29 thoughts on “So what wrestling are you into right now?”
NJPW – Probably my new favorite. Solid matches, no out-of-ring storylines, focus on it as sports competition.
Chikara – Fun!
WWE – I’m way into NXT, and I watch the main stuff to keep track of a handful I really like – Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas, etc.
Getting depressed by WWE weekly interspersed with waiting for PWG DVDs to come out.
I’m stoked to be heading to the Chikara show this weekend in PA.
NXT and ROH. Trying to get into Chikara.
I would watch Asistencia Asesoría y Administración or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre but Eastern Europe cannot into Lucha Libre. I’m stuck with Polish TV translation of WWE with three week delay or download RoH (of which I know almost nothing) from torrents.
I hate you Americans 😉
Tom Bowen everything since Summerslam has been the absolute pits, hasn’t it.
Matthew Aaron oh man are you going to King of Trios?!
Adams Tower if you can go to a live Chikara show, they are absolutely the best. I’m sure this is true of most smaller promotions but the crowd energy doesn’t translate onto camera as well (though I still pick up an iPPV every so often when I can)
Maciej Sabat Yeesh. There has to be pirated AAA out there somewhere (NOT THAT I CONDONE SUCH BEHAVIOR!)
Bret Gillan how are you watching AJPW? I keep getting overwhelmed by choice and not knowing what to watch.
I just started with what was current (which at the time was G1 Climax, which was awesome) and went forward from there.
Nathan Paoletta I totally am going to King of Trios! It’ll be my first Chikara show and I’m definitely excited.
I hope Ophidian got his gear situation sorted though. Sucks what happened to him.
I should be able to go to a Chikara show at some point, I live right outside Philly. Unfortunately I’m going to be in Pittsburgh this weekend.
I’m interested in them for the convoluted story, though, and I think following it is going to require watching a lot on video.
I just bought an Ophidian shirt to help – sounds like he’s able to get an old mask from a fan for the weekend, at least. That sucks so much!
RE: Chikara. The nice thing about it is that the storyline is optional for the most part and simple at a very basic level. It has a lot of intricacies, but they aren’t as needed to get the basic idea of Evil Invaders Returning and Want To Destroy Chikara.
But yeah, I’m a big indie guy despite living in the Pacific Northwest, the black hole of indie wrestling.
Status: marked out for WWE (mostly NXT, a bit of the main storylines). Not as much time to watch the full shows, but I’m surprisingly satisfied w/ catching summaries from youtube + random retweets.
ICW! http://www.insanewrestling.co.uk Drew Galloway has returned after being wasted by WWE. Also ROH. I refused to watch wwe until Bad News Barratt returns. As he was only entertaining character there.
NXT is worth watching! It’s the best.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about ICW.
Yeah NXT is so good that the main roster should be embarrassed. Seriously how are they out-storytelling their main product? Or to flip it, why is it so hard to replicate what NXT is doing in the main product?
3 shows a week/6 hours of television maybe vs 1 hour a week?
is NXT their “for smarks by smarks” brand?
* edited b/c i mixed up
FWIW Chikara sounds great and I’ve enjoyed a few of those clips. Hopefully I’ll see a longer show at some point.
I think one big difference is that there’s a single creative vision for NXT, while the rest of the product is just a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen mess. Also, it’s a stationary promotion with a home audience, so it’s more like a PWG or something, where the wrestlers grow and get better before the fans eyes.
Also, from what I understand, NXT is pretty much Triple H’s baby with little to no interference from Vince.
Watching NXT, KAIJU BIG BATTEL! Trying to enjoy WWE but it’s not the same without Ambrose!
The real question is whether Ambrose or Daniel Bryan is going to get a bigger pop when they return.
I feel like Daniel Bryan is not coming back but that is a good point! Forgot about him in the shuffle!
My faves right now are Chikara, Ring of Honor, Evolve/DGUSA, NXT, AAW and AIW. Current top two Chikara and AIW. Don’t watch the weekly WWE shows (other than NXT), though I do watch the PPVs as I have the WWE Network (which I’m mainly using for NXT and watching the old WWF/WCW shows in chronological order, reliving those old days – currently in 1993.)
I wanted to come back and say I typoed my comment and meant NJPW, not AJPW!
Terry Willitts I’ve looked a little bit at AIW, and was interested because they seemed to be advertising women about as much as men. Can you tell me what you like about it?
I don’t know AIW, I don’t think!
Speaking of lady wrestling, Shimmer has shows in the Chicago area, and I’d like to go to one sometime for sure.
Adams Tower AIW does a lot with their women wrestlers – I like that they treat them as equals with the men. In general, what I like about AIW is… well, they’re a lot of fun. They’re a little “edgy” (and I’m an olde sk00l ECW fan, so I like edgy), but they’re a blend of edgy and silly and fun and smart. They have a lot of themed, yearly occuring events. In short, lots of fun, get a lot of great talent, good booking. I can’t recommend them enough. (Also one of their recurring events is Girl’s Night Out, an all ladies’ event, except for any matches where it’s women vs men.)
NJPW – Probably my new favorite. Solid matches, no out-of-ring storylines, focus on it as sports competition.
Chikara – Fun!
WWE – I’m way into NXT, and I watch the main stuff to keep track of a handful I really like – Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas, etc.
