Pro Wrestling - Aew/wwe

Was never much into wrestling, but a friend of mine was so I used to go with him to live events from time to time. I'm lukewarm on watching TV, but the live shows are a hell of a lot of fun.

I think the most fun event I went to was in Birmingham, a non-televised event. One of the tag team matches was Al Snow and D'lo Brown versus someone else, can't remember who now (I think one of them might have been Big Boss Man). D-lo was in the very early stages of his career and was basically persona non-grata back in the US at the time.

For some reason, the whole of the NIA went nuts for D'lo (and I do mean the whole thing), even before the match properly started. One section started chanting his name, bizarrely every other section joined in and in no time the entire place is just chant-screaming "D'lo" over and over again, similar to our own "Deeney!" chant. Was baffling yet spectacularly hilarious.

What made it even more incredible was that D'lo had no idea how to handle it. You could almost see the question marks popping off his head, which had a stunned expression on it. He was completely lost and taken aback.

Al Snow basically directed him (kind of like how Doyley got directed when he scored) to the turnbuckle and made him get up and milk it, which just made the crowd go even more nuts. It was actually endearing how completely stunned D'lo was.

Was very impressive to see how Snow handled the younger guy and helped him stay on task. I've got a lot of respect for Snow for how he handled that - he really had D'lo Brown's back. The match was an absolute blast - you could see D'lo was operating on pure adrenaline and it was just electric to watch the bizarrely symbiotic relationship between him and the crowd.

Needless to say, Snow and D'lo won.

I'd be amazed if D'lo Brown doesn't remember that match to this day.

 

Could be this show:-

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=27606

 

No, wasn't that one. The show I saw was largely missing any of the really big names. I think it was probably somewhere in 1997, but just checked your link and it's not in the database.

I was at this one though:

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=3725

That was televised, and my friends and I got caught on camera thanks to my friend's huge Chris Jericho sign.

 

Nice. I saw a house show at the NIA
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=24468
Some bloody big names in that.

Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Cena, Undertaker, Angle, Lesnar.

Also went to see a TNA ppv Genesis in Florida 2007.

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=14712

Saw the Dudley boys, Sting and others.

 

Cody Rhodes jumping back to WWE from AEW, despite AEW effectively being his baby and having had a huge hand in getting the company off of the ground, and the fact that he's continued to spend year after year slating absolutely everything to do with WWE alongside talking about how proud he to be a part of AEW and how they're changing the industry.

Sounds like it's all about money.

 

I applaud you for getting through the John Cena mega-push.

At one point I think he only lost to about 15 pro-wrestlers fighting him at the same time because he was cheated. They were so keen to push an all-American face for the organisation, that they forgot it just made the rest of their roster look terribly weak, especially as Cena was really unlikable and a massive nerd.

 

That's Shane McMahon's tune m8.

 

Anyone else going to Clash At The Castle?

 

Summerslam best ppv for some time. Not a Lesnar or Reigns fan and the main events are normally a turn off for me but this one was epic.

Will leave the spoilers incase people haven't seen it.

 

Best main event in years. First one of the post Vince era too.

 

Yes mate managed to get me a ticket. Undecided if I'll wear my WFC top or not for the telly.

 

Summerslam was great, with solid TV since. Now isn’t the time for a Vince McMahon discussion but I’m much more optimistic for the future with HHH at the helm.

Nice one - I’ll keep an eye out for a WFC shirt.

 

Begrudgingly getting back into WWE as the announced Wrestlemain in my city 2024. Haven't watched since that last terrible rumble

 

Decent seat.

Good show overall though was disappointing they didn't mark it more with some dark matches or HHH.

£6 for a can of WRU gold was a bit steep but better than £6.50 for a Heineken.
Merch was a rip off.
Pubs were jumping as usual for Cardiff.
The improptu show by the look-a-like wrestlers out side the Queens Vaults pub was epic. Basically just random blokes in fancy dress twatting each other with chairs.

My claim to fame is starting the "Who are ya?" chants at Roman reigns.

 

What on earth is happening at AEW?

 

I was there for this too - good fun, and a decent pub!

Really enjoyed the show. One of the best this year. Hopefully we don’t have another 30 year wait for the next one!

 

Tony Khan is too busy being ‘one of the boys’ instead of being the boss. Sounds like an ugly situation.

 

Punk has always been an arrogant sod. Not condoning the reactions but he's far from blameless.

