Opinion
No Tomorrow: Consuming What “ALL IN” Delivered
As the dust was settling on a historic night for ALL IN in Chicago this past Saturday, I saw this tweet:
All In has been the definition of knowing your audience and giving them what they want — not trying to force them into cheering for somebody.
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) September 2, 2018
Some fans took this as a shot at the WWE and its Universal Champion. It might have been, I don’t really care. As somebody who prides themselves on being a fair wrestling analyst, this tweet took me to a more philosophical place. After seeing the widespread applause of the “ALL IN” event on social media, and truly enjoying myself, I had to ask myself these difficult questions:
What did the audience actually want? And, Were we able to allow ourselves to enjoy it because we didn’t really want anything?
“All In” was an excellent wrestling show. It had all the elements that make this sport so great. It had a little something for every kind of fan as well. Of course fans are going to compare this show with everything WWE. It’s the natural thing to do since WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world, and unfortunately everything always revolves back to them. In this instance, its absurd to compare the two. This was a stand alone wrestling show. Sure it had implications on future events(including a major title change), but its nowhere near the constant machine of television the WWE puts out every week. Which brings me back to Mr. Satin’s tweet….
Every week I see tweet after tweet from fans annoyed with how some WWE superstars are “booked.” We are bored with certain characters, and get angry about match results. I have had a theory for a long time that this is mostly due to fans constantly fantasy booking every….single….show. If it’s not what they wanted or predicted, it is automatically bad. It is impossible to truly enjoy something if you set unrealistic expectations in your head. We all wish we could write the storylines and book the shows for the WWE, because we all think we would do a better job than the guy doing it. This element was completely taken away from “ALL IN.”
There wasn’t an overload of narrative going into the event. You looked up and down the card and saw good matchups, not complicated storylines. Nor did you see many storylines that needed to move past this one show. It takes a lot of the fantasy booking aspect out of it. Fans didn’t have to worry about how these performers were being used. They didn’t have to worry about if somebody was being “buried.” There was no Raw to watch on Monday. They were able to sit back and relax on a Saturday night, and watch a good old fashioned wrestling show. We ate what we were served. There were no expectations, because there was no tomorrow.
Maybe Mr. Satin is right. Maybe this is really is what the audience wants. Maybe we just want to let it all go, and not have to worry about what happens next. As a 30 year WWE fan, maybe this is really is an indictment of how they present their product. 7 hours of weekly television can be just too much.
I wrote in a previous blog how ALL IN could be the genesis of wrestling’s next Great War. The first shot was fired by going back to basics, and it was definitely heard ’round the world.
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MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Opinion
Chris King: Is Brock Lesnar Truly Retired?
Brock Lesnar retired at WWE WrestleMania 42, right? Are we totally sure? Chris King asks…
Brock Lesnar retired at WWE WrestleMania 42, right? Are we totally sure? Chris King asks…
At WrestleMania 42, ‘The Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar took off his boots and gloves following his loss to Oba Femi. Lesnar has done it all inside of his twenty-four-year career in professional wrestling. He’s a ten-time WWE Champion and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and he’s one who ended The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.
While Lesnar was in the ring, he was visibly overwhelmed with emotion and crying while he thanked the fans in his own way. The Beast even threw up an x to signal to Paul Heyman, his longtime friend and advocate, that this was not scripted and was real. There had been rumors that Lesnar and Oba were supposed to have a series of matches before everything went down at Mania.
‘The Career Killer’ Gunther was doing Heyman’s bidding as he faced Seth Rollins for a favor. For a while now since Gunther retired Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles, the rumor has been Gunther was set to retire Lesnar in his hometown at this year’s SummerSlam event. There’s been no confirmation if Lesnar is truly retired, but on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, we saw Heyman talking with General Manager Nick Aldis. Later that night following Rhodes’ match against the debuting Ricky Saints, Gunther choked out the WWE Champion. Could this be the favor from Heyman?
I know in the world of professional wrestling we live by the mantra of “never say never,” but what if Lesnar is actually retired and this was WWE’s way of shutting down those rumors about Gunther and Lesnar? What if Gunther’s next program is chasing after the WWE title, and where is Randy Orton at in all of these plans? There are so many questions that need to be answered, hopefully soon!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Nefarious Means
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Opinion
Chris King: Defend The Intercontinental Championship At Backlash!
With WWE Backlash upon us, Chris King wants to see Penta defend the Intercontinental Championship in Tampa!
With WWE Backlash upon us, Chris King wants to see Penta defend the Intercontinental Championship in Tampa!
This year’s annual Backlash showcase is only a few days away, and while there are many big matches announced, one that definitely should be isn’t on the card. In my opinion, outside of Roman Reigns/Jacob Fatu and Seth Rollins/Bron Breakker, the Intercontinental Championship scene has been stellar over the last month.
Penta has been an excellent champion, especially after his triumphant title defense in a ladder match against JeVon Evans, Rusev, Dragon Lee, and the Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. Their ladder match at Mania was one of the best that WWE has produced in a while.
The momentum never stopped, as on the post-Mania episode of Monday Night Raw, ‘All Ego’ Ethan Page made his debut and was quickly inserted into the Intercontinental title scene. Page had a fantastic showing against his longtime NXT rival Evans and picked up a big win in his debut match thanks to an assist from Rusev.
All Ego immediately joined forces with ‘The Bulgarian Brute’ Rusev, who was also vying for the Intercontinental Title in his own right. On this week’s episode of Raw, Page and Rusev defeated Evans and Penta. All Ego pinned the champion, making a huge statement and putting him one step closer to getting a title shot. For the past few weeks I’ve been anxiously waiting to see if WWE was going to add this incredible fatal four-way match for the Intercontinental Championship, but it hasn’t happened yet.
As much as the WWE Universe enjoys witnessing great matches on free television, I truly believe all four superstars deserve the chance to showcase their talents on the PLE. While Penta has done a terrific job as the intercontinental champion, it’s time for a fresh face to hold the prestigious title. Page would make a great braggadocious heel that would help elevate the Intercontinental Championship to new heights!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Nefarious Means
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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