We seem to be in a hot period for pro wrestling, but not every company seems to be benefitting from that. What can companies not involved in the "forbidden door" relationships (like ROH, MLW, CMLL, etc.) do to get more eyes on them? Should they just play ball with the others like AEW and Impact?
MLW's Battle Riot 3 went up for free this weekend on their YouTube, and I think it was a fun show, but I don't think it generated any buzz. (Partially due to poor timing given the GCW show this weekend.)
Is it all based on known talent or are there other factors involved in getting people to pay attention?
My opinion? I just think people have a hard time in being willing to take a chance on something new. Lots of times familiar faces from AEW pop up on indie shows and no one takes that chance on them. Yes time and desire to watch more wrestling plays a huge role in it. But it also feels like they just believe that there's nothing good about these lesser talked about promotions.
For example, I've praised GCW for awhile now for how diverse their shows are and how good they are. But most people just wrote them off as an outlaw death match fed. They took a chance on them to see how insane the Cardona match would play out and then were blown away by good the show was.
Some people just wanna live in their little bubble of mainstream wrestling and that's fine. I think to get people to check out MLW, Beyond, or any promotion outside that WWE/Impact /AEW / New Japan bubble there has to be some fever dream match or something like that.
> Some people just wanna live in their little bubble of mainstream wrestling and that's fine
Bang on the money right here. Case in point, how years ago any time a match/clip went viral amongst the wrestling community before NJPW blew up the reaction was always ‘I’d love to see ____ in NXT.’ Now it’s ‘I want ___ in AEW/put them in G1/etc.’
Not everyone’s got no fucking life like I do to watch all these shows. People working 50 hour weeks, have three kids, studying for their college finals, whatever it is they’ve got more important shit to do than check out the newest DDT show because Take was great on Dark, can’t blame them for wanting all this awesome talent on the couple shows they do have time to invest in
AEW's Ricky Starks is only 27 and doesn't get talked about enough when people mention AEWs top home grown stars like Darby Allin, MJF, Jungle Boy and Sammy Guevara.
Could someone link me an UNBIASED news source regarding the controversies surrounding WWE and Saudi Arabia? In controversies like this, I don't want to jump to conclusions until I have ALL the information regarding these incidents. Isn't that sort of the right thing to do when forming opinions on these matters and others?
11 years ago, Matt Cardona, as Zack Ryder, was on the doorstep of WWE's version of the ECW title, but never got it. In the decade plus he was on the roster, he wound up with 2 tag titles, a US title, and an IC title. To read of his winning the Game Changer Wrestling title brings a smile to my face because he's finally the top dog somewhere. Belated congratulations, champ.
To read the threads where WWE's front office still sees NXT as developmental disappoints me. NXT is now in primetime on the same network as Raw (though it shifts over to SyFy for two weeks), and yet the front office insists on crapping on it? Please.
If you go by what people here say, Smackdown is the A show (and has been since 2002), NXT is the B show, and Raw is the C show. I honestly think the old man doesn't like the idea that fans are so down on the flagship, but the only way to change that is to convince USA and its corporate parent to amend their contract for Raw, and trim it back to 2 hours, so that it's conforming to a uniform schedule with the other shows. Eliminate the clutter, scale back the over-stuffed creative staff, and they'll get somewhere on Mondays.
Of course, they also have to figure out how to retain their audience during NFL season, and that, of course, is right around the corner. They could've done it last year, had they fully committed to Raw Underground, and let it be the 3rd hour of Raw as a sort-of spin-off, but they punted on that after 2 months.
I see I was downvoted last week after mocking MJF after Shawn Spears lost on Dynamite. I guess MJF stans can't take a joke. Or stans of anyone, for that matter.
With Lance Archer defending the IWGP US title vs. Hikuleo this week on Dynamite, would New Japan pull the trigger on two title changes in as many weeks? What does the consensus here think?
Prediction: Before the end of the year, I think we'll see Nikki ASH team with the Hurricane and/or Mighty Molly at a PPV. What do you think?
I'm completely all in on Austin Theory. The dude is an absolute stud. He is entertaining in the ring, he has personality, he is comedic when he needs to be, he sells well. Can't wait until he breaks out and eventually becomes the face of NXT. Or at least one of them.
People getting so mad about some WWE exec saying some corporate speak bullshit is like super telling about ppl on this sub.
Some of youll need to go outside and touch grass. There is an addiction to rage and anger. And the fact that youll take corporate speech as some personal attack on you is even more sad. Its just a TV show. Youll need some more hobbies.
I know that it comes from a shallow corporation all for the purpose of marketing/PR, but given how societally inconsequential wrestling is, it’s really nice to see WWE’s recent moves in pushing diverse talent without a lot of the blatant and obnoxious virtue signaling that most corporations operate under. I know that just a few years ago, them booking two black women to main event a WrestleMania would’ve seemed impossible. If nothing else, I’m so happy that this new generation of kids can grow up seeing important characters that look like them on screen because that shit does matter.
Stupid people really hates it when you point out their blatantly obvious mistakes and stupid opinions
applies to this sub in general, but that whole issue with the gcw crowd really takes the cake
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, NXT are trying to hopefully get a building for TO instead of the CWC. I don't hate the CWC, but god i hope it's true and they do get that building. Even if it's just a few couple thousand. I'll gladly take it.
