The Wrestling Thread

[Raging Justice]

Pro wrestling promoters don't think like every day normal people. I watch wrestling with every day normal people and they are CONSTANTLY frustrated with both AEW and WWE.

There's just a big disconnect between people like you and me and weirdos like Tony Kahn and Triple H. It's one of the reasons wrestling sucks so much

That, plus the fact THAT EVERY GODDAMN THING IS SO FUCKING PREDICTABLE

We are in the age of high quality, premium shows like The Penguin where you tune in every episode waiting to be surprised and having no idea what's going to happen. YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN WRESTLING. You can predict nearly every match result and every booking decision, especially once you get used to Triple H and Tony Kahn's predictable booking. WWE is boring as fuck because you know who Triple H's favorites are. There is ZERO tension in any feud or match involving Cody fucking Rhodes or Bianca boring Belair because THEY ALWAYS FUCKING WIN EVERYTHING. WWE match outcomes are as predictable as me getting logged out every single time I tried to post here now.

Sigh

It's hard to like modern day wrestling. It's just run by stubborn, unimaginative people who are stuck in their ways. This idiot Tony Kahn is hyping another November Rain music video like ANYONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT THAT.

Sometimes I really hate the STAR RATING wrestling fans, talking about how amazing Statlander vs Monet was. Who fucking cares? They were in a heatless feud and the match outcome was predictable as hell. I really don't care if it was a 7 star match. I haven't watched it yet and I don't intend to because I...DON'T...FUCKING...CARE.

Nobody gave a shit about star ratings and match quality in the 80s and 90s, the two most lucrative eras in pro wrestling history and until Tony Kahn gets that through his thick, fucking head AEW is going to continue to flounder.

I wish wrestlers spent as much time pitching creative ideas to Tony Kahn as they do bitching about stupid nonsense on Twitter. Imagine if the amount of passion they put into social media rants went into their characters and creative.

[RCBH928]

Pro wrestling promoters don't think like every day normal people. I watch wrestling with every day normal people and they are CONSTANTLY frustrated with both AEW and WWE.

There's just a big disconnect between people like you and me and weirdos like Tony Kahn and Triple H. It's one of the reasons wrestling sucks so much

That, plus the fact THAT EVERY GODDAMN THING IS SO FUCKING PREDICTABLE

I used to say the same thing, but wrestling fans keep their eyes glued to the screen even then. So maybe they know something we don't. I just checked the ratings and I am completely shocked Smackdown actually has higher ratings than RAW.

[marurun]

That, plus the fact THAT EVERY GODDAMN THING IS SO FUCKING PREDICTABLE

We are in the age of high quality, premium shows like The Penguin where you tune in every episode waiting to be surprised and having no idea what's going to happen. YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN WRESTLING. You can predict nearly every match result and every booking decision, especially once you get used to Triple H and Tony Kahn's predictable booking. WWE is boring as fuck because you know who Triple H's favorites are. There is ZERO tension in any feud or match involving Cody fucking Rhodes or Bianca boring Belair because THEY ALWAYS FUCKING WIN EVERYTHING. WWE match outcomes are as predictable as me getting logged out every single time I tried to post here now.

This isn't just wrestling, it's any recurring media. Law and Order ran for years and years and was darn popular during most of them and was quite formulaic and predictable. Same for sitcoms. Why would wrestling be any different? Regular fans who tune-in often like that they can follow what's going on and predict the beats of the action based on everything they already know. As long as there's just enough newness or novelty to keep things from being completely stale that formulaic repetition is foundational.

[RCBH928]

This isn't just wrestling, it's any recurring media. Law and Order ran for years and years and was darn popular during most of them and was quite formulaic and predictable. Same for sitcoms. Why would wrestling be any different? Regular fans who tune-in often like that they can follow what's going on and predict the beats of the action based on everything they already know. As long as there's just enough newness or novelty to keep things from being completely stale that formulaic repetition is foundational.

I still can't believe it works although I am seeing it with my own eyes. It seems to be working with games too, we are like 20 years in with Call of Duty.

[Reprise]

I missed Survivor Series. From what I have seen and read online, it seems like another fairly average and predictable PLE from WWE. I didn't have enough interest to check it out, even through ,ahem, less than legal means. With the move to Netflix for us international audiences, I might start to check out more WWE in the new year. I really don't think it can said enough how huge that is going to be for WWE and also how much more difficult it will be for AEW moving forward. It's a huge win for Netflix too. With all their programming and PLEs all in one place now, within a streaming app that a lot of people already subscribe too, WWE has just made itself incredibly accessible to a huge audience.

I'll probably still get bored and drift out though. At least with Vince, he was so unpredictable at times, for all the crap you had to endure, there were still great moments and matches. WWE is more consistent now, but it's worked like a compression effect you use on music, removing the dynamics. The highs are now few and far apart.

But we'll see what this Netflix deal brings and if they manage to bring more captivating stories and matches moving forward...

In AEW land, they're still suffering from the same issues they have been for months. It's like every time they try to "fix" themselves, they break two more things in the process. I read something interesting recently that is even more damning for them, about how there aren't really any huge names in the indies people are really invested in right now for AEW to snap up, how the ones AEW have picked up are getting older and less over and that WWE's new independent programme is going to be a huge issue for AEW. I am going off topic though, but it's a good point. They can't rely on picking up ex NJPW and WWE talents, because it's simply not working. It no longer seems to help their ratings or popularity.

