skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of

As compelling as the physical aspect of professional wrestling can be, the element that makes this American institution stand out is the psychology that goes into working the crowd.Few in the history of the business have been better at this than Paul Triple H Levesque. This mastery led The Cerebral Assassin to 14 WWE world championship reigns -- two shy of the all-time record held by Ric Flair -- and hes now helping the next generation of wrestlers in his role as the WWEs executive vice president of talent, live events and creative.Levesque shared a bit of his unparalleled psychological expertise in a recent interview.Character developmentThe conversation got underway with discussion of the classic rule that says the best wrestlers take a facet of their personality, turn it to the front, then turn the volume up to 10. Levesque said it doesnt necessarily work that way in every case.Everybody is different, every single person, he said. There are a lot of talents that, over the years, you take them and you turn their personality way up and thats them. Thats their character. And that works for a lot of guys.A lot of them, as they become good, they start to morph themselves in a bigger, better way. And those are the ones that you just try to help cultivate to become big stars by turning up the volume.Levesque went on to note that, in many cases, character development requires going in a completely different direction from who the person is outside the ring.There are a lot of other guys [who] need to transform into something else, Levesque said. In their personal lives theyre quiet, or theyre reserved or whatever, and when the red light goes on and you give them a character that they can sink their teeth into, they become something great. If you knew Glenn Jacobs and you knew Kane, theyre two totally different things. Thats kind of the arc of what we do.BelievabilityLevesque said believability is a key element to getting any character over.They really have to feel it and believe it, he said. Its no different than acting in a movie. Im sure if you dont really feel that role and its not just you, then you look like youre acting. And that to me that is always the kiss of death.I have to say to guys all of the time, when they send me stuff on a character or a persona theyre trying on, I say, I dont believe it. I dont believe thats what he thinks he is or I dont believe thats what he feels.Sometimes the toughest part of making a believable character come to life is helping the talent understand what the audience is willing to believe.We had a character, a kid in developmental, at one point in time, that came to me dressed in jeans and a ripped T-shirt, Levesque said. And he came to me to show me this character. This guy was the furthest possible thing you would ever think of being a badass. And I said, Why are you wearing that?He said, Its a new character I want to try. Its me as an asskicker. And it just made me laugh. I was like, I dont care what you do, nobody is going to see you as that. Its just people understanding what they can be taken as legitimately and how they can perform it in a way thats believable.Enhancement matchesEnhancement matches -- showdowns in which contracted WWE superstars face local talent in an effort to make them look strong -- recently returned to the WWE Universe on both Raw and SmackDown Live after an extended absence. When asked if these matches would continue to be a staple, Levesque said he views them as only one part of a larger picture.Anytime you do a match, youre trying to get personalities over, he said. Because for the most part, people appreciate great wrestling, but if they dont care about the performers and they dont care about the story between the two performers, they dont care about the match. They just dont. Theyll get to the end of it and theyll go, Wow, that was really exciting and they did some crazy stuff when the one guy did the thing, you know, like I dont remember his name, but he did the crazy move.The moves and the matches only are great when theyre with great stories; when those stories are rich, and the characters are rich and you can get involved in them. And when the matches deliver that and youre invested in those characters -- thats when its magic.When asked to clarify the purpose of enhancement matches -- whether they were designed to get a gimmick over, to get a wrestler over or both -- Levesque had an interesting take.Enhancement matches on the shows, to me, are designed to get personalities over, he said. Its designed for one guy to go out there -- yeah, he beats up another guy, but what was he doing while he was doing that? He was establishing his moves, so I see what this guy does and see the kind of a style in which he wrestles?But if he just goes out there and just does a few moves with no personality and no charisma, I still dont care about him. I just know hes better than the other guy, who didnt look like he was very good in the first place.We then dug into more specific instances of these kinds of enhancement matches, starting with Braun Strowman, who was recently separated from the Wyatt Family in the brand extension draft.Were resetting Braun Strowman, Levesque said. Were resetting who he is, and resetting his character and his personality so that you can learn more about him and feel for him. Its the same thing with Nia Jax and any of these characters that we do those things with.When I write NXT, I never