Are we in the dark ages of wrestling?

[The Amerikkkan Idol]

AEW has been on a low lately after being on a high for the better part of the last 2.5 years. Cracks are really starting to show. Dudes are coming to the realization that Tony Khan really doesn't know what he's doing after all. WWE has sucked for the better part of the last 15+ years with no light at the end of the tunnel. The in ring is pretty good to great, but angles/storylines are woat levels. So yea shyt sucks right now.

I see it as the opposite.

Early AEW was trash as fukk with people like Joey Janela, Best Friends, Sunny Kiss, and Orange Cassidy dominating shyt.

The Dark Order was absolute nonsense before Brody cleaned them up.

They had Big Swole & Hikaru Shida in main events.

Now, they have real stars like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Thunder Rosa, Jade Cargill, & Keith Lee doing big things.

No one wants to admit it but WWE pushing all these women makes grown men feel funny about mentally investing in the product

No men are emotionally invested in Lifetime shows or the WNBA. WWE is forcing it down our throat. It's cringe to see Liv Morgan and Nikki A.S.H. as a grown man (i know they are pushed for the kjds)

If you don't believe me, imagine if the NFL started having majority female head coaches on the sidelines, a good amount of traditionalists would check out

Also, WWE getting such a big TV deal gives them no incentive to make mind blowing storylines

I'd rather watch Sasha, Bianca, Becky, and Bayley than fukking Brock vs. Roman for the 100th time.

This.

Some of y'all have clearly grown out of wrestling and don't enjoy it anymore and that's fine.

No such thing.

This is what defenders of bad wrestling say.

I know 80 year old women love wrasslin'

Too many fans became wrestlers. like 80% of the indies is people living their dream which is fine, but in any other era they would have never been allowed to lace up their boots. This sounds weird to say about a fake sport, but even they are "playing" wrestlers. imagine if a bunch of NFL fans started their own leagues all over the country and you have some cashier from walmart claiming he was a "pro-athlete just like Tom Brady". This is what wrestling is right now. You can have some low level GCW trash wrestler walkin around talking about "in this business...we...."

That's not the problem, the NBA, NFL, MLB is full of people who wanted to be athletes from the day they were born.

The problem is the death of the territories to mold theses people into professionals before they were on TV in front of millions.

People like Britt Baker, Jungle Boy, Jade Cargill, Darius Martin, and a lot of those NXT people should've been traveling around the country from territory to territory building their gimmicks BEFORE we got to see them, but thanks to Vince, we don't have that training ground anymore

It’s probably the best it’s ever been in terms of match quality

Folks say this, but I think that they just mean guys can do or do more moves today than ever before.

I think this is the problem.

Too many guys are athletic and doing a gymnastics routine, but don't know how to tell a story that grips a mainstream audience.

Same way fans of the 80s bytched about the Attitude Era and how it b*stardized the sport

Looking back at it, it kinda did.

Hotshot booking, unsustainable bumps, unrealistic storylines, etc. . . worked temporarily in the '90s, but now have left the business without anywhere to go.

We'd be better off, if some of that shyt had not been done.

 

[folasade]

I don't think so. I know people and myself who t getting back into taking a hiatus. AEW isn't perfect, but wrestling never has been. There's decent wrestling, comedy and some distinct personalities (whether you be like them or not), I'm entertained.

 

[King Sun]

As someone that stopped watching 20 plus years ago during the wcw merger I feel like the product is better imo. Yeah shyt is wonky but aew is what WCW should have evolved to and the wwe needs some tweaks but still. People still don't remember how bad the product was in the 00s

 

[MenacingMonk]

I don't think so. I know people and myself who t getting back into taking a hiatus. AEW isn't perfect, but wrestling never has been. There's decent wrestling, comedy and some distinct personalities (whether you be like them or not), I'm entertained.

As someone that stopped watching 20 plus years ago during the wcw merger I feel like the product is better imo. Yeah shyt is wonky but aew is what WCW should have evolved to and the wwe needs some tweaks but still. People still don't remember how bad the product was in the 00s

These nerds don’t go outside and realize how much of an impact AEW has had on wrestling fans. My friend got back into Wrasslin because of AEW. I had a casual E watching friend hit up the AEW LA show too and he fukked with it.

I’ve come across people at my old job who were talking AEW more than the E.

These dudes couldn’t care less about booking because they’re ENTERTAINED. We’re in the 2020s where Wrasslin in general is blooming again, But we’re in the dark ages, huh?

 

[Jim Cornette]

Wrestling fukking sucks...

Only you lame cacs still watch this choreographed gymnastics midget bullshyt

 

[King Sun]

I mean you

These nerds don’t go outside and realize how much of an impact AEW has had on wrestling fans. My friend got back into Wrasslin because of AEW. I had a casual E watching friend hit up the AEW LA show too and he fukked with it.

I’ve come across people at my old job who were talking AEW more than the E.

These dudes couldn’t care less about booking because they’re ENTERTAINED. We’re in the 2020s where Wrasslin in general is blooming again, But we’re in the dark ages, huh?

You got dudes that think the ruthless aggression was good. I mean the same era that tried to make coachman and hornswoggle a thing.

 

[MenacingMonk]

I mean you

You got dudes that think the ruthless aggression was good. I mean the same era that tried to make coachman and hornswoggle a thing.

I liked that era. Angle, Benoit, Brock, Eddie held it down.

 

[King Sun]

I liked that era. Angle, Benoit, Brock, Eddie held it down.

To me that era I was happy to see dudes like Eddie and etc get his shine but yall forget that every non white wrestler had to go through to sellout/good minority to even have a shot. Plus to be honest storyline started not to matter in that era.

 

[Wolfpac]

Nah, wrasslin is in a good place nowadays. A dark time, at least in recent years was in the Summer-Fall of 2014 when TNA was booted off Spike TV and WWE got a lowball offer from NBC, not to mention the product was really ass at the time. Now we've got 2 companies easily available on basic cable, and not to mention plenty of other options easily available on YouTube.

 

[Lurk Angle]

I mean you

You got dudes that think the ruthless aggression was good. I mean the same era that tried to make coachman and hornswoggle a thing.

I stopped watching the e after during hornswaggle
That and the spirit squad was

But the E during 2002 to 2005. Was way better than today's era

I mean wrestling was still mainstream back then

 

[Hoodoo Child]

It may seem like it. Most of our favorites are either dead, retired or getting old. The product is less story driven, no real rivalries, kayfabe is dead etc

We're just watching folks have fun in the ring. ('Wrestle, Tweet, Travel, Repeat') New Era

 

[richaveli83]

Naw it's actually a great time to be a wrestling fan. Lots of variety. You got WWE, AEW, Impact, MLW, NJPW, NWA, etc. So many options to choose from.

 

[ADK]

Way before my time but we knew why in less than 1 minute why this dude is a wrestler

 

[Hey_zeus]

Idk how anytime with ample internet access can be considered dark. Too many options or even past options.

 

[YakSpiller]

To call today’s wrestling entertaining shows how much of a bubble wrestling fans live in.

Just because your random homie or coworker catches a AEW show doesn’t mean it’s entertaining to the masses. shyt is bad right now period.

Ain’t no true stars. Same stale ass matches. Whack as writing. Not one wrestler can cut a decent promo. The standard is low as fukk.

But y’all are so invested that it clouds your perception.