Eric Bischoff commented on the trend of ‘cinematic matches’ during a recent interview with Sportskeeda. The former WCW President thinks it’s possible to present them correctly, but he does not see them as “the future of the business.”
AEW star Matt Hardy is credited with being a pioneer of cinematic matches, stemming from his time with Impact Wrestling. Hardy’s “Broken Universe” produced several memorable short films, including the Final Deletion.
Other companies have utilized cinematic matches. WWE filmed mini-movies from the Wyatt Family Compound. The main event of last year’s WrestleMania saw The Undertaker defeat AJ Styles in the well-received Boneyard Match.
The most recent example of a cinematic match came this past weekend at Impact Wrestling: Hard to Kill when Ethan Page battled his alter ego, Karate Man.
Bischoff on Cinematic Matches
Eric Bischoff explains that cinematic can be a valuable part of a wrestling show. However, it’s important that companies use them sparingly, as special attractions.
“I don’t think it’s the future of the business,” said Bischoff. “I think it’s a valuable component, a special attraction. I think if it’s done too much, it will lose some of its value to the audience when everything becomes a cinematic style match. Then it’s no longer special. I think if the cinematic matches are presented as a special event, once a year, or twice a year, or in unique story-driven situations, I think it could become a very valuable part of the presentation. But I think to rely on that exclusively as a presentation would diminish their value.”
Cinematic matches have been generally well-received and the trend does not appear to be going away. Someone like Sting, for example, is somewhat limited with what he can do in the ring. However, he’d be the perfect candidate to utilize cinematic matches.
