Took a Level in Badass/Professional Wrestling: Difference between revisions

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* Japanese professional wrestling does this in a number of ways. Most Japanese wrestlers start out as lower-than-dirt [[Jobber|Jobbers]] who lose pathetically unless they're wrestling each other, in which case they use stock moves to decide the victor (the German Suplex is a huge crowd-pleaser in Japan partly because it is the official finisher of anyone who doesn't have a distinct finisher yet). After spending a few years as total losers, these wrestlers will then get [[Put on a Bus]] to wrestle overseas, after which they come back with a more distinctive wrestling style and a new, more badass [[Finishing Move]] that allows them to climb the ranks. This gets taken even further in some promotions, in which the new finisher becomes [[So Last Season]] and the wrestler breaks through to the very top with another finisher and another level in Badass.

** One of the most famous uses of this was the All Japan Pro Wrestling 1995 Champion's Carnival. Akira Taue had spent years as a bit of a [[Creator's Pet]] because, while a competent grapler, he was constantly [[Overshadowed by Awesome]] in his tag team with [[Badass|Toshiaki Kawada]] and was given top billing despite being nowhere near the level of fantastic main-event technicians like [[Boring Invincible Hero|Mitsuharu Misawa]], [[Future Badass|Kenta Kobashi]], [[Foreign Wrestling Heel]] Steve Williams, and the aforementioned Kawada. However, during the Carnival (a round-robin tournament for a title opportunity), Taue discarded his goofy agility-based offense in favor of brutal power moves that better suited his height and awkward build. The more power-based moveset and accompanying winning streak made a [[Dark Horse Victory]] look ''very'' plausible going into a match with the nigh-unbeatable Misawa.

* Sheamus was known to be a powerful wrestler when he debuted, but then got pushed out of the spotlight for quite sometime. Cue late 2011 and here he comes, being the only person to stand up against a monstrous Mark Henry and was powerful enough to ''kick the World's Strongest Man unconscious''. Also, he was able to get out of the Khali Vicegrip ''by pushing it off with his own hands''. It seems that Sheamus is also becoming back to being the badass he originally was.