Lets Discuss All Things Wrestling - Even The T-Shirt Company AEW!

[y*so*blu]

Tables, Ladders and Chairs was a microcosm of why I am not really a wrestling fan anymore.

I saw the show live and it was the first wrestling event I attended in a year. It looked amazing, as WWE events so often do. The crowd was on the small side, between 5000 and 10000 people. Which is not a problem in itself; I've seen stellar events put on with 5% of that attendance (and 5% of the budget for that matter). The problem is that it's not 1989 anymore. It's not 1999 anymore. It's not even 2009 anymore, which was the year I stopped following WWE with any real interest or passion. It's 2019, and no one--absolutely no one, unless they're roaring drunk like the Charlotte Flair fan who was yammering near us--can even try to believe in anything they're seeing.

It's not the fans' fault; subconsciously, they still want something to believe in. Brock Lesnar has the exposure and the magnetism he does because they buy him as a real-life badass, and rightfully so. But the wrestling business has been so exposed in this generation that nobody else gets the benefit of the doubt anymore. For decades the fans have not just suspected they were seeing a performance; they've had their faces rubbed in it. The matches are no longer just predetermined, but literally scripted. The storylines are perfunctory. The stipulations are contrived. No matter how much I might respect any of the wrestlers I saw out there (and I really like Daniel Bryan, Becky Lynch, The Revival, and Kana/Asuka), none of them could make me forget that reality.

First we had the ladder match for the tag titles, held by the New Day. I don't get them. They're just really animated guys running around in bright colors. Great athletes, but what else? The Revival looked like legit competitors, or as legit as you can look in a ladder match these days, but Kofi isn't losing two major titles in the span of two months so of course the New Day had to win.

Black vs. Murphy was dull as dishwater and Aleister is just one of a million tattooed big guys I've seen in the business. The "Viking" Raiders got cheap pops from the Minnesota crowd, but they've been saddled with a cartoonish 80s-style gimmick and couldn't even beat ... whoever those guys were they're trying to beat, settling for a DQ instead. 

Which brings us to Roman Reigns and King (formerly Baron) Corbin. Why am I supposed to care about either of these guys? Reigns is Cena 2.0, shoved down everyone's throat as a top face whether we like it or not, and Corbin has seemingly no distinguishing traits as a wrestler. He can cut a decent promo, but that's it. I had to smile when Reigns was ganged up on and subsequently defeated. Of course they couldn't leave it at that because Reigns has to be Superman, but more on that later.

Wyatt vs. Miz. What? Bray lost his edge five years ago when Cena went over him in their feud, and since then his gimmick/s have only gotten sillier. They're trying to make him the new Mick Foley, but it's not working. The Fiend is a guy standing around in a dopey Halloween mask and Firefly Flophouse (or whatever) is just Bray wearing a sweater. Miz is even worse off if that's possible; he never had credibility as a wrestler, and the whole angle with Bray stalking his family was just an excuse for them to fight and D-Bry to return, which he did to the pop of the night. Too bad I couldn't see him wrestle instead.

The Lashley/Rusev match was TMZ-style nonsense in which Lashley had no reason to go over but did anyway; that's all there is to say about it. It was great to see the women getting a chance to shine in another main event, and they did pretty well too, but I would rather have seen them in a normal match. Kairi Sane seemed to get injured halfway through, which stalled some of the spots they wanted to do--and Becky, I love you, but if you can't do a good chair shot then don't do a chair shot at all. Once again, heels win. Even if you try to invest emotionally in what you're seeing and care about heels and faces, the heels won in almost every match; WWE tries to make up for this with the silly fight scene at the end where Roman spears Corbin into a crowd of bad guys, but despite the obvious physical risk involved it still came off as phony.

Overall TLC was a lot of sound and fury signifying very little. My brothers and I sat there like statues most of the time waiting for a reason to give a damn, and nothing really came along. We got to spend an interesting night out together, but that was about it. Wrestlers today face an uphill battle, having to put in twice the effort and pain for half the reaction they once did--and that's in WWE, one of the few major promotions that doesn't allow guys to wrestle the invisible man or work with their hands in their pockets.

It's a dark time for wrestling, my friends. A dark, dark time.

Edited December 23, 2019 by y*so*blu

[Edge]

Quote

Per Tokyo Sports, Hiroshi Tanahashi says if he beats Jericho on 1/5 at the Tokyo Dome, then he will open the "forbidden" door by asking for an AEW world title shot

 Holy ****. That would be phenomenal. Tanahashi vs Jericho for the AEW World Championship would be great and if it can indeed open the door for other potential matchups between AEW wrestlers and NJPW wrestlers in America, it would be simply amazing. Just imagine Okada vs Omega in front of an AEW crowd.