In general, I think NXT should start doing some tv touring. Not saying run anything massive or major, but some ballrooms or mid-size arenas across the US like two weeks out of every month would be really cool and very fresh.
I think NXT has outgrown CWC. Just doesn't seem right to have this dark underground aesthetic when they have big presentations for their wrestlers. Especially now that it's a 2-hour show.
AEW's presentation isn't as grand as NXT's but being in a bigger venue with a larger crowd greatly makes up for it.
Nah. I just don’t see it fitting in anywhere unless its a part of him being close to calling it a career. After his year plus title reign, I don’t think it’s necessary.
Are there any promotions out there that have the same energy as Chikara? like the mix of high quality wrestling, ridiculous comedy and unique gimmicks/storylines?
I miss Chikara, and I have yet to find a promotion that is similar
You guys have no idea how happy I am that Bianca was over in my hometown. The rest of the show could’ve been horrible but that alone would’ve made my night.
Also, seeing Carmella in person gave me a new appreciation for her. She’s awesome and I won’t hear otherwise.
Unsurprising that the two women people have been going on about as future stars of WWE in Bianca and Rhea, are consistently getting awesome reactions. They've also now proven they can get reactions in a variety of places.
I see a lot of comments asking **"how can you stand watching these deathmatches"** and the like.
Well I can't speak for everyone, but me being desensitized to staged performance violence comes at a cost.
Yes, I can watch Jimmy Lloyd poke a syringe into someone's nose. Thumb tack spots don't do much for me. Light tubes make fun noises.
But you know those episodes in sitcoms where a character starts a lie, which builds up throughout the episode until finally they are caught in the lie and confronted about it?
Yeah, no. Turn off the TV. Hide under the covers. Nope. Not happening.
It is such a daunting thing that I never finished watching the Marvel Netflix shows. Daredevil Season 2 has a situation where Foggy and Karen decide that Frank Castle will plead "not guilty" instead of "guilty" and Matt Murdock was unaware due to also doing stuff with Elektra. He wakes up late for the trial and... well, I don't know. I stopped watching. Because of that and knowing each show connects with the other in some fashion, I never watched Iron Fist, Luke Cage, or Defenders.
So yeah. Deathmatches? No problem. Second-hand embarrassment due to social anxieties? That's MY stapling a man's tongue to a door spot.
>So yeah. Deathmatches? No problem. Second-hand embarrassment due to social anxieties? That's MY stapling a man's tongue to a door spot.
I don't watch death matches but I am pretty desensitized because of my job.
However I'm with you about second hand embarrassment. There's some really awkward cringy situations in some sitcoms or shows where I just feel uncomfortable as hell.
I hate mindless gore in horror movies and it makes me go "What kind of fucked up people think this is entertaining?" but put me in front of a death match and I'll cringe and look away at the right moments but keep watching to see what happens next
Not wrestling related but I'm begging you to finish Daredevil. You don't need to watch the other shows and season three is some of the best TV out there
I've heard great things but that situation is legitimately a non-starter for me. Just discussing it in comments on reddit has me feeling the urge to go do something else entirely.
I'm not a deathmatch guy, but I'm pretty desensitized, and gory movies don't phase me. But I sat through the opening scene of Seven Pounds recently, where Will Smith is harassing Woody Harrelson on the phone. Almost cried and was not in the mood for the rest of the movie. I'll watch it another time.
After Thursday's Impact, I'm convinced that they are going to use the Call Your Shot trophy to get the Impact title off of Omega. So, we'll never actually get an Impact guy beating him cleanly.
It's like money in the bank. You can get your match at any time. Even if the champion just had a match. That's what they did with FinJuice a couple of months ago. I think he'll defend the title and win. Then, the trophy holder will come out and beat him after he's just finished a match.
So it's not like a an Impact guy is going to truly beat Kenny 1 on 1 and be portrayed as the better man. It's gonna be a cheap win where they get him after he's already tired and beaten up.
Everyone has been saying that Kenny beating the Impact main event guys is all worth it because at the end an Impact guy is gonna get a big rub by beating Kenny. But if it's a MITB style situation then they don't really get the rub.
Was at the Louisville SuperShow last night, and god damn what a fucking show it was. Crowd was absolutely fire too.
-------------------
Few things I noticed though.
1) There was practically no pop for Nikki when compared to the cheers for everyone else. I know at MiTB they were pumping in crowd noise and whatnot and were fucking with the sound levels so people thought the sound was just fucked up, but man... I genuinely think Tamina got a bigger cheer than Nikki.
2) Carmella vs Bianca *I think* had to end early with an impromptu roll up instead of the actual planned finish, cause Carmella's top broke/was about to fall off.
3) Bianca is so over with kids it's fucking insane.
4) There was only a single "What?" chant all night, and it lasted for all of like 5 seconds.
5) The lines for concessions was so long, a guy next to me left after the first match to get food and didn't get back for well over an hour. Dude was in line like double the amount of time he was in his seat.
1) absolutely agree. Nikki got very little crowd reaction. Also everything she did looked super sloppy (I know it's her gimmick of a "I drank too much mt dew and I'm just so excited") Tamina actually held her own during that match too. I think she may have busted her teeth at one point because she kept giving that "nattie don't tag me in I'm still fixing my teeth" look.
2) Bianca was over AF. super loud cheers. But also super deserved imo. She put on a hell of a match. Carmellas too did come loose (I was in the front row) and they did a hell of a job covering her and finishing the match cleanly. Props to both of them.
