https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/08/wwe-premium-live-events-to-debut-on-espn-platforms-in-the-u-s-beginning-september-20-with-first-ever-wrestlepalooza/
The ESPN era is beginning four months early. Apparently, the reason WWE ran so many PLEs this year was so they could get out of their Peacock deal by meeting their contractual obligation for shows. And all mentions of AEW have naturally been removed from the ESPN website. By the way, Peacock just announced a price increase. Enshittification all over.
I'd agree that House of Torture are equivalent to Makai Club and Voodoo Murders (I made that comparison myself earlier in the thread), but using that as an argument in House of Torture's favor is baffling to me. Saying they must be good for business because they wouldn't be pushed if they weren't is circular reasoning. And they can't be written off as a goofy midcard act when their leader was just in the G1 final. House of Torture may not be the only or even the primary problem with the product, but they're clearly not helping. And at this stage of the game, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
Yeah, Hogan's matwork was really just a handful of canned sequences that never went anywhere or led to anything. Even so, as a worker, he was Kenta Kobashi compared to Big Daddy. By the way, it was in the AWA that he came into his own as a promo guy. It didn't happen overnight, but he pretty much had it figured out by 1983.
Punk/Gunther ruled, obviously. I thought it took a bit to get going, but I'd probably enjoy it more on a re-viewing because I'd go in with a better understanding of what they were going for storywise. I'm also thankful they held off on the Rollins cash-in until the actual match was over.
The rollout actually finished a couple of weeks ago.
https://gweproject.freeforums.net/thread/3420/100-greatest-matches-2025-results
I was worried there'd be a drop-off in participation, but there were over twice as many ballots as the last time. Great to see so much enthusiasm for the project. Cena/Umaga in the top 20 and Joe/Necro in the top 5 is wild.
As an interesting historical note, Stu Hart brokered a deal in the late 70s to put the NWA junior heavyweight championship on Dynamite Kid, but Nelson Royal refused to drop the belt to him. Dynamite made a huge impact pretty much everywhere he went, so you have to wonder how things might have developed if he had gone around the country as a touring champion.
In what universe are spectacular acrobats in colorful costumes "normal?"
Anyway, lighter wrestlers have had plenty of success in America in the past. Argentina Rocca was the one who brought New York back from the dead as a wrestling town. Verne Gagne's first major push was as NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion. Danny Hodge was already mentioned. If I were to identify a single cause for their decline in the US, I would point to the spread of steroids and the rise of Superstar Billy Graham in particular. The impact of his size and physique combined with the gift of gab can hardly be overstated.