 When “The Bloodline” came back to WWE television after WrestleMania 40, on the weekend of April 6th, they were only represented by Paul Heyman, Jimmy Uso, and Solo Sioka. As Paul Heyman began accepting responsibility for Roman Reigns loss to Cody Rhodes, for the WWE title. Solo took exception, snatched the mic, and said “Losses have consequences, right?” In shock, Heyman said yes and this lead to Solo, and with whom he has dubbed his “MFT” (Tama Tonga, signing with WWE after leaving NJPW) attacked Jimmy, leaving him lay. Paul Heyman left the ring with Solo and Tanga after the melee but looked very distressed. Later than night, Tama Tonga leaned into Heyman’s face and said “by order of the Tribal Chief.” Heyman looked confused, and frightened. The following week, on WWE Smackdown, it was revealed that Solo had admitted Tonga into the Bloodline, causing Heyman more distress than ever. Later, the MFT attacked Kevin Owens by t-boning his rental car with a rental car of his own, dragging Owens into the arena, and shoving him down the entrance ramp. Owens attempted to fight back, but he was outnumbered. Who knows just how bad this would have gotten if not for Smackdown General Manager, Nick Aldis, stepping between the crazed Tama Tanga and Owens. Aldis demanded that Heyman get control of the Bloodline, because on Smackdown “we settle things in the ring!” Heyman insisted this wasn’t part of any plan, and wasn’t ordered by anyone.
It appears that Solo Sioka has simply decided to take the mantle of “Tribal Chief.” On the surface it seems that in his plan to usurp Roman Reigns as the head of the table he went and procured a savage body guard in Tama Tanga, “his MFT” after all. I however feel that we have to look deeper than what we see on the surface. While Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has gone away for now, he is still a member of the board for TKO, the owner of WWE. The Rock came into WWE after Cody Rhodes had just won the Royal Rumble for the second time in a row, an amazing feat, just so he could continue to chase the end of his story. The Rock tried to talk Cody out of his WrestleMania match against Roman. The Rock wanted that shot for himself. The Rock believed that the fans of WWE wanted to see himself challenge Roman for the WWE title, and “Tribal Chief” moniker, more than they wanted to see Cody finish his story. The Rock…was wrong. I believe we have to take into consideration what this has done to the Rock. Yes, we saw how it brought out the old “Heel” Rock. We saw him blatantly attack Cody, bloody him, rub that blood onto a “Momma Rhodes” weight belt that he had made to present to Cody’s mother himself! So yes, we saw just how much the fans reaction caused the Rock to snap. That said, I believe, now that The Rock’s anger has subdued, and we can see that has subdued when he went face to face with Cody in the ring, swapped belts with him so each could hold the other, and gave him a gift back, that Cody had given him some time ago, promising to return and come back for Cody, and his WWE title. So the Rock has gone from angry, and crazed, to subdued and plotting. The Rock sees himself as not just a boss, but the final boss.That moniker is an important one. He sits on a throne, like a real life Thanos if you will. His shot at collecting his metaphorical infinity gauntlet, becoming a TKO board member, defeating Roman Reigns, becoming the WWE champion in this new era, and having the mantel of Tribal chief bestowed upon him, was denied by Cody Rhodes, and in some part, the fans. The Rock now sits in Hollywood, working on his movies, while plotting his return to WWE. I believe the Rock’s plot includes naming Solo Sioka the leader of the Bloodline in his stead, not the Tribal Chief, but someone The Rock trusts and knows will be as wicked as he has to be. I believe the Rock possibly subsidized Toma Tonga’s WWE contract to make sure he was brought in as the Bloodline’s killer, Solo Sioka’s MFT! Just like a mob boss that goes to prison but still controls his “family” from the inside, The Rock controls his bloodline from inside his Hollywood trailer. I believe the Rock has further plans to deepen his grasp on the WWE, and that he feels Roman Reigns disappointed him, and the bloodline with his loss. Remember, The Rock pinned Cody Rhodes on night one, and Roman failed to do the same. WWE legends came to WrestleMania 40 to thwart The Rock’s plans, so he must make his bloodline stronger and more savage than ever! Rumors say that Jacob Fatu, one of the most savage and scary Samoan wrestlers in the world has signed with WWE. The question is, who will he side with when he debuts? Jimmy Uso was jumped out of the bloodline, but will his brother Jey take him in? Jey is on record saying that he told Jimmy to come with him when he left the bloodline, but he refused. So now what? Jey is gunning for the WWE World title, does he have the time or desire to round up his brother and re-start their incredible tag team? Jey and Jimmy with Jacob Fatu and a returning Roman Reigns would be a powerful team to stand up to this new Bloodline! How about Paul Heyman? Is he really as distraught as it appears? Or is that all an act by a man that can be as weasely as anyone? What about the upcoming draft? How is that going to affect things? So many questions, and none of us know the answers, but I stand by what I’ve written here…the Rock is behind Solo Sioka’s actions, all part of his plan for revenge on The WWE, Cody Rhodes, and the fans!