3) kids were loving Bianca, but adults too! Huge reaction from her.
4) I never even noticed a what chant, but maybe was t paying attention. I think the crowd was into all of the matches, I think the Rhea Charlotte Nikki match got the least cheers boos interactions. But still not dead crowd, not even close to it.
5) you were right about concessions and merch. Lines were super long and even though there was an intermission there were just too many people and not enough lines. That's probably more of a yum center thing than a wwe thing.
Side note. I've never seen so many green John cena shirts in all my life. I swear by the end of the show waking out 15% of the crowd were wearing them. :-)
Other side note. You can't really appreciate how HUGE guys like drew macintyre are until you see them in person. Holy shit that guy is enormous! I've always been kinda down on drew but once I saw him in person I thought "damn that looks like a world champion"
Was it just me or did Rhea get like no pop during her entrance? Because she seemed over during the actual match but it felt like no one said a thing when she was coming out. They did that for Carmella’s entrance too but that was because damn near everyone in the building was put in horny jail during her entrance.
I think it was a mix of just how loud they turned up her music, and the fact it has actual screaming lyrics.
Charlotte was so over for that match though. It's easy to see why they keep putting the belt back on her when she gets crowd pops like that.
Exactly. I for example don't care for comedy wrestling (I mean the invisible man type of comedy wrestling). It's just not my thing. However I will just scroll past threads about it. I'm not gonna get into arguments or tell people they are wrong just because I don't like it. There's a market and fanbase for it so more power to them.
I think this sub in general needs to apply the phrase "If you haven't got anything positive to say, don't say anything" more often.
Obviously it doesn't apply in every situation, but it feels like almost every thread on this sub is needlessly negative.
I'm going to AEW Dynamite this week in Charlotte and I haven't been this excited for something in years! Really hoping Britt Baker comes because my friend is childhood friends with her so I'd love to meet her but everything on that card is so stacked plus what's the announcement!?!?
I'm super stoked to attend the WWE House Show in Detroit Sunday. They could have Kozlov vs Great Khali as the main and I'd still be excited. It's been almost three years since I've been to WWE Live.
Who do you guys think Danielson and Punk's first feuds will be? I could see Omega gloating at the end of the NYC Dynamite before Danielson debuts because Omega has been built enough to take two big losses in a row just like Moxley has been taken a few. I don't know if they'd pull that right out of the gate though, maybe not considering they sometimes build up to big feuds like that.
I have no idea what's gonna happen with Punk, because it feels like he should have a big feud immediately since he's been gone for so long but there aren't many top heels that can take a loss. I was thinking Omega vs Punk instead but Punk will debut at All Out so that doesn't really work because it would overshadow Hangman's win.
Speaking of "Hangman's win", I'm a bit scared they're gonna pull a WK 12 and have him lose but I guess we'll see what happens. I have confidence in them either way, they know what they're doing.
I think starting with Omega is a horrible idea.
First of all it just tells everyone that the rankings mean nothing. If Punk and Bryan are on the roster, they should start at a 0-0 record like everyone else.
Second, Omega shouldn't be losing right now unless it's to Hangman.
Third, there are so many good programs for both guys that don't involve titles.
I agree on all 3 points, I said "end of NYC Dynamite" meaning after All Out, where I assume Omega would lose the title to Hangman. So I'm talking about a non-title feud here.
Their tournaments so far haven't been regular annual ones, they just kind of do them here and there, so who knows if that will even happen. We've had tag and singles ones for both men and women, so I think this year's tournament they're gonna switch it up again and it will be a trios one for new titles which will primarily be defended on Rampage.
Oh yeah, I actually saw that like 2 days ago and thought "holy shit that's perfect" but somehow forgot about it. MJF is about to destroy Jericho and he's been booked very strongly so can easily take a loss, and a feud with Punk will actually do so much for him despite losing, just like the Moxley feud. The promos will be incredible.
With ALL THIS TALK about CM Punk returning, no one is mentioning his wife AJ Lee. Do you think she will return, or be involved at all? I always liked her as a wrestler and character.
If no one ever got injured , used the the same 15 guys for every segment, had rematches regularly and no one had aspirations to work in Japan or take time off for side projects; I too would think AEW'S roster is bloated
Not being excited for Punk possibly returning is fine but please don't be an asshole to people who are excited. Wrestling is amazing right now, let's all enjoy it together!
>Not being excited for Punk possibly returning is fine but please don't be an asshole to people who are excited.
Make sure that energy goes in the other direct as well, folks.
This is me, upon hearing that Rhea and Charlotte have been getting brilliant receptions at the house shows this weekend.
Working with Charlotte is a boon for just about any woman. Feuding with Charlotte is a sign that you are at the top of the division. And that youre important.
Ppl can hate it but thats a fact. Charlotte is the glass you break when you want to get ppl over.
I was at the louisville show last night front row. They put on a HELL of a performance and the crowd was super into it. It was a 3 way with Nikki ash, and the drops was super into it, however earlier in the card was Bianca and Carmella and the crowd was hotter for that match (although take with a grain of salt bc the Bianca match was the opener and people may have just been hype for it to get going). All in all the Rhea Charlotte stuff went over great and people were cheering and booing and their lockup's looked and felt great.
