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Glenn Gilbertti is the special guest on this week's Impact Wrestling's Media Pass Podcast, and I let him know that I used to play the Disco Inferno character in the WCW Nitro video game, twenty years ago. Ross Forman, the moderator, asks, aghast - 'Why would you possibly do that?' Gilbertti interrupts:
Let me make a statement on that. I get that from a lot of people. My character in the WCW video game was a lot stronger than my character on TV. Like for some reason, a lot of people come and say I always used to play your character in the WCW video game. Like a considerable amount of people said that I was their favourite character. I never played that video game, but if that's true, that's good casting.
I joke that the character would go over Goldberg and Hogan in the game, unlike what transpired on screen:
That should have been the case in real life. They should have put me over those guys.
So, I finally ask my real question. How does the Impact Wrestling roster of today size up to the classic rosters:
Interesting. I started in TNA during the Asylum days in 2003. We had young AJ Styles, Kazarian, Daniels, Chris Sabin. We had a lot of innovative guys that have gone on to have prominent careers. And the style back then was flashy, more high flying but it was still grounded in a lot of the basic skills. A lot of guys used to throw fists. Punch, kick, beat guys up and then you intersperse high spots.
Gilbertti went on to say that today's wrestlers look like they cannot fight for real:
I see a lot of wrestlers today. They're talented and they're acrobatic and they have incredible athletic skill but a lot of guys today, when it comes time to beat a guy up, a lot of these guys look like they don't know how to fight for real. And I think that it's a skill that every professional wrestler should have. If you're fighting in there, you should look like you know how to fight.
He added that it takes more skill to make a fight look realistic than to be acrobatic:
Because people emphasize these days more acrobatics, more high spots and more dives and everything...that skill hasn't been paid attention to a lot and not a lot of people do it any more. And I would say that's missing from the product. So, I would say this. It takes more skill to know how to do this for real than to do acrobatic stuff. Because everybody can do acrobatic stuff today. But not a lot of people look like they can kick people's butts for real.
So, Gilbertti offered his conclusion on the question I'd asked:
So, I would say that the skill level back in the day is better than it is today. But the athleticism is a lot better than it used to be. Because people are willing to risk things more and do more entertaining, acrobatic things that catch the eye. But the skill level back in the day was better than it is today, to be honest.
So whom would he want to manage from the current Impact Wrestling roster?
Kross. I would want to manage a top guy. I wouldn't want to manage a bum. Cuz then I'd be a top guy!
Catch Impact Wrestling only on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD every week.