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 Female wrestler of the year: Giulia
Tag team of the year: REStart (Natsupoi and Saori Anou) Unit of the year: Queens Quest Breakthrough wrestler of the year: AZM Most improved wrestler of the year: Yuna Mizumori Match of the year: Giulia vs Megan Bayne (Dream Queendom 2023) Best PPV event of the year: Dream Queendom 2023 Best angle (story) of the year: Maika’s rise to the Red belt  I have never, nor shall I ever be a fan of comedy wrestling, or comedy wrestlers. Having been part of the business as a wrestler, manager, interviewer, commentator, and booking committee for more than ten independent organizations, I “understand” comedy in wrestling, I just don’t like it. When I watch professional wrestling, I still want to believe. For me, comedy wrestlers take that away, they are a big slap in the face that what you are watching is silly, and fake. I say all that so I can now praise a reformed comedy wrestler. Yuna Mizumori used to wrestle dressed as a pineapple. Yes, you read that right, Yuna’s presentation was “look at me, I am a wrestling pineapple!” I never wrote about, or discussed, Yuna Mizumori, because she wrestled for organizations I never watched. I never begrudged her existence, so long as I didn’t have to be subject to it. Then one day she showed up in Stardom’s “New Blood” shows. From Wikipedia, Stardom’s New Blood shows have been held since 2022 and slowly became a developmental sub-brand of the promotion, which mainly focus on matches where rookie wrestlers, usually with three or less years of in-ring experience, evolve. So even then, I wasn’t upset with Yuna’s participation, but she was technically working for Stardom, my favorite promotion.  As I continued to watch Stardom, I began to see subtle and then grander changes in Yuna Mizumori. She began expressing a desire to join Cosmic Angels. This is where things got very interesting. Tam Nakano, the leader of Cosmic Angels demanded that Yuna lose weight, and get in better wrestling shape. Yuna began having to face Cosmic Angel members to prove her worth, having excellent matches with Natsupoi, and eventually even Nakano, The World of Stardom champion, herself! Yuna also had very solid matches with wrestlers like Saya Iida, and Hazuki. Eventually, after meeting her goal weight, and working a stiff match with Nakano, Yuna was accepted into Cosmic Angels. My favorite Yuna match of 2023 was against Momo Watanabe in the 5Star Grand Prix, she really won me over there, it was then that I could say with pride that I am a fan of Yuna Mizumori. Yuna not only has a great look, and solid wrestling ability, but her charisma and enthusiasm is second to no one in the world of wrestling. She always seems legitimately happy to be wrestling, and loves the fans. Now she no longer has to overcome the gimmick of being a wrestling pineapple, but instead, is gaining the reputation of a friendly, and fun, bad ass, that can fight toe to toe with the best of them that Stardom has to offer, and that is saying a lot! Yuna Mizumori has gone from being a silly sideshow, to being a main event caliber professional wrestler!
 World Wonder Ring Stardom is the best wrestling in the world. It’s not just because the wrestling is so good, but because nearly every member of the roster is hard to root against. Don’t get me wrong, every Stardom fan has their favorites, but there are few roster members that are legitimately hated. Sure, Odeo Tai are heels, and that’s very clear to any and everyone who watches Stardom, but all Stardom fans know that every member of Odeo Tai are legitimately great wrestlers. Yes, even that damn clown, as under the makeup is Joshi legend Kaori Yoneyama.
