El-P Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 2 hours ago, Big Pete said: I could see most fans having their fill for the week. That's one of the big issues with adding all these supplemental shows. It was easy to give Dynamite two hours of your time each week, when they started adding two additional nights and three hours (sometimes four) it diluted the show and fragmented their core audience. It's the WCW problem of 1998, when you add an additional three hours it takes it's toll on quality and engagement. This played a big part in me getting to the point of saturation. After All In, I felt I had my share. Then All Out came in, and on paper I did not feel it at all. The CM Punk firing really is what actually sparkle my interest in getting the show, and damn this was even greater than the previous week-end. From that point on, the fact it never ever stops makes i difficult to really care. And it's not like I watch any WWE either, but I do want to watch IMPACT still, because there is stuff I really enjoy about it. But things were much easier when I just had Dynamite and IMPACT and a special event every other week. Now, there's some great shows on paper nearly every week. Or at least some shows with some great wrestling on it. There's only so much of a good thing you get get. Of course some people would argue it would be time to settle back with the great matches. Except, you can't. Sure, put a bunch of useless squash matches on Dynamite and Collision, and I'll just fast-forward them to get to the good stuff anyways (hi Wardlow, I sigh a whole lot at this comeback), because it's still time given and spent, and you only have so much, even as a hardcore fan. ROH is totally missable because it's exactly this, squashes, competitive squashes and a few really good matches. Which is a shame because there's some really good stuff in there and cool shit in term of character build (the whole Athena/Billie Stark thing involving Lexie is terrific, Maria Kanellis getting talent has been really cool too). But at some point, there's just way too much content of every kind, and quality content, put out there, to watch everything. Especially when it's basically comparable content in term of presentation and production (this is another big issue with ROH, it's really sad to watch Athena or Shibata do their thing in half empty buildings because of how they tape it before/after the AEW stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 I think AEW has been quite a bit more focused since the debut of Collision. I agree there were too many big shows so jammed together with All In, All Out, and two Grand Slam Shows, WrestleDream in what...a 6 week period? However, the issue of CONTENT is never an issue unless you make it one for yourself. It's the same with pretty much any company that runs multiple shows, even ones that don't have TV like GCW. No one is making you watch Rampage or ROH, or Main Event and Level Up, or all the NJPW Strong show or Road to shows. I would say this also applies to other media franchises like Marvel or Star Wars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 13 minutes ago, strobogo said: However, the issue of CONTENT is never an issue unless you make it one for yourself. It's the same with pretty much any company that runs multiple shows, even ones that don't have TV like GCW. No one is making you watch Rampage or ROH, or Main Event and Level Up, or all the NJPW Strong show or Road to shows. I would say this also applies to other media franchises like Marvel or Star Wars. It's the good old FOMO though. GOTTA WATCH THAT RAMPAGE SHOW THIS WEEK, THERE'S BUTCHER & BLADE vs SPANISH ANNOUNCE PROJECT ! I actually like Butcher & Blade. Where the fuck is the Bunny ? Why is Penelope Ford not featured at all (this is a pet peeve of mine, you have a valet/manager/second, have him/her do some thing, do some reaction shots, whatever, something, ANYTHING) ? As far as being more focused, I'm not sure I would use that word. The LFI (damn, it feels ridiculously off to write this, because this is a very famous French acronym) vignettes were kinda cool (not great, too rushed, no pun intended, like all their vignettes are) and then nothing. Stu Grayson was part of the Righteous in ROH after a good angle with Dark Order, but then they show up on Dynamite and Stu isn't there and no words at all on why and where the fuck he is. Will Hobbs is kinda with or without QTV (I really like QTV btw), he vanishes, shows up part of the Don Callis family. On the other hand, there has been a very noticeable effort on more character building, and pretty cool ones for the most part. I wonder if Jimmy Jacobs has a hand in it, he join about the time Collision started, and he had been working in IMPACT for years before that, and that had been a very strong point of IMPACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subatomic_elbow Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 When I started watching AEW, it was when Dark first launched. The only current wrestling I'd watched in years was the NWA YouTube show, until Cornette got himself fired, so Dark scratched the itch. I eventually got Sling so I could watch Dynamite, too. I was happiest as an AEW fan when the schedule was Dark on Tuesday, Dynamite on Wednesday, and quarterly PPVs. I could defer Dark if something came up and I could easily set aside one night a week for rasslin'. Rampage