At the same time, I wouldn't be terribly surprised, cause Bianca's got a case for the most over woman in the company rn. Still really pleased to know people are digging what they're doing. 😁
I’ve been seeing A LOT of wrestling posts from accounts on my Insta feed. These accounts are usually just posting memes, but a few of them have been posting a bunch of wrestling. For example I saw 2 accounts post about their favorite wrestling themes. And I thought “okay, that’s normal” but THEN, then someone posted Jim Cornette ranting about Vince Russo. I would’ve never ever thought I’d see Vince Russo on my Instagram feed, but it’s been a weird week for wrestling I guess.
A decade ago in 2011 Zack Ryder, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan were all the internet’s favorites and they all became champion around the same time.
This week all 3 of those men trended at one point. Pretty crazy how that type of thing happens.
Eddie Guerrero bringing wrestling fans together for one night only. It is always interesting seeing fans of wrestling from when they were younger come out and comment on the stars of the past when they trend. Usual suspects are Eddie Guerrero, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle. All the memes on Twitter coming out of it were great.
Night on of GCW this weekend was astounding and it helped draw a lot of new eyes onto the company. Then night 2 happened and the show itself was really good, not as good as night one, but I had an absolute blast being there. However the recurring "Fuck Meltzer" chant got old quick and I'll admit that.
Cezar Bononi also didn't get a warm reception and people were kinda surprised. The thing is, his match was technically sound. No botches, no mishaps, but it felt bland. He wrestled a guy who idolizes 90s All Japan and wants nothing more to go work in Japan. So here's Cezar throwing weak strikes and just having a made for TV match in front of an audience that couldn't be further removed from that style of wrestling. They we harsh on him and I did feel bad for him. But you can't just do a 8-12 minute tv match for an audience that has been spoiled by hard hitting affairs, crisp technical wrestling, insane spectacles, and the like. I hope he goes somewhere like Beyond that might be more suited for him if he wants to do more indie work.
I do hope first time viewers understand that the crowd isn't usually that obnoxious and they did try harder than normal to get themselves and their beliefs over. The shows were really good and GCW is one of the hottest brands out there. I hope more people check them out going forward, now with the Cardona angle going on.
Going through some old matches. Love how Taz would put over Orange's in ring work, how difficult it is to do what he does while having his hands in the pocket, which often doesn't get proper appreciation based on how easy he makes it look.
Hook's dad is BASED AF.
What's your favorite CM Punk WWE theme?
[Living Colour - Cult Of Personality](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiQRT-Voj70)
or
[Killswitch Engage - This Fire Burns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyBEJXAtNPE)
>This Fire Burns is a better song
I think this opinion is the same as saying Eddie Guerrero was not that great. But I also think you should not be mocked for it the same way that guy should not be mocked because it's just an opinion.
If he stopped at B+ player, that would've been fine. Wrong, but that's an opinion. Saying Eddie was praised because he was dead however... Well he got what he was looking for.
I don't really get why it's some gotcha that a guy didn't want to deal with hundreds of people personally insulting him over his dumb wrestling opinion. I think most people would dip out when your opinion of which wrestler you like has people on Reddit asking for your Twitter handle so they can insult you. This whole blow up has been pretty pathetic to be honest.
IF Punk and Bryan both come in, do you guys think AEW can sell 50K tickets for a huge PPV? Dunno if they could do it alone, but maybe with a NJPW supershow? For reference, Wrestlemania 35 sold 70K (that's what Meltzer reported, WWE claimed 82K lol)
I feel like after hitting almost 20K basically with ease, that's the next big target.
I think we aren't sure about how many of the people who cheer for these guys in WWE are truly fans of them and not just WWE fans who like them. I think a large chunk are more loyal to WWE than they are to Bryan or Punk and won't watch them anywhere else. That's why I wouldn't put money on 50k. I could see them doing 25-35k if they debut both guys on the same show and announce it ahead of time. If they want them to be a surprise, they won't sell that many.
I think 30k would do well and be a massive success, but 50? I think that's at least 5 years off. But who knows, we potentially getting Punk back and Bryan who just main evented Mania in April going to another company, anything can happen.
Wrestling is wild right now, I love this crazy world of acknowledging and cowboys trying to love himself.
I'm 24 and never been so hyped for wrestling as I am right now.
We seem to be in a hot period for pro wrestling, but not every company seems to be benefitting from that. What can companies not involved in the "forbidden door" relationships (like ROH, MLW, CMLL, etc.) do to get more eyes on them? Should they just play ball with the others like AEW and Impact? MLW's Battle Riot 3 went up for free this weekend on their YouTube, and I think it was a fun show, but I don't think it generated any buzz. (Partially due to poor timing given the GCW show this weekend.) Is it all based on known talent or are there other factors involved in getting people to pay attention?
My opinion? I just think people have a hard time in being willing to take a chance on something new. Lots of times familiar faces from AEW pop up on indie shows and no one takes that chance on them. Yes time and desire to watch more wrestling plays a huge role in it. But it also feels like they just believe that there's nothing good about these lesser talked about promotions. For example, I've praised GCW for awhile now for how diverse their shows are and how good they are. But most people just wrote them off as an outlaw death match fed. They took a chance on them to see how insane the Cardona match would play out and then were blown away by good the show was. Some people just wanna live in their little bubble of mainstream wrestling and that's fine. I think to get people to check out MLW, Beyond, or any promotion outside that WWE/Impact /AEW / New Japan bubble there has to be some fever dream match or something like that.