I will watch just about any wrestling when I can. I check out RAW, Smackdown, Dynamite, and Collision fairly regularly. I have watched some Impact (TNA) and used to regularly watch MLW. That said, too often, in other companies such as these, and others, there will be wrestlers I legit cannot stand. I am not talking about heels, or “heat,” but wrestlers who make me fast forward, or even change the channel. More often than wrestlers I can’t stand are angles (stories) that are flat out embarrassing or total cringe in presentation. Stardom doesn’t suffer from these things. A wrestling fan that gets into Stardom doesn’t have to skip matches, nor do they have to watch stupid angles like marriages, someone’s mom coming to the ring, or wrestlers fighting over who is someone’s bff! When you watch Stardom you get to see the best wrestlers in the world fight it out in the ring, occasionally using some playful banter or a comedic touch to add to what’s being done on screen, or preparing to be done. While there are a few toxic, unhappy, Stardom fans, you really have to search to find them. Most of the time those type of fans are not accepted by the majority, and have to find their own little nook of the internet to do their bitching and complaining. The majority of Stardom fans can dislike a booking decision, yet still love the shows, and not allow their disagreement with a decision made by the company to cause them to no longer enjoy the company and their shows. It’s refreshing, and nice to be a part of such a wrestling fandom. Stardom doesn’t seem to grab headlines as much as every other company, except for their frequent “must see” matches, and when someone like Mercedes Money is signed by Stardom’s parent company, Bushi Road. I feel this is because there is little drama in Stardom. I also feel this is because, as stated earlier, the vast majority of fans are happy with their company, and don’t have to complain on social media the way that most fans do about every other company. So if you want to be happy watching wrestling, and are sick of all the negativity and drama, consider giving World Wonder Ring Stardom a chance. You might be surprised how good it feels to love wrestling again, instead of loving to hate it.  Sometimes I get frustrated that Stardom fans don’t post much about the company, the matches, etc. on social media. There are plenty of fans, plenty of pictures, and some discussion, mostly on Twitter and Reddit, but there’s nowhere near as much of any that as there is for WWE, AEW, Impact, etc. However, as I started to examine this, I discovered a few things. More than half of social media posts about other companies are complaints, frustrations, and flat out hatred. WWE, Impact, AEW, and other company’s fans are for the most part, seldom, if ever, happy. The positive posts from those fans are typically about certain wrestlers that they love because they are getting pushed, and or winning titles. Fans of these other promotions can be happy, but typically the majority are calling for change, griping about wins and losses, and armchair booking. Sure, sometimes those things can be fun. Occasionally debate and disagreement can be enjoyable, but that’s pretty rare.
What I’ve discovered about most Stardom fans, and yes, there are exceptions, they are almost always happy. You see, in Stardom, the vast majority of the wrestlers are seen as “worthy” even if they aren’t everyone’s favorites. For example, I am very frustrated that my two favorites, Hazuki and AZM (pronounced Azumi) aren’t holding any major titles, and I don’t see much chance of that changing anytime real soon. The reason I don’t bitch and moan all the time on social media is that I acknowledge and accept that those they are losing too are amazing, hard workers, and incredible wrestlers. I believe the biggest gripes Stardom fans have is usually regarding booking decisions made by Stardom executive producer, Rossy Ogawa. Fans believe that Rossy has his favorites and those favorites will be pushed over more deserving talent. Again though, I believe even most of those fans accept that just about every woman on the Stardom roster are worthy of a push, worthy title holders, worthy representatives of the company. One major “booking” issue many have, especially American fans, is that new comers will often get huge pushes and title reigns while long term roster members do not. I honestly have no answer for that, as I don’t understand it myself. Every issue and complaint is always answered by the greatness of the wrestlers in Stardom, even if they aren’t YOUR favorite. It’s a phenomenon like I have never seen in professional wrestling, especially modern day professional wrestling. So I say to you that if you want to be a happy professional wrestling fan, a content professional wrestling, if you want to find joy, fun, and excitement in professional wrestling again, I would strongly suggest that you follow World Wonder Ring Stardom. Stardom’s video service is less than seven dollars per month! There’s no better deal in all of pro wrestling! Some good places to help you understand and keep up with everything Stardom are my social media sites, and a few others. Here are the links. Stardom Samurai YouTube Stardom Samurai Facebook The Stardomcast Stardom Reddit Page Stardom Official YouTube Stardom English Twitter Stardom Main Twitter  Having named Alex Hammerstone, and Jon Gresham, WrestlingDoneRight.com’s co-wrestlers of the year in 2020 and 2021, the thought crossed my mind to name them for a third consecutive year. Both of these wrestlers are my kind of wrestlers! Gresham for his in ring technical skills and complete devotion to pure wrestling, and Hammerstone for his charisma, physique, and power. However, I decided to go with Chris Jericho as my wrestler of the year, for 2022 for a few different/unique reasons. Let’s take a look at those reasons.
