Send ‘em away

[gmoney]

That's not the only benefit. It's also a chance to go somewhere and get reps without scrutiny. AEW doesn't run any house shows, so pretty much all your matches are on TV/filmed shows. If you can fuck off to Mexico for nine months or whatever, take some risks, get some experience and seasoning then I think that's a great boon. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

Austin Theory to outer space.

[simonworden]

6 hours ago, Fog Dude said:

Fair, but your guess of "nearing 40" would've meant he was getting booked by the FWA while still in school. Which, knowing BritWres, I suppose isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

About 2005, half of the FWA undercard looked like lost children they'd pulled out of shopping trolleys in the nearest Tesco. 

[Lorne Malvo]

Dan Head looked so young he's probably in Sixth Form now. 

[LaGoosh]

5 hours ago, simonworden said:

About 2005, half of the FWA undercard looked like lost children they'd pulled out of shopping trolleys in the nearest Tesco. 

Wrestlers who look about 12 years old is what the UK wrestling scene is built on.

[BomberPat]

11 hours ago, gmoney said:

That's not the only benefit. It's also a chance to go somewhere and get reps without scrutiny. AEW doesn't run any house shows, so pretty much all your matches are on TV/filmed shows. If you can fuck off to Mexico for nine months or whatever, take some risks, get some experience and seasoning then I think that's a great boon. 

This is something I've had to update my advice I give to trainees on; it used to be pretty easy to say "recognise which shows you can afford to try new things on", because if you try a new character in front of two dozen people, that's never really getting out anywhere. Now, even if you're working a village hall in the arse end of nowhere, chances are it's been filmed or even streamed somewhere - no guarantee that people will watch it, but it's out there.

More than anything, there are just fewer places to get those kinds of reps. I know a few wrestlers who have been to Japan in recent years and come back so much better, and it's not because Japanese wrestling is magic, it's because they're working heavier schedules than they do here, and even in their down-time they tend to be expected to be training, so it's just a concentrated couple of weeks of doing nothing but wrestle.

 

In terms of different styles, there are still regional variations and different tastes, but they're not nearly as pronounced as they used to be, and only getting worse. AAA may as well not be a Lucha Libre promotion any more, and even CMLL has been gradually modernising, so you're having to look further to find these little pockets of weirdness and difference in wrestling.