Getting depressed by WWE weekly interspersed with waiting for PWG DVDs to come out.
I’m stoked to be heading to the Chikara show this weekend in PA.
NXT and ROH. Trying to get into Chikara.
I would watch Asistencia Asesoría y Administración or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre but Eastern Europe cannot into Lucha Libre. I’m stuck with Polish TV translation of WWE with three week delay or download RoH (of which I know almost nothing) from torrents.
I hate you Americans 😉
Tom Bowen everything since Summerslam has been the absolute pits, hasn’t it.
Matthew Aaron oh man are you going to King of Trios?!
Adams Tower if you can go to a live Chikara show, they are absolutely the best. I’m sure this is true of most smaller promotions but the crowd energy doesn’t translate onto camera as well (though I still pick up an iPPV every so often when I can)
Maciej Sabat Yeesh. There has to be pirated AAA out there somewhere (NOT THAT I CONDONE SUCH BEHAVIOR!)
Bret Gillan how are you watching AJPW? I keep getting overwhelmed by choice and not knowing what to watch.
I just started with what was current (which at the time was G1 Climax, which was awesome) and went forward from there.
Nathan Paoletta I totally am going to King of Trios! It’ll be my first Chikara show and I’m definitely excited.
I hope Ophidian got his gear situation sorted though. Sucks what happened to him.
I should be able to go to a Chikara show at some point, I live right outside Philly. Unfortunately I’m going to be in Pittsburgh this weekend.
I’m interested in them for the convoluted story, though, and I think following it is going to require watching a lot on video.
I just bought an Ophidian shirt to help – sounds like he’s able to get an old mask from a fan for the weekend, at least. That sucks so much!
RE: Chikara. The nice thing about it is that the storyline is optional for the most part and simple at a very basic level. It has a lot of intricacies, but they aren’t as needed to get the basic idea of Evil Invaders Returning and Want To Destroy Chikara.
But yeah, I’m a big indie guy despite living in the Pacific Northwest, the black hole of indie wrestling.
Status: marked out for WWE (mostly NXT, a bit of the main storylines). Not as much time to watch the full shows, but I’m surprisingly satisfied w/ catching summaries from youtube + random retweets.
ICW! http://www.insanewrestling.co.uk Drew Galloway has returned after being wasted by WWE. Also ROH. I refused to watch wwe until Bad News Barratt returns. As he was only entertaining character there.
NXT is worth watching! It’s the best.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about ICW.
Yeah NXT is so good that the main roster should be embarrassed. Seriously how are they out-storytelling their main product? Or to flip it, why is it so hard to replicate what NXT is doing in the main product?
3 shows a week/6 hours of television maybe vs 1 hour a week?
is NXT their “for smarks by smarks” brand?
* edited b/c i mixed up
FWIW Chikara sounds great and I’ve enjoyed a few of those clips. Hopefully I’ll see a longer show at some point.
I think one big difference is that there’s a single creative vision for NXT, while the rest of the product is just a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen mess. Also, it’s a stationary promotion with a home audience, so it’s more like a PWG or something, where the wrestlers grow and get better before the fans eyes.
Also, from what I understand, NXT is pretty much Triple H’s baby with little to no interference from Vince.
Watching NXT, KAIJU BIG BATTEL! Trying to enjoy WWE but it’s not the same without Ambrose!
The real question is whether Ambrose or Daniel Bryan is going to get a bigger pop when they return.
I feel like Daniel Bryan is not coming back but that is a good point! Forgot about him in the shuffle!
My faves right now are Chikara, Ring of Honor, Evolve/DGUSA, NXT, AAW and AIW. Current top two Chikara and AIW. Don’t watch the weekly WWE shows (other than NXT), though I do watch the PPVs as I have the WWE Network (which I’m mainly using for NXT and watching the old WWF/WCW shows in chronological order, reliving those old days – currently in 1993.)
I wanted to come back and say I typoed my comment and meant NJPW, not AJPW!
Terry Willitts I’ve looked a little bit at AIW, and was interested because they seemed to be advertising women about as much as men. Can you tell me what you like about it?
I don’t know AIW, I don’t think!
Speaking of lady wrestling, Shimmer has shows in the Chicago area, and I’d like to go to one sometime for sure.
Adams Tower AIW does a lot with their women wrestlers – I like that they treat them as equals with the men. In general, what I like about AIW is… well, they’re a lot of fun. They’re a little “edgy” (and I’m an olde sk00l ECW fan, so I like edgy), but they’re a blend of edgy and silly and fun and smart. They have a lot of themed, yearly occuring events. In short, lots of fun, get a lot of great talent, good booking. I can’t recommend them enough. (Also one of their recurring events is Girl’s Night Out, an all ladies’ event, except for any matches where it’s women vs men.)
In fact (and I’ll tag Nathan Paoletta for this, too) – they’re having a sale on some DVDs as low as $5 each – http://www.aiwrestling.com/shop/sale.html
Terry Willitts Trying it out. Watching AIW Wrestle Rager Night 1, now.
Adams Tower Excellent! I just watched that earlier today and am mid-way through Night 2 (but paused to play a hangouts Fate RPG)
I thought the six pack scramble was great fun, loved seeing The Hooligans again as well.