I must admit I enjoy AEW which is on ITV. Some of the bouts are tremendous. Stars such as Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes, excellent wrestlers in my opinion. Also the younger guys such as Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin are amazing.
What amazes me is some of the moves these guys have nowadays. Being a big fan of old school British wrestling,it is hard to imagine too many of our old stars performing such moves.
This is not a criticism, we had great wrestlers too, Marty Jones, Rocco, Finlay etc but hard to imagine guys such as Ray Steele, Pete Roberts, Johnny Wilson etc even attempting some of these moves.
Yes, I know times change and wrestling in USA is different to ours but what do you guys think?
Prefer the shortened version broadcast late Monday evenings with alot of the inane chit chat cut out.
Its changed so much from when we watched Joint, some wrestlers are what are called spot monkeys, a hundred miles an hour, multiple moves no story, they'll burn out or have a relatively short career unless they change their style. Pac did indeed do that, but has changed drastically he may do one or two high flying moves but he has added a lot of groundwork to his matches, as have many others, but there's a fair bit of Lucha influence in the promotion. I think the biggest problem is in most matches generally aren't long enough especially on tv to tell the story they need to in the ring, So it's a case of you have 8 minutes no filler just go for it, the kids love it but for us used to 30 minute plus matches it's not what we are used too
I have tried watching it and it always seems to be the same; gang of wrestlers come in the ring, talk on the mic, second gang of wrestlers come in, big face off, followed by a mass brawl.
Calling these guys wrestlers is wrong. They are acrobatic performers, and nothing wrong with that. The vast majority of our wrestlers, from the TV era, could actually wrestle. They earned their stripes at amateur wrestling clubs, up and down the country, before being taught pro wrestling.
Thanks Anglo, the evolving thing could certainly be applied to Pac, who I have watched since his first steps with IWF on Tyneside in community centres and social clubs. His working in a number of countries and promotions has not only changed the way he works, but his approach via diet, fitness etc, I think Japan probably had the greatest influence on him and he was certainly well liked out there. He is used well and it looks like he is going to be part of a big storyline over the next few weeks with Andrade.
Very good point, Powerlock. Wrestling evolves.
(Wish it could evolve backwards like Benjamin Button..)
the AEW have an exciting product bankrolled by a Billionaire, Their are some excellent wrestlers on the roster and a great variety of styles compared to the WWE style of wrestling where you can call the moves before they happen, It seems to be happening for them, a second tv show due to be launched, two Internet shows drawing well, and some decent storylines. Yes a lot the moves are different from the 1960s and 1970s but that's the nature of wrestling, it has continuously evolved as wrestlers travel to more countries nowadays than ever and working with the promotions in those countries wrestling styles can be influenced, new moves to them picked up etc. Probably 30 or 40 years from now the same discussion will be going on, about a continuously evolving product.
Yes Anglo, that is a good point you make. Different countries, different tastes, eh? And Bill, I agree, Pac is excellent. Also Kip Sabian, who is actually from my home town!
I watch AEW quite a lot,it's on ITV 4 on Friday late nights,as Andy says there are some good wrestlers on there.Some Brits too,Pac isn't too bad.You should watch it sometime Anglo you may get a big surprise,some bouts last far longer than you expect,no rounds either (rests) Give it a try.Some of the women are pretty decent as well
Hi Andy,
You wrote:
"... hard to imagine guys such as Ray Steele, Pete Roberts, Johnny Wilson etc even attempting some of these moves."
I must state at the outset that I haven't seen the wrestlers you mention. But I do regularly tape Raw of a Sunday lunchtime in the hope of seeing something juicy. Charlotte Flair is good in all respects; the Japanese woman is acrobatic but, like all the others, is incapable of telling a logical story.
I would reply to you on the basis of what I have seen:
.........hard to see those Americans carving out a 25-minute bout of give and take, hard bumps of all kinds, ups and downs, crowd pleasing and teasing, all within the context of a story of a villain and a goodie, with an involved (not spectator) referee. Saving surprises and false finishes for rounds six, seven, eight. And doing even longer bouts on occasion.
You did ask.