Guess who’s back, back again? Nick is back. Tell a friend, guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back. I’ve created a monster ‘Cause nobody wants to read Meltzer no more, they want Nick, Dave’s chopped liver… My apologies, I got carried away there. Anyways, it is time to pro-wrestling rant.
Let’s go!
Wrestling fans are too judgemental
We live in a world of social media and have an abundance of information at our fingertips. Some great and some not so great. Since we have so much knowledge readily available to us, we all think we are professionals and know what is right and what is wrong. Good ol’ keyboard warriors.
Fans have no issues with telling off someone over their viewpoints. While it is great we all think differently, respect is what is lacking. As soon as someone views a situation differently than someone, the post becomes an all-out battlefield with hurtful name-calling, etc. We are all tough as nails behind a screen.
Wrestling is no different. While it is absolutely fantastic to cheer on your favourite or jeer the ones you dislike the most, we forget they are human and are sacrificing their livelihood to entertain fans. Yet, we film, post and crucify them if they “botch” a move or slip up cutting a promo. If someone wins who we didn’t want, we take it personally, when we shouldn’t.
Backlash France
Remember last year’s Backlash in France? It was iconic. That crowd was so invested in each match, each wrestler and there was not one inkling of hatred. It created one of, if not the best environments I have ever witnessed.
Why is this? Is it our passion? Is it that we think we know more? Or is it because it is not the outcome we wanted? Wrestling is meant to draw emotions out of the audience, but we shouldn’t be looking for errors or looking for ways to chastise them.
Just look at the recent Royal Rumble event. The return Charlotte Flair and Jey Uso both won their Rumbles. Fans were livid. Tens of thousands of dislikes on the YouTube videos. The next night on Raw, Charlotte was booed out of the building. I get it, been there done that, she didn’t need to win it.
You are correct there but here is where you trust the process. Trust what Papa H has lined up. Maybe his goal with her win goes further down the year on to a different opponent. Maybe the fans pulled their trigger too quick to throw that amount of hate.
Uce
Uso’s hate, that one confused me as the 70,000+ inside the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana seemed to agree with Mr. Levesque here. Unlike Charlotte, Jey was greeted with such a thunderous ovation the next night on Raw, so much so that the fans demanded WWE to play his theme music again. So why such hate online?
Remember, wrestling is a business and the more you draw the more you are pushed. Jey’s popularity is the definition of being organic. Heck, Michael Cole yeets like he is a 12-year-old boy which shows you how invested people are in Jey.
50-year-olds to children, he has touched all who have been a part of his journey. So, when you look for a new star or look for someone to headline the biggest event of the year you look for talent like Jey Uso. Agree to disagree with me here but from a business side of things, he is exactly the right choice.
TNA/NXT
Judging by how the TNA-NXT partnership started out I thought NXT was just using TNA to see who they could snag next. It felt very one-sided as TNA loaned Joe Hendry, Jordynne Grace, The Rascalz, Rosemary, Hammerstone, etc. while NXT loaned mostly lower card names.
Things seemed to die down for the partnership but recently picked back up again. Having the current TNA Women’s Champion mixing it up with Cora Jade is beyond exciting. Having Joe Hendry appear with his TNA Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble along with a massive reaction to the crowd showed how much of a light WWE actually ended up putting on TNA even if I thought it was lopsided.
For decades now TNA has bolstered an iconic roster which WWE has reaped the benefits of by signing a lot of their big names. WWE is now giving them a bigger platform for the talent to showcase their skills on a much larger scale and in return will gain future superstars much like recent WWE signee Jordynne Grace.
The one thing I hope for is a TNA vs NXT PLE. I think the two teams are at the right place where egos can be checked for the betterment of the overall event. Truthfully it wouldn’t matter if Moose defeated Oba Femi or if Wes Lee defeated Eddie Edwards because the winners are the fans, both companies and the overall business. The most important thing is having 100% investment from the audience.
While I wish a TNA-WWE partnership would have happened sooner, I am glad it didn’t. Timing is literally everything and right now, the time is right. Heck, we might even see TNA Champ Joe Hendry take on the GOAT John Cena on Cena’s farewell tour and there is an even greater chance of seeing The Phenomenal One AJ Styles back inside a TNA ring. Now that my friend is how you do business.
What the heck is up with AEW?
Unless you’ve lived under a rock you would have noticed the incredible rise and even faster fall of All Elite Wrestling. Look, competition is the best for business because it pushes the companies to put out the best possible product.
AEW came out the gate guns a blazin’, heck they drew 80,000 for a PPV a few years back. They went from 0 to 100 real fast and maybe that was the problem. People were tired of the same old same with WWE and the formula they run with. This was a nice breath of fresh air.
AEW built up and continues to bolster an incredible roster with some of the best on the planet yet are struggling to sell 2000 tickets to a television show. Up until recently Tony Khan would still run shows inside of 20,000 seat arenas with a crowd of a few thousand. That’s not a good look at all and don’t even get me started on the financial side of that.
Backstage Issues?
Word was getting out about backstage problems. The whole CM Punk-Jack Perry fiasco, and talent voicing their displeasures have created such a negative aura about the company. Even though Vince McMahon was great at this as well, Tony hoards talent.
From a business side of things, if you’re not going to use them then cut them free. WWE can’t hire every single one of them if that is his worry. Or is he afraid of the CM Punk thing all over again. This time I’m talking about his return to WWE, having the greatest time out there and using his free time to help the younger NXT talent. Is he afraid of looking bad?
Nobody is perfect or knows how to run companies or else we would all be entrepreneurs but pissing money away because you love something is a whole different ball game.
Besides the abundance of talent, AEW’s live shows are repetitive and not one bit compelling. You need to give the fans a reason to tune in or else they will watch something else. By using the typical “special announcement” schtick Khan likes to use, how about shifting your focus on the bigger picture and why and how they fell so hard?
Back On Track
If they really want to pick back up and be equivalent to WWE, they have so much work to do but the first is dedication. We need a reason as to why we should watch, so give us a reason and then we need a reason as to why we should stay, so convince us to stay. The work needs to be put in with consistency in order for the fans to come back.
STOP WORRYING ABOUT WWE. The constant cheap shots towards WWE are hurting them more than they think. They think it is funny and works, well hunny, guess what….. It does the opposite, and it makes AEW look childish.
Another thing is fans need to leave the AEW vs WWE war alone. Let WWE be WWE and AEW be AEW because at the end of the day, the better both companies do the better the product will be and the better the business will be.
AEW vs WWE, no how about AEW & WWE & GCW & TNA & NWA and….. catch my drift?
Well, that is all for me for today. I am not done shootin’ my mouth off, but I am at work. Shhhhh don’t say anything please…
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