Wrestling And Me

Background

I’ve watched wrestling most of my life, but what I think is good wrestling is very different from what most people think is good wrestling. Since I was young the WWE, formerly WWF, formerly WWWF, was the big name in wrestling. I grew tired of them in my teens. When I’m able to call the next move before it happens, it’s time to move on.

It wasn’t till I went away to college and got cable TV did I know there was other wrestling. Eventually though I discovered that most of them were just WWF wannabes. 

The other problem is that I have a weird mix of a short attention span and a fear of missing out. So if I get invested in a wresting company I have to watch everything the produce. I just don’t have that much time. WWE has like 8 hours a week of television. AEW has at least six. It’s too much.

Then came the internet. Now I can seek out groups that have a single hour a week. The proper amount for a wrestling show. I can also fast forward through the gab and backstage nonsense, so it only takes about half an hour per show. 

Today

I’m currently watching MLW and bits of ROH. I’ll explain.

MLW – Major League Wrestling

This is pretty much wrestling purgatory. Wrestlers spend a while in MLW, either on the way up, or their way down. Each “season” there will be a bunch of new wrestlers, and a bunch will be gone without a mention.

I put season in quotes because there seems to be no set timeline for when a season happens. Mostly, it’s when they put together about ten hours of shows. 

ROH – Ring of Honor

This used to be the one and only show I watched. It had the best wrestlers and the best wresting. They were the makers of future stars.

Then they were bought by Sinclair Broadcasting, the worst of the worst when it comes to local TV station ownership and fake news.

I still watch the highlights for some of my favorite wrestlers, but not for long. They are shutting down in January. They say they’ll be back in April, but nobody believes them.

NWA – National Wrestling Alliance

They were the big name in wrestling before the WWF took over. They bounced around various attempts and is now owned by Billy Corrigan. Yes, the Smashing Pumpkins guy.

Under Mister Billy they became a great show. One hour. A variety of old and new wrestlers. A look and feel like an old-timey wrestling show. Then, the pandemic came. They recently came back, but on a pay-per-view basis. They weren’t THAT good.

Local/Regional shows

All over the country there are little wrestling promotions. Some of them are great. Some are terrible. Thanks to the low cost of making shows for the web, many of them have hour-long shows. I don’t watch any of the regularly, but I check them out when I come across a new one.

PWG – Pro Wresting Gorilla

Last but not least, a wrestling group that has not TV or web show. This is on purpose and the secret of their success. 

Their only outlet is direct sales of DVDs. This exploits a loop-hole in most wrestling company contracts that say wrestlers can perform for other companies as long as the shows aren’t broadcast. So PWG gets really big names for their shows.

I’ve seen highlight reels, but I’ve never bought any of their shows because I am just that cheap.

Did I miss any? Leave a comment.