'Nobody told him to go out there and abuse his body. Take all those bumps, jump off the top of the ceiling onto a teacup because it's cool. Oooooh it's cool now, but when you get to be older and are in a wheelchair and you got a million pains, now who's cool? Now who feels good?
All these guys talking about how cool it is doing these amazing crazy bumps. IT's SUPPOSED TO BE ENTERTAINMENT. If you can't figure out a way to entertain people without killing yourself then maybe you need to get out the business. That's why they're all running around here with (broken) hips and all weird looking and stuff like that. I ain't got none of that.' ~ Hillbilly Jim
'When you watch a tape back of Chief Jay Strongbow's work it wasn't like.... but you know what, I've never seen a tape where he drops his f***ing hands back and starts doing his s*** I don't see people sitting on their asses. So to me it's just like, that was still the era of ... he's getting away. He's over and he's not doing s***. So obviously he knows. He's getting a response and he ain't doing s***! So f***ing pony up to him!
For me to come up to tell you somethin' like 'Ahh when you're doing that f***ing Chinese f***ing whatever you guys do, when you roll around and do that s***, I don't think you're doing it right.' I wouldn't f***ing know! When it got to the era of the 'I grab you, you flip me' and it just looks like two guys from circus soleil tumbling routine and you can see they are just obviously see they are helping each other through the movements, at what point do you go 'Alright I can't chain wrestle but that f***ing blows!' I mean just from the standpoint that I was a mark at one point and I would not f***ing watch that" ~ Kevin Nash
Take a look at the big names of the generation.
Bryan - Forced into early retirement due to mass concussions from constant high spot bumps.
CM Punk - Was asked to stop doing the diving Elbow because it was wrecking his body, refused because he needed it to stay over. That and other high spots left him laundry list of injuries including a broken back he was not even aware of. Left his body so wrecked that he cant even fight anymore.
Owens - Being critized for having no understanding of ring psychology and looking like a spoiled overweight child. Relying on big bumps and crazy spots on a weekly basis to get reactions, all of which cripple his body slowly
Rollins - Accused of being a danger to himself and others with his high-risk high spot mass bump style where he damn near kills himself and his opponent in every big match he ever has to get half the reaction Rikishi used to get when he rubbed his ass across someone's face. Injuring Balor during his big break due to highspots.
Meanwhile in NXT and Indy Feds around the world, the new idea of how to become big appears to be 'Add more flips and crazy s*** that makes people go WOW while you jump through tables onto your head'
What is left for a Apolo Crews if he was not allowed high-spots? Nothing most likely.
On the other hand, the young guys not doing high spots every single week, like Sandow or Dillinger, wrestled for over a decade and no one cares about them. So? Are they right?
Worth noting that Jim is 65 and is still in pretty good shape. Amazingly good for a pro-wrestler, who in recent years are lucky if they reach 60.
Also Interesting as well that he talks about how Wrestlers back in the day used to work so hard and frustrate theselves so much that they would drive themselves so crazy that they eventually just give up and go home. Guess Ryback and Punk were nothing new.
Does he have a point? Are the 'wrestlers' who rely on high-spots not as talented as the ones who don't need them? Or has the business just changed so you need high-spots to make people care. And 'psychology' or 'character' now means about as much as whether or not Cole's wife eats an apple or a pear for breakfast.
Maze_