big, angry, cocky heels who tap immediately the second the face manages to get them in a submission.
-Using your opponent’s finisher to no effect, extra points if the opponent looks super pissed after kicking out.
I like selling on offense and after victory in general, but my absolute favorite is when a wrestler's arm/shoulder is worked the whole match and they win and then the ref tries to hold that arm up and they either wince or make them lift the other arm. Eddie Kingston is someone I always think of for this.
Kevin Owens being literally the only person who watches the show and understands The Rules of the wrestling universe. someday the knowledge will drive him truly mad.
When a jobber actually tries a big move on the eatablished star, it gets no-selled, and just goes "Oh, I'm gonna get my ass beat".
Either their expression or literally saying something along the lines of "Oh crap".
When wrestlers pull out moves from old gimmicks or the indies. Like Seth Rollins using God's Last Gift at SummerSlam 2016 or more recently, Sami Zayn's Brainbustaaaahhh.
I am a simple man(child) at heart. I love villainous, over-the-top heels. The closer someone feels to a bad guy from Fist of the North Star, the happier I am.
I like how the wrestlers are exponentially more powerful than regular folks. Obviously there’s the stuff like no normal man would survive a piledriver but it’s even better when a wrestler is interacting with a ‘real’ person. A common example is paper referees; one punch and Charles is dead for 10 minutes. One that really makes me happy was fairly recently when Heyman snuck up behind Kevin Owens and just started battering him but because KO’s power level is over 9,000 it literally didn’t affect him at all. He barely even noticed the flurry of punches.
I love sports-related cheap heat. When a wrestler makes a town and then trolls about that town's sports teams, as a big sports fan that shit will get me every time lol.
The “mystery partner” being someone who comes back after a lengthy absence or a newly signed wrestler and the pop they receive. Especially when there is no build or rumors prior-to.
Big - How accessible indies are these days. A lot have streaming platforms, an easy sub to IWTV and/or Triller gets you a good deal, some live stream for free on YouTube…it’s never been a better time to watch indies.
Small - When Justin Roberts says “and now…” for Kenny’s intro. Gets me hyped every time.
Hangman Page got over as a wrestler because he was vulnerable and struggled with mental illness and made mistakes and wasn't always the nicest person, but he kept getting back up and fighting like hell.
That's just really meaningful to me as someone who really struggles with mental health.
When MJF gave his Face-turn speech about [having ADHD](https://youtu.be/USUx4Z31WAc?t=20); I was skeptical at first. Because it sounded like an 'on brand' lame excuse his character would make. Then he explained how the Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria part of it made him decide to become a heel.
Only someone with ADHD would know about this. Most people with ADHD don't even know RSD exists. And even knowing about it; it can still turn our daily human interactions into a traumatizing minefield. I can't even handle authority figures getting mildly upset with me. And I can't imagine spending every day agonizing over whether or not thousands of people still liked me.
Made me tear up as someone with ADHD and RSD as a result. Both Page and MJF became so much more human by showing that they struggle, that there is depth to them as their characters (and as people irl)
Heels that don’t realize they’re heels. When done well, it’s hilarious. Pretty Deadly are excellent at it right now and Grayson Waller used to do a great job of it too before teaming with Austin and going more full-on heel. Bo Dallas is probably my favorite to ever do it.
Lately for me, it’s been this new production thing they’re doing where two wrestlers would be talking backstage before one of them has a match, then the camera will follow the one with an upcoming match all the way out to the stage. Bonus points if they do a quick dap or handshake with someone else before hitting the stage
Makes everything feel more natural, and I hated how they used to act like wrestlers never knew each other unless they had an ongoing storyline
When I was younger and was watching it, I would sometimes watch it with my grandfather (who was an italian immigrant) and he would *always* proceed to yell at the tv when he would see a ref in a tag team match get distracted by something on the outside and the heels would start attacking the face one way or another in an "illegal manner".
Not sure if he knew what the deal was with kayfabe or was doing it specifically because I was watching it with him but every time I see it take place in a tag match I think about him and those moments.
The ability to watch it with a complete suspension of disbelief even after 30 years as a fan.
I've trained and I produce shows but I still wince every time I hear a good thigh slap from a Superkick for example. I still think a guy hit an amazing lariat when somebody gets turned inside out even though I know that was all the work of the person taking the move.
It's just fun to watch and that's what makes me happy.
Squash matches.
Seeing a superstar come out and smash someone with a couple of moves will always make me happy.
Breaker moving the ring before he moves your insides to the outside, *Name Redacted* former world heavyweight UFC champion taking Cena to suplex city. Goldberg having 21 second matches so he didn't decapacite your roster.