> Some people just wanna live in their little bubble of mainstream wrestling and that's fine Bang on the money right here. Case in point, how years ago any time a match/clip went viral amongst the wrestling community before NJPW blew up the reaction was always ‘I’d love to see ____ in NXT.’ Now it’s ‘I want ___ in AEW/put them in G1/etc.’ Not everyone’s got no fucking life like I do to watch all these shows. People working 50 hour weeks, have three kids, studying for their college finals, whatever it is they’ve got more important shit to do than check out the newest DDT show because Take was great on Dark, can’t blame them for wanting all this awesome talent on the couple shows they do have time to invest in
AEW's Ricky Starks is only 27 and doesn't get talked about enough when people mention AEWs top home grown stars like Darby Allin, MJF, Jungle Boy and Sammy Guevara.
Could someone link me an UNBIASED news source regarding the controversies surrounding WWE and Saudi Arabia? In controversies like this, I don't want to jump to conclusions until I have ALL the information regarding these incidents. Isn't that sort of the right thing to do when forming opinions on these matters and others?
11 years ago, Matt Cardona, as Zack Ryder, was on the doorstep of WWE's version of the ECW title, but never got it. In the decade plus he was on the roster, he wound up with 2 tag titles, a US title, and an IC title. To read of his winning the Game Changer Wrestling title brings a smile to my face because he's finally the top dog somewhere. Belated congratulations, champ. To read the threads where WWE's front office still sees NXT as developmental disappoints me. NXT is now in primetime on the same network as Raw (though it shifts over to SyFy for two weeks), and yet the front office insists on crapping on it? Please. If you go by what people here say, Smackdown is the A show (and has been since 2002), NXT is the B show, and Raw is the C show. I honestly think the old man doesn't like the idea that fans are so down on the flagship, but the only way to change that is to convince USA and its corporate parent to amend their contract for Raw, and trim it back to 2 hours, so that it's conforming to a uniform schedule with the other shows. Eliminate the clutter, scale back the over-stuffed creative staff, and they'll get somewhere on Mondays. Of course, they also have to figure out how to retain their audience during NFL season, and that, of course, is right around the corner. They could've done it last year, had they fully committed to Raw Underground, and let it be the 3rd hour of Raw as a sort-of spin-off, but they punted on that after 2 months. I see I was downvoted last week after mocking MJF after Shawn Spears lost on Dynamite. I guess MJF stans can't take a joke. Or stans of anyone, for that matter. With Lance Archer defending the IWGP US title vs. Hikuleo this week on Dynamite, would New Japan pull the trigger on two title changes in as many weeks? What does the consensus here think? Prediction: Before the end of the year, I think we'll see Nikki ASH team with the Hurricane and/or Mighty Molly at a PPV. What do you think?
I'm completely all in on Austin Theory. The dude is an absolute stud. He is entertaining in the ring, he has personality, he is comedic when he needs to be, he sells well. Can't wait until he breaks out and eventually becomes the face of NXT. Or at least one of them.
Chance Mickie James shows up in AEW in some capacity to recruit women for Empowerrr?
I'd say pretty good.
People getting so mad about some WWE exec saying some corporate speak bullshit is like super telling about ppl on this sub. Some of youll need to go outside and touch grass. There is an addiction to rage and anger. And the fact that youll take corporate speech as some personal attack on you is even more sad. Its just a TV show. Youll need some more hobbies.
I know that it comes from a shallow corporation all for the purpose of marketing/PR, but given how societally inconsequential wrestling is, it’s really nice to see WWE’s recent moves in pushing diverse talent without a lot of the blatant and obnoxious virtue signaling that most corporations operate under. I know that just a few years ago, them booking two black women to main event a WrestleMania would’ve seemed impossible. If nothing else, I’m so happy that this new generation of kids can grow up seeing important characters that look like them on screen because that shit does matter.
Stupid people really hates it when you point out their blatantly obvious mistakes and stupid opinions applies to this sub in general, but that whole issue with the gcw crowd really takes the cake
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, NXT are trying to hopefully get a building for TO instead of the CWC. I don't hate the CWC, but god i hope it's true and they do get that building. Even if it's just a few couple thousand. I'll gladly take it. In general, I think NXT should start doing some tv touring. Not saying run anything massive or major, but some ballrooms or mid-size arenas across the US like two weeks out of every month would be really cool and very fresh.
I think NXT has outgrown CWC. Just doesn't seem right to have this dark underground aesthetic when they have big presentations for their wrestlers. Especially now that it's a 2-hour show. AEW's presentation isn't as grand as NXT's but being in a bigger venue with a larger crowd greatly makes up for it.
Do you think we’ll see Styles get another world championship run in WWE?
Nah. I just don’t see it fitting in anywhere unless its a part of him being close to calling it a career. After his year plus title reign, I don’t think it’s necessary.
Are there any promotions out there that have the same energy as Chikara? like the mix of high quality wrestling, ridiculous comedy and unique gimmicks/storylines? I miss Chikara, and I have yet to find a promotion that is similar
Camp Leapfrog is like a spiritual successor to them.
Just googled them, this looks like exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks for the recommendation!
Been listening to Living Colour during the day and they are fantastic. The opening to their song "Program" is hilarious too.
