WHY YOU NEED ‘ALL IN’ TO BE A SUCCESS

There is a lot of truth when Cody says “All In, Is a feeling”. The buzz is unlike anything we have experienced in recent times. It feels very much like we are on the cusp of a wrestling boom. Unlike the Attitude era, which was sadly a passing phase, over the last three years we have witnessed a global renewed interest in the sport. There is no denying a lot of that has come from the development and the success of the WWE network. I for one took a ten year hiatus after Stone Cold retired. I didn’t much care for the direction the company was going in, with the likes of John Cena and the ever growing titles Triple H managed to capture, I moved on. The WWE network however re-established my love for professional wrestling. I ended up revisiting the Attitude Era in all it’s glory, revisiting the many Monday Night Raw and notice the sheer energy associated with the product. When I started to watch the Modern day product, I was astounded by the disconnection that the audience and myself felt. Watching a company squander so many talented new stars, look no further than The Wyatt Family, I grew increasingly detached from the superman actics of Cena and Reigns. Whilst there is no denying that NXT Takeover have kept many a wrestling fan loyal to the network, the sheer distain and ignorance that the WWE has for an audience is infuriating.

We have seen many a NXT talent get underutilized (Finn Balor, Asuka, Sasha Banks) or fade into complete obscurity (Apollo Crews, No Way Jose, AOP, Ember Moon). One of the greatest thing about living in the social media age remains that there are many alternatives to WWE. For a long time since the end of the Monday Night Wars, WWE have sort of become the definition of wrestling for many people. Also Youtube has given people such as Whatculture, Wrestletalk, JDfromny206, Cultaholic, BruceBlitz, RasslinRantin, Solomonster all have garnered their own following, providing honest and at times crucial dissection of the WWE product. I take no pleasure in saying WWE has driven a large portion of it’s audience away with the booking of two people, John Cena and Roman Reigns. This has given fans the option to choose a different product. Lucha Underground, NJPW, ROH and Impact have all evolved, listening to their audiences and provided many a matches that have redefined pro wrestling. Matches such as Omega Vs Okada acted as a transition for many into a more maturer, real product that is focuses on realism and simplicity.

 

 

The selling out of both ‘ALL IN’ and ‘G1 Supercard’ have served as the first shot fired towards Titan Towers. The fact both shows sold out without releasing a single match is incredible. It shows that it isn’t just children that watch pro-wrestling. The children that do have become conditioned to wrestling being defined as WWE. All you have to do is look at the re-launch of World of Sport, which looks like NXT edited by a toddler. As a film editor even I couldn’t stomach the nauseating cutting. Speaking of NXT, as much as I love what Triple H has done with that product, it’s depressing to see WWE monopolize all these outstanding performances from the indies and diluting their creativity. In no way am I saying that happens in NXT, I am referring to when they get the dreaded call up. WWE are in a weird position right now. Their open distain for their audiences is insulting. The fact we have witnessed Roman Reigns be forced down our throats is sickening. The treatment of many of the NXT talent, especially Asuka is unforgivable. It’s understandable why people are being driven away from their product. In no way am I saying that anyone desires WWE to go out of business, but they need a harsh wake up call. ‘ALL IN’ and ‘G1 Supercard’ are the wings of change. Just like when WCW was destroying WWF in the ratings, it forced Vince’s hand. We need these two events to evolve the art and practice of professional wrestling. WWE is a tired, outdated product who has destroyed so many opportunities to get over new talent. They would rather focus their women’s division on the likes of Ronda Rousey or bringing back talent from the past to draw numbers. 

Everything that is happening on NJPW and ALL IN matter. There is long term booking, which generates more intrigue and enjoyment. We all throw out rumours of who is next going to cross over to ‘the big leagues’. Why would we want the likes of Okada, Omega, The Bucks, Cody, even Jericho to be shackled by the corporate agenda. As someone who is an independent voice, that has no affiliations with any journalist or wrestling promotion, We need Cody and the Bucks to succeed.