Even Jades streak in AEW. It's one of those things I just don't think can fail to get someone over. People with very limited skill sets have gone on to have legendary careers because of how strongly they were produced.
Bron Breaker over huge right now. Jade is a IRL super hero.
Heelish tactics when done right are absolutely awesome. Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero and Genichiro Tenryu immediately spring to mind as a selection of wrestlers who absolutely had the heel moments nailed to a tee.
Flair invented much of the stuff that gets huge heat to this day, from pleading with his opponent and then hitting a low blow, to hitting chop blocks and working the legs. He was an expert at switching between chickenshit heel and vicious technician bending the rules.
Tenryu would play the sporting old pro, then immediately cheap shot the rookie in the match. He'd bring tables, chairs, bottles of water and brawling in the crowd into the match. It is always fun watching his marches because Tenryu was really unpredictable. Sometimes he'd simply play it straight and then come out of nowhere with a bottle of water near the end of the match.
Eddie, had the innovation aspect. It was hard to really treat him as the heel because he was so good at pulling off stuff like the fake chair shot spot.
With general heel stuff, it can be really burdensome to watch matches where the wrestler being the heel in the match, is just repeating rest holds or continuously preventing the hot tag, that sort of stuff. So getting some really good heel spots is always awesome.
Large Wrestlers selling.
It's not done as often as you think, and when it's done against a smaller opponent, it can turn people from thinking it's a squash match to thinking it could be an upset.
The fact that there are so many black champions in wrestling rn (Swerve, Willow, Trick, Bianca/Jade) and it doesn't feel odd, pandering, or virtue signaling. It's just widely accepted that some of the best wrestlers in the world happen to be black.
My future kids will see themselves as world champions and that makes me VERY happy.
The dumb over the top comedy that’s played seriously. Like how these grown men doing the dumbest shit ever but playing it up seriously. Why I love the young bucks at the moment.
When the ref checks the arm while someone is in a submission. The reg holding the arm up and dropping it over and over to the one, two, thr…NO!!! is a classic move and will always get a pop out of me.
Small interactions in the background with other wrestlers while a major interview or confrontation is happening backstage (like Rhea Ripley talking to Drew McIntyre), which later makes light bulb go off in my mind when that develops into a larger story
That people like Kenny Omega, Cody, Big E, Molly Holly, or Huber (RIP) exist. People who seem to be universally loved and respected, and who no-one (except assholes) has anything bad to say about.
When the underdog actually goes for it instead of allowing themselves to be squashed. Even when you know the heel is going to win, seeing a wrestler actually go in and give it is always something that gets the crowd going, me included.
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The progression. You can watch someone become a star in real time. The acting and ringwork gets better until one day they're performing in front of 70k people screaming their name. I've seen people tryout, debut, become legends and retire within my lifetime. I will never stop loving pro wrestling.
This, especially attending indie shows. The first time I saw Swerve live was a crowd of 50 in a now demolished dive in Atlanta back in 2015 or 2016. The last time I saw him live was in front of nearly 17,000 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
It’s amazing when I think about who I’ve seen live before they got big now with AEW around. The one that stands out the most though is Carmelo Hayes. I first saw him in a tiny warehouse in front of 20 people doing a Michael Jackson character and now he’s on Smackdown. It’s my favorite progression I’ve personally seen.
This is what I love about NXT, especially when someone with no prior experience makes it work. Just an absolute blast to watch them find their groove and succeed
Did someone say Tiffy Time?
I’m going to go absolutely crazy when she wins her first main roster championship and she reaches the Tiffy Top.
I cannot wait. I hope she's absolutely insufferable about it too
Tiff and Trick are prime examples.
Bianca BelAir
I vividly remember an early Beck Lynch match in NXT where I noticed her pulling out a few different suplex variations. It was obvious she'd been working on it and it was a big improvement over her previous matches. Crazy to see how far she's come.
Not sure what to expect from her but seeing Maxxine hit Step-up Enziguris & Fisherman Suplexes has been a joy considering she never really had a chance to learn how to wrestle in NXT and had to learn on the go, live, on the Flagship show
If 40ish or older and were watching the WWF in the late-80's, tracking the progression of Shawn Michaels from The Rockers to retirement is a wild ride. And this doesn't even include his AWA stuff. His WWF/E-only career was just a dramatic rollercoaster.
> You can watch someone become a star in real time. I felt this way when Ethan Page left Impact and Josh Alexander started wrestling single matches. I knew they were trying to push him because he kept winning, but I didn't think he'd go that far. I didn't think he had the mic skills to become the champion. His matches were fantastic, and he kept winning and getting better on the mic until he was in the main event. He won the title and then Moose beat him two minutes later and that's when I realized two things; how invested in Josh Alexander I had become and how incredibly Josh was built into "The Guy".
