Microstatistics Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 In terms of availability of footage from different eras and regions, then no. This is definitely the golden age. But in terms of quality of wrestling, absolutely yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 It's a great time to be a fan of wrestling unless you are a fan of WWE or RoH. Those promotions are dumpster fires to watch on a weekly basis. But there's thankfully a lot of other alternative options out there that are cheap and easy to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 In terms of accessibility, no question. In terms of match quality, it's more of a mixed bag. Truly atrocious matches are almost certainly rarer than they've ever been, at least in main events, and if you're a fan of the workrate style, this truly is a golden age. As with others in this thread, my biggest issue with the current scene is the increasing move toward a stylistic monoculture. Back in the 90s, you could be certain that regardless of quality, a Misawa match, a Hashimoto match, and a Bret Hart match would all provide a completely different experience. Traditional strong style may have been more hit-or-miss quality-wise than King's Road, but when it worked, it was great in a way that All Japan never could be. These days, it seems like all the top guys are drawing from the same crop of influences and have the same general idea of what a "great" match should look like. Maybe there's no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube and get 10-minute matches that are 90% punches over to modern fans. But nobody seems to want to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 The other thing is that even while the "workrate style" has continued to blossom, there's a lot less stuff in matches now. I feel like so many matches would look better with very little changed except maybe mixing in more hiptosses, leapfrogs, and armdrags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 8 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said: Probably another topic, but I view wrestling most importantly as a television medium, not a live medium, and that probably fuels a good amount of the disconnect on this issue (and others, for that matter). I should flesh that out at some point, but view obstruction that leads to me just watching the monitor in a crowded venue instead of at home has been my live experience more than it hasn't. I also don't think being part of something happening right now is particularly important. If you've never seen it and it happened 50 years ago, it's new because it's new to you. It depends on the type of event that you're going to. If your live experience is primarily from going to WWE TV taping or PPV's (which I'm going to assume is the case if you're talking about there being monitors), I would agree you aren't missing much by watching on TV as it is produced with TV in mind, but the vast majority of live wrestling events out there aren't like that at all. Most of my experiences are from going to indy shows in the US and Japan, so it's never been too crowded, and I always enjoyed the chance to get a unique and intimate look at the action as a completely different thing from watching wrestling on TV with some producer picking the best camera angles. Watching stuff live gives you the opportunity to soak in the atmosphere and be a part of the show, which you just can't do when you're watching stuff from 50 years ago. I'm pretty surprised how, for all the talk about the importance of crowd heat and investment, that more people in this thread aren't appreciative of the live experience and are simplifying things into what's available on a high-speed internet connection in a first-world country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 I'd say it's the best time to be a wrestling fan since 1986. That's when there were so many shows available on free TV it was amazing. I had WWF, Crockett, WCCW, Mid-South/ UWF, AWA, and others on TV every week. It feels like today is very similar. There's a boom going on. And it won't last, but it's clearly happening. And that makes this a great time to be a wrestling fan, there's so much to choose from. Shit, I consider GLOW a wrestling show, and it's amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyPulis'Cap Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 19 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said: I don't think it is. There's a sameness that permeates most great wrestling and there are almost no great promos or angles, really. Fans don't react the "right" way to babyfaces or seem emotionally invested in wins and losses, which makes for a jarring presentation. There are positives but I think 1992-1997 was better for quality, variety, and booking. This is a point I can really get behind. In terms of access to footage and I think in terms of match quality (even if a lot of matches have become somewhat samey in terms of their tropes and layout) then this is a definite high point in history to be a fan. However where I feel that the current wrestling scene is lacking, in terms of where it has been in the past, is not having those captivating angles or storylines that suck you in. A lot of wrestling companies today, from WWE right down to your local Indie often seem to be to be booking cards based around 'good matches' - what when cherry picked by someone or viewed in isolation will get some buzz - rather than feuds and rivalries. It maybe an obvious point, but matches that have context and buildup to them are so much better to me personally, and this is something that I feel