>>13464407It wasn't.
Then heels used strikes to gain an advantage.
If they were caught by the ref, they could get disqualified.
It was at the point where the crowd would pop for closed fists. Holy shit did they pop.
Modern wrestling fans talk a lot about how the old days had nothing but 15-minute chinlocks and that nothing about it was exciting or good, I think those guys are just hard to please, like a wrestling version of deadcocking yourself.
They've seen so much workrate that if they don't see any workrate now, they can't get lost in the psychology.
The crowd popped for a strike. The crowd popped for a suplex.
The Irish fucking Whip was an offensive move that got a pop. RUNNING THE ROPES GOT A POP.
Now you dropkick the babyface square in the head and the crowd goes "ooh nice combo".
It's a fucking embarrassment how both the talent and the promoters let the business wank itself to death this hard.