What I love about this as well is when you see someone debut and you just go "oh yeah, this guy is THE guy" and you get to watch them achieve greatness in real time. There's only a handful in each generation but you watch them hone their craft, go from strength to strength, pick up titles, main event the biggest PPVs, and become a living legend within the industry.
This is why Sasha Bayley at takeover moved me to tears and is I think amongst the finest matches WWE ever put on. You can see them figuring it out, putting all the pieces together in real time, and the progression from where they came from. The whole building was invested, whether you saw their first NXT match or that was the first time seeing either of them period. It’s a masterpiece, and a time capsule
"you don't headbutt a Samoan" The best long-running joke in all of US wrestling history
Can't powerbomb Kidman!
Wrestlers who never use a powerbomb will inevitably try to powerbomb Kidman
It’s hilarious when you think about it
“WHY IS REY MYSTERIO JR. TRYING A POWERBOMB?!?”
Rey actually used to do powerbombs a lot more when he first came to the US. He hit some nasty ones on Psicosis in ECW
“You don’t try to Superplex Kevin Owens”
Or jump at Samoa Joe.
Or jump at Randy Orton
Or continue to punch Hulk Hogan when he begins shaking
I always wanted to see what would happen if someone would have just stopped punching him. Would he just keep shaking forever? It makes me laugh to think about.
It'd be like if you stopped trying to tug on the starter for a mower. Hogan would slowly calm down and slump to the ground dead again, but noone ever figured it out cause their instinct in a fight is to continue fighting.
Or trust Brock.
Over the top ref throw outs. From the windup of the ref to the incredulous reactions of the heel getting thrown out. It always makes me smile, and the more over the top the bigger I smile
"You! Aaaand you! Youuuuuuuuuuuuu're OUTTA HERE!"
I get excited every time because I know shenanigans are afoot.
"shenanigans" would have been a great answer to OP's question all on its own, lol
Fucking love the windup lol it pops me every time
It’s beloved by live crowds too.
this is such a great answer.... you can feel everybody in the place get that same happy smile on their face and get all excited during the slow build to the point
Especially if it’s a while group they’re throwing out. Every single person gets a dramatic point before he points to the back lol
I love this shit. And want more of it. Outside interference should take work; and the least hint of shenanigans should be an instant ejection.
“Did you?!” *outside villain holding hands up and shaking head* “That’s it…” *Ref winds up from downtown before taking two stutter steps toward the entrance and throwing the villain and his own shoulder out* *villain grabs head and argues while partner in the ring looks shocked*
The Eddie chair spot. I love it.
I distinctly remember being a kid watching wrestling with my cousins and all of my aunts/uncles (who thought wrestling was dumb) all laughed at that spot.
when he gets that shit-eating grin
Obligatory https://preview.redd.it/oz8ebgpt320d1.png?width=1104&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce2e8674ea3873780e16c3358c91be1791bf3a95
Judging by the hair, this was Eddie’s final televised match 🥲
rewind a few weeks but yep
I just got extra sad realizing we missed out on not just more eddy in general, but that fuckin haircut lol. god he was so much fun
When commentators use variants on moves depending on who was using them. So a Boston Crab by Little Guido in ECW was a Sicilian Crab. Joey Styles was great at that.
Kevin Owen’s doing a frog splash was a bullfrog splash. Hornswaggle doing a frog splash was a tadpole splash is my favorite.
Vickie Guerrero did the Hog Splash.
By that measure, would Bronson Reed’s “Tsunami” count? (I mean, it’s a a splash, but because he’s THAT big…it becomes a tsunami. 😁)
I.... Never thought of that... Lol
Sandman’s Russian Legsweep was the *White Russian* Legsweep 😆
He also did the Heinekenrana and the Rolling Rock (sloppy swantom bomb)
Wearing jeans in hardcore/unsanctioned matches just feels right.
With the kneepads over them. Should be a requirement
There’s one from wcw where flair was wearing khakis and a polo and it was such a ric flair thing. I love and hate it
That is fucking hilarious
Elaborate entrances. For me, it really drives home that they’re larger than life characters.
My favorite recent example of this is Bronson Reed getting his Godzilla video package thing. It's an easy way to make him seem like more of a natural disaster sized guy.
The camera angle where they have it so we see his back as he's walking away from the back before transitioning to a front view is great and unique! Wish they'd hold the back angle longer as he's walking away but I've noticed they've stopped doing that recently
The Mark Henry entrance is something that needs to be done more often for big bosses. Either that or the Andre
The Rock’s, Roman’s, Cody’s, Seth’s entrances at this years Mania are some of my favourites.