-First off, Chris Jericho has been extremely important to the success of AEW. Yes, he’s done a few things that I wouldn’t consider “Wrestling Done Right” over those years, but in 2022 he really got on track and proceeded to get/put a lot of guys over. What many wrestling fans don’t understand is that putting someone over doesn’t mean that you have to lose to them in a match, or a feud. Getting into a program with a wrestler like Chris Jericho means you’ve arrived, and many fans need to understand that. -Secondly reshaping his body deserves more credit than is given. At 52, Chris Jericho is 13 months and 4 days younger than me. I can attest to how difficult it is to get into any kind of shape in your 50’s. As such, this belongs on this list of reasons that Y2J is WDR’s wrestler of the year. -Thirdly, the formation of the Jericho Appreciation Society has been money. Most fans, such as myself, despising the term “sports entertainment” and that has been the reason many have attempted to use it in their gimmick over the years, in numerous wrestling promotions. No one has done this as well as Chris Jericho and his “Society” have in 2022. Fourthly, the JAS’s feud with the Blackpoll Combat club has been a focal point of AEW for nearly all of 2022. While some fans complain about long lasting feuds, they are an absolute must for any wrestling organization on National TV, and this one has been the backbone of AEW all year long! The build of Sammy Guevara, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker (who would both likely be after thoughts in AEW if not for Jericho,) and Daniel Garcia are absolutely reasons WDR awards Chris Jericho with our Wrestler of the year honors. Yes, I even believe that Jake Hager and his purple hat are more over than Hager would have ever been without Jericho. Tay Melo simply fits perfectly with Sammy, and Anna Jay A.S. is much better off than when she was with Dark Order! Fifth, Jericho shied away from gimmick matches in 2022 (forgetting the “barbed wire everywhere” match, which everyone should do) Jericho wrestled numerous matches against top notch opponents, having amazing matches with each one of them. Jericho even brought back his “Lionheart” persona! Sixth, Jericho was an amazing Ring of Honor World Champion! Having banger matches against Bandido, Bryan Danielson, Dalton Castle, and even NJPW’s Tomahiro Ishii, a former ROH TV champion, Jericho even forced Ian Riccaboni to admit that Jericho may very well have been the best ROH World champion of all time! All of that said however, he still put Claudio Castagnoli over for the title, tapping out to his giant swing, something I am not sure has ever happened, thus making the move seem, look, and feel, even more devastating, a legitimate “finisher” rather than a mid-match spot done for laughs. Finally, it’s clear to me that this is one of the best years of Chris Jericho’s career, and as such, he won me back as a fan, something I didn’t think would even be possible. Congratulation Chris Jericho…the Wrestling Done Right wrestler of the year for 2022!  I asked anyone that currently dislike AEW to list as many reasons as to why, that they could, being as detailed as possible, but not requiring “paragraphs.” A social media friend was kind enough to engage me on this. In this article I will respond at length to these “issues.” My aim here is not to make my friend look bad, but to try and make a point that when it comes to professional wrestling, many need to learn the hard lesson that I learned. Wrestling and wrestling fandom is best served when we as fans, find what we like, and dedicate our time to that. When we simply ignore, and walk away from any and everything we dislike. If you dislike everything, then wrestling just isn’t for you anymore. I couldn’t accept that for myself, so I found the company I like best, the company I could accept the most, and that’s AEW. WWE, and other companies are not for me, at all, but I will not spend my time online criticizing them, or celebrating their failures, botches, ratings, etc. I will be too busy promoting, and talking positively about what I love, and the IWC will be a better place because of it. I ask you all to join me in this venture! Now, here are my friends “issues” with AEW, and my response to each of them.
