RETIRE THE STEEL CHAIR

#RetireTheSteelChair

For some time now pro wrestling, or more often sports entertainment, has relied on a specific trope to further many storylines. Many heels fall back on it to get heat. Many babyfaces use it to get some sort of retribution. They don’t use a microphone to voice their particular grievances or flip the double birds to the crowd. No, they go to the infamous steel chair.

There was a time when a proper heel would gouge their opponent's eyes or hit a low blow. But now they grab a steel chair. Babyfaces would rally behind the cheering crowd and overcome all the odds to fight off the evildoers. But now they grab a steel chair. Anytime there is a long-standing feud that just can’t possibly be any more personal or heated, the wrestlers grab a steel chair. How often do wrestlers go under the ring for a weapon and pull out a chair, and another wrestler, later in the show, grabs one of the half dozen standing in the Timekeeper’s area?

The steel chair has always had a place in pro wrestling. Especially in the mid-90s when “hardcore matches” gained prominence. Today, it seems the steel chair is often used more as a crutch; as a way to further along any story, good or bad. If we look back, chair shots were once a devastatingly destructive maneuver. This may have been due to the fact that they were often real hits with real steel and were not protected in any way. I’m not suggesting that’s what needs to happen now. There’s absolutely no reason to perform an unprotected chair shot to the head! But that being said, using chairs in any other capacity doesn’t look right. In fact, I really want to go back to the time when a heel would use psychology or straight-up cheating to get heat on the babyface. Remember how good Ric Flair was at underhandedly getting over on his opponents? He was the “Dirtiest Player In The Game” and he rarely, if ever, needed to use a steel chair.

Chair shots today tend to look weak or extremely awkward when used. Since they can only be used on an opponent's back, it tends to look very unnatural for someone to stay bent over or move into position to take the chair shot. Over the past couple weeks, we saw a chair used in the Randy Orton/Kofi Kingston rivalry before their Clash of Champions match this Sunday; Rhea Ripley used a chair on Shayna Baszler on NXT; Sasha Banks and Bayley both had major chair-swinging tirades. All of the above mentioned spots, while devastating and story-moving, still looked to be too staged, in my opinion. Again, I’m not suggesting, nor would I condone, going back to unprotected headshots with chairs, but the shot from Shawn Spears to Cody Rhodes at AEW Double Or Nothing did seem new and got people talking. Something different needs to be used more frequently. But there hasn’t really been a new or creative way to use a steel chair since Eddie Guerrero tossed one into his opponent's hands and feigned an injury to the ref. At this week’s Clash of Champions, we did see a spot where Becky Lynch set up a chair and put her Disarm-her submission on Sasha Banks through the back of the chair, which was a nice little change of pace.

All this being said, I am clearly not a wrestler. I fully believe that each and every chair shot we see on screen is painful and brutal for the performer taking it and I would never suggest otherwise. Personal blood feuds and “Extreme Rules” matches are always fun to watch, but I think it’s time to put away the steel chair and come up with something new. Maybe the kendo stick should be used more often? Or a table? A bull rope? If the chair should be used, find better ways to use it. I would never condone doing anything so extreme as to cause undue injury to the performers. But the steel chair has had it’s time in the sun and needs to take a rest. I think wrestling fans would enjoy seeing a new take on an old gimmick.