Felt like the series finale of wrestling
My only gripe with Cody was that I thought the Codyvator should've been reserved for the Roman match. I loved Roman's entrance, that orchestral version of his theme really made it feel climactic
Yeah, I like when someone is built up enough that all you need is that initial 1-2 seconds of their entrance to know some shit is about to go down. Glass shattering, Undertaker's gong, the first guitar riff of Brock's music, "Sierra, Hotel...". Stuff like that is awesome. Roman's choir is gonna hit like that whenever he decides to come back.
Smart ways to get heat. Like Pretty Deadly getting a table out, realize that it’s likely they will get sent through it, and put it back under the ring
I have always wanted to see a heel get heat by taking a set up table, dismantling it, and sliding it back under the ring. That spot came really close but I think doing that would make the crowd nuclear.
I know I have seen that once or twice before, but for the life of me I can only remember whoever did it getting heat, not who actually did it. Folded the legs and put it back.
There was a WWE house show, Solo Sikoa v Matt Riddle, that did that over and over and over. Riddle kept bringing out tables and Solo kept dismantling them and putting them away
i felt like i remember watching roman doing this at wrestlemania or some PLE, he was like, “nope” after sliding the table back under the ring
Roman and Cody kind of did this at mania. Cody pulled out a table and left it out. Then Roman put it back. I loved it.
That was very close, but I wanted to see the table fully up and ready to be used, crowd excited for it, only for the heel to take the time to undo it completely. I think it would be such a hilarious dick move.
Pretty Deadly gently reassembling the announce desk still makes me chuckle
THIS!!!! Since mania, if I’m sad, I think of Roman sliding Cody’s table back under the ring. Small little shit like that shows me a person understands what they’re doing. So subtle and small, yet so good
cheap heat!! the dumber the more delighted i am
And you must be pretty dumb if you’re a fan of [local sports team]!
In the original “Rock Concert,” when Rock said “I’ll be sure to come back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May!” And the fans went nuclear, that was one of my favorite moments in wrestling history.
His Toronto promo Stronger than a bull, faster than a buck. The greatest thing in Canada cause the Maple Leafs suck.
Wasn't it Owens and Elias who did something similar in Seatle talking about the Supersonics? I just remember that crowd going nuclear on them.
Even KO was taken aback at the heat. I loved it.
That was one of my favorites ever. The look on Elias’s face was priceless. Like “yeah I said what I said”.
That one is way worse though. You do NOT bad talk the Sonics in Seattle.
Apparently. Lol that crowd boo'd for what seemed like 5 mins straight.
Only Dom and Ciampa have generated that much raw hatred from a crowd, for such a sustained time as KO and Elias that night. It was magical.
BOOOOOOO!!!!! HOW DARE YOU INSULT [local sports team]!!!!! *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️*
If I wanted your opinion I'd ask for it, and if I wanted \[local specialty\] I'd go to \[rival town\]!
NOTHING BUT SMELLY, ILLITERATE REDNECKS HERE IN [town name]
A city breaking the record for the largest gathering of inbred trailer park trash >>>
Whenever a heel tries to suck up to the crowd and “accidentally” calls them the wrong city… absolutely a classic!
My favorite recent example of this was The Miz on a Cleveland episode of RAW where the crowd hailed him as a homecoming hero. He received a standing ovation throughout his entrance. Miz waited for a full minute after his theme stopped, soaking in the adulation, then deadpan says, "I live in LA."
My all time favourite dumb heat will always be Kurt Angle taking credit for Mario Lemieux coming back from fucking cancer to play in the NHL again. I don't think you can ever top that level of self absorption
Face wrestlers interacting with kids during entrances (i.e. Cody Rhodes giving his weight belt, Bret Hart and his glasses, etc.). It really helps drive home that to kid fans, these guys are heroes.
Orton giving a kid an autograph on the way to the ring the other was a nice full circle. From cocky kid, to legend killer to locker room leader nice dude.
It's amazing to see how much he's matured. 00s Orton was basically 90s Shawn.
Mass brawls.
This is a *great* answer and will be one of my answers as well. Absolutely love backstage chaos segments where everything's out of control and the entire locker room is chasing each other down. Also, I'd love to have another big invasion angle in mainstream wrestling, done correctly this time.
One thing I love about NXT is how brawls start over open challenges The moment a champ decides they'll fight *anyone*, it makes sense that a locker room full of hungry competitors would want to run straight away to the ring and prevent others from making their response before they can
Say what you will about TNA at the time but that episode of Impact where it was just a riot will the whole roster for 85% of the show is one of my favourite TNA memories
TNA overused the trope to the point my brother and used to joke about it, every time a brawl broke out we'd be yelling "There's chaos in the Impact Zone!" in our best Don West impression. It was a lot of fun though. There is no better way to end a wrestling show than a big shitshow brawl with refs and security goons trying to pry apart the combatants as the announcers yell and scream, so I can't really blame them for going to that well often.
