Post-WWE Fandom - for those who cut the cord

[Magnum Milano]

I think Wrestlemania last year was the last time I watched a WWE show, although have seen occasional clips on YouTube since.

My actual interest in wrestling has never been lower though and I can't see a point to where it will ever return to anything close to what it once was.  And that's if it ever returns at all.

While I've not cared for the current product for years, there was always a ton of old stuff that I enjoyed; be it watching old territory footage for the first time (such as Smoky Mountain or JCP), revisiting the Yearbooks, getting involved in PWO2K (a watching project on another board).  Now there is nothing that gets me even remotely excited and it's like, "Have I really spent so much of my life, devoted so much time to wrestling?"  My memory is shot and I do wonder if that is because it's filled with so much pointless wrestling knowledge?  My actual interest in watching has definitely slowly subsided year on year, but 2020, despite trying to throw myself into the 2001 project (see PWO2K), has been the straw that broke the camel's back.

Even if I was going through a fallow period of not really watching, I would still take in numerous podcasts, read as much as possible about wrestling, spend far too much time on newspapers.com researching things, check the various message boards I frequent several times a day etc.  The podcast listening has dropped to virtually nothing (not including WOR in that), the last thing I checked out being Zellner & Naylor's Cover to Cover on the first PWI 500 and Kris' stuff (with the exception of Between the Sheets which I have long had no interest in listening to due to Bixenspan) were the only wrestling podcasts I'd really keep an eye on.

I unfollowed all wrestling related Twitter accounts quite a while ago and immediately felt better for doing so.  There are still a few people who if it wasn't for wrestling I wouldn't be following, but all news accounts, all wrestlers, gone, and I don't miss all that negativity on my timeline one bit.  This whole sorry "sport" just feels way too negative now.  I still read the Observer every week, but can't help feel that is out of habit, even though I do really enjoy Dave's historical pieces.  I've sold off most of my original wrestling DVDs, have started to sell off my books and then it will be the arduous task of trying to move several thousand DVD-Rs that remain.

[MPDTT]

2001 after the invasion angle, although I briefly showed an interest with the return of the nWo. Then from 2004 until the end of the Spike era, I was solely watching TNA. Then I became a lapsed fan until 2017, when I really got into ROH and NJPW. These days I only watch AEW and NJPW.

[BomberPat]

I haven't watched RAW or Smackdown in years, fell out of the habit of watching NXT shortly after it went live, usually forget to watch AEW, cherry-pick from WWE PPVs. I do try and watch every AEW PPV, because they usually deliver.

WWE, for the most part, doesn't interest me any more, but I try and keep tabs on it. I think it's important for anyone working in wrestling in any capacity to know what's going on in WWE, because they set the pace for the rest of us, but it's equally important to have an idea of what's going on elsewhere.

I've barely watched anything this year, though. Not having live shows to attend killed a lot of my interest in following indie or international stuff, plus the weirdness of Covid-era shows. Also not being at shows means not talking about wrestling and having stuff recommended to me by mates. 

I can't see things going back to "normal" for me until I'm back to being at shows every month.

[RoryFice]

My interest in WWE probably began to wane in 2009/10. I'd stopped watching Raw and Smackdown regularly a couple of years before that, probably more due to leaving uni and entering the real world of full time work than due to WWE content.

Like a few others, by 2009/10 I'd grown tired of the commentary, mid-carders winning "world" titles with increasing frequency, scheduled theme PPV's, the "WWE universe".

Raw going three hours every week in 2012 was a killer. It's just too long for a weekly show. And now with NXT, NXT:Takeovers, NXT:UK etc in addition to Smackdown, there's probably too much new WWE content to try and follow even if I wanted to get back into it.

The alternatives don't really do it for me either. I did enjoy NWA Powerrr for the most part, but I never connected with Japanese wrestling and, while I tried to give AEW a go, it just isn't different enough to WWE for my liking (they weren't helped by the battle royal on the first PPV, which did not make a good first impression on me at all!).

Right now, I've still got a WWE Network subscription, but I'm almost exclusively watching old stuff from when I did care. I'll likely cancel it after Wrestlemania, and although I've cancelled and re-subscribed before, this could be the final cancellation.

[gmoney]

12 hours ago, Chris B said:

I do still like talking about wrestling. I'm still watching AEW and NJPW, so I like reading responses to those, and they're generally pretty interesting on here. 

The off-topic stuff is interesting here. The site having been here for so long is interesting, because you've seen a lot of people mature. There are discussions on here, and takes on things, that I don't think we'd have seen on here 10 years ago. And for such a male-predominant site, I think that's a pretty cool thing - I've found it pretty heartening (especially over a few years where there have been few things to feel heartened about).

