Yeah, thinking back on it. The disappointment mainly comes from the fact that for the past couple of years the Royal Rumble has been my favourite PPV. I took a bit of a main roster break (still watch NXT), came back, and wasn't thrilled.

Anyway, I'm going to put on my historian gimmick outfit now.

I was searching for some history on ladder matches. Wrestling history tells us it was invented in Canada some time in 1972. But I found some footage that shows that the first ladder match occurred sometime around 3200 years ago in ancient Greece around the time of the Bronze Age collapse; although, also around 2500 years ago, and 2080 years ago (history is uncertain due to it being in proximity of the Trojan war, but also the life of Solon, and also the life of Julius Caesar). As well, they didn't have a belt, but a person. Foreign objects included blades. And they also used fire. Apparently the gimmicks for both Chyna and Alexa Bliss vastly pre-date them as well.

I'm in a similar state. I stopped watching Raw/Smackdown, and the only events I watch are the ones where NXT are involved (survivor Series, Royal Rumble, TakeOvers, etc). I came back for Royal Rumble despite there being no NXT representation announced prior because...well, I want to believe. NXT and AEW have been absolutely mint since late last year and I'm glad to be watching both brands, but I can't even waste the time and bandwidth needed to pirate Raw and Smackdown. I'm not even kidding when I say that Raw and smackdown are not worth it even if I don't pay for it. that's how bad they are. 

Brock Lesnar is just boring as hell from top to bottom. I don't like anything about him from his match style, his 'event' status, his disdain for the business, his absenteeism, his unwillingness to...really do anything outside of F5s, German Suplexes, and shoulder tackles. This isn't heel heat, either. MJF is a heel I love to hate. Brock I just want to go away and I genuinely have absolutely no idea why people like him. His matches are all short and identical, and in an era when stories go fast, he holds onto belts entirely too long and doesn't add anything to storylines. He's an end boss in a game that sucks to play. I wish he would go away, and I hate how his presence disrespects everyone he comes in contact with. 

that Bobbly Lashley/Rusev story is just so, SO stupid. Everything about it is stupid and I want Rusev to quit so he can be properly respected by AEW or something.

Seth Rollins went from the hottest thing in the company to generic heel #19. 

Braun Strowman is a joke despite being effectively built up as the next big thing (I actually was rooting for him until it was clear it was a red herring of a push)

Dog food matches. that is all. 

but seriously, everything with Baron corbin sucks. which sucks, because he's actually a talented wrestler and I think he's doing well, I just hate every story he's in becuase we've seen 'smug dickhead' characters so long it's just boring. Again, you wanna see good heel work, turn to AEW. I love to hate MJF, I love to hate Shawn Spears. I love to hate The Lucha Brothers. I love to hate every single member of The Inner Circle. I love how subtly turned Adam Page is growing and how he, despite being a tag champ with Kenny Omega, is putting a rift in the Elite. This is good storytelling, this is good character development. Everything in WWE is absolutely terrible. The talent is there, the writing consistently ruins it. 

NXT is amazing, with characters organically getting over and being allowed to ply their trade. The matches are stellar, the builds are smart, the promos feel real. Either the writing team on NXT is somehow better or they're approaching the industry from a different angle and it's working. either way, NXT is a blast, so it's proof that WWE has the capability to put on top tier stuff. I'd rather watch Keith Lee yeet someone into a bush 1000x over than watch Roman Reigns dump dog food on Baron corbin. 

Like I said, Raw and Smackdown aren't even worth the time it takes to pirate them. 

Yeah, AEW and NXT are all that i can stand watching anymore as well.

WWE did the stupidest thing ever when they fired their two co-Presidents.

Despite the creative problems of RAW and Smackdown, the company has been doing stellar business, repeatedly increasing their revenue. Much of this has to do with the work of their co-Presidents. Vince McMahon apparently didn't like their direction, and after some arguments, had them booted from the company. This is up there as one of the most financially stupid decisions Vince has ever made. While revenue decline may not occur immediately - it might increase a little if Vince does some sort of crazy short term gain projects; but, in 2-3 years time the results will be seen. I wonder what Triple H, Stephanie, and other stakeholders feel about this?

