How important is watching everything to you?

[BigBadMick]

I've been thinking about my own viewing habits and wondering if it's typical around here. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine watching all of Raw. I usually get through it in 60 to 90 minutes. If a match on Smackdown takes my fancy, I'll watch that match too, and maybe an angle or two. I watched the Shield v Wyatts from Main Event a few weeks ago - can't remember when's the last time prior to that I watched any Main Event. Similarly with ppvs, Wrestlemania 30 was the first one I've watched end to end since Wrestlemania 29.

 

If there wasn't so much product, and if so much of that product wasn't getting trashed here and there all the time, I'd be more inclined to get the build up to everything. As things are, I'm more likely to seek out hot matches and angles.

 

Also, another aspect of my impatience comes from preferring to take on a big season of viewing. Right now I'm rewatching matches from wwe ppvs. I started with July 04 and I'm up to WM 23 now.

 

I get the impression this picking and choosing approach with current WWE puts me in the minority here. Does it?

[Johnny Sorrow]

I watch most of each show, besides recaps and ads, cause it's a TV Show. I want to know what's going on at all levels,

[TravJ1979]

Since ordering the WWE Network, I started watching all PPV/Clashes in order/ Starting at Starrcade 1983, I am finished with PPV's through Starrcade 1990 and currently half way through Clash VIII (Summer 1989). My goal is to watch everything to the end of 1990 then skip ahead to January 1996 and watch through December 1999. This leaves 1991-1995 as most of the WCW PPV's during that time I've never seen all the way through, plus it is my favorite period of wrestling from the big two.

 

Conversely, I recently set up a Plex Media Server at home and I've spent countless hours converting all of my wrestling to load on that so I can watch on my Roku 3 without having to bother with DVD's. I'll never fully get away from physical media because I have over 1700 hours of it and with conversion, editing full shows to compliations, etc. it takes FOREVER. Anyway, currently I've been obsessed with watching everything completely and I should probably pace myself, ha ha.

[Jason Mann]

I always mean to watch the 90-minute version of Raw, on Hulu but I rarely get to it. I would guess I watch an average of 4-5 hours a week of older wrestling, and that's definitely gone up since WWE Network started. Sometimes I have it on in the background while doing other things.

 

I love wrestling, but there are other things. My daughter is too young to watch wrestling (and I'm not sure if I ever want to expose her to it) and my girlfriend hates it, so that limits my time I can watch it.

[BigBadMick]

Since ordering the WWE Network, I started watching all PPV/Clashes in order/ Starting at Starrcade 1983, I am finished with PPV's through Starrcade 1990 and currently half way through Clash VIII (Summer 1989). My goal is to watch everything to the end of 1990 then skip ahead to January 1996 and watch through December 1999. This leaves 1991-1995 as most of the WCW PPV's during that time I've never seen all the way through, plus it is my favorite period of wrestling from the big two.

 

Conversely, I recently set up a Plex Media Server at home and I've spent countless hours converting all of my wrestling to load on that so I can watch on my Roku 3 without having to bother with DVD's. I'll never fully get away from physical media because I have over 1700 hours of it and with conversion, editing full shows to compliations, etc. it takes FOREVER. Anyway, currently I've been obsessed with watching everything completely and I should probably pace myself, ha ha.

I know what you mean - I've a Toshiba drive thingy that I plug into the flat screen tv. Much, much more convenient.

 

RIP DVD

[BigBadMick]

I always mean to watch the 90-minute version of Raw, on Hulu but I rarely get to it. I would guess I watch an average of 4-5 hours a week of older wrestling, and that's definitely gone up since WWE Network started. Sometimes I have it on in the background while doing other things.

 

I love wrestling, but there are other things. My daughter is too young to watch wrestling (and I'm not sure if I ever want to expose her to it) and my girlfriend hates it, so that limits my time I can watch it.

With that 4-5 hours of older stuff, are you picky there? Girlfriend is another limitation on my wrestling watching too

[Coffey]

I watch RAW & PPVs, that's it. I don't care about any of the B-shows. If something is important, they put it on RAW. So I guess it's not important to me at all to catch everything.

