Wrestling Thread

CrimeDawg18

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If I'm not mistaken I believe that was due to an early IWA Mid-South show
If memory servers correctly when IWA Mid-South started they were drawing huge crowds. Jim Cornette and Danny Davis reported them to the Kentucky Athletic Commission and they got banned from the state. That's why they started running across the river in Indiana.
 

Nightwish

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Jul 10, 2025
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It's up to the guys like HHH and Michaels to be stewards for the business, to explain its ins and outs to the TKO guys that have no wrestling background. And they are failing miserably. But they don't care because they got theirs. Should've expected nothing different from the guys behind the Curtain Call.
That's not their job lol. Triple H oversees creative for two national shows, one on Netflix, the other on USA. HBK runs creative for a show on the CW and a couple times a year his roster gets raided and he and his team have to start over. Their job isn't to teach a billionaire the history of pro wrestling.
 

American Dragon

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I was listening to Busted Open radio this weekend, and one of the hosts said they thought her being in ROH had something to do with a wrestling school she runs. But they didn't elaborate on it, so I didn't really understand the reference.
She runs a school and an indie promotion or two tied to it. From what I gather, she loves doing it and is pretty hands on with all of it.
 

American Dragon

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Yeah it's just...boring. The idea that there are people that actually watch all of Raw and SmackDown each week is mind-blowing to me.

It's a wrestling company that is now ran by people that don't particularly like wrestling. Listen to their execs talk about it. It's just another revenue stream to them. There's little incentive for them to improve the product because most of their income is from huge media rights deals. WWE is exhibit A of enshittification.

They just don't get it. They took Saturday Night's Main Event, which was a pretty big deal, like a Clash of the Champions type, PPV-quality TV special. And they reduced it to just...another show. Everything feels skippable and nothing feels special.

It's up to the guys like HHH and Michaels to be stewards for the business, to explain its ins and outs to the TKO guys that have no wrestling background. And they are failing miserably. But they don't care because they got theirs. Should've expected nothing different from the guys behind the Curtain Call.
WWE is a very good example of late stage capitalism. Pay more and more and get less and less in terms of quality and quantity.
 
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billCgmx_

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The issue I have with Raw and Smackdown is the shows are basically the same most weeka. Let's start out with a couple of clips of what happened over the past weeks, then show some wrestlers walking into the arena. then have a 20 minute talk segment in the ring followed by a match that shows about 3 minutes worth of action followed by a slew of commercials. What's creative about that?

Back to AEW... RIP Generational Title Run
 

Nightwish

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Jul 10, 2025
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My contention is that they have trained their fans to not really like wrestling. They like WWE, not wrestling.

"AEW's PPV's are too long. AEW doesn't tell any stories, etc."

They literally complain about having too much wrestling on a show.

So the WWE fans are buying what management is selling, for some reason.
You're slowly turning into Dragon lol. This is an elitist attitude and one that turns away some who may give AEW a shot otherwise. Someone on the SquaredCircle sub recently asked what's stopped you from diving into AEW. The top answer was AEW fans. They're seen as elitists who look down at anyone who isn't submerged in indie wrestling or still enjoys WWE. I don't know where you got that WWE fans don't like wrestling since most of us grew up watching WWF, WCW, USWA, ECW, TNA, and various terrority tapes. I guess I don't like wrestling because I don't care about NJPW, ROH, or PWG in SOCAL? Do I need to care that Penta wrestled Chelsea Green in Lucha Underground before they won titles in WWE?

On the length of PPV's, that's more of an AEW fan complaint. I'm not the one leaving a venue at 12:40 am on a Sunday night after six hours and 14 matches so I have nothing to complain about. Some AEW fans however who do think that's a bit extreme while others embrace it.

I've said before I wouldn't go to a current WWE show for a variety of reasons but many still do. If I'm an AEW fan, I'd wonder why AEW can't get more than 2,000-4,000 to show up for Dynamite in the states. That's been my point in the past. AEW fans claim they're on fire and it's the best this and best that and this episode was great, that PPV was perfection - but where are the fans on Wed nights? Even a cooled down WWE just did over 9,000 in Rupp for SD. If AEW tried that they'd get less than 3,000. I'm glad they just sold out NYC but AEW fans tend to push a narrative when numbers say differently. Face it my guy, most wrestling fans may not be thrilled with WWE right now but most wrestling fans don't really care about AEW either.
 

American Dragon

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You're slowly turning into Dragon lol. This is an elitist attitude and one that turns away some who may give AEW a shot otherwise. Someone on the SquaredCircle sub recently asked what's stopped you from diving into AEW. The top answer was AEW fans. They're seen as elitists who look down at anyone who isn't submerged in indie wrestling or still enjoys WWE. I don't know where you got that WWE fans don't like wrestling since most of us grew up watching WWF, WCW, USWA, ECW, TNA, and various terrority tapes. I guess I don't like wrestling because I don't care about NJPW, ROH, or PWG in SOCAL? Do I need to care that Penta wrestled Chelsea Green in Lucha Underground before they won titles in WWE?