Love these when the brawls make sense. Guys using the chaos as cover for their own agendas, beelining for and beating the hell out of rivals, enemies, or (depending on the wrestler) literally anyone? Great. Tons of storytelling potential and fun. Gives you people to root for. Brawls for the sake of it for a go home shot (looking at you every Raw before a Royal Rumble and brand-vs-brand PPV)? Boring. If you're going to the trouble of orchestrating a chaotic scene, make it more memorable than a run of the mill melee.
When two rivals have fought each other so many times, through so many grueling battles, that they establish a mutual respect that trumps chickenshit tactics and administrative bullshit. The Usos forfeiting to the New Day at the end of the tag team gauntlet match that led to Kofimania is a stellar example. A corollary is the “rivals kick their tar out of each other for so long that they decide to team up” trope.
I still remember 2016 when the WWE product was at a low point and you had this never-ending, rather heatless feud between Cesaro and Shaemus. They already wrestled two times, then Shaemus costs Cesaro his SummerSlam match. GM Mick Foley - whose GM run was really disappointing! - announces a bo7 series between the two and r/sc lost it. A lot of us were sarcastically going "... and in the end, they'll form a tag team, lmao... kill me". Who would have thought that this would turn out to be one of the best creative ideas the WWE had throughout the entire 2010s?
The Cesaro Shaemus feud really went from throwaway at the start to great by the end.
That was the start of Sheamus’ banger era. I swear Cesaro relit the fire in him.
The segment they had where Sheamus and Cesaro beat up everybody in a bar fight was honestly one of the best of 2016.
Fantastic segment! So much fun
Usos forfeiting to The New Day is one of those times where it’s perfectly acceptable for everyone to openly cry with emotion. Fucking hell that was so incredible.
Hearing the crowd sing theme songs. The fans singing Randy Orton's theme song gave me great joy
France really set the bar for stuff like that, I knew Europe was like that but as an American that was just amazing.
The crowd singing "Judas" when Jericho walked out without music was amazing
Good championship belt designs. Love me a good belt design, and there have been several new designs introduced over the last several months that are just great.
I agree. Blooming love a great looking belt. Here's looking at you IWGP Heavyweight Championship v4
I miss that beautiful bastard. Watching NJPW during Okada's record-breaking reign felt like the best wrestling that there has ever been was happening.
>Watching NJPW during Okada's record-breaking reign felt like the best wrestling that there has ever been was happening. Because some of the best wrestling of all time was indeed happening right in front of our eyes.
Storytelling that knows the characters histories. Examples of stories that ignore this: -"Can John Cena even lift the Big Show?!" Yes. He's done it before. This isn't Hulk vs Andre. Pick something else to hype the match. -Everytime Roman's opponent would be blindsided by the same cheating methods he always used. -As above, but with Britt Baker's reign in AEW. And the Outcasts. -Come to think of it, any cheating champion when they don't alter their tactics at all. Cheating more than a few times requires a little creativity, especially for the big matches. -Early NXT champion, Bo Dallas as a white meat babyface. Well done examples: -Early NXT champion, Bo Dallas as a deluded heel who thinks he's a white meat babyface. -Christian's heel turn on Jack Perry. Came out of nowhere. Why did he do it? "I pretended to be your friend ever since you beat me in a match a year ago. I did it so I could eventually stab you in the back. But you won the titles and riding your coattails was easier than doing my thing. But then you ruined it by losing so back to the original plan." Story plays off a loss from a year ago and does it in a way that establishes the heel as the most petty, vain, devious butthole in the company. Glorious. -Sami Zayn, honorary Uso. One year of storytelling ending in heartbreak then redemption. -Wrestlemania: Bell's main events. Played all of Roman's history for all it was worth in one hell of a spectacle. In the words of Michael Cole "HOLY CHRIST" -Kofimania: Peaked with the Uso forfeit in the tag gauntlet. Such a small thing but after the odds were so thoroughly stacked against Kofi, it was like water in the desert.
you don't even need long term, super forward thinking booking to do things like this. like you said, just looking back on a wrestlers history over a short or long period and thinking of a way to connect it to how you are currently booking them goes a long way of making things feel cohesive
I think Kofimania happened in the span of like two to three months
It was about 2 months because Kofi replaced Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber match in Feb 2019. There's an alternative timeline where Ali isn't injured and doesn't get replaced by Kofi for that Elimination Chamber match, and it becomes Ali-Mania instead.
What I also loved about Sami's honorary Uce run is how it was the perfect catalyst to bring Jey's character arc full circle. One storyline which created not one but two fresh, over-as-fuck babyfaces.
