The Wrestling Thread

[RCBH928]

maybe its early, but once a guy online told me, the problem with physical media is not the media itself. Its the media player. In the future you won't have a device to play them as they will stop making them. Bluray player selection is already scarce.

[Raging Justice]

maybe its early, but once a guy online told me, the problem with physical media is not the media itself. Its the media player. In the future you won't have a device to play them as they will stop making them. Bluray player selection is already scarce.

I'm not too worried about that. There will always be secondary markets for these things. Plus, if you make digital back ups or if you find...alternate ways to get digital versions of all your stuff (I won't say more than that), you don't have to incur much wear and tear on the bluray players that you own.

Yeah, just like people thought WWE were dropping clues about Punk returning, I have seen a few people saying they have been dropping similar clues about Sasha.

Off topic, but something that relates to wider discussions we have had on the forum about physical media, preservation and the pros and cons of an all digital future... WWE recently announced that they will cease all DVD and Blu-Ray releases and productions. As a casual collector of wrestling DVDs and Blu-rays, it's quite sad in my opinion. It isn't unexpected (they already ceased physical releases in some regions) and was inevitable, but I'd think there is still a place for physical collectors. They seem to sell well on Amazon. It's a shame. Especially as they tend to chop and edit PPVs (I swear I will never call them PLEs) on the Network. The old UK ECW DVD releases are a good example, since they are uncut and feature all the original entrance music (such as Walk, Enter Sandman etc) that got cut on the Network.

I have a good number of WWE, WCW, ECW, NJPW, ROH, TNA and AEW dvds and blu-rays I have bought over the years that I like to watch. I just like having physical media for whatever reason. AEW just released four new DVDS (All Out 2022 - Double or Nothing 2023), which I received this week and have started watching. It's my first time watching All Out and Full Gear 2022, since I had stopped watching AEW at that point and was watching more WWE. AEW only releases PPVs on DVD. It's a shame they have never done any 'year one', 'year two', 'best of Dynamite', 'best of insert individual wrestler' etc style DVDs, but I guess it's a sign of the times really and I am lucky they have done any DVD releases at all.

I actually thought WWE had stopped production a long time ago. There was a blu ray for a ppv that I remember hearing was the last one they were releasing many moons ago.

It sucks. I will say though, the internet has places where literally EVERYTHING pro wrestling related is archived. Every Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Dynamite, Collision, Rampage, PPV, etc. Content from other pro wrestling promotions is preserved and archived as well. Not just archived, but archived in their original, untouched form (many people don't realize that after a WWE pay per view airs on the network they usually put up a new version within a few days that has higher resolution, but may also have edits done).

A person could theoretically burn that stuff on to disc and make their OWN physical collection.

I love collecting physical. In fact, I have very recently started collecting modern physical games again, but only for the Nintendo Switch. However, the only TRUE preservation for any media exists on the high seas. The all digital future, if it indeed comes, will consist of two things:

1. Normies accepting their digital "rentals" that are falsely sold to them as purchases. See recent Sony fiasco:

https://nerdist.com/article/playstation ... o-refunds/

and also accepting that their content can be changed and altered at any time.

2. Jaded, "red pilled", types who will sail the high seas for digital content that they truly own (in the sense that it can't be taken away from them) and for digital content that is unaltered and uncensored.

At that point, the only physical collecting will consist of people like us picking up old stuff that existed before everything went fully digital.

We all need to prepare for a possible all digital future whether we like it or not. I was talking to a rep from a cable company recently and he told me about how the company is trying to phase out cable boxes and just go streaming. Everything seems to be moving in that direction.

PC gamers (the so called "Master Race") already gave up and bent the knee to their all digital overlords. Few PC games get physical releases anymore. I'm glad console gaming still does, and while I dislike a lot of the practices of companies like Limited Run Games, I still appreciate them keeping physical gaming alive and profitable. I also appreciate that Nintendo, for whatever reason, re-releases some of their games on physical with updates, patches, and DLC included. Though I hate Nintendo for many other reasons, like not letting people back up their save data through any means other than a paid for online service (though a hacked or modded Switch solves that particular problem). I could rant about all of the big gaming companies honestly including Sony and Microsoft but that's a topic for another time (and another thread)

[Reprise]

I actually thought WWE had stopped production a long time ago. There was a blu ray for a ppv that I remember hearing was the last one they were releasing many moons ago.

They did. It was a year or two ago, but I think it was just in North America and they may have even partially reversed that decision (I think they still released some?). They continued to still produce them in other parts of the world, but it's now a decision made globally. In the UK, we had been continuing to get them all up until the announcement they made last week saying they are stopping.

I will say though, the internet has places where literally EVERYTHING pro wrestling related is archived.

Oh for sure, don't get me wrong, I know in terms of preservation, there are digital back ups all over the internet. Being well into my thirties now and quickly approaching my fourties, I grew up using Limewire and Torrents haha. Somewhere in my house, I have at least two hard drives full of every episode of Raw, Smackdown, Nitro and every WWE and WCW PPV up until around 2003, not to mention some ECW stuff too. And I know of particular sites now where you can stream everything wrestling related.

