u/Spartftw

My vote is for Ken.

I feel like he was a menace back in the day.

With the rise of social media and the internet, society has really delved deep in to picking apart whos aligned with who.

More than ever people are showcasing their beliefs by picking and choosing where they spend their money.

Anti corporatism users will refuse to buy anything that isnt based off of local producers or maybe a company that isnt aligned with their beliefs.

With wrestling, are you showcasing your beliefs/politics in one way or another?

This can be anything from not buying merchandise from a particular wrestler or turning the program off if a particular person is on screen. Or just turning off the program altogether?

Or do you just take it as entertainment and dont involve those views in it?

Admittedly, im newer to following wrestling, mainly AEW and some other indie stuff.

And even newer to interacting with the wrestling parts of reddit.

So, with that being said, what was the IWC like pre AEW? Was it legit just discussion of wrestling without the crazy polarized tribalism?

And if/when AEW goes out of business will it get back to that?

Just for fun,

Lets say wrestling is
Wrestler A with X HP
Wrestler B with Y HP.

How much damage do moves do?

Chops, clotheslines, shoulder tackles, punches, elbows, etc etc.

Then finally how much does the finisher do?

Any recommendations for an adult looking to learn how to swim for the first time?

Generally wrestling is pretty much tough guy A wants to prove hes better than tough guy B. Where occasionally one is the good guy and the other is the bad guy.

It models something like a Rocky movie.

It’s largely self contained and a form of escapism from real life.

Do you think we could ever get storylines where the performers start referencing real life struggles of living day to day in our political, societal, or even personal problems.
Stuff that may seem “woke” but really its just human.

I think itd be interesting for a wrestler to reference growing cost of living, or permanent unease due to events happening around the world.

Or do you think maintaining a sense of kayfabe is too vital to get something like this?

So, im not a weekly WWE viewer, but I do tune in to PLEs from time to time.

With that being said, does the short match length, and general match format lend itself to best be consumed as a highlight reel/recap?

That way the audience can keep up with the story without sitting through the actual match?

If so, do WWE fans generally want more “wrestling” or do they just want the next story beat to hit?

Genuinely curious on your thoughts.

So, they’ve booked Oba as the new huge force that just comes and overpowers the opposition.

And well with someone of his size and strength, thats probably the best route to go.

However, long term, how do you book around that? Youd have to protect this status and still book interesting programming that doesnt feel like hes just steamrolling or just getting cheated by numbers/faction interference.

You might just say, give him the undertaker treatment and make him for of a special event type, but im not sure if that works in 2026.

Or will he keep being protected and only lose to rub new guys (like when ricky saints best him).

Thoughts?

So, do you think fans end up with an expectation of what wrestling is and if they see something that isn’t that, they automatically go its bad?

To use another medium as an example, the horror genre has been somewhat going through this as horror in 2026 is for the most part more based in atmosphere and tension rather than outright depictions of horrible acts. A lot of moviegoers did not like obsession. I assume because they walked in hearing things like best horror of 2026, and in their mind they assume the horror will be maybe slasher horror or zombie horror. Then they go and see its not that.

With wrestling, its very well known there are different styles and flavors of wrestling. However, are wrestling fans quick to dismiss a style as bad if it directly conflicts with what theyre either used think wrestling is/should be?

So wrestling stories can be zany and cartoony however they can touch on real human emotions. A storyline that isnt just tough guy A wants to be tough guy B because of some championship. Or I just want to be the best cause thats what you do in combat sports. Lol

Some that come to mind are Eddie Guerrreros addiction promo.

Obviously cody rhodes and the full circle moment of him winning the title given his familys history with WWE.

Cody rhodes and Dusty rhodes in that brother vs brother match.

Matches or stories that peel back the character and has the audience be able to pick apart who these characters and the people playing the characters are and what brought them to this match?

Has the toxic positivity of one promotion created a reaction that is toxic negativity out of fans that otherwise wouldve just stopped engaging? Realistically in most normal circumstances, if theres something you dont enjoy, you just dont engage and go engage with something you do enjoy.

