Askren is NOT good for wrestling

[ronald 0]

This guy shoots his mouth off before the 2008 Olympics, gets blasted at the Olympics, and quits. Then, the wrestling people in charge of all of these special events keep bringing him in to wrestle in "dream matchups". WHY? He quit, and chose to do something else. Which is fine. He calls out Dake, great, but Dake isn't a world champ or Olympic champ. Why doesn't Mr. Mouth challenge Burroughs to a match? Oh yeah, that's right, because then it would be a replay of the 2008 Olympics all over again. Some people think this is good for our sport?

[Dr_Gonzo 1]

Yes he is. I'm not wasting my time on a long post you won't listen to anyway. Do your own research. YES HE IS!!! (yelling)

[Frank_Rizzo 336]

Wrestling has been dying a slow, painful death for several decades (they even tried to cut OLYMPIC WRESTLING!!!) with D1 programs dropping like toilet seats and there are still people out there that think guys like Askren are bad for the sport? :shock: Give me a break. Askren isn't good for wrestling, he's great. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's the most well-known wrestler in the United States, and that includes Jordan Burroughs. Notoriety is a good thing for Askren and the attention he brings to himself is good for the sport. Period. End of argument. I can prove this with a single piece of paper and a pencil.

 

The same people that think Askren is bad for the sport are the same people who think Miley Cyrus is an idiot as she sits around her multi-million dollar mansion(s) and builds forts out of $100 bills...

[BRGuy 37]

I agree

 

nothing wrong with hyping matches and promoting your brand but his antics are juvenile and just remind me of disabatos slime

 

agon continues to look classless

[ban_basketball 16]

I wouldn't say that he isn't "good for wrestling" (I'm not sure what that means), but I can say that I'm not a big fan of him (except for when he danced right next to the Minnesota bench and smiled coyly at the Minnesota team and Kish, just before he moved up and beat Kish at the national duals).

 

It was fun for me to see Robinson and Becker lose their composure and fall into his mind game that he was playing on them. :lol:

[MatEater 4]

Askren(along with other former wrestlers now dominatiing mma) is showing the rest of the world that our sport is the greatest and most effective as a martial art. The impact could not be more positive. Anyone who hates on that is either bitter or trapped inside their own head bubble.

[tirapell 34]

Typical wrestling post. Remember this when we're talking about our next 'save wrestling' rally.

 

Ben's talk doesn't hurt anyone. The fact that it gets you riled up just shows it is serving it's intended purpose.

[mlbruem 141]

Quote from the T shirt Askren sold Just after winning his 2nd NCAA Title

 

"Askren Labs: Doing to wrestling - What Balco did for baseball - Making it interesting"

 

Still true today - Ben does his best to promote the sport.

[Old_Marine_Wrestler 245]

Askren is a marketing machine!

 

He put the CHIN in for those watCHINg agon...

[sockobuw 49]

for years boxing had what wrestling wanted. now mma has what wrestling wants. someone is trying to provide this for wrestling and the morons on this board can't see this. whether it fits into dake's schedule or not is up to him, but good for askren. the wrestlers in agon 1 made nice money if the reports I read were correct. 4 matches seems like a really good number to bring enough interest and not break the organization's bank with prize money. it was stated somewhere that askren is the matchmaker for agon which will become a conflict of interest if the organization takes off, but he did a great job in the debut. if you think trash talk is bad for wrestling look at what chael has been able to accomplish financially from being a really good fighter and the world champ at running his mouth.

 

the oliver askren twitter battle seemed like it was light-hearted, while the dake/askren seemed like true fighting words. I hope the match happens because it would fill the venue in Ithaca and sell a lot of ppv.

[jstock 125]

I truly believe that Askren is trying to help wrestling. Why did Askren call out Dake? You build an event one at a time. You focus on bring in the fans at the next event while working on big picture stuff. Askren called out Dake for the event in ITHICA NY ! The idea is to pack that event. Dake is currently a hot commodity. He was up for an ESPY. That means that a big network might still remember him and may want to do a story or cover the event, which equals potentially more money for all.

I just don't want to see the smack talk and MMA show stuff filter down to HS and below. College kids can have a small amount of latitude maybe, but I don't want to see it in HS. I appreciate the general sportsmanship and conduct we have in wrestling and would like to see it preserved.

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,047]

i dont like the trash talking either but big deal. hes not calling out current college amatuers. dake didnt need to respond either.

 

but even if askren represents all that you despise about athletics, hes certainly better for the sport than the folks who tragically and incompetently ran FILA into the ground. its not askren's fault the premier wrestling event in the world has 6 weight classes, limited consolation rounds and 15 minute breaks in between matches.

[smittyfan 42]

I hated Ali, as a kid. I've grown to appreciate the fact that as a child, I couldn't really fathom what was going on. His antics were undeniably brilliant, and he changed boxing forever. I think Ben is great, and I wish him all the luck in the world to make a lot of money. I think he's one of the few wrestlers that comes out and says wrestling is king. Love him or hate him, but watch him I say!!! Just one more thought before we anoint wrestling as the greatest martial art. There are still rules in MMA. These rules, are great for wrestling, but let's not forget that if it was a true self defense or war situation, that Bruce Lee would reach inside your chest and pull your still pulsing heart out and eat it while you slowly died:)

[Plasmodium 2,217]

Any WI insiders here that can verify a story?

