Getting back into wrestling. Which one to watch?

[stevieray70]

It’s been a couple of years since I posted here on the forums. It’s been several years since I’ve followed professional wrestling. But with the abundance now a available I’m looking for some advice on which promotion to devote my time to.
I only have a couple of hours a week to devote to wrestling. I know this is an AEW forum but I didn’t know where else to post it.

First off, anything WWE is completely off the table. That includes NXT. And although I do like Japanese wrestling it’s never captured my heart and attention like American wrestling.

I’ve checked out AEW, ROH, MLW & NWA.

AEW: I love the production and the talent on display. And it is live every week. That is a very big plus to me. I’m not the biggest fan of TV tapings that have all the matches for the next month or two. Sometimes I have a hard time telling the wrestlers apart because many of them have the same look. But that’s just because I haven’t watched much of it yet. Also most of them seem to have the same style. Lots of off the rope high spots etc. I enjoy that style of wrestling but again it sometimes makes it hard to differentiate them from one another. But one advantage AEW really has over all of them is they really don’t have to worry about their talent being raided by another promotion. I can’t really saw the same about the others.


ROH: I think the production is lacking. Very good wrestlers But like AEW it also seems to have the same issues with the wrestlers all using similar styles.And it’s not a live weekly show.

MLW: Good production, good talent and action. But, I know this seems like a trifle thing, the ring looks very small and the crowd packed much too tight to the ring. Plus it’s taped in advance.

NWA: The old school studio type of wrestling is a fun gimmick, but I prefer to see see competitive wrestling instead of jobber squash matches. And it’s taped weeks in advance.

I guess when I reread everything I’ve written it really points to AEW. Am I missing something that would make me want to choose another federation?

Thanks for the input.

[pikemojo]

It doesn't sound like our tastes completely align but the wrestling I watch most is NWA and MLW.

I do wish that NWA would have at least 1 match per week that went a little longer and felt more competitive. A little more variety on who is featured week to week would be nice as well. At times it feels like we are just seeing the same people over and over.

MLW has some great talent. The "taped in advance" thing doesn't bother me. I don't feel like I've ever really had results ruined for me for MLW. They definitely have some talent that feels a little green to me though. Contra Unit is awesome, as is the Dynasty. They probably have too many factions though, now that I'm really thinking about it.

I don't have cable so I can't watch AEW very easily but I do enjoy it when I watch. The issue you described, with too many wrestlers having similar styles, is definitely something that bugs me at times. Some of the angles earlier on were lacking but they feel like they've gotten their feet under them a bit more now though.

[maddog1981]

I would suggest New Japan or maybe giving Stardom a look if you like women's wrestling.

How do you feel about deathmatches? If you want to dig into more indy style. Beyound and Gamechanger Wrestling are good promotions to check out.

[stevieray70]

Mar 14, 2020 18:45:36 GMT -5 maddog1981 said:

I would suggest New Japan or maybe giving Stardom a look if you like women's wrestling.

How do you feel about deathmatches? If you want to dig into more indy style. Beyound and Gamechanger Wrestling are good promotions to check out.

I use YoutubeTv and NJPW isn’t available. It does have TNT so I can easily watch AEW. I can follow MLW & ROH on FITE. As far as the other stuff, I do like good hardcore wrestling, but I don’t want to pay for another service. If I did I’d go CZW.

[maddog1981]

Mar 14, 2020 20:40:05 GMT -5 stevieray70 said:

Mar 14, 2020 18:45:36 GMT -5 maddog1981 said:

I would suggest New Japan or maybe giving Stardom a look if you like women's wrestling.

How do you feel about deathmatches? If you want to dig into more indy style. Beyound and Gamechanger Wrestling are good promotions to check out.

I use YoutubeTv and NJPW isn’t available. It does have TNT so I can easily watch AEW. I can follow MLW & ROH on FITE. As far as the other stuff, I do like good hardcore wrestling, but I don’t want to pay for another service. If I did I’d go CZW.

You would have to buy the individual shows on Fite TV. New Japan has a singular streaming service that's about 9ish dollars a month and you get all of their shows. There are some services that have multiple promotions available on it.

[Vegas]

My favorite fed to watch online currently is GCW.

[Bazzy]

I'm in England , UK . I watched AEW , Impact , MLW Fusion & CWFH (about 5 months behind on UK tv)

[Tough Tom]

Get independentwrestling.tv. use code Absolute for a free 5 days to see if you like it. There's about 60 different promotions on there now and they stream live shows every weekend.

[ajcostello]

This is in no way an attack or insult, but from the sounds of it, there isn't likely to be a single thing that perfectly suits your tastes.

I get that.

Believe me. I do.

AEW might be a decent fit for the time being, as some of the stuff that Cody is doing is very, very reminiscent of the kind of angles and stuff that his dad would have done and there's a bit more of an emphasis on tag teams than WWE has (which is a huge plus for me).

It's still a young company, though, and they still have some growing and learning to do but I think, overall, it's a better choice than WWE by far.

[stevieray70]

Mar 15, 2020 8:36:47 GMT -5 ajcostello said:

This is in no way an attack or insult, but from the sounds of it, there isn't likely to be a single thing that perfectly suits your tastes.

I get that.

Believe me. I do.

AEW might be a decent fit for the time being, as some of the stuff that Cody is doing is very, very reminiscent of the kind of angles and stuff that his dad would have done and there's a bit more of an emphasis on tag teams than WWE has (which is a huge plus for me).

It's still a young company, though, and they still have some growing and learning to do but I think, overall, it's a better choice than WWE by far.

No insult taken. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a single promotion that perfectly suits anyone’s needs. Even the old ECW & the WWE Attitude Era, both of which I absolutely loved, had segments & wrestlers and angles That were almost unbearable.

I’ve watched a couple of the AEW shows on demand. I’m on the one where they are on the cruise ship. And for the most part I’m really enjoying it. And like I mentioned before I really don’t have to worry about the wrestlers being snatched away by another promotion so I know I can really invest my time into the angles and characters for the long haul.

So it’s probably going to be AEW for a few months to see if it really gels with me.

Thank you everyone for you comments.