With that all said though, I enjoyed the start to Continental Classic tournament. I enjoyed last year's and hope this one is good too. Dynamite and Collision were both reasonably decent. I like that we are seeing Christian, Jay White and Hangman all in the world title picture. It looks likely that they will do a triple threat or four way at World's End.

I am worried about AEW going into 2025, but what can you do?

I also watched an old TNA show, to watch their own take on the War Games match, instead of Survivor Series. I fancied rewatching Samoa Joe and Kurt Angles classic cage match from Lockdown 2008, so I also watched the Lethal Lockdown match from that same event (basically like a War Games match). It was really good. They used to do a great job with cage matches. This one was Team Cage vs Team Tomko and featured Christian, Sting, AJ Styles and a bunch of other big names.

[Raging Justice]

The IC title match from Survivor Series was good, the men's War Games match wasn't bad but I'm so over The Bloodline (Sola and the Tonga brothers are a joke) and I can't stand Punk. The real standouts from the fake new Bloodline are Fatu and Bronson Reed (who unfortunately is injured now). Roman Reigns is a fucking star whether people like it or not. I don't know what WWE plans to do with him next. WWE continues to bury LA Knight, who just lost his title. Nakamura has a cool new gimmick (he's some demon samurai or something) but has not been booked well enough to really make him getting the title off of Knight feel important. The women's War Games match had some fun moments (primarily with Iyo Sky and Tiffany who were trying to one up each other in the match), but was an overall mess of a match with the women frequently looking like they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing

AEW needs to get Hangman and Jay White going after the BCC.

When they both fail, you could find someway to pair them up as a duo fighting against the BCC. That COULD actually be fun seeing both of them fighting against the odds with that group. Drop the rest of the Bang Bang Gang, they are just useless and only hold Jay White back. I would push Jay White and Hangman as the "Cowboy and the Desperado" with new entrance music. Have Jay White go back to his heelish ways. I like him and Hangman as tweeners. I think that's how they should be presented right now. You ain't gonna beat Moxley and company with squeaky clean do gooders. You need fucking badasses. I want Hangman and White jumping BCC members backstage and beating them to a bloody pulp and Marina Shafir needs to eat a Buckshot Lariat or Bladerunner at some point. Nobody wants to watch AEW because it has no badasses. Remember how much money Stone Cold made for WWE?

Just an idea that could actually make all this BCC crap worthwhile. Having Hangman and White eventually overcome them despite the numbers disadvantage solidifies them as badasses. Also, when they eventually find a way to take down the BCC, Christian swoops in with a title win on an already defeated Moxley.

AEW is really sleeping on Harley Cameron. She's been shining a lot on Collision and having a fun little rivalry with Thunder Rosa. Her and Mina Shirakawa have real upsides and could be a fun tag team if the women's division actually had tag titles. I think Mina should take May's title, but I fear they are just waiting for Storm to come back to continue her boring as fuck title reign.

Creatively speaking, I don't feel good about either WWE or AEW going into 2025. The honeymoon period is over for Triple H. He's a bland booker, and the honeymoon period ended a long time ago for AEW. Neither company is really shining right now though at least WWE continues to do good business as they always do

[Reprise]

AEW needs to get Hangman and Jay White going after the BCC.

When they both fail, you could find someway to pair them up as a duo fighting against the BCC. That COULD actually be fun seeing both of them fighting against the odds with that group. Drop the rest of the Bang Bang Gang, they are just useless and only hold Jay White back. I would push Jay White and Hangman as the "Cowboy and the Desperado" with new entrance music. Have Jay White go back to his heelish ways. I like him and Hangman as tweeners. I think that's how they should be presented right now. You ain't gonna beat Moxley and company with squeaky clean do gooders. You need fucking badasses. I want Hangman and White jumping BCC members backstage and beating them to a bloody pulp and Marina Shafir needs to eat a Buckshot Lariat or Bladerunner at some point. Nobody wants to watch AEW because it has no badasses. Remember how much money Stone Cold made for WWE?

I agree. As soon as they started involving Jay White and Hangman in the BCC story they piqued my interest.

AEW is really sleeping on Harley Cameron. She's been shining a lot on Collision and having a fun little rivalry with Thunder Rosa. Her and Mina Shirakawa have real upsides and could be a fun tag team if the women's division actually had tag titles. I think Mina should take May's title, but I fear they are just waiting for Storm to come back to continue her boring as fuck title reign.

Also agree with this. 'Harleygram' on Collision was hilarious

[Reprise]

The final Rampage ever will air 27th December. It's a special episode called New Year's Smash, which makes no sense, because it's not on New Year's Eve or Day... Maybe I am being a pedant though

[Raging Justice]

I guess they are smashing the concept of New Years?

[Reprise]

Farewell WWE Network. It dies this month. Looks like I can get special access for just £4.99 for the remaining time and then from 1st Jan it will be all on Netflix. Might get it so I can catch on Survivor Series and anything else I missed.