Hello SquaredCircle! Welcome to our Weekly Discussion Thread!
What have you watched lately? Seen any great matches? Have suggestions for things to watch? Anything not getting covered in other threads that ya wanna fill people in about? Questions about promotions, wrestlers, ‘the business’ or more?
Feel free to post below!
(Reminder, this thread can and will contain spoilers for possibly any show. Spoiler tags are not required in here, but if the show just happened try and keep spoiler talk it to its respective discussion thread for the first day).
You know, I’ve been thinking about how AEW keeps trying and failing to “restore the feeling”. And I think the big reason they can’t is that “the feeling” had little to do with the in-ring product at all.
AEW, when it first started, was the promotion for wrestlers by wrestlers. The Elite were the faces of the promotion (hell, the place is named after them), and Tony Khan was more of a silent partner than anything. As TK has taken more of an active, public-facing role in the promotion, it has detracted from that feeling. He may be a wrestling superfan, but he’s not a wrestler, and he damn sure isn’t The Elite. As well, there’s still the shadow of CM Punk that never quite went away. AEW used to be the place where everyone got along and worked to create the best show they could without the politics, but Punk destroyed that image, whether he cracked that foundation or merely exposed the cracks that were already there.
I still love AEW, it’s still the only promotion I watch on a weekly basis, but it’s undeniable that they’ve lost something important. And I don’t know if it’s something they could ever get back. I certainly don’t see how they could.
Having stomped my feet and stormed off from TNA in protest of Tessa Blanchard, I think that in addition to trying to get into Stardom, I’m gonna start checking out NXT.
For Stardom, I think I’m going to go back in time a year. I found a download on the archive for All Star Grand Queendom 2024 and I’m going to take it from there, slowly making my way through PPVs (or also weekly shows if I really need to). I’m thinking that’ll probably be the best way to get you know everyone and how things work, while easier access to translations and / or subtitles without any wait. So this is gonna be a long term thing to get into.
And for my immediate needs and to fill the hole for my weekly soap opera drama, I think I’m gonna start with the closest NXT PPV and catch up from there. I get the impression that they also feature women’s wrestling a lot, plus I’d be seeing the Knockouts there. And it seems disconnected enough from the main roster that Raw and SmackDown would be optional, not mandatory. Although, honestly, I might check out how people like MCMG, the Lucha Bros and Jordynne Grace are doing too.
Having stomped my feet and stormed off from TNA in protest of Tessa Blanchard, I think that in addition to trying to get into Stardom, I’m gonna start checking out NXT.
I’m gonna be real with you; if you are swearing off TNA because of your moral objections, then you should probably also avoid any WWE product. Vince may be gone, but it’s still tied to some absolutely horrible people.
Yeah I was actually kinda thinking that while I was typing it. It’s probably going to be difficult finding a wrestling promotion where pieces of shit haven’t been involved in some way. It’s just that the TNA thing is fresh and blatant and the timing of them hiring Tessa Blanchard, right when a bunch of companies were bending over and removing diversity and fairness, was fucking awful.
But I agree, I have felt a bit like a hypocrite saying that I’m gonna drop TNA for NXT. I’m just not sure where else to go for good women’s wrestling from the USA. Maybe things have changed but I very much have the impression that it’s an afterthought in both AEW and ROH. And I’m not prepared to put up with people like the Young Bucks just for one women’s match in 3 hours lol.
But I’m hooked on Stardom right now anyway and haven’t even been in the mood for TNA or NXT. And I found a website that also has TJPW and a bunch of Japanese stuff. So it might be keeping me busy enough in the next few months to not even miss American pro wrestling.
Yeah I was actually kinda thinking that while I was typing it. It’s probably going to be difficult finding a wrestling promotion where pieces of shit haven’t been involved in some way. It’s just that the TNA thing is fresh and blatant and the timing of them hiring Tessa Blanchard, right when a bunch of companies were bending over and removing diversity and fairness, was fucking awful.
There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism! (outside of piracy lol). Try not to worry about it too much, all you can do is talk with your wallet, try to limit who you pay for and go from there.
As for US women’s: NXT/TNA have routinely been the best for a while stateside, I give em the edge cause they give them a decent chunk of airtime. AEW has 1 match a show frequently, but a lot of the women are cooking when they get a chance, ROH gets a lot more time for women’s matches so hopefully the network their TV deal ends up at enjoys women more than WB does. Can’t talk WWE main roster as I just watch clips on Bluesky and occasionally Reddit lol.
Japan wise, TJPW is another great option since ya found it. Neon and a few of the others here will have better knowledge regarding them than I do, but their shows are always awesome and TJPW is pretty much always the #2 to Stardom’s #1.
AEW’s women’s division has been on a steady upswing. It hasn’t had the kind of spotlight that WWE gives their women, but they have some great talent there and they’ve been telling some engaging stories.
I’m honestly not sure where else to go for American women’s wrestling these days. EVE has been putting on some amazing shows, but they’re UK based. Still very worth checking out.
All Star Grand Queendom 2024
Not a bad idea, that’s around when Rossy left/Okada began booking so you’ll get a fresh start going forward!
Nice, seems like a perfect place to start. I actually started watching TNA around the time of a regime change too, so it works.
Haven’t started watching yet, although I’ve checked out about 5 minutes of the beginning segment with the four hosts (commentators?) talking about stuff. I was kinda hoping it would be a subtitled download by now but funnily enough, after a few repeated watches of the Ghost in the Shell franchise, it’s not complete gibberish to me anymore.
I don’t know exactly what they’re talking about but I can figure out what’s going on and get the idea. And pick up basic shit yes or no and types of greetings. Makes me wonder if I should pair getting into Stardom with some Duolingo.
Makes me wonder if I should pair getting into Stardom with some Duolingo.
Not a bad idea tbh, you’ll get farther than me who gave up after learning the words for toilet and beer lol.
Expect the first chunk of what you’re watching to probably not have any English period (despite the stuff I told ya yesterday which will apply more later in 2024).
When Rossy left his right-hand man Sonny left too (thank christ cause he was a piece of shit), and Sonny was responsible for 99% of the editing/translating/uploading to Stardom World/etc so when they left that segment of production tanked.