I've just sort of gotten to the point where I default to assuming literally everything Vince and co. do is the wrong decision for the show. Even if it sounds good, I instantly recoil and think 'shit, this must mean I'm wrong, if Vince likes it'. 

Everything about WWE screams 'outdated' and 'disconnected from reality'. which is a MAJOR shame becuase they really do have some of the best talent in the world. 

I never quit on WWE. They've had 30 years of ups and downs. There's a lot of praise given to the Attitude era, but the only really great full year they had was 2000; and it's been argued that Wrestlemania 2000 was the worst of the decade - but despite that, the year was fantastic. Other than 2000, there were always periods of anywhere between 3 and 8 months where the show stank. And while 2018 was far from perfect, it was still one of the better years I recall WWE ever having. So, I still have faith that no matter how crappy it gets, they can swing it around quickly.


Speaking of Wrestlemania 2000, I disagree it was a bad show, it had some phenomenal matches including the proto-TLC and the triple threat best of two falls; it was mostly that Triple H beat the Rock when it was the Rock's time to win. It's also in retrospect when taking the event out of the context of what had gone on over the last few months - WWE had never built so many strong stars all at once and they wanted to fit them all into matches; so singles matches ended up not really being a thing.

Anyway, I feel a contextualizing rant coming on, here it goes:

Also, while a great many people might remember the Ministry angle and Ministry Undertaker as being something fantastic, at the time it was not really that well received; also, I think it's more the idea of it, and not the actual execution. The actual execution was incredibly cheesy, but on top of that it was slow. The Corporation was the more interesting angle, more specifically it was the Rock and Triple H. Until the Corporate Ministry and Shane's takeover, that wasn't that great.... The ECW/WCW Invasion Angle was often viewed as a bad time for WWE, but it was still a lot better than the Corporate Ministry. Anyway, watching 1999 is fairly hard, especially after the introduction of Smackdown and they diluted their programming further, Austin was barely active in the year, Rock and crazy Foley were the two shining stars, and after that probably the younger tag stars who weren't getting nearly enough time. Most stuff happening seemed like it was aimed at an ADHD shock value audience, there was no depth to the writing, and the dialogue was terrible.

Then poof! Like magic, toward the end of 1999 and early 2000 WWE took all those crappy random storylines, and rather than scrapping them, they weaved them all into well written coherent plots. Then in a matter of months they took a roster of a few stars + jobbers, and turned it into a roster of megastars. Foley and Austin were arguably the biggest, with Rock having the most buzz, but Foley put both Rock and Triple H over HUGE, and by the end of 1999 Triple H had become the greatest heel in WWE history, cementing that status through early 2000 in his feud with Foley; and Rock by being the Foley replacement took his sky-high status and saw it launched into the stratosphere. At the same time, the new acquisitions (Jericho and Angle) who were floundering through 1999 became giant success stories in early 2000, they brought in 4 new guys (the Radicalz ) and they became mega stars too, the tag division skyrocketed (especially E&C, The Hardyz, and the Dudleyz), even the hardcore/24/7 division was huge.

The only one people seemed to not be able to get behind was Xpac, I think it was the storyline where he cucked Kane with Tori, and the crowd simply could never forgive him.

But anyway, if WWE hadn't become really good very suddenly, the audience would have likely collapsed sooner than it did, and harder. Things might not necessarily have been bad, either. I think ECW would have picked up most of the fanbase since WCW was considered a joke at the time, but ECW had red hot buzz, just no one made the effort to watch it - only talk about it - because WWE was already the "It" show.