 

Agreed - I see the title has now been vacated.

 

Extreme Rules was a decent show - not as good as CATC, but the Brutes/Imperium match was great and the second half of Edge/Balor told a superb story.

The big return was epic.

 

Money In The Bank taking place in London at the O2 in July.

https://www.wwe.com/shows/moneyinth...-bank-headed-to-the-o2-in-london-july-01-2023

 

And even bigger than that - AEW All In at Wembley Stadium in August.

Over 40,000 tickets sold in less than 24 hours. Insane for a company only 4 years old.

 

I’ve never really been able to get into AEW, but that is one hell of an achievement.

 

When it's good, it's really, really good and the roster at the moment is probably up there with the best in wrestling history, but the problem sometimes is how that roster is used/booked. The thing I like is that it's generally aimed at a slightly older audience, whereas WWE has become just so kid friendly and sterile.

I'd say it's worth getting a ticket for this for any wrestling fan just because it's the biggest event in this country since the early 90's. You'll get to see some legends like Sting, Jericho and Goldberg (allegedly) as well as some of the best current and up and coming talent in the world. and the atmosphere should be incredible.

 

I’ve only seen very little bits so my opinion isn’t worth much, I’ve just always felt like something is missing. I don’t know what that is this.

TK seems a very strange fellow as well (rich, given Vince McMahon is seemingly back in the WWE fold by accounts, I admit) and I think the whole CM Punk debacle last year has been handled astronomically badly by all parties.

I was lucky enough to see Sting live when the WWA (remember them?!) ran London many years ago.

 

Oh yeah, Khan is definitely a bit of a weirdo. Generally though the quality of the product is better than WWE at this point in my opinion, especially if you're an adult/more of an old school fan that pines for something more reminiscent of the early to mid-2000's.

Punk scheduled to return in June but yeah, what a mess all that was. Did manage to create a lot of buzz, though...

 

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, I suppose!

 

Am I the only sad f**k going to All In, then?

Very likely to cross the 80,000 tickets sold mark today. On course to be potentially the highest attended show in the history of the business, if you go with the real numbers and not WWE's pumped up, fake bulls**t.

 

Couple of mates are going - have a good time, live wrestling is always fun. Still gutted I didn't get MITB tickets. I think they've now broken the record from Summerslam at Wembley, so it's definitely the highest attended UK show ever.

Rumours that Goldberg may be making an appearance - poor you! Would've been quite the spectacle about 15 years ago, but genuinely fearful whenever he wrestles now.

AEW sounds like a total mess behind the scenes. TK is massive fanboy for CM Punk and seems to be quite happy to let him do and say whatever he wants. Given how much he's railed against the Hogans and the '90's HBK's of the business previously, he's doing the exact same thing which is a shame. I can see it all blowing up in their faces and heads should've rolled following the incident after All Out last year.

 

Goldberg is my favourite of all time, so he can waddle out on a zimmer frame for all I care, I'll lap it up. Just hearing the music hit and seeing the pyro etc. live would be a bucket list thing ticked off for me. The crowd reaction would be insane as well, even though people try to pretend everyone hates him, they definitely don't. One of the biggest stars the business has ever seen.

With Punk, it's funny, because as much as he can be a toxic influence, by the sounds of it je is effectively running the show in regard to Collision, which as it stands is vastly, vastly superior to Dynamite. Collision feels well thought out, has better matches, better promos, better booking, better everything, and is pretend as a far more serious show overall, whilst Dynamite has descended into a directionless, cringe filled, hideous mess.

He's always going to be liable to blow up, but as it stands he's once again made AEW TV far, far more interesting and is producing a very good wrestling show on Saturday nights.

 

Bray Wyatt dead at 36.

 

****ing hell.

 

I didn’t want to post half asleep at 4am, but that’s so sad. Really terrible news.

Bray was a bit of a marmite character I found, but I thought he had one of the best creative minds I’ve seen in wrestling. He was the closest thing to a ‘new’ Undertaker and I found his mic work enthralling. The Firefly Funhouse stuff was incredible, and goes to show what can happen when talent are left to it.

He was one of my favourite wrestlers due to his look and the believable nature of some of his work (I won’t deny there was some very hokey/cheesy stuff too), and it’s a real shame. At least he’s with Brodie again now.

We lost Terry Funk a couple of days ago too, another stalwart and huge influence on so many of todays talent.

RIP to the bath and thank you for the memories.