Post by Goldash on Oct 28, 2009 15:49:52 GMT -5
Well, without further ado, here's an entry from the amazing site TVTropes about the infamous "Seven Year Rule" in professional wrestling...it's where angles, characters, promos or gimmicks magically resurrect after a few years off television for some odd, inexplicable reason:
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SevenYearRule
I don't have a stance on the matter myself. Part of me thinks the "Seven Year Rule" is a way for wrestling leagues to say how much creativity they lack, when, on the other hand, another part of me says that it's in the nature of wrestling angles to repeat themselves. I mean, at the end of the day, it's simply a bad guy fighting a good guy with something on the line (be it a belt, a girl, respect, redemption, truth, justice, the American way...et cetera).
Another reason why I'm torn? Yes, wrestling can be creative and new, but if someone comes out with a groundbreaking angle, there's no guarantee that it'll catch on with fans. Therefore, the "seven year rule" allows promoters to find a "guaranteed hit" (providing of course that the workers are as good as the ones that did such an angle before).
Usually, however, bookers resort to this in order to re-use flopped ideas in a new context...such as Kevin Fertig playing a creepy supernatural guy over and over again without much success.
You have to admit, though, despite the benefits the "Seven Year Rule" may carry, it's been used as a tool of laziness more times than it has been used as a tool of reinvention or reinvigoration.
What do you guys think?
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SevenYearRule
I don't have a stance on the matter myself. Part of me thinks the "Seven Year Rule" is a way for wrestling leagues to say how much creativity they lack, when, on the other hand, another part of me says that it's in the nature of wrestling angles to repeat themselves. I mean, at the end of the day, it's simply a bad guy fighting a good guy with something on the line (be it a belt, a girl, respect, redemption, truth, justice, the American way...et cetera).
Another reason why I'm torn? Yes, wrestling can be creative and new, but if someone comes out with a groundbreaking angle, there's no guarantee that it'll catch on with fans. Therefore, the "seven year rule" allows promoters to find a "guaranteed hit" (providing of course that the workers are as good as the ones that did such an angle before).
Usually, however, bookers resort to this in order to re-use flopped ideas in a new context...such as Kevin Fertig playing a creepy supernatural guy over and over again without much success.
You have to admit, though, despite the benefits the "Seven Year Rule" may carry, it's been used as a tool of laziness more times than it has been used as a tool of reinvention or reinvigoration.
What do you guys think?