However, now were seeing a reaction that is hellbent on “owning” the other side.

Is there not enough real estate in the space to just enjoy what you enjoy and leave it at that?

Conversation ive always tried to have is “what is wrestling”.
And generally most will agree its this performance art thats a mix of stuntwork, theater, and actions sport.

With that being said, any given promotion can lean more in to one direction than the other and vice versa.

Since watching AEW, ive always gotten the feeling TK just genuinely loves the act of bell to bell wrestling.

For some, wrestling for the sake of wrestling = bad booking but I feel like if anything AEW really respects and puts in the spotlight the beauty of bell to bell.

We all know about the Ric Flairs, the Bret Harts, the Steamboats, etc etc

What are some legends that maybe never quite hit those highs in popularity but you feel are legends as well.

Maybe someone like a Jerry Lynn.

As Ive read online discussions, a big discussion I always see around AEW is the “heatless” banger.
Which implies its a wrestling match that doesnt really have stakes because theres no coinciding story to it.

So with that being said, ive been watching the world cup, and its always interesting how much people that dont know to even really care about soccer come out of the woodwork for the sake of nationalism. So, in a lot of cases, the nationalistic pride outweighs the technical aspects of whats actually being done. The story outweighs the technicality of whats bring performed.

So for wrestling, does anybody actually enjoy wrestling as a physical act that is performed i. The ring? Or is wrestling for the sake of wrestling pointless?

So wrestling from its inception was essentially a circus act.

And thus we have an entertainment medium that is a combination of stuntwork, live theater, and physical sport whos story lines can range all the way from utterly ridiculous to super serious and heavy.

Do you guys think there is space for a wrestling promotion to go all in on writing/booking and create something of a story that you would see out of an academy award winning product. Or something youd see the general population call pretentious?

So, something I see that causes fundamental divide in people is that wrestling isnt just one thing. Its just a storytelling medium that can range from dramatic, funny, sad, and at times weird.

For example, I compare wrestling to the anime Hajime No Ippo. The structure of that show is half of the episode is exposition on character motivations and then 2nd half is the actual fight and how these two characters stories end up concluding from it.

I personally enjoy wrestling when its deeply personal, introspective, and peels back layers of the human condition.

Generic cool guys or badass guys are fun and all but theyre not memorable for me personally.

So with that being said, what kind of writing do you like in wrestling? The archetype stuff?(david vs goliath, the underdog, etc etc). The super human condition stuff?(Eddie Guerreros addiction promo, the rhodes brother match), the fantasy stuff?( undertaker, kane, fiend) or the pseudo competition sports stuff (hey im the best ill take you on).

What yall into?

As much as we like to look back at the great moments in wrestling, if you were a week to week viewer, was the week to week build leading up to that moment actually good?

Essentially do we just selectively forget the build or leadup to a moment if the payoff is good enough?

So, ive seen drawing power be used as something to label a wrestlers value.

However, I wonder.
Do individual wrestlers still have such a fandom that people will buy tickets to attend the show just for that appearance?

Like if im buying a ticket why would maybe 20 minutes top of the show having this one wrestlers make we want to attend a 2 hour event.

I would argue its more about the overall card in general than any one particular person.

Imo that level of superstardom status died with John Cena.

I was checkin out some of the GCW shows from this past weekend on Triller.

I know the deathmatch stuff is not for everyone, but in general any GCW enjoyers out here?

So the mask vs mask match has been making waves due to it genuinely telling a compelling story over the course of a year and creating something people will remember.

However my question is, will they? Its 2026 and our attention spans are shorter than ever. We are fed so much info that before we’ve fully digested what we’ve witnessed we’re already being fed something new and going in to the next big thing.

What im saying is maybe moments felt more special pre social media when we witnessed something and then had a time period to ingest and sit with it. While now, were consuming so much data, that it feels like everyday is already the start of something new and thus dilutes the truly special ones. Does anybody else feel like this?