NXT’s move to cable TV next week starts a busy autumn that sees an explosion in the amount of wrestling that’ll be on every week. For better, or for worse.
Doubling in length, an extra hour of NXT has filled some with dread, particularly as the NXT brand this year has been cooling off, partially down to the slight changes to TV, and also down to how many NXT call-ups have ended up going nowhere. Why get invested in a “developmental” brand when their next step is into oblivion?
NXT aside, those who just watch “weekly wrestling” are about to have their to-do lists completely blown apart, with SmackDown’s impending move to FOX reportedly leading to the show matching Raw and becoming three hours long. At least the rumoured demise of 205 Live means that we’ll get an hour back… although I’ve not watched a full Raw or SmackDown in over a decade. That’s not a joke. Not having Sky Sports, the last Raw I had the chance to watch in full was when I was in America three years ago… and I fell asleep halfway through hour number one. Yeah. (To be fair, it was the episode that started with everyone atop ladders… in an entirely natural way!)
WWE aside, the other big change is the debut of AEW on TNT – two hours, every Wednesday night, yup. Add that to the eight hours of WWE TV, plus NXT UK, 205 Live and Main Event… and that’s thirteen hours if you’re just keeping up with everything the “top two” put out. Throw in MLW, ROH and Impact’s offerings, and that’s way too much wrestling for all but the most hardcore fans. If you’re also trying to keep up with even some of the indies – be it their weekly TVs or fresh events – or New Japan, and it’s a lost cause: outside of G1 season, New Japan World typically live streams 5-7 shows a month, with other Japanese streaming services having a similar output. If they’re organised.
What about the indies? Beyond’s relaunching Uncharted Territory in October, plus whatever shows that your favourite indies drop. wXw? Usually a show or two a month. PROGRESS? About the same. Rev Pro? Ditto. Chuck in promotions that “I really ought to watch, but give my full attention to (hi Riptide and North!), plus whatever else is up on HighSpots, IWTV.live and other services… and the proliferation of content is getting ready to hit a critical mass.
Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere. When I started this blog, it was intended to cover stuff that I watched – for better, or for worse. Does it mean that we’ll start covering promotions and matches on a more ad-hoc basis? Perhaps – while it’s tricky to jump in and out of promotions without some seeing it as patronising, our coverage is definitely going to change when it comes to some New Japan tours as we try to be a little more succinct in our coverage (cough Tag League cough). Save for NXT UK (since part of me really wants to see it blow up and succeed, if only to prove myself and other critics wrong), I won’t be touching on AEW or WWE, mostly because the world and its dog is already over-analysing them to death right now – but anything that stands out, like any other match that makes tape in the world, is fair game for a one-off “random review”.
Change is coming to the wrestling world, and for hardcore fans, unless you pick and choose… so is burnout.