Also, I've seen a lot of support going on here. Sure, there can be arsey behaviour too, but it's seemed like a supportive, positive group overall. There aren't many of those.

I know there are people who don't post in the wrestling forums because they don't watch any more but they like the community, which I think is pretty nice. There are some people who post in Off Topic that I'm not sure have ever liked wrestling and I'm a little confused as to how they ended up here. 

[DavidB6937]

On the topic of this forum - it's probably one of the main reasons i still find myself interested in all things wrestling. I do genuinely enjoy the discussion and different views and insider knowledge etc. Even when I've struggled with WWE etc from time to time I've always found enjoyment in reading on here, far more than I do places like Twitter. You get some right cases on there while I actually think this forum on here allows for some proper discussion and really interesting insight.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 hour ago, gmoney said:

There are some people who post in Off Topic that I'm not sure have ever liked wrestling and I'm a little confused as to how they ended up here. 

Everyone must have liked wrestling at some point surely. 

[Snitsky's back acne]

It's just lacking any life or semblance of spontaneity for me.
I honestly only watch a few clips of things and follow any notable happenings online.
I thought I might give the War Games matches a try but the matches just dragged and had no 'Ooomph' to them.
I feel bad because I'm sure the wrestlers are trying hard but barely anything anyone does engages me anymore. It just looks lifeless and phoney.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett interest me and things like Finn Balor v Kyle O Reilly and Walter v Dragunov will always get me to watch but apart from that, yeah, I've not watch a full WWE show in ages. 

 

[CavemanLynn]

I binned off WWE a loooong time ago. I think the last time I watched regularly was NXT up until the first conclusion of Gargano-Ciampa. After that, the habit died off, and there wasn't anything in the 'E that tempted me to commit more than two hours a week to keeping up. I've even got a 3-month pass to the Network I got given last Christmas that is still on the carrier in a cupboard. I'll catch Youtube clips or skim the net for odd matches, but never a full show.

My regular watch now is AEW Dynamite. I'll actually make time for that over dinner on a Thursday evening. It's hypocritical, I know, but I've not paid to follow any promotions in years, now there's ways to WatchWrestling. Dynamite has the blend of styles I like, even as my tastes have changed over the past 5 years or so. I'll also check out NJPW around the G1, and have watched Wrestle Kingdom in full the last 3 years.

It occurred to me that I support individual WWE wrestlers in spite of them being in WWE, meaning I want them to succeed, not the WWE. I want Big E to be the massive success he can be, but at the same time want WWE to get a royal comeuppance for their shitty attitudes and practices.

Wrestling has given me some great memories. If it weren't for WWE and WWF being such a success, I wouldn't have got back into wrestling around the Attitude Era, wouldn't have spent years on the UK circuit, and wouldn't have half the good mates I have today.

[cobra_gordo]

I think it was 2019. I remember watching the Rumble, specifically for the entrant lottery on here, but I don't think I'd watched any current WWE content for a while before that. I'd had the network since March 2016 and started off watching PPVs live, to then watching them the day after, then to a couple of days after and eventually only watching them after reading results on here. I've never had Sky and was only ever watching Raw highlights on Youtube or reading results online so maybe that's partly to blame for not being mega invested.

In the end I was only subscribing to watch NXT and the same four classic PPVs over and over. And Table For Three. Eventually I slowed on watching NXT so when I went through a bit of a cost cutting exercise I decided to bin it off and decided if I missed it I'd subscribe again. I never did. I think after binning it off I watched a couple of short clips folk on here had shared but that was it. I haven't even been fussed about Wrestlemania. The only current WWE I've watched was the Boneyard match. 

AEW though, I love. I'm only watching Dynamite and the PPVs but I've got in to the ritual of watching the shows the day after they air whilst working from home. 

[Cod Eye]

Last year, I decided the modern product was boring me to tears as I probably were not it's target audience.  So to get my wrestling fix, I went all the way back to the begging of Nitro, and worked my way though the show and PPV's in order, eventually adding Thunder too. When I finished it, I started Raw from mid 2006 and I'm now just before the '99 Rumble, and I'm enjoying it much more than any wrestling since the post invasion brand split, and the "Smackdown 6" era. 

i have watched a bit of AEW, and I like a lot about their product, but it not being live over here I've usually seen the spoilers by the time it airs on ITV, so I miss it.

Honestly can't see me ever watching WWE programming outside the 'Rumble and 'Mania now my eldest kid has grown out of it too, and I'll stick with the old shows and PPV's.

Might start to try and watch AEW more though.