made it harder. I play Magic the Gathering on Fridays, so Rampage is never watched live and I barely watch it at all, to be honest. Collision had the double whammy of being both Punk-centric and on Saturday nights. Hard to justify spending prime Saturday hours watching my fourth and fifth hour of wrestling each week. I love AEW but it feels more and more diluted and scattered. I've become super casual without intending to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Wrestling 2000 Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 I am an aew super fan its pretty much all the people i loved the last 20 years in one company in terms of men. I do agree with El-P that the 4 years of 1 womens match a show is beyond parody now. I think Athena is fine being the main draw to ROH when they still have, Britt, Ruby, Saraya, Anna Jay, the Bunny, Penelope, Statlander, Julia and some others who are all over and can i dont know work programs together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 3 hours ago, El-P said: It's the good old FOMO though. GOTTA WATCH THAT RAMPAGE SHOW THIS WEEK, THERE'S BUTCHER & BLADE vs SPANISH ANNOUNCE PROJECT ! I actually like Butcher & Blade. Where the fuck is the Bunny ? Why is Penelope Ford not featured at all (this is a pet peeve of mine, you have a valet/manager/second, have him/her do some thing, do some reaction shots, whatever, something, ANYTHING) ? As far as being more focused, I'm not sure I would use that word. The LFI (damn, it feels ridiculously off to write this, because this is a very famous French acronym) vignettes were kinda cool (not great, too rushed, no pun intended, like all their vignettes are) and then nothing. Stu Grayson was part of the Righteous in ROH after a good angle with Dark Order, but then they show up on Dynamite and Stu isn't there and no words at all on why and where the fuck he is. Will Hobbs is kinda with or without QTV (I really like QTV btw), he vanishes, shows up part of the Don Callis family. On the other hand, there has been a very noticeable effort on more character building, and pretty cool ones for the most part. I wonder if Jimmy Jacobs has a hand in it, he join about the time Collision started, and he had been working in IMPACT for years before that, and that had been a very strong point of IMPACT. FOMO on Rampage is about the same as FOMO on Thunder by the summer of 1998. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 14 minutes ago, strobogo said: FOMO on Rampage is about the same as FOMO on Thunder by the summer of 1998. Thunder ? Try the Saturday show from the Disney studios instead. But that's what makes it FOMO though, it's irrational. Maybe it's also the kinda completist state of mind, which is complete lunacy. I'm not too sure how much I really watch because I feel like I have to. Not that I don't enjoy a lot of it in the end. But if I stopped, I wonder how much I would miss it by now. Also, once you stop watching, it's very easy to never come back to it even though you liked it. Which is also why it's tough for AEW. They've lost something at one point. I almost stopped watching this Summer because of CM Punk drama exhaustion. The one constant thing that is keeping me on board are the very regular awesome matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 It's not like you can only watch things live as they happen or they disappear forever. Cherry-picking after the fact is the way to go unless it's a major event or you have a ton of time on your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 Just skip matches you don’t want to see. There’s zero reason to ever watch a match you don’t want to on Dynamite. There’s zero reason not to watch a match you do want to see on Rampage. Etc. We’re all old. We don’t need to be part of the immediate discourse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2023 Report Share Posted October 6, 2023 At this point of my viewing habits, which consists of 100% current stuff, cherry-picking after the fact doesn't work anymore. Even month old stuff, if I put it aside to watch it later, I lose interest pretty much everytime, no matter how great the thing may be. Cherry picking is my way to not caring anymore and basically letting it go. That what happened with Stardom. I only watched a bunch of stuff after the fact, until I just stopped caring enough to watch at all. Despite it being really good and easy to watch. Speaking of which, apparently AEW is getting Mariah May soon. Considering what she showed in Stardom, they better not fuck around with her and give her serious TV times, programs and build her into a star quick, so they can actually enjoy her potential before WWE snatches her (she's got the perfect look for the job). She's got presence, she's a good worker, she's got character. She's a great catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 Dawg, it is okay to not watch wrassles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pete Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 18 hours ago, strobogo said: However, the issue of CONTENT is never an issue unless you make it one for yourself. It's the same with pretty much any company that runs multiple shows, even ones that don't have TV like GCW. No one is making you watch Rampage or ROH, or Main Event and Level Up, or all the NJPW Strong show or Road to shows. I would say this also applies to other media franchises like