On the length of PPV's, that's more of an AEW fan complaint. I'm not the one leaving a venue at 12:40 am on a Sunday night after six hours and 14 matches so I have nothing to complain about. Some AEW fans however who do think that's a bit extreme while others embrace it.

I've said before I wouldn't go to a current WWE show for a variety of reasons but many still do. If I'm an AEW fan, I'd wonder why AEW can't get more than 2,000-4,000 to show up for Dynamite in the states. That's been my point in the past. AEW fans claim they're on fire and it's the best this and best that and this episode was great, that PPV was perfection - but where are the fans on Wed nights? Even a cooled down WWE just did over 9,000 in Rupp for SD. If AEW tried that they'd get less than 3,000. I'm glad they just sold out NYC but AEW fans tend to push a narrative when numbers say differently. Face it my guy, most wrestling fans may not be thrilled with WWE right now but most wrestling fans don't really care about AEW either.
AEW is averaging over 3K this year for Dynamite.

 

Im The Village Idiot

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You're slowly turning into Dragon lol. This is an elitist attitude and one that turns away some who may give AEW a shot otherwise. Someone on the SquaredCircle sub recently asked what's stopped you from diving into AEW. The top answer was AEW fans. They're seen as elitists who look down at anyone who isn't submerged in indie wrestling or still enjoys WWE. I don't know where you got that WWE fans don't like wrestling since most of us grew up watching WWF, WCW, USWA, ECW, TNA, and various terrority tapes. I guess I don't like wrestling because I don't care about NJPW, ROH, or PWG in SOCAL? Do I need to care that Penta wrestled Chelsea Green in Lucha Underground before they won titles in WWE?

On the length of PPV's, that's more of an AEW fan complaint. I'm not the one leaving a venue at 12:40 am on a Sunday night after six hours and 14 matches so I have nothing to complain about. Some AEW fans however who do think that's a bit extreme while others embrace it.

I've said before I wouldn't go to a current WWE show for a variety of reasons but many still do. If I'm an AEW fan, I'd wonder why AEW can't get more than 2,000-4,000 to show up for Dynamite in the states. That's been my point in the past. AEW fans claim they're on fire and it's the best this and best that and this episode was great, that PPV was perfection - but where are the fans on Wed nights? Even a cooled down WWE just did over 9,000 in Rupp for SD. If AEW tried that they'd get less than 3,000. I'm glad they just sold out NYC but AEW fans tend to push a narrative when numbers say differently. Face it my guy, most wrestling fans may not be thrilled with WWE right now but most wrestling fans don't really care about AEW either.
Too much gatekeeping on both sides. Everyone should just think for themselves and enjoy what they enjoy. AEW is perfectly suitable for my tastes. Simple. Doesn’t mean it is for others.
 
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Laparkafan

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My contention is that they have trained their fans to not really like wrestling. They like WWE, not wrestling.

"AEW's PPV's are too long. AEW doesn't tell any stories, etc."

They literally complain about having too much wrestling on a show.

So the WWE fans are buying what management is selling, for some reason.
To be fair it was too long it ended at 1230 and the next train out of New York was 1236 and after that was 230am so if you missed the bum rush to get on one you were stuck for 2 hours.
 

Nightwish

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Jul 10, 2025
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AEW is averaging over 3K this year for Dynamite.


It's a bit better but a little over 3,000 isn't great. It's better than what TNA or any other promotion in the states is doing but I still don't understand why in year seven an A show can't have 5,000 or 6,000 on average. It's a large country. One would think one company (Raw) can do 9,500 and the other (Dynamite) do 5,000 or 6,000. I go back to them in Asheville with a small number and AEW fans online using "it's a small market!" as an excuse. Maybe the show just isn't as good as many claim. Doesn't mean their PPV's aren't great but something is amiss here.
 

Im The Village Idiot

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3,000 or 30,000 fans at a show…..wtf cares? Do wrestling fans still care about the product? If I watch Raw, why does it matter whether 7,425 people did or did not enjoy the product? There’s an audience of one that matters and that’s you, the individual viewer. Now, certainly I can see having a hot crowd on the production can give the show a boost of energy, but it isn’t as though any wrestling show is going to place a camera on the empty seats for you to gaze at during the show. This stuff is nothing but reasons for people to sling mud at one another for picking the “wrong show” even though there is no such thing as a right or wrong wrestling show. And no one is smarter or better than the other for having a preference about a niche form of entertainment lol.