I just like having the official DVDs/blu rays on my shelf and being able to browse though. I like that I can look at the artwork and match listings and then choose something to stick on. Don't know why, but it's just more appealing to me than browsing a digital library.

[Reprise]

“We’re right there at the goal line of finalizing one of the biggest signings in TNA. I think it’s something that’s really gonna shake things up.
I think some of what we have in store [at Hard To Kill] is gonna blow your socks off.”

Okada? Mercedes Mone? Who could it be? It can't be Punk or Ospreay now.

[Markies]

All of the WWE releases that happened because of the TKO Merger (Ziggler, Ali and so on....) can now be signed sometime this week.

TNA cannot afford Okada or Mone, so it will probably be one from the releases.

https://khelnow.com/wwe/2023-09-all-sup ... tko-merger

Maybe even the Devil in AEW will be revealed as one of the releases...

[Reprise]

Yeah, I just thought of Ziggler. Some people have pointed out the colour scheme of the Hard to Kill poster and logo fits with Ziggler.

[Raging Justice]

To TNA's credit, they can get a guy like Okada, but only for one off appearances. They definitely can't afford to sign him though. Even if they could, they don't have the status to get a guy like him. The fact that guys like him are even willing to do appearances is something TNA should be grateful for.

Plus, Okada WAS signed with TNA a very long time ago, before he was the big star that he is now. He did not have a good experience there.

Japanese wrestlers don't fare well in the US generally speaking. I'd say the women actually have more luck. Shinsuke Nakamura will never hold a world title, but Asuka and Iyo Sky have done so. Riho has been AEW women's world champion, as well as Shida.

The Japanese men though, they never win "the big one"

[Raging Justice]

Interesting perspective on the current state of WWE, with a little bit of AEW talk too. I like this because it's people outside of the pro wrestling bubble talking about WWE. It's more interesting than hearing the usual Dave Meltzer stuff or the perspective of the typical delusional internet wrestling fan. Those people are in their little bubbles so it's nice hearing an outside perspective. The wrestling talk starts at about 6:12 and ends at about 12:15. There was a brief mention of LA Knight and how cool it is that he's doing well, and they talked about how boring CM Punk's return to WWE has been. They mentioned WWE's failing ratings and how TV networks are catching on to how they are not getting their money's worth from WWE. They also mentioned how AEW is just a nothing promotion now. I think there's some talk about the Completionist fiasco as well, but that comes later if you actually end up watching the whole video. Fair warning, these guys are very opiniated and don't sugar coat their thoughts about anything, so there's a chance you may find something offensive. RazörFist is a guy that some people hate. I personally don't. I'll listen to anyone with good points to make.

[Reprise]

Interesting perspective on the current state of WWE, with a little bit of AEW talk too. I like this because it's people outside of the pro wrestling bubble talking about WWE. It's more interesting than hearing the usual Dave Meltzer stuff or the perspective of the typical delusional internet wrestling fan. Those people are in their little bubbles so it's nice hearing an outside perspective. The wrestling talk starts at about 6:12 and ends at about 12:15. There was a brief mention of LA Knight and how cool it is that he's doing well, and they talked about how boring CM Punk's return to WWE has been. They mentioned WWE's failing ratings and how TV networks are catching on to how they are not getting their money's worth from WWE. They also mentioned how AEW is just a nothing promotion now. I think there's some talk about the Completionist fiasco as well, but that comes later if you actually end up watching the whole video. Fair warning, these guys are very opiniated and don't sugar coat their thoughts about anything, so there's a chance you may find something offensive. RazörFist is a guy that some people hate. I personally don't. I'll listen to anyone with good points to make.

Thanks, gave it a listen. It was interesting to listen to, I mostly agree with them to be honest. WWE and AEW just feel so meh right now.

Only thing I would say though, is it they think WWE is bad right now, god knows what they thought of 2018-2021ish. I'd say there was a noticeable improvement around Wrestlemania 2022 time onwards (which obviously became even more noticeable at the point Triple H took over creative).

The problem is once the excitement of "change" wears off and the big revolution people expect doesn't happen, then it starts to lose its appeal. People expected a big cultural shift under Triple H, but for better or worse, it's really just still WWE. And AEW has kinda settled into a position it has. I am not even sure what they could do to get me more interested again, but it would need something major. They don't seem to want to change and the reality is repeating what they have been doing for the last couple of years isn't going to result in sny growth. There are no more "shocking" surprise signings left either. They peaked with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. The former flopped and the latter is up for debate. Copeland seems like a bit of a flop too. After the initial excitement no one seems to care anymore. The ratings didn't spike, attendance didn't spike. The only needle mover they ever got was Punk and that even started to decline even before his infamous meltdown at the media scrum.

I don't think either company really sucks per se, they just aren't that interesting at the moment. I think Punk returning is interesting, just not interesting enough for me to start watching WWE again. I will definitely check out his feud and match with Rollins at some point though (and yeah, his return promo did suck. He's PG Punk and a company suck up now. Lame).