 

I do still watch RAW live on Monday evening which makes it seem extra long since I don't have fast-forward to skip bad segments, replays or ad breaks. Until football starts, there's nothing else on Monday anyway.

[BillThompson]

I make it a point to regularly watch NXT and Main Event, because both shows are streamlined and still put out quality matches most weeks. I spend most of my time watching older stuff though, it's easier. I'll eventually catch the newer stuff, but it's too time consuming to keep up with the present as it happens, so I save that for much later,

[tholzerman]

RAW and most weeks NXT is appointment viewing for me. Smackdown is expendable. I feel like RAW and NXT contain all the storyline stuff that one needs to watch in a given week for WWE because they're the main shows for each brand. If you wanna catch the best wrestling, you kinda have to watch everything, but sometimes, I don't get the chance. The Mrs. dominates TV on Tuesday, and I watch Agents of SHIELD anyway, so I don't get to catch Main Event live. It's hard to carve out time to watch replays AND get in all the required indie viewing I try to have too.

 

In short, it's a brilliant time to be a wrestling fan because of all the content companies are producing, and you don't need to watch it all to be a knowledgeable fan.

[Jason Mann]

 

I always mean to watch the 90-minute version of Raw, on Hulu but I rarely get to it. I would guess I watch an average of 4-5 hours a week of older wrestling, and that's definitely gone up since WWE Network started. Sometimes I have it on in the background while doing other things.

 

I love wrestling, but there are other things. My daughter is too young to watch wrestling (and I'm not sure if I ever want to expose her to it) and my girlfriend hates it, so that limits my time I can watch it.

With that 4-5 hours of older stuff, are you picky there? Girlfriend is another limitation on my wrestling watching too

 

A lot of that 4-5 hours in watching stuff to prepare for my podcast (usually watching pay-per-view main events), but otherwise I just like to explore. I've been watching some of the Clashes this week, and ECW, World Class and Old School shows before that. I just got the '80s lucha and '80s All Japan and '80s New Japan sets in the mail, so I'll need to carve out some time for those.

[goc]

I think I'm about to limit my Raw viewing to whatever recaps they show on Main Event because I find myself enjoying the angles far more in the recapped version and Main Event usually has better matches than Raw.

[soup23]

My viewing habit has resulted in watching the highlights of most stuff. I usually wait until after Raw/SmackDown air and watch the hot angles/matches coming out of that show. If a match has buzz on twitter, I occasionly will start the DVR and catch up to watch it live. For other stuff, I again rely on other opinions I trust to seek stuff out. If WKO pimps a lucha match, I seek it out. If Voices of Wrestling hypes up a New Japan or Dragon Gate match, I seek it out. If Dylan hypes some obscure southern indy match, I seek it out. This allows me to gain a good tempermant on the entire landscape of pro wrestling without committing myself to one specific area causing blind spots. This tactic could fall into the "jack of all trades, master of none" catagory, but I am already dedicated to watching yearbooks, WCW Supershows for WTBBP, one match from the WWE PPV that is coming up on the PTB podcast, and now two early Raws a month. Cliche to say but I don't feel like I have much time to watch all of everything and as a result, I have to be selective in the current product.

[DMJ]

I am definitely in the camp of being a wrestling superfan, but not actually watching all or most of it at this point.

 

I read the results on Tuesday morning. I listen to Review-A-Wai and maybe read some columns. I watch stuff that sounds "must see" or gets praised on here or by my friends. I DVR RAW and SD every week, but am lucky to watch even one of them over the weekend. Then, its Monday again, and the cycle repeats.

 

I like to stay up-to-date, but with the Network now, whatever time I do have to watch wrestling is going towards old WCW PPVs more and more (as a kid, I rarely ordered a WCW PPV and they were far less common at the video store).

 

I do believe this would be different if RAW went back to 2 hours. I think taking out that third hour would be "addition by subtraction" and, instead of looking at RAW as a chore to get through (even WITH the option of fast forwarding), I would probably be more inclined not to fast forward anything at all.