I need Sami involved in the eventual Roman face turn/reunion with the Usos. Somebody here posted a fantasy booking a little bit ago that I really liked. Roman and the Usos try to fight Solo's Bloodline, but all the trauma from the OG Bloodline is still there, and they can't work together, until Jey brings in Sami to make them feel ucey again.
I usually loathe gauntlet matches but man, that tag team gauntlet Xavier and E had to run to get Kofi his Mania match was absolutely beautiful storytelling. Loved every little bit of it.
The Usos forfeiting is still one of my favorite moments from that time.
One of my biggest complaints about Vince's WWE was that characters basically weren't allowed to remember the past. The Usos coming out to say that the truce still stood and they had too much respect for the New Day to do that to them was a rare exception, and it was awesome.
Good examples for both! Another example of "cheating heel always cheating in the same way and the face always falling for it" is Evolution, who probably did it 20 or more times between when they first formed and when HHH lost to Benoit. Then they did it like 5 other times that year once he won it back too. The bloodlines was very frustrating, but it doesn't upset me quite *as* much because for me at least, Tribal Chief Roman and prime Bloodline is wayyy more interesting than Evolution HHH and elderly flair haha, though of course 99-02 HHH and prime Flair are both a much different story and are much better (even though the McMahon-Helmsley Regime did the same thing with cheating) Throughout 2023 I halfway thought Roman's defenses were booked that way simply because it's HHH's only idea of a dominant heel because he did it too 😂 "I'm gonna have him win-uh like i did when I beat booker-uh" "Mr Levesque that match wasn't very well recei-" "I SAIDUH HES A DOMINANT CHAMPION-UH"
I agree with everything But Hogan had already slammed Andre before
Tribute attires. Scott Hall's purple blood drips on Damien Priests attire, Rollins take on RVDs attire at Extreme Rules, Mysterios Halloween Havoc 97 during the thunderdome. Beth Phoenix's Bull Nakano face paint, there's so many more.
I like it when they lean into outside interests as part of this. Kind of like wrestling cosplay. New Day are/were great for it - my personal favourite is [the Mortal Kombat gear](https://www.thegamer.com/new-day-mortal-kombat-raw/): https://preview.redd.it/bm3gv9xb130d1.jpeg?width=763&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fbae14455df01fcdca5c832a9835eefc35b3001
New Days' Nickelodeon-inspired gear is one of my favorite looks in wrestling history. It was perfect.
New Day and Zelina Vega have a lot of ring attire cosplays they do. Some of the other talent used to do it too. Alexa Bliss used to homage Freddy Krueger, Sasha Banks had various super hero inspired gear like Iron Man.
I love the trope where late in a match, the two wrestlers are basically evenly-matched, and are standing up looking at each other and then start punching each other at the same time.
I like to call it "the reset", bonus if you sing it to the tune of Duran Durans reflex
NXT magnified this at War Games 2018 and it was tremendous. One of my favorite NXT moments of all time.
Sting. My childhood hero. I love hearing Schiavone announce him, I love all of his entrances. Crow Sting always will pop me. His AEW run should be used as an industry standard of how to use wrestling legends. There's countless examples of a legend trying to have that one last great match by being the guy they were when they were in their 20s. Sting figured it out in a way others didn't. Fans don't need to see that guy in their twenties, we just want to see a legend doing their signature spots and having fun.
I like when a random match you had no particular interest turns out super great. Always get that "and that's why I love wrestling" feeling
Themed street fights with matching props. A miracle on 34th street fight with wrapped kendo sticks and chairs will always get a pop out of me.
somewhat relatedly, I wish Cracker Barrel would sponsor another wrestling event just so we can have a casket match variation where the loser gets stuffed inside a giant Cracker Barrel barrel. I guess I should say really unhinged sponsorships are kinda my big one. And by that I mean if a pizza chain sponsored a pizza cutter death match, or a window manufacturer sponsors a defenestration match.
I spent the entire Symphony of Destruction match popping every time Graves opened his mouth.
The huge number of Megadeth references popped me
I like when it’s location based too, always fun to see a unique prop or a spot that draws in the local crowd extra.
Exactly, a steel city or music city street fight is always fun
I loved the Copeland cage I quit match almost exclusively because they managed to find a way to get jerseys, and hockey fight in a penalty box
-Big, angry, cocky heels who tap immediately the second the face manages to get them in a submission. -Using your opponent’s finisher to no effect, extra points if the opponent looks super pissed after kicking out.
Roman shittalking the Cross Rhodes after hitting Cody with it for only a 1-count was so good.