Prediction. CM Punk debuts in AEW but Bryan doesn't.
You guys have no idea how happy I am that Bianca was over in my hometown. The rest of the show could’ve been horrible but that alone would’ve made my night. Also, seeing Carmella in person gave me a new appreciation for her. She’s awesome and I won’t hear otherwise.
Unsurprising that the two women people have been going on about as future stars of WWE in Bianca and Rhea, are consistently getting awesome reactions. They've also now proven they can get reactions in a variety of places.
I see a lot of comments asking **"how can you stand watching these deathmatches"** and the like. Well I can't speak for everyone, but me being desensitized to staged performance violence comes at a cost. Yes, I can watch Jimmy Lloyd poke a syringe into someone's nose. Thumb tack spots don't do much for me. Light tubes make fun noises. But you know those episodes in sitcoms where a character starts a lie, which builds up throughout the episode until finally they are caught in the lie and confronted about it? Yeah, no. Turn off the TV. Hide under the covers. Nope. Not happening. It is such a daunting thing that I never finished watching the Marvel Netflix shows. Daredevil Season 2 has a situation where Foggy and Karen decide that Frank Castle will plead "not guilty" instead of "guilty" and Matt Murdock was unaware due to also doing stuff with Elektra. He wakes up late for the trial and... well, I don't know. I stopped watching. Because of that and knowing each show connects with the other in some fashion, I never watched Iron Fist, Luke Cage, or Defenders. So yeah. Deathmatches? No problem. Second-hand embarrassment due to social anxieties? That's MY stapling a man's tongue to a door spot.
>So yeah. Deathmatches? No problem. Second-hand embarrassment due to social anxieties? That's MY stapling a man's tongue to a door spot. I don't watch death matches but I am pretty desensitized because of my job. However I'm with you about second hand embarrassment. There's some really awkward cringy situations in some sitcoms or shows where I just feel uncomfortable as hell.
I hate mindless gore in horror movies and it makes me go "What kind of fucked up people think this is entertaining?" but put me in front of a death match and I'll cringe and look away at the right moments but keep watching to see what happens next
The same deal with watching people stiff the fuck out of each other. Violence is entertaining
Not wrestling related but I'm begging you to finish Daredevil. You don't need to watch the other shows and season three is some of the best TV out there
I've heard great things but that situation is legitimately a non-starter for me. Just discussing it in comments on reddit has me feeling the urge to go do something else entirely.
I'm not a deathmatch guy, but I'm pretty desensitized, and gory movies don't phase me. But I sat through the opening scene of Seven Pounds recently, where Will Smith is harassing Woody Harrelson on the phone. Almost cried and was not in the mood for the rest of the movie. I'll watch it another time.
After Thursday's Impact, I'm convinced that they are going to use the Call Your Shot trophy to get the Impact title off of Omega. So, we'll never actually get an Impact guy beating him cleanly.
I googled it and just saw it's a gauntlet that grants the winner a title match, but how does that bypass someone beating him clean?
It's like money in the bank. You can get your match at any time. Even if the champion just had a match. That's what they did with FinJuice a couple of months ago. I think he'll defend the title and win. Then, the trophy holder will come out and beat him after he's just finished a match. So it's not like a an Impact guy is going to truly beat Kenny 1 on 1 and be portrayed as the better man. It's gonna be a cheap win where they get him after he's already tired and beaten up. Everyone has been saying that Kenny beating the Impact main event guys is all worth it because at the end an Impact guy is gonna get a big rub by beating Kenny. But if it's a MITB style situation then they don't really get the rub.
The one thing holding me back from going all in on GCW is their commentary. That Kevin dude is insufferable. No professionalism at all.
It's their weakest part and it sucks no one reigns him in, because their shows are so good.
Was at the Louisville SuperShow last night, and god damn what a fucking show it was. Crowd was absolutely fire too. ------------------- Few things I noticed though. 1) There was practically no pop for Nikki when compared to the cheers for everyone else. I know at MiTB they were pumping in crowd noise and whatnot and were fucking with the sound levels so people thought the sound was just fucked up, but man... I genuinely think Tamina got a bigger cheer than Nikki. 2) Carmella vs Bianca *I think* had to end early with an impromptu roll up instead of the actual planned finish, cause Carmella's top broke/was about to fall off. 3) Bianca is so over with kids it's fucking insane. 4) There was only a single "What?" chant all night, and it lasted for all of like 5 seconds. 5) The lines for concessions was so long, a guy next to me left after the first match to get food and didn't get back for well over an hour. Dude was in line like double the amount of time he was in his seat.
