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Are counter-programming and counter-booking the same thing? Is it cool to brag about ratings? Should everybody just focus on their own product or is taking shots at the competition all part of the game?
These are the questions people are arguing about online - often in angry 280 character bursts - regarding the two pro wrestling shows that air on cable television each Wednesday night. Some of the folks doing the arguing work for one of said pro wrestling shows.
So let’s turn to another employee for the definitive take on the whole AEW/NXT war:
Guys, if you’re burying one company over the other, you’re completely missing the fun. I watched both shows from last night and we are lucky, as fans, to get the wrestling we get! In 1997 I LOVED The Hart Foundation and I LOVED the NWO. I hope you guys can do the same.
— Dax FTR (@DaxHarwood) July 9, 2020
Say yeah.
The key word here for me is “burying”. Do I like picking apart the TV numbers, talking to my friends about what angles worked & what matches wowed (and which didn’t), and giggling at broad parodies of the other company’s owners? Sure do! Made a whole career out of it, in fact.
But you can’t let that get in the way of enjoying the fact we’re getting four solid hours of good-to-great wrestling product every Wednesday, and that talents as diverse as Keith Lee, Orange Cassidy, Io Shirai, and Nyla Rose are getting a chance to shine they otherwise might not be getting.
So compare, contrast... even poke some fun. But when you feel yourself getting bitter, take a suggestion from a top guy - be grateful instead.