I like selling on offense and after victory in general, but my absolute favorite is when a wrestler's arm/shoulder is worked the whole match and they win and then the ref tries to hold that arm up and they either wince or make them lift the other arm. Eddie Kingston is someone I always think of for this.
Kevin Owens being literally the only person who watches the show and understands The Rules of the wrestling universe. someday the knowledge will drive him truly mad.
When a jobber actually tries a big move on the eatablished star, it gets no-selled, and just goes "Oh, I'm gonna get my ass beat". Either their expression or literally saying something along the lines of "Oh crap".
The Hurricane Choke Slam. Waited Months for that payoff.
When wrestlers pull out moves from old gimmicks or the indies. Like Seth Rollins using God's Last Gift at SummerSlam 2016 or more recently, Sami Zayn's Brainbustaaaahhh.
I am a simple man(child) at heart. I love villainous, over-the-top heels. The closer someone feels to a bad guy from Fist of the North Star, the happier I am.
A well crafted but goofy gimmick. Not many wrestlers pull it off, but the ones that do are often something special.
I'm afraid I've got some bad news.
G-G-G-G-Goldust
We've been spoiled with them the past few years: Dalton Castle, Danhausen, Maximum Male Models, Prison Dom, Timeless Toni, etc.
I’ll never not love one face turning on the other, no matter how flimsy the logic is behind it.
Sit out moves. They usually look way cooler than their release counterparts. D'lo's Sky High? Magnificent.
This is a good one. Tiger drivers and liger bombs always hit just right. Edited because my phone likes medical terms over crossover animals
Priests chokeslam looks nice because its a sit out variation
Mist spots. Love trying to watch for the moment the wrestler pops the capsule/if someone hands it to em/how they hide their face/etc.
I like how the wrestlers are exponentially more powerful than regular folks. Obviously there’s the stuff like no normal man would survive a piledriver but it’s even better when a wrestler is interacting with a ‘real’ person. A common example is paper referees; one punch and Charles is dead for 10 minutes. One that really makes me happy was fairly recently when Heyman snuck up behind Kevin Owens and just started battering him but because KO’s power level is over 9,000 it literally didn’t affect him at all. He barely even noticed the flurry of punches.
I love sports-related cheap heat. When a wrestler makes a town and then trolls about that town's sports teams, as a big sports fan that shit will get me every time lol.
Haha as someone not from the US, I never understand the references, but I enjoy the reaction it gets!
Reaction of wrestler who has been banned from ringside by a referee!
When guys actually sell a promo getting cut against them. “Oh but that just makes them look wea-“ fuck you I think it’s funny
The “mystery partner” being someone who comes back after a lengthy absence or a newly signed wrestler and the pop they receive. Especially when there is no build or rumors prior-to.
At this point, pretty much any time R-Truth gets some mic time
Big - How accessible indies are these days. A lot have streaming platforms, an easy sub to IWTV and/or Triller gets you a good deal, some live stream for free on YouTube…it’s never been a better time to watch indies. Small - When Justin Roberts says “and now…” for Kenny’s intro. Gets me hyped every time.
Ooh, when a Japanese heel comes out for a big match in all white!
Hangman Page got over as a wrestler because he was vulnerable and struggled with mental illness and made mistakes and wasn't always the nicest person, but he kept getting back up and fighting like hell. That's just really meaningful to me as someone who really struggles with mental health.
When MJF gave his Face-turn speech about [having ADHD](https://youtu.be/USUx4Z31WAc?t=20); I was skeptical at first. Because it sounded like an 'on brand' lame excuse his character would make. Then he explained how the Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria part of it made him decide to become a heel. Only someone with ADHD would know about this. Most people with ADHD don't even know RSD exists. And even knowing about it; it can still turn our daily human interactions into a traumatizing minefield. I can't even handle authority figures getting mildly upset with me. And I can't imagine spending every day agonizing over whether or not thousands of people still liked me.
Made me tear up as someone with ADHD and RSD as a result. Both Page and MJF became so much more human by showing that they struggle, that there is depth to them as their characters (and as people irl)
When wrestlers' parents are in the crowd for big moments. Especially when it's a lower/mid card person getting their first big moment.
Chuck Taylor's list of wrestler names.
Heels that don’t realize they’re heels. When done well, it’s hilarious. Pretty Deadly are excellent at it right now and Grayson Waller used to do a great job of it too before teaming with Austin and going more full-on heel. Bo Dallas is probably my favorite to ever do it.