isn't as strong today. However if I look at things through a very local spectrum, then in terms of the UK scene then this is a great time to be a fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialK Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 23 hours ago, El-P said: You haven't gone trough the G1 apparently. Tons of great matches in different styles (dangerous offensive orgies, submission based stuff, brawls, injured underdogs fighting from underneath, mix comedy at times), great booking all around, intricate storytelling, tons of heat for heels, genuine emotion. Yeah, WWE sucks, but pro-wrestling isn't WWE. Tremendous backstage promos, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialK Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 23 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said: I don't think it is. There's a sameness that permeates most great wrestling. Don't get this at all. NJPW feels completely different to PROGRESS as to CMLL as to Impact as to EVOLVE as to DG as to Stardom as to wXw as to OTT as to AJPW as to BJW.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPS Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 8 hours ago, SpecialK said: Don't get this at all. NJPW feels completely different to PROGRESS as to CMLL as to Impact as to EVOLVE as to DG as to Stardom as to wXw as to OTT as to AJPW as to BJW.... I agree, with fans now being so much more open to support and spend time and/or top dollar on such a variety of promotions with different products it's really opened up the doors to enjoy some sort of wrestling no matter your own tastes. Hell due to the ease of internet streaming for almost every major promotion I've branched out into viewing more wrestling groups than any other year. This year I've scaled back my WWE viewings to just NXT TakeOvers and the Major PPVs and now added ROH Major shows,my NJPW viewing, MLW, Impact's major shows,AJPW and friggin CMLL since LA Park returned and it's all a blast. If you told me that this was the mix of stuff I'd be watching even a year ago I'd of said that's ridiculous but it's a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World's Worst Man Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 On 8/13/2018 at 12:59 PM, fxnj said: NJPW of today gets a good rep because it's an improvement over 2000's NJPW, but if you go back and watch the footage it can't compare to 90's and definitely not the 80's in terms of atmosphere, crowd investment, or even ring work. Hell, you can go back to NJPW in 2014 and see that the atmosphere and crowd investment is better. Maybe I'm mistaken but when I compare the incipient stages of NJPW's comeback (2011-2015), it feels like the crowd heat was way stronger than it is today. Regarding the complaints of matches feeling "samey", I think this is partially a by-product of the fact that there is so much footage available now. Look at the G1 - we are getting 19 PPV/major show level cards in less than a month. It's just too many big matches where the wrestlers are trying to go all-out. I remember years ago being asked why I had so many more matches rated ***1/2+ in 2005 as compared to the years from the 90's, when 2005 was considered a pretty crap year and the 90's were the 90's. The simple answer was that I watched a ton of NJPW TV that year and each show usually contained several matches and had something that would hit that mark (usually not much higher than ***1/2 if I'm honest). This was compared the old days where I would watch a handful of big shows and the odd television with only 1-2 matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 For sheer variety, ease of access, and widespread availability? Sure. This is a golden age. For fans of stories, angles, characters, and their conflicts? It feels like it's getting progressively worse & worse. On the plus side, there's A LOT more to choose from. More than ever. And there are more great matches happening for you to watch. Anytime. Day or night. Pro wrestling has never been so plentiful and so easily accessible. It's all right there if you want it, whenever you want it. But the pro wrestling that is there feels like it has never meant less. Everything is so sterile and diluted. Triumphs seem hollow. There are no stakes. Everything is about the dream match or the star rating. It's all very critic-driven, rather than story-driven. There is no purpose in the rivalries. Instead, there is only purpose in the rating, the review, and the feedback. All these great matches are happening, but so very few of them actually feel like they're going to hold any real long-term value. Time & separation may prove me wrong, but I'm convinced so very little of this stuff is going to hold the same rewatch value as the great matches of 90s All Japan, 80s lucha, and on & on. So yeah. There's more to watch than ever before right now. But I've probably never been less interested in seeing more than I am right now, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 I feel like there's rarely been a more annoying time to be a wrestling fan than in the last 24 hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Matt D said: I feel like there's rarely been a more annoying time to be a wrestling fan than in the last 24 hours? Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 I'm sure Randy Orton is thrilled at the previous 24 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 22 minutes ago, Mad Dog said: I'm sure Randy Orton is thrilled at the previous 24 hours. Post of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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