[Raging Justice]

Interesting perspective on the current state of WWE, with a little bit of AEW talk too. I like this because it's people outside of the pro wrestling bubble talking about WWE. It's more interesting than hearing the usual Dave Meltzer stuff or the perspective of the typical delusional internet wrestling fan. Those people are in their little bubbles so it's nice hearing an outside perspective. The wrestling talk starts at about 6:12 and ends at about 12:15. There was a brief mention of LA Knight and how cool it is that he's doing well, and they talked about how boring CM Punk's return to WWE has been. They mentioned WWE's failing ratings and how TV networks are catching on to how they are not getting their money's worth from WWE. They also mentioned how AEW is just a nothing promotion now. I think there's some talk about the Completionist fiasco as well, but that comes later if you actually end up watching the whole video. Fair warning, these guys are very opiniated and don't sugar coat their thoughts about anything, so there's a chance you may find something offensive. RazörFist is a guy that some people hate. I personally don't. I'll listen to anyone with good points to make.

Thanks, gave it a listen. It was interesting to listen to, I mostly agree with them to be honest. WWE and AEW just feel so meh right now.

Only thing I would say though, is it they think WWE is bad right now, god knows what they thought of 2018-2021ish. I'd say there was a noticeable improvement around Wrestlemania 2022 time onwards (which obviously became even more noticeable at the point Triple H took over creative).

The problem is once the excitement of "change" wears off and the big revolution people expect doesn't happen, then it starts to lose its appeal. People expected a big cultural shift under Triple H, but for better or worse, it's really just still WWE. And AEW has kinda settled into a position it has. I am not even sure what they could do to get me more interested again, but it would need something major. They don't seem to want to change and the reality is repeating what they have been doing for the last couple of years isn't going to result in sny growth. There are no more "shocking" surprise signings left either. They peaked with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. The former flopped and the latter is up for debate. Copeland seems like a bit of a flop too. After the initial excitement no one seems to care anymore. The ratings didn't spike, attendance didn't spike. The only needle mover they ever got was Punk and that even started to decline even before his infamous meltdown at the media scrum.

I don't think either company really sucks per se, they just aren't that interesting at the moment. I think Punk returning is interesting, just not interesting enough for me to start watching WWE again. I will definitely check out his feud and match with Rollins at some point though (and yeah, his return promo did suck. He's PG Punk and a company suck up now. Lame).

I think wrestling is just lacking in characters and story lines more than anything. When people talk about the Attitude Era they talk about all of the great characters that stood out. A lot of wrestlers today just don't grab people's attention in any way. LA Knight is getting over because he's reminding people of a time when we had great characters in wrestling. With great characters, you also need to try and tell good stories. Good storytelling will always bring success whether it's movies, comic books, TV series, video games, etc.

AEW and WWE are not telling good stories. I think they are forgetting that good stories usually end with good guys beating bad guys. I mentioned some pages back how 95% of the champions in WWE are heels. Roman Reigns has spent three years proving that evil always triumphs over good. Funny stuff coming from a company that had an anti-bullying campaign. Most of the current champs are bullies. I honestly don't think wrestling is good entertainment for kids anymore. As a parent do I want them watching something where villainy is always rewarded? Back in the 80s, we had REAL heroes beating REAL villains. Hulk Hogan was a patriotic American who told kids to stay in school and eat their vitamins. He told them that if they believed in Hulkamania they could triumph over anything together. He would then prove that point time and time again.

This is a problem in our culture in general right now. I listened to someone on youtube talking about how he misses stories with traditional heroes beating traditional villains. There is so little of that right now. Everything is about deconstructing heroes these days, making them look flawed or uncool in some way, or making them the enemy (like that Suicide Squad game). The Boys is basically an entire series focused on making super heroes look like bad people. A lot of entertainment these days is, "Evil is awesome, good sucks". Reminds me of a scene in Spaceballs:



Breaking Bad had a villain as its central character.

I love a good heel. I've said that before, but the best thing about a great villain is seeing them finally get beaten by a great hero. And let's start getting some heroes in wrestling with some goddamn personality. CAWdy Rhodes is boring as hell and now they have boring PG Punk too. Modern faces have gotten so lame. I saw Randy Orton recently do a promo where he said something about how he made Roman crap his pants. Really? That's the best line you could come up with Randy? I'm glad Roman didn't say anything after that because what do you say as a comeback to such a lame line?

I think the very politically correct climate today is another problem for wrestling. 50% of the stuff wrestlers said and did in the Attitude Era wouldn't be allowed today. You couldn't have a character like "The Godfather" and his "hoe train" in this day and age. That thing NWA got in trouble for recently, a character snorting cocaine, that wouldn't have ruffled ANYONE'S feathers in the Attitude/ECW/WCW era

I don't know who the target audience is anymore for wrestling. It's too PC for adults as I just pointed out, and the story telling isn't good enough for a discerning adult. Also, it doesn't make good entertainment for kids either, especially when the overall theme of WWE is that bad people are always rewarded for being bad people. There's no good morals being taught in WWE