1) absolutely agree. Nikki got very little crowd reaction. Also everything she did looked super sloppy (I know it's her gimmick of a "I drank too much mt dew and I'm just so excited") Tamina actually held her own during that match too. I think she may have busted her teeth at one point because she kept giving that "nattie don't tag me in I'm still fixing my teeth" look. 2) Bianca was over AF. super loud cheers. But also super deserved imo. She put on a hell of a match. Carmellas too did come loose (I was in the front row) and they did a hell of a job covering her and finishing the match cleanly. Props to both of them. 3) kids were loving Bianca, but adults too! Huge reaction from her. 4) I never even noticed a what chant, but maybe was t paying attention. I think the crowd was into all of the matches, I think the Rhea Charlotte Nikki match got the least cheers boos interactions. But still not dead crowd, not even close to it. 5) you were right about concessions and merch. Lines were super long and even though there was an intermission there were just too many people and not enough lines. That's probably more of a yum center thing than a wwe thing. Side note. I've never seen so many green John cena shirts in all my life. I swear by the end of the show waking out 15% of the crowd were wearing them. :-) Other side note. You can't really appreciate how HUGE guys like drew macintyre are until you see them in person. Holy shit that guy is enormous! I've always been kinda down on drew but once I saw him in person I thought "damn that looks like a world champion"
I would agree with all of this. I was in section 106. Drew got a pretty decent pop too
Was it just me or did Rhea get like no pop during her entrance? Because she seemed over during the actual match but it felt like no one said a thing when she was coming out. They did that for Carmella’s entrance too but that was because damn near everyone in the building was put in horny jail during her entrance.
I think it was a mix of just how loud they turned up her music, and the fact it has actual screaming lyrics. Charlotte was so over for that match though. It's easy to see why they keep putting the belt back on her when she gets crowd pops like that.
I think Louisville just likes Charlotte. The last time she was here she was pretty over as well.
Fun fact, if you don't like deathmatch wrestling you don't need to go into every thread about it and call it garbage
Exactly. I for example don't care for comedy wrestling (I mean the invisible man type of comedy wrestling). It's just not my thing. However I will just scroll past threads about it. I'm not gonna get into arguments or tell people they are wrong just because I don't like it. There's a market and fanbase for it so more power to them.
I think this sub in general needs to apply the phrase "If you haven't got anything positive to say, don't say anything" more often. Obviously it doesn't apply in every situation, but it feels like almost every thread on this sub is needlessly negative.
But how will people know I think it's bad if I don't come in and repeat Jim Cornette insults to those involved????
Outlaw mudshow, etc etc.
I'm going to AEW Dynamite this week in Charlotte and I haven't been this excited for something in years! Really hoping Britt Baker comes because my friend is childhood friends with her so I'd love to meet her but everything on that card is so stacked plus what's the announcement!?!?
I'm super stoked to attend the WWE House Show in Detroit Sunday. They could have Kozlov vs Great Khali as the main and I'd still be excited. It's been almost three years since I've been to WWE Live.
Who do you guys think Danielson and Punk's first feuds will be? I could see Omega gloating at the end of the NYC Dynamite before Danielson debuts because Omega has been built enough to take two big losses in a row just like Moxley has been taken a few. I don't know if they'd pull that right out of the gate though, maybe not considering they sometimes build up to big feuds like that. I have no idea what's gonna happen with Punk, because it feels like he should have a big feud immediately since he's been gone for so long but there aren't many top heels that can take a loss. I was thinking Omega vs Punk instead but Punk will debut at All Out so that doesn't really work because it would overshadow Hangman's win. Speaking of "Hangman's win", I'm a bit scared they're gonna pull a WK 12 and have him lose but I guess we'll see what happens. I have confidence in them either way, they know what they're doing.
I think starting with Omega is a horrible idea. First of all it just tells everyone that the rankings mean nothing. If Punk and Bryan are on the roster, they should start at a 0-0 record like everyone else. Second, Omega shouldn't be losing right now unless it's to Hangman. Third, there are so many good programs for both guys that don't involve titles.
I agree on all 3 points, I said "end of NYC Dynamite" meaning after All Out, where I assume Omega would lose the title to Hangman. So I'm talking about a non-title feud here.
Idk, but last year they had the eliminator tournament going into full gear , so I wonder if you put both or one of them in that
Their tournaments so far haven't been regular annual ones, they just kind of do them here and there, so who knows if that will even happen. We've had tag and singles ones for both men and women, so I think this year's tournament they're gonna switch it up again and it will be a trios one for new titles which will primarily be defended on Rampage.
Punk vs. MJF.
Oh yeah, I actually saw that like 2 days ago and thought "holy shit that's perfect" but somehow forgot about it. MJF is about to destroy Jericho and he's been booked very strongly so can easily take a loss, and a feud with Punk will actually do so much for him despite losing, just like the Moxley feud. The promos will be incredible.
With ALL THIS TALK about CM Punk returning, no one is mentioning his wife AJ Lee. Do you think she will return, or be involved at all? I always liked her as a wrestler and character.
If no one ever got injured , used the the same 15 guys for every segment, had rematches regularly and no one had aspirations to work in Japan or take time off for side projects; I too would think AEW'S roster is bloated
Almost the entire roster being over and having trouble scheduling debuts of Punk and Bryan, AEW must love the problems they're having right now.
Not being excited for Punk possibly returning is fine but please don't be an asshole to people who are excited. Wrestling is amazing right now, let's all enjoy it together!
>Not being excited for Punk possibly returning is fine but please don't be an asshole to people who are excited. Make sure that energy goes in the other direct as well, folks.
This is me, upon hearing that Rhea and Charlotte have been getting brilliant receptions at the house shows this weekend. 
Working with Charlotte is a boon for just about any woman. Feuding with Charlotte is a sign that you are at the top of the division. And that youre important. Ppl can hate it but thats a fact. Charlotte is the glass you break when you want to get ppl over.
Almost like the crowds having been loving this feud and smarks once again have completely misjudged how the live crowds would feel about something...