Long term booking: MJF’s rise to the world title has been a long term story, and it’s the best story going right now in AEW. MJF is the best heel in all of wrestling, even using William Regal to get the top, then turning on him, holding a grudge since his WWE tryouts, years ago! Darby Allin’s rise, with Sting by his side, is long term story telling. Sting even said he returned to wrestling because of Darby! Samoa Joe’s arrival and tear through the company has been happening since he arrived. Yes, the turn on Wardlow was sudden, but he’s a mean MF’er who snaps easily. Orange Cassidy has gone from a goofy “mascot” to a legit contender, and champion, in a very slow build. Jungle Boy Jack Perry’s rise as an under sized baby face has been long term storytelling, his best friend turning on him, twice, is something he had to overcome, inside a cage match, where the long term story ended! Jamie Hayter arrives in AEW, has been a lifelong friend to Toni Storm, but she joins Britt Baker because she wants the World title, and chooses that over friendship! Wardlow was sidetracked, I will admit that. But his story isn’t over. Honestly, I think he got so big, so fast, Tony and company didn’t know what to do, because they weren’t ready to put the world title on him yet. I think you have to pivot in wrestling at times, based on people’s reaction, and AEW does have to learn to do that more, for sure! However; this is not as bad as Vince McMahon purposefully killing people’s pushes and spots, just because he wanted to, or he didn’t like them. Tony makes mistakes, he doesn’t look to crush wrestlers who have worked hard. Powerhouse Hobbs story is still being told. He’s going places, and he will arrive as his story is told. Could it be better? I suppose it could, but it’s there and I predict it’s going to be good in the end! Storylines that make sense I don’t understand this complaint at all. There are a ton of “stories” in wrestling that don’t make sense to me, but people seem to like. Sami Zayn with the Uso’s.” I don’t find that interesting, or funny. I find it dumb. But that’s me. To others it makes sense and is good, and funny. What in AEW doesn’t make sense specifically? I think this is just the person not liking some stuff in AEW and as such, saying it “doesn’t make sense.” Stop the rinse and repeat elite crap they have the same match every time. To be fair, I don’t care for The Elite at all either. I agree their matches are almost all exactly the same, but again, this is a preference issue, not a “legitimate” issue with the company. I can’t stand hardcore matches, but some love them. I can’t stand comedy stuff (worse case example is Micro Man in MLW) but for some reason, some people love it. Since 1977 (when I started watching) wrestling has always had wrestlers, stories, angles, gimmicks, that I personally hated with a passion. Again, this is a preference issue, and not a legit “problem” with the company. Improve the horrible women's division This has to be a complaint from someone that hasn’t been watching. The women’s division was hideous with Nyla Rose, Riho, and Emi Sakura dominating it. Recently we’ve had Toni Storm, Jade Cargill (Green, but passionate and learning), Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, Athena, and other top talents on top. It’s clearly improved, and still improving. Stop mentioning WWE every single week Rival companies have been doing this since WWE took over the industry. The NWA did it a lot, Jim Crockett promotion promo’s frequently contained veiled shots at Vince, or WWE. Impact wrestling has done it, and my God, Eric Bischoff challenged Vince McMahon to a damn fight! Like it or not, this has been happening and likely will keep happening, as long as the WWE is in control of the industry. Push deserving talent stop signing wrestler's as your roster is over crowded Who determines who is “deserving?” Is MJF not deserving of the World title? Jamie Hayter? Is Samoa Joe not deserving of holding both the AEW and ROH TV titles? How about The Acclaimed? Not deserving of the tag titles? I suppose enough people hate Orange Cassidy to say he isn’t deserving, but again, based on your dislike isn’t enough to really warrant saying he’s not deserving. The roster is not over crowded, it is however not fully used. Tony Kahn simply spreads himself too thin. I don’t care how rich, powerful and intelligent Kahn is, you can’t book as much wrestling as he does, and not miss guys, opportunities, etc. Tony needs to delegate some of his booking to others he trusts. Then we will see their amazing roster used better, and more fully. Look, I could name a dozen things that I think suck about WWE and many other wrestling promotion’s. But the idea of “fans” going on social media, spouting their opinions as facts, and saying these supposed “facts” prove that AEW sucks is embarrassingly stupid. If you enjoy WWE, go watch that, and ignore AEW. I ignore WWE, MLW, Impact, and several other companies. I absolutely loathe “DDT” wrestling out of Japan, so I don’t watch it, nor do I pay it any mind. I suppose all the crying and complaining is based on the idea that those doing it WANT to like and enjoy AEW, but can’t, because it’s not what they want it to be. I’m sorry for you, I really am, because I once lived in that head space too. Maybe after reading this, instead of getting angrier, you’ll do what I did. You’ll make up your mind to try and just watch what you enjoy, and talk pleasantly about that! What a better place the wrestling community would be if that were to happen!  For years I followed, loved, and supported the modern style, “indie” wrestling product. I had a podcast (From the Top Turnbuckle) and covered promotions around the world, most passionately though, my local promotions (UWE, LCW, Legacy, etc.). This lead to me working for those promotions as a commentator and interviewer, later also working for several other promotions, most notably MCW Pro Wrestling, based in Joppa Maryland. I had an absolute blast during those years!
