what skill? much of what is being skilled is the fact that you can predict another person's moves. if you can read someone, you can punish them for performing a move you knew that they were going to perform, and with horrifying effects. for instance, if a captain falcon stomps a character and he knows without question that he's going to tech to the right out of that stomp, the falcon player can punish with a knee, raptor boost, whatever floats his fancy. just watch darkrain fight, g regulate has some excellent videos, (there's a team arlington crew video where he punishes a falco player out of two lives and takes maybe 30%), not to leave out isai of course.
the same thing goes for peach players, and any other character you pick up in this game. if he can predict your moves, your response is "so what?" well, if he figures that you are going to attack as you stand up, and you do, he can stand over you with his shield and grab you. im not saying that this would necessarily happen, but this is just an example. whatever "skills" you believe you and wolverine are spewing all over the place doesn't matter when someone else has just as much "skills", but a better range of experience. the top players are where they are now because of how well they read people.
loads of players at any tournament you go to can pillar the hell out of you with falco, because all it takes is some time in training mode or vs. mode against a lvl 1 comp. however, for all the fancy shiz they throw on the screen, i didn't see any of them take down pc chris at fc. or drew or vidjo for that matter either. you don't have to "tire out" as in a sport to keep at it, and tiring out has nothing to do with mind games. in a true fight, when two guys of equal strength get into the ring, id be willing to bet a thousand dollars on the guy who spars and enters real competition vs the guy who is just getting into shape.
and quite honestly, when it comes to reading people, that sort of thing can be seen in all aspects of life, not just boxing. the media uses it all the time as one of the most effective tools of getting people to believe what they say. maybe what they're throwing at you isn't necessarily false, but if the media puts a certain emphasis onto a specific topic, there are countless of times that the public has eaten it up as something they need to focus on in their lives.
if you discredit mind games, and can't understand why the "dash out, dash in and grab" is catching you off guard, then maybe you'd better rethink the statement "if i have more skill i will win"