go, I just need to get so and so a match, and give them an enhancement match, he said, relating his different experiences at that level. Its not what I want to do. I give it to them so I can see a different part of his personality. If I give [Shinsuke] Nakamura an enhancement match in NXT at this point, its so I can get the entertainment side of him out that I cant get if hes out there and hes going to wrestle Samoa Joe.I want to see a different side of him, so I give him something that he can do that different side in and show me that personality.50/50 bookingThe internet is filled with talk about how so-called 50/50 booking -- when two talents (or sometimes more) trade wins and end up on even footing over the course of a series of matches -- can never work to get a wrestler over. As might be expected, Levesque had a completely different point of view.Its just a term somebody came up with, Levesque said. Its just terms that people throw out there.When somebody goes, Well, you just cant get people over with 50/50 booking, [Ill always say] Oh, Im sorry, hows your territory coming? Because this one seems to be doing pretty good over here. We just had the largest WrestleMania in history. People talk a lot of smack about ratings and things, but they dont understand all of the dynamics of everything we do. They dont. They sit on the internet and they read one thing and they give their point of view.Levesque went one step further and noted that he doesnt even keep track of won-loss records.Do I keep track of the exact wins and losses of talent? No, Levesque said. To me, all of this stuff is a feel. All of it is a feel.Sometimes youre beating a talent because you want to beat them and thats the sympathetic reaction youre trying to elicit. There are some talents that, when you beat them, they get more popular, but as soon as they start on a winning path, their popularity begins to wane. ... People want that underdog to strive to succeed and then get a little bit of success and then get knocked back off that perch and be the underdog again.He also indicated that mindset of not placing an emphasis on wins and losses comes all the way from the top of the company.People dont understand it when Vince [McMahon] will say its not about wins and losses or those things. Do they matter? Sure. Are they the be all, end all? Absolutely not.I suppose theres a stone somewhere that its written on that says, Thou shalt not book 50/50 because it wont lead to success for your promotion. Well stand on that stone while were selling out Brooklyn three days in a row.Tag teamsWhen Levesque was asked if the company is moving back in the direction of having more tag teams, he noted that the move away from tag teams was never really about a change in the companys card-building philosophy.I think you go back five or six years ago when the tag teams were on the decline. Part of that was a thinner talent roster, he said. NXT has been able to beef up the ranks enough for us to split rosters, and you see this resurgence. ... Im really proud of them -- of the entire developmental system. It has allowed for the resurgence of tag-team wrestling and resurgence of womens wrestling by giving them the platform to be able to do what they do.Levesque said part of reason the company is placing a larger emphasis on tag teams is so it can help some talent develop in a way it couldnt in a singles environment.Sometimes when youre a talent, theres safety in numbers. You gotta go out on a limb when youre a performer. And its uncomfortable, Levesque said. And people that dont do it for a living dont understand it, but being a performer and going out there and just letting it all hang out there, when its just on you, and youre the only one -- man, its hard to do that.When youve got somebody else to blame, somebody else sharing in the success and somebody standing next to you, supporting you on the team, its liberating. The challenge is then getting past the liberation when its time to move out on your own. Can you then make that transition? Does that lead to them being singles wrestlers? Who knows. Adidas NMD R2 φθηνα . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Adidas Superstar γυναικεια . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. http://www.nmdgreece.com/adidas-nmd-human-race-greece.html . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Adidas Superstar ανδρικα φθηνα . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Adidas Superstar γυναικεια ασπρα . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. BOONE, N.C. -- Ronshad Shabazz made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points, and Appalachian State outscored James Madison 14-2 in overtime for a 73-61 victory on Saturday.At the end of regulation, Patrick Good dribbled past several defenders and found Kelvin Robinson on the wing for a 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left to tie it at 59-all.Tom Vodanovich opened the scoring in overtime with a free throw and his free throw at the 3:56 mark was the final point for James Madison. Griffin Kinney scored on App States next posseession for a 63-61 lead and Shabazz made a fast-break layup to make it 66-61.ddddddddddddKinney and Good each scored 13 points for Appalachian State (4-6). Robinson made three of the Mountaineers 12 3-pointers and scored 11 points.Jackson Kent had 16 points, five rebounds and six assists for James Madison (1-9). He made two free throws with 6.8 seconds left in regulation for a 59-56 lead. ' ' '