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Edge

[Fresh Prince]

That wedding was just.......

[Livewire]

On 12/17/2019 at 3:18 PM, FinneasGage said:

aleister v. buddy was really good 

Very good and then they had another good match last night. They both have terrific chemistry in the ring.

[Troy Brown]

On 12/31/2019 at 1:11 PM, Livewire said:

Very good and then they had another good match last night. They both have terrific chemistry in the ring.

perfect you'll be able to see it another 6 times in the next month 

[Troy Brown]

On 12/23/2019 at 5:01 AM, Edge said:

 Holy ****. That would be phenomenal. Tanahashi vs Jericho for the AEW World Championship would be great and if it can indeed open the door for other potential matchups between AEW wrestlers and NJPW wrestlers in America, it would be simply amazing. Just imagine Okada vs Omega in front of an AEW crowd.

 

or.............

ibushi

[Troy Brown]

WK14 seems like a wild success. 

[tom cody]

First RAW of the new year and decade tonight. Hope it's a good show. I would also say that I hope they leave the silly Lashley/Lana angle in the old year but apparently it's gotten them ratings so unfortunately they'll stick with it. 

[Totty]

Big show.... Another let down. 

[Bearerofnews]

Someone convince me NXT isnt the best promotion of all time. Everything they do is perfect and amazing. The thought AEW could compete with NXT is a joke. Dark order? What an embarrassment.

[Edge]

All hail the Dark Order!

Did anybody watch Wrestle Kingdom 14?

I liked it. It wasn't the best show i've seen from them, but it was still far better wrestling than u can watch most of the time elsewhere. Day 1 started slow. The Liger match featured some legends, which was nice to have. I really liked the TT Championship Match and i did liked the Moxley vs Archer matchup as well, through it could have been a little bit more violent for me. Takahashi vs Ospreay was simply amazing. The best match of both nights. I was a little bit disappointed of the Co-Main Event. Technically it was a good match, but they didn't get me involved into the match. I was also a little bit split on the mainer. I didn't liked the first 20-25 minutes. It was a very slow start. Too slow for my taste. To the end it got better and better. I don't think it's a classic and i wouldn't rate it as a 5 star match. I'll give it 4 1/4 stars. Still a very good match, but not on the same level as past Okada classics.

Day 2 was overall the better day. Good start into the day with the Liger match. Unfortunately he lost his last match an took the pin, but his performance was good and he was able to show some more moves. Like the TT Championship match on Day 1, the Jr. TT Championship match delivered. ZSJ vs Sanada was a great technical fight. After those 3 matches the following matches weren't as good as they could have been. Moxley vs Robinson wasn't my favourite and neither was Goto vs Kenta. I didn't need to see the matchup between Jay White and Kota Ibushi either. Since they lost their day 1 matches, this match didn't feel anything special. There was nothing to gain for either of those 2. They probably should have left it out. It was still a good match, but there was no emotional feud between them and neither something on the line for them. Jericho vs Tanahashi was a surprisingly good match. Tanahashi really got the best out of Jericho and it was great that they presented him as the AEW World Champion. I liked it. Unfortunately Jericho won this match, so we won't get Tanahashi vs Jericho for the AEW World Championship for now, but Jericho had some wise words to say after the show. Put aside all feelings and do what's best for the buisness. AEW and NJPW should get together. There is something to gain for both companies. The main event was another great match. The better Okada match. I think it was visible, that both went to their maximum, especially after their matches the previous day. Naito is the right winner. He failed 2 years ago and now he finally got his moment. That's longterm booking at it's best.

[Deadpulse]

1 hour ago, Edge said:

Good start into the day with the Liger match. Unfortunately he lost his last match an took the pin, but his performance was good and he was able to show some more moves.

As any real pro would do

[Edge]

3 hours ago, Deadpulse said:

As any real pro would do

I understand it and it does makes sense. And it's no shame to take the pin from Takahashi. But still, i wish there would have been one feel good moment for Liger. I'm a little bit sad, that it didn't happen. The retirement ceremony at New Year Dash was great, through.

[Deadpulse]

1 minute ago, Edge said:

I understand it and it does makes sense. And it's no shame to take the pin from Takahashi. But still, i wish there would have been one feel good moment for Liger. I'm a little bit sad, that it didn't happen. The retirement ceremony at New Year Dash was great, through.

I will also believe legends should go out on their backs to help put over the next generation. 

[Edge]

46 minutes ago, Deadpulse said:

I will also believe legends should go out on their backs to help put over the next generation. 

It makes sense against Takahashi. In that case i probably would have given Liger the win on day 1, but i can understand why they didn't and why he probably wouldn't want to get it.