Today I‘m gonna tell you why my wrestling viewing behavior has shifted.
I now exclusively watch NXT and AEW.
Find out more by reading on!
Picture this:
You‘re looking forward to a grand spectacle the size only WrestleMania can provide… and then Corona happens!
Fun is canceled!
WWE seemed to take this literally, because, yeah, their programs didn‘t seem inspired enough to hold my attention.
The first two weeks of empty arena shows were just dreadful.
On paper empty arena shows are rather easy to make.
You give the wrestlers a chance to provide footage from home, you make it interesting, you rewrite a few stories to add some pep, you get a little crazy.
You edit more, you use music, and you above anything else let your talent show that they can have exciting matches.
With Raw and SmackDown we didn‘t really get interesting stories.
For the most part we haven‘t so for years.
The wrestling also has never been an aspect I particularly enjoyed on the main roster shows.
Cookie cutter, copy paste stuff with repeated pairings over and over again.
It got pretty freaking boring.
I can‘t really justify why I kept watching it.
I just got drawn in each and every week because of my favorite wrestlers.
Dudes like Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose.
Can you see where I‘m going with this?
Yes, instead of using them properly they just didn‘t get them.
Or, if they did, in the case of Chris Jericho, it always felt as if he was still underappreciated.
So what do I do when I don‘t get interesting stories, wrestlers I like being represented well or great wrestling?
I turn to someone who can give me that.
AEW Dynamite is that someone!
Not only have they captured what stars such as Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy and Dean Am… I mean, Jon Moxley (way better name btw) are and always should‘ve been about, but they also took lesser known wrestlers such as Neville or Sean Spears and completely reinvented them.
They‘ve also introduced me toa whole slew of new stars I wasn‘t aware of before.
For example, I love everything Orange Cassidy!
Not just because he‘s King Maxel‘s favorite wrestler!
And probably my favorite on the entire roster has to be Darby Allin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy shit I love him so much!
But what else do they offer?
The stories are more mature, compelling and interesting, and the wrestling is some of the best I‘ve ever seen!
And they don‘t shy away from doing the odd hardcore match that‘s actually hardcore here and there.
I mean, heck, they‘ve got Darby Allin, Jon Moxley, Jimmy Havoc and others that are known for that kind of wrestling!
And even Kenny Omega shines in a whole new light here.
Oh, and the tag division…
Young Bucks, SCU, Best Friends and freaking Kenny Omega AND Hangman Adam Paige?!
Like, come on, how can you not love this?
And if you‘ve never seen any of it because you‘ve just always been a WWE guy like I have, then fred not!
Just watch an episode of their second programming called WWE Dark on YouTube.
It‘s free and it‘ll give you a great taste of what they‘re actually about.
But AEW is not the only game in town that I have took up following.
In my One Final Beat review I mentioned that I‘d had fallen off of the proverbial NXT wagon.
Well, I‘m very happy to report that I‘m back on it stronger than ever!
It‘s really nice to me that there‘s at least something in the WWE that holds my attention for more than two minutes.
Essentially everything that is there in AEW, great characters, amazing matches, interesting stories and a unique use of the Corona circumstances, is here in spades as well.
Sure, it sometimes feels a bit lackluster compared to AEW because we‘re simply dealing with people who are not that experienced in the ring yet.
And it also sometimes feels like creative has no idea what they‘re doing, but there‘s a big difference to the WWE main programming and that‘s charm!
Everything in NXT oozes charm and charisma.
They‘re doing things their own way, even if that way means stumbling here and there.
Would I not watch NXT if it wasn‘t for Johnny Gargano being the best heel in the world right now and Ciampa being a strangely compelling anti-hero face?
Most likely not, but I‘d be missing out on showsteelers such as Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream and Keith Lee.
Oh, and don‘t even get me started on Dexter Lumis!
Not only is he basically a wrestling version of Dexter Morgan, he is also named after Doctor Lumis from the Halloween Franchise!
I love horror movies with a deep passion and now wrestling and horror finally had a baby!
And I mean a fully developed one… not See No Evil, whatever that was…
And yes, to a degree I‘m also watching it because WWE is just familiar to me.
I still love it.
Not enough to follow the main shows, but I still need some WWE in my life.
And for now that‘s NXT.
Maybe all of those reasons are shallow and obvious.
Maybe they don‘t mean anything to you.
Hey, maybe they don‘t even mean anything to me?
I don‘t know what I mean to me and…
Wait?
Am I having an existential crisis in the middle of a blog post?
No matter, I like watching NXT and AEW over Raw and SmackDown right now.
I now feel like watching wrestling is fun and not a chore anymore.
And that is all that counts right now!
What wrestling programs do you follow?
Tell me in the comments.
Feel free to share my watching habits with your friends.
I‘ll see you next week for more shenanigans.
Have a great Sunday!