I heard a story that goes like this:

Askren was very dominant in HS, so he got bored and used to clown around a bit in matches. For this, he was roundly criticized, told to be serious, blah, blah, blah. He showed for state weigh-ins wearing a wry smile, a nice suit and toting a brief case. Why? Because he is all "business".

[Wolverine7 3]

i dont like the trash talking either but big deal. hes not calling out current college amatuers. dake didnt need to respond either.

 

but even if askren represents all that you despise about athletics, hes certainly better for the sport than the folks who tragically and incompetently ran FILA into the ground. its not askren's fault the premier wrestling event in the world has 6 weight classes, limited consolation rounds and 15 minute breaks in between matches.

 

 

From what I have seen of Dake I don't think he is capable of not responding.

[John Jensen 1]

Askren is great for wrestling. Askren is one of the main reasons I started following wrestling again. If you can’t appreciate his mastery of the scramble positions and his confidence/showmanship then you probably have a very boring view on most things in life. This is a slow, not very imposing physically guy that in the AGON, folkstyle, MMA and even in freestyle makes absolute studs look foolish. That in my opinion is fun to watch and is great for the sport.

[tbert 563]

He showed up with the briefcase to "bring home the hardware"

[krippler 14]

Askren is very entertaining

 

Forgive me if I get a detail wrong, but I was at national duals January 2007. In the first round, after pinning AA Herrington in the first period, Askren claps his hands, rubs them together, and points at Penn coach Zeke Jones.

 

2nd round he has to borrow Pell's singlet, who just got done wrestling, because he misplaced his.

 

3rd round, against OK St. he had another pin. After the pin, he pretended he had a lasso, and skipped around the mat while looking at the OK St bench. It was very funny, although I am sure OK St. did not think so.

 

4th round he bumped up to 184 and beat Kish. The place was erupting during the match.

 

Love him or hate him, he gives us something to talk about. I choose the former. If you liked pins or funk, which most of us do - he definitely supplied both. The smack talk is just icing on the cake for me.

[sansbarksdale 30]

Google "heel vs babyface" and then you can start to realize why sports like Boxing,MMA, and pro wrestling are multi million dollar industries and wrestling is in danger of not even existing.

[rstrong 75]

Not good for wrestling?? That's nonsense.

 

Askren is the Dick Fosbury of wrestling. He is an innovator who continues to work to promote wrestling.

 

Not everyone will agree with his style of promotion, or wrestling, or MMA for that matter. That's OK. We all have our own styles - and disagree often. Let's not try to run down Ben's efforts with negativity. Instead, make a goal to match what Ben's done. Then we'll have twice the positive effort.

[AnklePicker 643]

Askren is a nut and I love it. I'll never forget standing on the mat at the NYAC when Askren was talking **** on the mat to Pritzlaff then proceeded to beat him.

 

What people often forget is Askren ended up avenging his Olympic loss to Fundora. Shortly thereafter he turned his focus to Bellator but he is a great wrestler who is very good for the sport.

 

What sets Askren apart in his wrestling is his technique! I bought his funk technique vid way back and I was very impressed with his ability to describe exactly what he does in a variety of situations. I hate that they call it funk, to me it's just great technique.

 

I've seen no comment of the technique he was using of trapping wright's arm in the back of his knee for an easy go behind. Has anyone ever seen that?

[scribe 1,824]

If I've seen it before, I've never seen it so slow and methodical. And repeatedly.

 

Askren is STRONG

[armspin 257]

I like Askren and his style of wrestling, but if he is as great a self-promoter as people seem to think, why is he still without an MMA contract? I feel like the MMA community really dislikes the guy.

[mattreturn 0]

Askren is not MY style, but he is great for the sport. We can all agree that wrestling needs to evolve, although I am not entirely sure that this is exactly the appropriate manner, it is one way. It is also his way, which is authentic to himself therefore resonates with his fans watching. Isn't this what we want all athletes to be? Honest? Themselves?

 

Along with that if he would have lost, we would not be discussing this. Big props for an impressive win.

[Dr_Gonzo 1]

I'm not an MMA expert by any means but it seems to me like Askren's style is boring to the masses. He can't be taken down by anyone. There are maybe 5 guys in the world around Askren's weight that can take him down? And none of them are in MMA. He takes guys down and just ground and pounds. I always thought GSP was very boring in this same way. These are just my thoughts and I could be wrong, I'm not an MMA expert. Askren's personality and style off the mat are exactly what wrestling needs!! As a matter of fact Johny Hendricks is as well. We need a good villain and someone who it doesn't bother to be the villain. If anyone could challenge David Taylor he would be perfect but they can't so that won't work. Everyone likes Tony Ramos too much, but I think you all get my point. That WWE stuff, like it or not, appeals and the more appeal the better it is for wrestling overall.