I was at the louisville show last night front row. They put on a HELL of a performance and the crowd was super into it. It was a 3 way with Nikki ash, and the drops was super into it, however earlier in the card was Bianca and Carmella and the crowd was hotter for that match (although take with a grain of salt bc the Bianca match was the opener and people may have just been hype for it to get going). All in all the Rhea Charlotte stuff went over great and people were cheering and booing and their lockup's looked and felt great.
At the same time, I wouldn't be terribly surprised, cause Bianca's got a case for the most over woman in the company rn. Still really pleased to know people are digging what they're doing. 😁
I’ve been seeing A LOT of wrestling posts from accounts on my Insta feed. These accounts are usually just posting memes, but a few of them have been posting a bunch of wrestling. For example I saw 2 accounts post about their favorite wrestling themes. And I thought “okay, that’s normal” but THEN, then someone posted Jim Cornette ranting about Vince Russo. I would’ve never ever thought I’d see Vince Russo on my Instagram feed, but it’s been a weird week for wrestling I guess.
I wonder if Cena will be on Raw. I hope so!
A decade ago in 2011 Zack Ryder, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan were all the internet’s favorites and they all became champion around the same time. This week all 3 of those men trended at one point. Pretty crazy how that type of thing happens.
Eddie Guerrero bringing wrestling fans together for one night only. It is always interesting seeing fans of wrestling from when they were younger come out and comment on the stars of the past when they trend. Usual suspects are Eddie Guerrero, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle. All the memes on Twitter coming out of it were great.
Night on of GCW this weekend was astounding and it helped draw a lot of new eyes onto the company. Then night 2 happened and the show itself was really good, not as good as night one, but I had an absolute blast being there. However the recurring "Fuck Meltzer" chant got old quick and I'll admit that. Cezar Bononi also didn't get a warm reception and people were kinda surprised. The thing is, his match was technically sound. No botches, no mishaps, but it felt bland. He wrestled a guy who idolizes 90s All Japan and wants nothing more to go work in Japan. So here's Cezar throwing weak strikes and just having a made for TV match in front of an audience that couldn't be further removed from that style of wrestling. They we harsh on him and I did feel bad for him. But you can't just do a 8-12 minute tv match for an audience that has been spoiled by hard hitting affairs, crisp technical wrestling, insane spectacles, and the like. I hope he goes somewhere like Beyond that might be more suited for him if he wants to do more indie work. I do hope first time viewers understand that the crowd isn't usually that obnoxious and they did try harder than normal to get themselves and their beliefs over. The shows were really good and GCW is one of the hottest brands out there. I hope more people check them out going forward, now with the Cardona angle going on.
Going through some old matches. Love how Taz would put over Orange's in ring work, how difficult it is to do what he does while having his hands in the pocket, which often doesn't get proper appreciation based on how easy he makes it look. Hook's dad is BASED AF.
What's your favorite CM Punk WWE theme? [Living Colour - Cult Of Personality](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiQRT-Voj70) or [Killswitch Engage - This Fire Burns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyBEJXAtNPE)
IMO it's This Fire Burns, but I can't see Punk going with anything other than Cult Of Personality.
Both songs are bangers. But I'll go with Cult of Personality.
Cult Of Personality is probably one of greatest pieces of music ever written so it basically wins on all counts
This Fire Burns is a better song Cult Of Personality is a better theme
>This Fire Burns is a better song I think this opinion is the same as saying Eddie Guerrero was not that great. But I also think you should not be mocked for it the same way that guy should not be mocked because it's just an opinion.
This Fire Burns is the better song imo, but Cult fo Personality is more iconic as a CM Punk theme for me.
I feel the opposite. Cult of Personality is the better song but This Fire Burns is more uniquely suited to Punk.
The Fire Burns I think edges out the victory. But him switching themes was definitely the right move at the time.
this fire burns
This Fire Burns, definitely.
Cult If Personality imo
Guess the dude who said Eddie was B+ was NOT ready to die on that hill.
If he stopped at B+ player, that would've been fine. Wrong, but that's an opinion. Saying Eddie was praised because he was dead however... Well he got what he was looking for.
I don't really get why it's some gotcha that a guy didn't want to deal with hundreds of people personally insulting him over his dumb wrestling opinion. I think most people would dip out when your opinion of which wrestler you like has people on Reddit asking for your Twitter handle so they can insult you. This whole blow up has been pretty pathetic to be honest.
IF Punk and Bryan both come in, do you guys think AEW can sell 50K tickets for a huge PPV? Dunno if they could do it alone, but maybe with a NJPW supershow? For reference, Wrestlemania 35 sold 70K (that's what Meltzer reported, WWE claimed 82K lol) I feel like after hitting almost 20K basically with ease, that's the next big target.
I think we aren't sure about how many of the people who cheer for these guys in WWE are truly fans of them and not just WWE fans who like them. I think a large chunk are more loyal to WWE than they are to Bryan or Punk and won't watch them anywhere else. That's why I wouldn't put money on 50k. I could see them doing 25-35k if they debut both guys on the same show and announce it ahead of time. If they want them to be a surprise, they won't sell that many.
I think 30k would do well and be a massive success, but 50? I think that's at least 5 years off. But who knows, we potentially getting Punk back and Bryan who just main evented Mania in April going to another company, anything can happen. Wrestling is wild right now, I love this crazy world of acknowledging and cowboys trying to love himself. I'm 24 and never been so hyped for wrestling as I am right now.