I don't think any REAL wrestling fan watches WWE...just my opinion. With the possible exception of NXT, which is often the only decent product WWE produces. I can't watch WWE programming. I swear I get almost physically ill from how awful it is...but I've enjoyed a few NXT showsRCBH928 wrote:I have not watched AEW but wrestling is boring to me now. Everything is repetitive and they are out of new ideas and creativity. The manoeuvres are no longer exciting and feels more like a choreographed dance than actually wrestling/fighting. I had a friend who cheers for The Undertaker he got to a level where he actually names the up coming next move by the undertaker as if he can see the future, funny thing he does not follow wrestling except sparsely maybe some PPVs here and there. WWE IMO became just a circus directed by excel sheet figures on what makes more money and keep people watching. Trying to fake excitements really makes my stomach turn over. Watched a tiny bit of AEW and looks like its more like adult version of WWE but still no real substance. I think the internet and breaking kayfabe killed a lot of what wrestling was about.
The good thing about the wrestling business is when you are 8 and all of this is new to you its very exciting, by the time you reach 16-18 and you are out of that phase there is a new generation of kids that see this as exciting tv os the money keeps coming in. I would be happy if I owned my own wrestling organization knowing that I will always have new stream of customers and that my business will not fade away, meanwhile I can just repeat everything I did in the past decade so less effort by me and I gain a happy customer.
I'd suggest Lucha Underground if you want to see something radically different, though some people hated it for that exact reason. Many of the stars currently in AEW got noticed in Lucha Underground. Much of the "cinematic wrestling" that flourished during the pandemic was pioneered by Lucha Underground, Broken Matt Hardy, and probably a few other places too but people acted like it had never been done before.
If you want somethin a bit more...I don't know, traditional, NJPW might be for you. Assuming you don't mind everyone speaking in Japanese. There's a lot of hard hitting more realistic looking matches there, though they do have a few of the "choreographed dancing" type matches too. Most of their stuff is strong style though, with stiff hits and matches that look painful
Also, I'd like to point out that AEW did something really surprising a few weeks ago. They had an actual, UFC, style match...in an actual octagon style cage too. It was between Hager and Wardlow. Not sure what prompted that, but it was interesting.
Pro wrestling is a strange thing. Everyone has a different idea what "real wrestling" is or what the magic formula is for pro wrestling to be as big as it was in the 80s or Attitude Era. I've come to accept that it's impossible to make all wrestling fans happy. Personally, I just enjoy wrestling in all its forms. I don't care if I'm watching a spot fest, a technical match, a Deathmatch, an intergender match, a story focused match, or "cinematic wrestling"...I don't care. All that matters is that it entertains me