What made me fall out of love with the modern, indie style, was the arrival of guys like Joey Ryan and Dick Justice, as well as the promotion of undertrained guys, often to the very top of indie promotions, simply based on their friendship with the promoters, or their willingness to keep paying for training, no matter how much that training wasn’t helping. Things like “dance offs” in the middle of matches, and top indie guys wrestling “invisible men” also chased me away. I found all of these things not only embarrassing, but an insult to professional wrestling as a whole. This drove me to branding myself as “The Wrestling Snob” on the hunt for only the best professional wrestling. When AEW first began I was excited! Finally a real alternative to the WWE. Sadly though, AEW featured and used a fair amount of talents that embraced the foolishness I hated. Sure, they had some good, solid, matches, but to me, they were often ruined by the weirdos and goofballs out there doing their shtick on the same cards. However; if you’ve noticed, most of those “wrestlers” are gone, or demoted to the YouTube shows now, simply because they aren’t a real draw. Being on top of small indie card is one thing, but being on National TV is another. Selling 300 tickets is different than selling 5,000 or more. Finally, after three years, AEW has settled into being a solid company. Yes, Tony Kahn and company cater to the “smarks.” AEW doesn’t seem desperate to draw in the casual fans. Maybe that’s a mistake, but being that I can’t stand casual wrestling fans, I’m okay with it. As of late, AEW really reminds me of the indie wrestling company I worked for, that I loved most, and that was Legacy Wrestling. This is the main reason that I find it appealing right now. That said though, there are some rules, or line items, that you need to not only accept, but embrace, if you’re an old school guys like me, wanting to follow a modern day, American, wrestling product. Here are those rules/line items. 1. You must accept that today’s wrestling is a completely different product that it was in the 80’s and 90’s (or even earlier). Yes, it has some elements that are the same, some concepts that are the same, but overall it’s wildly different. 2. You must accept that the modern fan is as different as the product is today. The vast majority of modern fans are attention deficit. They can’t follow long angles (story lines) or intelligent gimmicks. They will turn the channel the second something bores them, or makes them think too much. This is why many old school guys won’t book an old school style. They understand their audience and sadly, what that means. 3. You must accept that you will be miserable if you watch today’s wrestling with an old school mindset. I don’t mean just in regard to the style of the in ring performers, but the booking, the story telling, the “sensibility” that the old school stuff often had is now dead. Today’s product is shot gun style, full of car crash matches. I too wish this were not the case, but I love wrestling so much that I find a way to adapt to today’s style, and presentation. If you can’t do that, don’t even bother watching. 4. Selling is dead. While it happens on a small level, today’s product is about moves. The matches are so fast that there isn’t time to sell much. The idea is that today’s wrestlers have “fighting spirit” that keeps them going, almost like a magic fairy dust. It’s a concept that was born in Japan, and adopted by today’s wrestlers. Yes, I am hurt, but “fighting spirit” allows me to kick out of monstrous moves and keep going. The winner of today’s matches is the wrestler with the most “fighting spirit.” This concept applies the same way to giant wrestler vs little wrestler match ups. I used to do a podcast where the theme was a modern promoter, and fan of the old school debating me in regard to those ideas and the new school ideas and approaches. We did that weekly show for over a year, but the problem was, there was no argument to be made. I knew I was losing nearly every argument because it cannot be denied that the old ways, the old traditions, are much better and more intelligent that the modern ways and traditions. The best things about the modern style are the few old ways and traditions that are still kept! Please understand, that because old school wrestling was so good, it simply can’t be placed up against today’s product. The old school wins easily, every time. My argument now isn’t new school vs old school. My argument is that an old school fan, if choosing to, can adapt to the new school product and enjoy it, possibly even love it! That is what I now seek to show you all here at WrestlingDoneRight.com. I hope that I can be successful in doing so, because this is the wrestling we have today, and if you’re like me, you just love professional wrestling!  Me, 1986 I love wrestling. I have loved wrestling since I was eight years old. I love old school wrestling most of all, and yes, I realize that is mostly because I am soon going to be 53 years old. I also realize that old school wrestling is pretty much dead, gone, and buried.
