Just be a Wrestling Fan

[Greenlight13]

Long time poster, first attempt at a thread, here we go:

I find myself increasingly irritated at the bashing of all the different promotions out there. WWE fans hate TNA. TNA fans hate WWE. Mainstream fans hate indie wrestling. Indie fans hate mainstream wrestling. Purists hate anything modern. Youngsters hate anything before 1998. Puroresu and Lucha Libre fans hate American wrestling, others hate Puroresu and Lucha Libre.

I could continue with this for a very long time, but I won't.

But the point I'm trying to make is this: Why can't we just be fans of wrestling generally?

I follow WWE (Raw, Smackdown and NXT), TNA, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, Evolve and DGUSA. I enjoy watching some NOAH, New Japan, AAA and CMLL every now and then as well. I liked the Attitude Era, I like the current era, I liked the NWA days.

To me there is no perfect company out there, they all have their positives and negatives, so why should I stick blindly to one and hate on all the others? Why does liking WWE mean you have to hate TNA?

Essentially I'm asking why do people stick so fiercely to one company?, Am I the only one who likes a little of everything? And just other general thoughts on the whole ____ vs. ____ discussions.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Because I was forced into this position when the WWE acquired the WCW once the company fell. I was left with very little choice of what I could watch in terms of an episodic wrestling promotion, and I grew incredibly tired of having my intelligence insulted on a weekly basis watching the WWE bury ex-WCW stars.

I never had a choice for nearly a decade until TNA came around, and once they did, I held onto them like a wildfire, and rightfully so IMO. They were doing everything the WWE refused to, especially in the early 2005/2005/2006 years. TNA created a fusion between "sports entertainment" style WWE booking and "spot match" style ROH match work which made for an outstanding product that I wanted to watch because I didn't feel as though I was being force fed anything.

Why can't I support the WWE? Because it bores me to no end. TNA is no model of perfection by any means, but I'm at least entertained by the fact that 80% of it's roster actually has a fucking pulse. The same can't be said IMO for the WWE roster and it's current incarnation of new blood who IMO are the dullest generation of "superstars" I've ever witnessed. I'd rather watch Kevin Nash and Scott Hall wrestle in wheelchairs than have We Were Entertainment try to sell me Ted DiBiase Jr. (for example) as anything other than what he is – an Abercrombie & Fitch reject with the personality of a dial tone.

The reason most folks are so adamant about one company or the other is because they've essentially been forced into this position over a decade long monopoly that the WWE held. Anyone who didn't swallow what Vince was offering ended up starved for an alternative, and in the process developed a rabid hunger turned hatred like me. Call me what you will for it, but that's the bottom line here for me personally.

 

[RVDgurl]

I think it's possible to have a fiercely loyalty to one company yet support wrestling as a whole. I've been a member of this website for nearly 4 years and have spent most of my time supporting ECW and ROH, both of which I have a personal loyalty to. They are both hometown promotions which I was able to develop a connection to. The product they both put out entertained me more than what the larger companies were doing at the time.

This isn't to say that I don't support mainstream wrestling, because I always have. I watch RAW, NXT and Impact every week (Can't wait for SD! to move channels). I may prefer going to ROH shows, but whenever the WWE or TNA rolls through town, you better believe I'm going to be there.

 

[Schizophrenic]

I don't get the need to only have one company like some fans seem to have the mindset of. I've seen more than a few times when people say they hope that TNA dies. Why? Why not wish for it to get better. If TNA gets better and more popular WWE will up it's game as well and the "attitude" era feeling of having two great shows to watch weekley (more now with SD) will come back. I just don't get alot of wrestling fans that have the mentality of One HAS to be the best and the others SUCK! It's a ridiculous idea. I follow WWE, TNA, ROH & PWG mainly but I don't hate the other companies. I am a die hard TNA fan and I prefer it to WWE most of the time, doesn't mean I hate WWE.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

To be completely honest, I think that one reason why you see such a division among some fans on internet forums are because some of the posts are just plain inflamatory. Some of them go too far out of their way to not only insult a certain wrestling company but to also insult those that watch said wrestling company.