[Matt D]

Life is just way too busy right now. Plus, it's crazy to watch everything. The Blacklist is a much higher priority than Raw on Monday, for instance, since I can watch it with my wife. I'll catch any great six man matches on youtube later. For the most part I only half watch PPVs live, even with the network, since we have too much we watch together Sunday nights. One of my biggest rule of wrestling is that it doesn't get in the way of the rest of my life.

[SomethingSavage]

Always manage to keep up with RAW and the PPVs - although that's mostly due to my family & friends being interested in watching it. It's fun viewing, and so I'm usually up for it. Even the bad shows are made better by way of WHO you're watching with.

 

Everything else is pretty much up in the air. Anytime I'm facing a layoff or between jobs, I'll delve into as much indie stuff as possible. That's how I managed to keep track of NXT so seamlessly the last time, as well as the lesser known stuff like Booker T's Reality of Wrestling, Ring Warriors (now defunct, I believe), and ICW from the UK.

 

Always try to keep up on what's happening with Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, too. Really like A LOT of what they do there. From the ground up, it's just a well-structured TV show in general, the matches are typically better than you'd expect going in, the angles are simple but interesting enough to sink your teeth into, the characters are clearly defined, the stories are easy to follow, etc.

[anarchistxx]

I fast forward tons of stuff. Life is too short to sit through another Alberto del Rio match or some Santino comedy segment.

 

Music is worse for me, I feel obligated to check out pretty much every acclaimed record of a particular year, and then with already checking out new stuff any of my favorites put out I have a constant backlog of stuff to hear. It diminishes the enjoyment as well, because you rarely give a new album the time it deserves to grow on you. Time was you bought a CD and played it dozens of times, but when you are downloading album after album online there is always something new that needs your attention.

[Dylan Waco]

I've watched WAY less this year than last year - and yet when I look around here, WKO, twitter, elsewhere I'm not sure I could name anyone who has watched more than me. Scary

[goodhelmet]

Life is just way too busy right now. Plus, it's crazy to watch everything. The Blacklist is a much higher priority than Raw on Monday, for instance, since I can watch it with my wife. I'll catch any great six man matches on youtube later. For the most part I only half watch PPVs live, even with the network, since we have too much we watch together Sunday nights. One of my biggest rule of wrestling is that it doesn't get in the way of the rest of my life.

 

One of the biggest rules of life is it doesn't get in the way of my wrestling.

[Matt D]

Where have all the podcasts been this year, chief? I miss them.

[Dylan Waco]

If you are referring to me, Dave has had some major issues he's had to tend to. We will be starting back up in July, discussed it last night actually

[Edwin]

I hardly watch anything live. I tried sitting through some of episodes of RAW this year, but it being 3 hours kinda killed my interest in it. I do watch some PPVs occasionally.

 

I also occasionally watch the highly hyped matches of wrestlers I really dig like Cesaro, DBryan or Ishii.

 

I've realized I don't get burned out or bored watching it this way.

 

MMA I do watch live, namely UFC events when I have the chance to and the occasional JMMA live stream when available if I don't have to wake up early the next day. I also watch the highly regarded fights from smaller organizations.

[Matt D]

If you are referring to me, Dave has had some major issues he's had to tend to. We will be starting back up in July, discussed it last night actually

 

As much as I enjoy WrestlingCulture, I was poking at Will.

[WingedEagle]

 

If you are referring to me, Dave has had some major issues he's had to tend to. We will be starting back up in July, discussed it last night actually

 

As much as I enjoy WrestlingCulture, I was poking at Will.

 

 

Co-sign. Sorely lacking! Austin & MLW pass some time but when we get into marathon season I'm going to have a lot more hours to kill and need some pods!

[Tim Evans]

I pretty much always watch Raw and Smackdown. Main Event is not even an hour most weeks so that's easy to go through thanks to the network. I also watch the ppvs and TNA. I've gone to more live shows this year thanks to NXT being down the road than ever before.

[WingedEagle]

I always watch Raw and try to watch it live. I skip Main Event & NXT unless I hear there's a great match or something otherwise truly worth watching. Will generally skip through Smackdown on DVR and check out any matches or angles that look interesting. And that's just current WWE. I watch every big NJPW show, but am a couple months behind there. I've also been slow on the yearboks since the Network debuted, as I've been going through WWE PPV's post-Mania 17 on that front.