Pro Wrestling Noah has a much slower paced (mostly) harder hitting, better selling, style than any other wrestling company on Earth. I will always be a fan of Noah, a respecter of it without doubt. The problem though is that it's not American style wrestling. They don't do in ring, or at a podium promos/interviews. They don't do any real angles, not as I know angles to be in America. They have few real "big" personalities. Their reason for fighting is simply for the competition. I crave more than that. I also miss English commentary on EVERY show. Most of all I miss having people to interact with about what I am watching. People to agree with and even people to disagree with. Watching Japanese wrestling is pretty lonely. Stardom is the best "modern day" wrestling there is. However it suffers from lack of everything I mentioned about Pro Wrestling Noah. The in ring stuff is great as well, but it's also a lonely place to be a fan, as an English speaking American. They also do too much comedy for my tastes. Not enough to make me say it's not any good, but still too much imo. I had found my place in indy wrestling for a number of years. I LOVED IT!!!! What made me start to not love it, but to actually hate it, was dick boy Joey Ryan, finger gun idiot Dick Justice, and other clowns like that. Dance competitions, blow up doll matches, and invisible men, made me loathe the indy scene with a passion. Yes, I was never fond of the lack of selling, or insane bumps that not only didn't end a match, but the wrestler on the receiving end of said insane bumps, often coming back to WIN the damn match, made me flee the indie scene, insulting everything about it on the way. MLW gave me joy for a few years, but now they've sold out to some of, if not the worst comedy bullshit I've seen in years, if ever. Micro man is bad, so insulting, that I am almost hurt to see it happening in a company that I put over so strongly. It breaks my heart watching that go on in that company. Mean while, I can't recall the last Von Erich match I've seen there. The NWA had such potential, but The Question Mark bull shit is just cringe, and shits on everything they do in that company, or did. Now the Nick Aldis stuff seals their fate imo. They had magic in a bottle and not only spilled it, but smashed the bottle all over the sidewalk. I have wanted to love and support AEW simply because someone, ANYONE, finally took on Vince McMahon again. I've always liked and respected Eric Bischoff for the same reason. AEW did some hideous shit for a long time (so did WCW). Stuff that angered me, and made me want to scream, and I often did scream about it, anywhere I could. Currently AEW reminds of the one company that I worked for, that I loved, and that's Legacy Wrestling. They have decent enough angles (stories) at the moment, and lots of solid matches, in the modern style, that pales in comparison to my beloved JCP style, but I love wrestling....and I don't want to...hell I can't forsake it. I have tried, and tried, and tried, to walk away from wrestling, and I am just unable to. It's my favorite entertainment medium by far. Nothing else is even close. So I am going to see how much I can enjoy AEW for now by not acting like an insider. I will cheer for who I like, and boo who I hate. I will root for "my guys" to win, and those I can't stand to lose. Just like I did as a kid, and later a teenager, back in the day. Yes, I now know who deserves pushes and who doesn't, depending on a lot of different merits. I understand who can work, and who can't. I will forever be disgusted by those who refuse to sell as much as they should, but I got over that as a long time Ring of Honor fan, a while ago. AEW may again go down a road that disgusts and infuriates me, we shall see. But for now, I need a non WWE, American company, that I can find people to engage with about. A company with more than a small YouTube or FITE TV audience. A company that's easily accessible, because that is the ONLY way you can ever find an engaged audience, and a company that in the very least, has some guys I consider friends and acquaintances that I worked with, on their way up. So excuse me for just wanting to TRY to enjoy American wrestling again. Yes, that means compromises, and no, I don't like compromises, at all, but I've learned it's either that, or just being a bored, lonely, Japanese wrestling fan that misses so many elements of what I think Pro Wrestling is.  Beginning Saturday, November, 19, 2022, I (Adam Leavelle) will begin breaking down every AEW Show, and PPV, in this "open letter" style. I will offer praise, but also constructive criticism. While loving Pro Wrestling Noah's in ring style, and work, I greatly miss American style wrestling, and will contribute what I can to AEW, in hopes of something, anything, getting through to someone. If nothing I say accomplishes anything, I will at least enjoy attempting to make a difference, for at least as long as I can! A small link titled "Open Letter To AEW" can be found at the top of the home page, beside "Adam's Bio."
Sincerely, -The Wrestling Snob Adam Leavelle |
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