For instance, one poster that stands out is Lord Sidious. I don't believe he no longer posts on WrestleZone but he was among the brightest posters to use these forums. Many of his posts and threads he started were designed first and foremost to bash the WWE. That's all well and good. I mean, if you don't like the WWE, you don't like it. However, Sidious took it a little too far by pretty arrogantly insulting people that honestly enjoyed WWE programming. Sidious came up with the term "WWE Shareholders" to describe those that watched the WWE. In the roughly year that I've posted on WrestleZone, I've very rarely seen him post anything remotely positive about the WWE and consistently argue with, bait and sometimes downright insult those that stood up for the WWE. Nobody likes to be insulted and I believe that, in some cases, certain fans and posters have negatively influenced other fans and the light in which they view certain wrestling companies. Instead of having genuniely harsh feelings towards the company, some may transfer the negative feelings they may have with some posters onto other wrestling companies themselves.

I've watched TNA for over 4 years now and, personally, I think the WWE puts out a much better overall product. However, if someone does like TNA, I'm not going to jump down their throats over it. If ROH ever lands a tv deal on a major channel, I'll watch it to. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't voice any criticism that you've got towards a company or the product it puts out. I'd like to see TNA grow and succeed. I've said that for a long time and I meant it. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm going to sit back and pretend what I see is quality if I believe that it's not. Right now, I do think that most of what TNA is putting out right now is shit. I don't say it to be antagonistic, I'm simply stating my opinion.

 

[Greenlight13]

Yeah, this was my point, I think there's good to be found in all of them, so rather than relying on a single company to give you everything you need, pick and choose from everything.

If you put a gun to my head and said right, you are only allowed to watch one company forever, pick, I'd go with ROH. But nobody has a gun to my head.

I enjoy the work of Randy Orton and Chris Jericho and countless others from the WWE, and I'll watch the segments involving the people I like, but I'll skip the guest hosts or the divas matches or anything involving Ziggler or McIntyre. I get giddy over Motor City Machineguns matches and I know that when they focus on the wrestling they can put on an amazing product, but I don't care for Hogan and The Band so I gloss over them. The best and the worst wrestling takes place in the indies, so you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Basically, I view myself as a fan of pro-wrestling, not of a particular company, and I treat them all like a pick-n-mix.

 

[mikeyboy]

good thread and i totally agree i prefer tna but still watch wwe , i dont enjoy it near as much but still watch. i understand where ITSDAMNREAL is coming from i was a huge wcw fan, i grew up watching nwa then wcw and hardly ever watched wwf/e but then with the buy out i had no choice and for along time was kind of pissed with not having a choice but with time grew to like it somewhat. there is good and bad with both and as a wrestling fan you kinda got to forgive the dumb shit the promotions do and learn to take the good with the bad.

 

[Greenlight13]

Yeah, I feel the pain of the big merge. I've never had cable and WCW used to do a show called Worldwide that I could watch for free every friday night, whereas my only WWF came from going to friends' houses and stuff, so I was sad to see WCW go under.

But I really got into WWF in mid-2000 and personally found the early days of the brand separation quite entertaining, and like that there was an influx of new talent and thus fresh matches. I got sick of the WWE just after Wrestlemania 19 and didn't watch any wrestling until Wrestlemania 20, so I guess I can see where people are coming from.

But as soon as I became aware of TNA and later ROH and the many other indies and international companies, I think I became a happier wrestling fan because if you ignore the crap and combine the best bits of all of them... I dunno, you just get more enjoyment out of it, almost like a super-show.

 

[Lady Sheamus]

I am a fan of good wrestling. Period. I don't argue over what promotion is best or other stuff like that. Some people are only fans of a particular promotion and that's it, but you miss out on a ton of incredible wrestling if you do that.

 

[Hawkeye]

I prefer it when we all come together and enjoy wrestling for what it is...some of the best TV on TV. Guys remember the RAW LD last Monday where they had something for everyone to MTFO about? That's what this place should be.Not a debate over TNA or WWE or ROH or what have yous.We should come together,share our passion for wrestling and create a global network of SMARKY AWESOMENESS