My thoughts on AEW Revolution:

Dustin Rhodes vs. Jake Hager: Solid opener. Pretty physical contest. The fans cheering for Dustin basically committing Sexual Harassment doesn't make sense to me. But whatever. Nothing really special to right home about. The right man won the match. Hager needs to continue to win and look strong. C+

Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allen: Very great match. These two were hitting it before the bell even started. The pre-match brawl was great. They pulled out some great offense. Not the best match that these two can pull off though. I'm sure if they are given more time to develop a story, chemistry, and psychology, they could put on an instant classic. These two are the future of AEW. If done right, they can both be huge stars one day. B+

AEW Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page : Oh my God. One of the Greatest Tag Team Matches I Have Ever Seen. This match had EVERYTHING that makes professional wrestling so special. You had the killer moves, the impactful offense, the incredible athleticism, the nonstop action, etc. But what made this match so incredible was, probably the most underrated, but in my view, the most important parts of professional wrestling. Psychology and story-telling. From the tension between Hangman Page and the Elite. The Bucks going after Omega's shoulder that he suffered against Pac in the Iron Man match on Dynamite. The Bucks' emotional struggle with fighting their friends. Matt Jackson going berserk after Hangman Page spit in his face. The tease from Hangman that he was about to betray his own partner after the match, but decided against it. It was BEAUTIFUL!  A+

AEW Women's Championship: Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander: Not horrible, but easily the weakest part of the show. This match was doing ok until it got to the end, where it just fell apart. Multiple botches, these two damn near killed themselves. If one of those bumps had a bad landing, it would've been disaster for Statlander. And the fact that this match had to follow that instant classic the Bucks, Omega, and Page had just put on definitely didn't help. Nyla and Statlander were up creek without a paddle. They were doomed from the start. It actually reminded me of the late 00s-early 10s WWE when they would have those throwaway Divas matches right before the main event. It's pretty sad and unfortunately highlights the weakest aspect of AEW thus far; Their Women's Division. C-

Cody vs. MJF: A great, old school grudge match. Very personal and very heated. The kind of match where blading fits perfectly and MJF agrees because, man, was he bleeding. Not the worst blade job I've ever seen. (Eddie Guerrero at Judgement Day 2004) But this was pretty bad, or good depending on how you see it. And I predicted how the match would go and the result. Cody was going to beat the living shit out of MJF, which he did. But MJF would steal the win in the end, which he did. I think the best is yet to come and that these two are going to continue this program probably until Double or Nothing where they'll have the blowoff in a dangerous, heated environment. (Street Fight, Unsanctioned, Last Man Standing, 'I Quit' etc.) Or maybe not. We'll see. B+

Orange Cassidy vs. Pac: Any other night, this would have stolen the show. But because it was on the same card as that fantastic Tag Team title match, it'll have to settle for 2nd best this night. I wasn't expecting much of anything from this match. MAN, were my expectations shattered. Out of all the people that were on this show, Orange Cassidy shined the brightest, I think. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the get-go and Pac put him over in a big way, even though he beat him. I would love to see these guys go at it again and now I'm very interested to see where they go from here with "Freshly Squeezed." Amazing sleeper hit. A-

AEW Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Jon Moxley: First things first. Jericho's entrance. Ho-ly shit. That guy just continues to climb higher and higher on my "Greatest of All Time" list. Heading into this match, I felt that a title change was in the air. I just thought it was time. And sure enough. We had a glimpse of "New Japan" Jericho in this match. Brawling into the crowd like a mad man, the Inner Circle getting involved, taking advantage of Moxley's eye; Classic Heel tactics. I also expected Moxley to reveal that he was faking his injury the entire time and that would be his ticket to the championship. And sure enough. A great match that had satisfying finish. Unfortunately, the Reign of "Le Champion" has ended, but the Moxley Era has begun. Outstanding main event. A-

Overall: 8.7/10.

Agreed wholeheartedly! On every single point and grade! Jericho/Moxley was great, PAC/Orange Cassidy was a lot of fun despite how silly/goofy it was, Cody vs MJF was old school at its best, and Bucks/Omega-Page was an absolute banger of a classic. 

I also don't much care for the women's division of AEW. NXTs is so, so, SO much better, I find. 

Probably the best, most chilling, straight-forward documentary I have seen on what is, in my view, the biggest tragedy in the history of wrestling. 

I definitely need to watch it. that's for sure.