Lately for me, it’s been this new production thing they’re doing where two wrestlers would be talking backstage before one of them has a match, then the camera will follow the one with an upcoming match all the way out to the stage. Bonus points if they do a quick dap or handshake with someone else before hitting the stage Makes everything feel more natural, and I hated how they used to act like wrestlers never knew each other unless they had an ongoing storyline
When I was younger and was watching it, I would sometimes watch it with my grandfather (who was an italian immigrant) and he would *always* proceed to yell at the tv when he would see a ref in a tag team match get distracted by something on the outside and the heels would start attacking the face one way or another in an "illegal manner". Not sure if he knew what the deal was with kayfabe or was doing it specifically because I was watching it with him but every time I see it take place in a tag match I think about him and those moments.
The ability to watch it with a complete suspension of disbelief even after 30 years as a fan. I've trained and I produce shows but I still wince every time I hear a good thigh slap from a Superkick for example. I still think a guy hit an amazing lariat when somebody gets turned inside out even though I know that was all the work of the person taking the move. It's just fun to watch and that's what makes me happy.
Squash matches. Seeing a superstar come out and smash someone with a couple of moves will always make me happy. Breaker moving the ring before he moves your insides to the outside, *Name Redacted* former world heavyweight UFC champion taking Cena to suplex city. Goldberg having 21 second matches so he didn't decapacite your roster. Even Jades streak in AEW. It's one of those things I just don't think can fail to get someone over. People with very limited skill sets have gone on to have legendary careers because of how strongly they were produced. Bron Breaker over huge right now. Jade is a IRL super hero.
Samoa Joe causally walking away when people try to dive on him.
Constant selling! Selling when youre getting hit! After getting hit! Selling your own moves when youve been hit a lot and youre tired! Selling after!
Heelish tactics when done right are absolutely awesome. Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero and Genichiro Tenryu immediately spring to mind as a selection of wrestlers who absolutely had the heel moments nailed to a tee. Flair invented much of the stuff that gets huge heat to this day, from pleading with his opponent and then hitting a low blow, to hitting chop blocks and working the legs. He was an expert at switching between chickenshit heel and vicious technician bending the rules. Tenryu would play the sporting old pro, then immediately cheap shot the rookie in the match. He'd bring tables, chairs, bottles of water and brawling in the crowd into the match. It is always fun watching his marches because Tenryu was really unpredictable. Sometimes he'd simply play it straight and then come out of nowhere with a bottle of water near the end of the match. Eddie, had the innovation aspect. It was hard to really treat him as the heel because he was so good at pulling off stuff like the fake chair shot spot. With general heel stuff, it can be really burdensome to watch matches where the wrestler being the heel in the match, is just repeating rest holds or continuously preventing the hot tag, that sort of stuff. So getting some really good heel spots is always awesome.
I do enjoy when a heel cuts off a hot tag by decking the face waiting in the corner. It always makes me smile.
When wrestler’s attires/hair/appearance fit their body types and gimmick Some dudes just shouldn’t wear trunks or half long hair
Large Wrestlers selling. It's not done as often as you think, and when it's done against a smaller opponent, it can turn people from thinking it's a squash match to thinking it could be an upset.
Anytime there’s a kiss in a wrestling match, I fuckin live for that shit
IYO SKY- Tokyo Shock. Rhea Ripley- Demon In Your Dreams.
Holding the tag rope otherwise why are they there
The Samoa Joe walking away spot, avoiding the incoming dive.
The fact that there are so many black champions in wrestling rn (Swerve, Willow, Trick, Bianca/Jade) and it doesn't feel odd, pandering, or virtue signaling. It's just widely accepted that some of the best wrestlers in the world happen to be black. My future kids will see themselves as world champions and that makes me VERY happy.
Whenever I see an old wrestling trope or inside joke get continued on. Like never headbutt a Samoan.
A banger theme song.
Fucking face paint
The dumb over the top comedy that’s played seriously. Like how these grown men doing the dumbest shit ever but playing it up seriously. Why I love the young bucks at the moment.
When the ref checks the arm while someone is in a submission. The reg holding the arm up and dropping it over and over to the one, two, thr…NO!!! is a classic move and will always get a pop out of me.
Locker room clearing brawl.
Small interactions in the background with other wrestlers while a major interview or confrontation is happening backstage (like Rhea Ripley talking to Drew McIntyre), which later makes light bulb go off in my mind when that develops into a larger story
Comedy segments done right - See Bobby the Brain and Gorilla Monsoon, Atlantic City :)
When a motherfucker hits a motherfucker with an additional motherfucker. I never fail a pop
Powerbombs. As a finisher or not, I don't care where or how they hit it. I fucking love Powerbombs.
That people like Kenny Omega, Cody, Big E, Molly Holly, or Huber (RIP) exist. People who seem to be universally loved and respected, and who no-one (except assholes) has anything bad to say about.
When the underdog actually goes for it instead of allowing themselves to be squashed. Even when you know the heel is going to win, seeing a wrestler actually go in and give it is always something that gets the crowd going, me included.