What's happening folks! Welcome back for another post of the crazy world that is professional wrestling. For a change, this post isn't about WWE, at least not the majority of it. This about what could be the most awesome news in many years for us professional wrestling addicts. Last week, Destination America announced that it was bringing the legendary Ring Of Honor to its network during its 8:00 time slot. This comes after the same network announced that it was cancelling TNA from its programming come September. One might be saying, "How is this good news?" For TNA fans, it's not, in fact it may be the death blow to TNA. More on my opinions about this later in this post. However, what this means is, for the first time in seemingly ages, is we have not one, not two, not three, but an astounding FOUR wrestling promotions in one evening starting tomorrow June 3 in the form of ROH, TNA, Lucha Underground, and NXT, all within a three hour time span.
This is something hardcore and devoted fans have been waiting for years to be able to experience. We had Monday night wars between WCW and WWE but when was the last time we had something as monumental as four different promotions airing on one night? I've heard of three before, but FOUR??? These aren't just any rinky dink companies. These are the best promotions not named WWE in North America today, although one is the developmental brand of WWE. Let's also keep in mind that Global Force is still in search of a national television home, New Japan has their weekly shows on AXS-TV every Friday, and Paragon Pro is starting up on Pop TV very very soon. Can you imagine if one of those were to air on Wednesdays as well?? Let's break each promotion down.
Ring Of Honor has long been known to produce some of the very best indie wrestlers of all-time. It has produced the likes of Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn (as El Generico), Austin Aries, and CM Punk. Now these legendary wrestlers are worldwide mainstream stars. They're still bringing out breakout young stars like The Kingdom, Moose, Adam Cole, The Briscoes, and Michael Elgin. Not to mention, their pay per views are excellent for the most part and their following is as devout as any hardcore audience in the industry. Plus their tight relationship with NJPW, which is the best promotion arguably on the planet, results in exceptional events when they collaborate.
TNA is not a terrible promotion, in fact sometimes it can be damn good, but unfortunately I think their best days are far behind them. Up until about 2009, TNA was hot, I mean red hot. When Jeff Jarrett was in charge, you couldn't find a more fresh promotion. They even starting attracting stars such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Kevin Nash, and Rob Van Dam, and they added to the young talent and ROH-graduated talent to put on compelling television and they were by far the most fan friendly promotion. Once Jeff and Dixie fell out over the direction of the company, it went completely downhill. While I'm rooting for TNA, this makes the second network to cancel them so I'm not sure what's left of this promotion, but until then, I'll still be rooting for TNA.
A few weeks ago, I did a piece talking about how amazing of a product Lucha Underground was, and how it could definitely be the future of the business. I still stand by that one hundred percent. Every week they put on rather intriguing television. Yeah, they can be a tad over the top with the soap opera-esque aspect of their scenes in between matches, but that's part of its charm as well. This is what sports entertainment could really become: a male soap opera with Lucha as its main premise in story form. Awesome competitors such as Angelico, Mil Muertes, Fenix, Johnny Mundo, Alberto El Patron, and the Lucha Champion Prince Puma all set a new standard in athleticism and in-ring storytelling each and every time, with Matt Striker and Vampiro quickly becoming one of the sports best commentary teams. Only thing they need is a special or pay per view, and word is their special has already been taped so I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Last but not least, the quickly popular NXT. Listen, this is billed as "developmental" for WWE's main roster. I've been very vocal about the fact that NXT is superior in talent, enthusiasm, and by far overall special events. Anytime the women's division can main event an all-male promotion and receive standing ovations, there's something special about the promotion as a whole. Vince made one smart move: he left his son-in-law in charge, and Hunter has had no problem saying he misses the athleticism in wrestling and has hopes to bring back fluidity to it. They have sold out house shows and they've delivered each and every time on their special events. Their flagship show may not be quite the entertainment value RAW is, but if it was two hour show, you never know. In any event, NXT has graduated talent like Bray Wyatt & The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Adam Rose, Adrien Neville, Bo Dallas, Paige, and Big E. They've been hits and misses, but overall they have excelled on the main roster, and with word of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor joining soon, NXT can say they're on a roll.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again. It's a very exciting time to be a wrestling fan. Even if you don't have cable, if you have Roku, look up and find World Wrestling Network. It's a Roku exclusive channel that has on demand content from some of the finest indie companies out such as Dragon Gate USA, Chikara, Evolve, Shine, Shimmer, CZW, and a few others. Only thing missing is PWG, which is highly considered the most entertaining indie company there is. Hopefully that changes too soon. This is such a great time and an exciting time in general. It's almost like there's a wrestling renaissance of sorts. However, the mistake that people like Eric Bischoff made back in the late nineties was that he was trying to compete with Vince McMahon. One knows by now, don't compete with him. Instead, just let the environment be conductive for alternatives. There's enough room in this game for a lot of people. Yeah we know VKM is a greedy bastard when it comes to competition and he has single handedly bastardized the integrity of the business once he took it away from his father Vincent James McMahon in the early eighties. Still, we have enough room to have fun with other promotions. It's healthy for the fan. Everyone doesn't want PG, we want grown folks wrestling and action. On Wednesdays, we will start having it continuously. Even when TNA leaves in September, think about it, there will still be ROH, NXT, and Lucha. I'm still very pleased.
Well before I go, I'll give one last shout to my people that follow me and keep up with me on a weekly basis. I'll be giving a preview and predictions for WWE's next pay per view, Money In The Bank. Until then, have tons of fun this and every Wednesday, because after all, it's now Wrestling Wednesdays!! See you guys and gals next week.
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