Marvel or Star Wars. It's not so much FOMO, but the strains of five hours of television on the bookers/writers. That's now one quality Dynamite match that has to be pulled because Rampage needs a main event. Or now we have to dedicate four segments on Dynamite to build up matches for Rampage or Collision. A lot of the time they're not even good segments, it's usually somebody having their TV time interrupted by some no-name we haven't seen in months and the whole thing ends with the interviewer awkwardly cutting back to Excalibur. It's not to say Dynamite is a god-awful show or even as mailed in as Thunder was. However I don't think it's been able to top those earlier pre-pandemic shows and I think having Rampage and Collision eats into that Dynamite number because now fans have a choice. Maybe they don't want to watch Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Orange Cassidy and would rather see Bryan Danielson, FTR, The House of Black etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 8 hours ago, strobogo said: Dawg, it is okay to not watch wrassles This is called engagement bias or something I guess. And I mean, let's be real, I'm glad I'm still watching when I get Danielson vs ZSJ. That was pro-wrestling heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 And to the cherry-picking people out there, Athena vs Leila Hirsch from ROH this week is the way to go. Got everything you need, a really good fucking match (Athena is just the best, and I've really been loving Leila Hirsch too since she came back) and some cool character arcs for everyone, with Billie Stark, Minion in Training, trying to soften the heart of Athena, and Maria Kanellis showing up after the match as she has had interest in Leila, who just blew her off thus far. (why can't they do stuff like this on Collision or Dynamite ?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 1 hour ago, El-P said: This is called engagement bias or something I guess. And I mean, let's be real, I'm glad I'm still watching when I get Danielson vs ZSJ. That was pro-wrestling heaven. Of course, but would it have mattered if you didn't feel like you had to fit in an hour of Rampage with some...idk, random Hardys tag, a Kiera Hogan squash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 19 minutes ago, strobogo said: Of course, but would it have mattered if you didn't feel like you had to fit in an hour of Rampage with some...idk, random Hardys tag, a Kiera Hogan squash? Do not speak ill of my girl Kiera Hogan. Enjoyed her since her days in IMPACT. She had a killer street-fight with Athena on ROH. Kiera Hogan on Rampage is more of a draw to me than Adam Copeland anywhere. Oh fuck. I just realized they are gonna want to do some Hardys vs E&C matches now. Plus, Brother D-Von showed up at IMPACT 1000th anniversary (episode, not years) alongside Bully Ray for the first time in like 7 years. How far are we from a nostalgia three-way ? Hopefully very, VERY far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 The upside of ROH being taped alongside Collision/Dynamite, is that you get totally and beautifully random stuff like Tony Neese vs Satoshi Kojima, which is all kind of awesome in every way imaginable. Tony Neese has been a true treasure as one of the GOAT JTTS, and Kojima looks like he would be a better IWGP champ than SANADA still. You also get stuff like Maria Kanellis talking about her pearl necklace while standing next to her protegee who's wearing a "I love hot moms" T-shirt, so really, what's not to love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 Holy shit! I didn’t see that coming! I don’t hate it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted October 7, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 A way to get the belts off FTR and transition them to the Bucks, more than likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted October 7, 2023 Report Share Posted October 7, 2023 Cash must be going to jail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted October 8, 2023 Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 31 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Cash must be going to jail Hope it's a life sentence. Fuck him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted October 8, 2023 Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 1 hour ago, Timbo Slice said: A way to get the belts off FTR and transition them to the Bucks, more than likely. Yeah, I immediately went to pessimistic mode with this title change. Now the Bucks can win the straps in their hometown against a heel tag team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted October 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 I know they’re trying these lucha acts and they do decently with the live crowd, but outside of the Lucha Bros, there’s really no rhyme or reason to their usage. One of the more maddening things about the AAA partnership. Nick Wayne being a smug piece of shit is a good look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted October 8, 2023 Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 Damn. let me wildly especulate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted October 8, 2023 Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 1 hour ago, C.S. said: Hope it's a life sentence. Fuck him! Innocent until proven guilty, bubba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.