Reasons for these Broken Bases are not difficult to pin down.
- Lot's of broken bases over the styles behind the sport itself, such as catch as catch can, Greco Roman, Collar and Elbow, Judo, Sumo, Jiujitsu, especially Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu vs Catch. Past that, whether matches should be more like wrestling or fights. Various arguments over when to be "realistic" and when to "entertaining".
- The influence of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was fought until mixed martial arts started to take off. Even in the post Pride Fighting Championships era when training in BJJ is considered acceptable, even beneficial for pro wrestlers, there remain some circles who refuse to embrace it. In fact, it can be argued most fans and wrestlers don't know what Jujitsu really is, so much as they know what Brazilian jiu jitsu is, don't like it, and know it has jiu jitsu in it's name(the two styles are as different as BJJ is from catch)
- During the territorial era when pro wrestling became an industry onto itself, it was the first and only occupation for most involved, with those who took second jobs looked down upon and considered potentially damaging to business. However, there were always men like Big Daddy Lipscomb and Ernie Ladd who managed to carve out pro wrestling careers despite it. With the death of the territories, the industry became much smaller, leading to the rise of "weekend warriors" content to spend most of their working hours doing something else and wrestle when convenient. Debates between them and those still of the territorial mindset can get heated. This was not at all helped by the WWF in the 1980s giving people the impression that even in a large company every other wrestler needed a second job. Al Snow is among those who provide middle ground, encouraging those who can't make a living off wrestling yet to get a second job until they can but insisting they treat pro wrestling as a serious profession and not as a hobby.
- The line between bookers(and fantasy bookers) most interested in telling satisfying stories and those who only care about pushing wrestlers who embody a desired trait gets pretty wide at times. And of course the first base breaks on exactly how one should go about telling stories(from tone, to the structure of competition, to distribution of media) while the other breaks on exactly what quality (talent, charisma, size, legitimacy, body hair) is truly important.(it's hard to find a place where debates over shaving legs are so fierce, to say nothing of Miguel Perez's back)
- Vince McMahon: he's either the best thing to happen to the industry, or the worst.
- His love of giant musclemen and gimmicky cartoon wrestling being the major ones.
- He can also come across as a Jerkass to the audience; ignoring what fans want in general and insulting them. Look no further than OSW Review's episodes regarding WWECW (bunch of idiots buying my pay-per-view, what are ya doin??) and Final Nitro (how did he convince the loyal fans of the newly purchased WCW to continue to tune in? By insulting them as southern rednecks of course! Thus alienating an entire fanbase/demographic). This method of attracting viewers bit him in the ass regarding the XFL, as insulting the NFL's fans hardly made them want to switch promotions.
- Storyline-driven shows or in-ring action-driven shows (or, as they're referred to in the fanbase, "sports entertainment" vs. "pure wrestling"). There are compelling, valid arguments to be made for both sides. And each and every one of them will be contested no matter what. Better yet, try telling a hardcore fan pro wrestling(pure or otherwise) and sports entertainment are the same thing. At best you'll get an earful on the nature of sports themselves, most times you'll just be cussed out.
- The original ECW. Either it was the holy grail of promotions and it revolutionized the wrestling industry, or it was an overrated hopped-up indy fed that died because it got too big for its britches.
- Vince Russo: Genius or Twatwaffle? A lone member of the former group can start a flamewar of epic proportions on any given Smark forum.
- WWE: Go on any wrestling forum and expect to hear how WWE's kid friendly PG rated programming is unwatchable and they should go back to the edgy adult friendly WWE of the past. Of course it used to be WWF's hotshotting was ruining wrestling and they needed to go back to the simple fun they used to be. And before that WWF's theatrics and five minute title matches were a betrayal and they needed to go back to the NWA.
- Bret Hart: Those who believe he's a justifiably angry former star used and abused by the industry vs. those who think he's an overrated bitter has-been who can't accept that his glory days are long past.
- Whether or not the Montreal Screwjob was justified despite being such a huge betrayal.
- Triple H: Either he's an insecure glory hog who uses his backstage pull to hold down the more talented and deserving wrestlers, or he's one of the best of all time and has earned the right to, well, use his backstage pull to hold down the less talented and less deserving wrestlers. Neither camp will accept a more moderate opinion such as "Trips is one of the best of all time and mostly deserving, but burying Booker T was Not Cool" - either you like/hate him as much as they do or you're a hater/fanboy.
- Much like the stigma around Triple H, Hulk Hogan is either considered a glory hog who lets his ego get in the way of putting over more deserving workers or the man who put wrestling(or more accurately, WWF and WCW) in the mainstream and therefore deserves to be in the spotlight.
- Chyna, the greatest WWF Diva, whom no other diva is worthy of tying the boots of, or an unimpressive wrestler who devalued the Intercontinental title and made better ones like Ivory and Jacqueline look bad? Should she be barred from WWF's Hall Of Fame because her most worthy work wasn't even in the WWF and they didn't induct*superior WWF wrestler here*? Should she get in because she accomplished things no other woman in the WWF ever had before? Does pornography disqualify her (an odd one considering all the cross-promotion between WWE and Playboy)? Should she only be barred if Triple H doing Katie Vick keeps him out of the WWF Hall Of Fame since Chyna is the reason his WWF career took off? Should she be included when D-Generation X are inducted?(It took her death to bring this one together on "she goes in")
- The Puroresu Love period is a divisive topic among fans of All Japan Pro Wrestling, fans of the previous 1990s stretch booked by Giant Baba being particularly negative towards it, yet it managed to attract enough new fans for there to be almost as many angry voices raised over the largely independent circuit roster period that followed under Nobuo Shiraishi.
- Trish Stratus: the greatest woman in wrestling history, or nothing but a pretty face and a lot of hype? Opinions in between draw accusations of being an ignorant indie jock sniffer or brainwashed by WWE if expressed in the wrong circles.
- Unless your name is Mickie James, pretty much all WWE Divas and TNA Knockouts have divided the fandom, or are complete scrappies.
- WWE's individual brands aren't immune to this, with fans arguing back and forth about whether Raw or SmackDown! is the superior show. Might be understandable, however, since at one point each show was treated as a separate wrestling promotion, with different rosters and bookers. Thus, one show might have actually BEEN superior due to the roster depth (Smackdown was generally home to WWE's extremely talented midcard such as the old Cruiserweight division, while Raw usually has the main event Heavyweights and a fuckton of filler segments, promos, replays, and pre-taped video packages), the matches that were booked and the angles being better than the other brand. This was actually also what the WWE wanted to have happen because the brand extension was billed in that respect due to there being no other true competition for the WWE after they bought out WCW.
- Ring of Honor is either a bright spot on the US independent circuit that helped keep otherwise non existing styles of pro wrestling alive, an over hyped sorry excuse for an ECW replacement...or both. The fact that it's deliberately not like ECW in many aspects is either great, or in grievous error.
- And within ROH, fans of all those styles clash. Those there to see old school smash mouth wrestling aren't too keen on all the super junior stuff and those there to see the super junior or strong style will always complain when they see 1980s style tag matches. Super junior fans in general are split on the fact ROH's success has lead to an influx of gaijin into Japan's own junior heavyweight tag scene(and later even more gaijin into the already gaijin heavy heavyweight tag scene, then their six man tag scene).
- TNA is either the worst promotion in wrestling history (including late period WCW), or a good alternative to the WWE.
- TNA: There are huge debates on what creative direction TNA should take. Since fans who follow wrestling on the internet tend to prefer an in-ring action-driven product, there is great hatred for TNA acting more like a smaller version of WWE. Also for them signing a lot of older WWE talent rather than promoting their own wrestlers. They prefer TNA to be less storyline-driven and more wrestling orientated to contrast with WWE. Whether their opinions are valid or unrealistic is open for debate.
- Wanna start a flamewar on a hardcore wrestling fan forum? Just post five words: "I'm a John Cena fan." Then sit back and enjoy the fun. The debates about his wrestling ability, booking, and opponents will rage on and on.
- Chris Benoit: Fallen Hero or pure evil? Although to be fair, that's kind of like asking whether or not this Mysterious Cup of Lemonade is actually week old piss-water or indigestible battery acid. Some can look at his past matches with the rationalization that he was a different person before losing his mind, while others can't look past the amount of head trauma in an average Benoit match (his match with Jericho, once considered the greatest ladder match, is now a cringe worthy affair).
- Among ROH fans who wanted to see more women's wrestling, there was a divide over whether the amount of cross promotion with SHIMMER should be increased or decreased in favor of ROH starting it's own division instead. Those arguing for the decrease arguing the "SHIMMER showcases" were rarely as good as the matches on SHIMMER itself because of their placement on the card and length; that only when their own name was on a belt would ROH truly take women's wrestling seriously. Those arguing for increase believing simply adding more time and moving to better card positions would fix everything and both would be done if fans were loud enough. The Sinclair Broadcast Group purchase saw an eventual "Women Of Honor Wednesday" showcase, still a far cry from a competitive division or the concrete roles for women established in Chikara and thus the base remained broken until expansion came with a WOH television special in 2016 and Aftershock ticket purchases granting free admission for Women Of Honor's own full Friday show. Not that this base was satisfied, just unified for further expansion.
- The Sinclair Broadcast Group purchase of ROH in 2011. On one hand, the HD net deal wasn't working out, so fans are thankful to SBG for stepping in and giving the company the stable foundation it needed for the past seven years. On the other hand, a lot of unpopular changes for fans who were watching earlier came after the purchase, with blame bouncing between Sinclair and a dozen other creators (usually Jim Cornette, a hero during the previous TV deal but otherwise a scrappy commissioner). One thing people were almost unified on was annoyance at the television show's inability to keep up with the live events but that in turned lead to a smaller fracture between people who mainly watched ROH's television and those who mostly ignored it.
- The implant DDT and the impaler DDT. One is a jumping variant and the other is a lifting variant, but good luck finding two pro wrestling fans, or announcers for that matter, who agree on which is which.
- Older wrestlers. Some people think that the old guard only take up space and TV time that could be used for younger wrestlers, while other fans enjoy the nostalgia and think that the oldies still have their place on the show and are not really to blame for younger wrestlers not being used.
- Roman Reigns. Oh, boy. He is either the perfect choice for the WWE's "Top Guy" status or the perfect reason why Vince McMahon should retire and stop shoving people down the fans' throats. Just try to defend him on any Smart Mark driven forum or any WWE related videos on YouTube and prepare to be treated like you're Roman Reigns himself.
