Welcome to premiere week. No, that’s not just the WWE’s fancy way of trying to get attention when AEW is seeing to seize it. It’s also the real, and big, truth that the new wrestling boom re-begins this week.
As of the time of me typing, there is live, streaming pro wrestling for Americans more nights this week than there is not. And as someone trying to maybe not go full wrestling overdose (diversify your interests!), I thought it would be good for me to explain how I’ll use the word live to help make decisions.
Live pro wrestling shows this week:
- Monday: Raw (USA)
- Wednesday: AEW Dynamite (TNT)
- Wednesday: NXT (USA)
- Thursday: Beyond: Uncharted Territory (IWTV)
- Friday: SmackDown (FOX)
- Sunday: Hell in a Cell (WWE Network)
Yes, 5/7ths of the nights this week has live wrestling to watch, and I’d almost recommend we all stick to that load, which is already kinda too much for most.
I know that won’t happen. Some stick by their Impacts and their MLWs and their ROHs. Support who you want to support. Progress has its next show in October, which I know I’ll watch when it hits VOD.
But let’s be honest: pro wrestling ages faster than we’d all like to admit. Watching on DVR or Blu-ray (Hi PWG, when do you expect we’ll get BOLA 2019? 2021? OK!) takes air out of the match. The internet works in such a way that news of the biggest moments (not even to mention the victors) always break through in the moment.
While we all want the best for the health of our favorite wrestlers, watching a match that happened hours or days ago takes away some of the thrill and danger that help you lose your sense of real and fake in the moment.
Ready your second screens
As of now, Wednesdays and Saturdays (more on that below) will be the major nights of head to head competition. But don’t let the wrestlers or their stans think you need to pick a side.
Even if you’re a cord-cutter or not, download the apps you’ll need (FOX, USA, B/R Live, FITE, etc.) and pop that popcorn and find a comfy seat. Unlike during the Monday Night Wars, this era has given us the tools we need to simulstream The Wednesday Night War. And I’m expecting all parties involved to throw so much one-uppsman-ship at us, we’re going to need all the gadgets and screens we have.
And then there’s live pro wrestling IRL
The first scheduling conflict on the calendar brings AEW and Evolve to the same night for the second time this year (Fight for the Fallen happened alongside Evolve’s 10th anniversary show). This time, though, AEW announced for the date (Nov. 9) first, so WWN and Evolve (the other home for NXT consultant Gabe Sapolsky) announced afterwards.
And as much as I don’t want to miss an AEW PPV, that’s exactly what’s happening on November 9. Evolve 139 takes place at the promotion’s home court at La Boom, a little Latin night club in Queens, NY that’s easy for me to attend and where I’ve never left unsatisfied since I started attending 3 years ago.
Anybody who’s attended a show there, and probably those who have watched an iPPV or two, can tell you that Evolve in La Boom is just that special. And as great as the AEW show will likely be (the talent they have is up there), I’ll always pick the pro wrestling happening live in front of me, even if it finds me dodging flying bodies in the audience (lord knows what AR Fox will do this time).
Good luck
So, here we go into the unknown. One last ... request? Don’t rip on someone else for watching the wrestling they choose to watch. We’re all marks and we’re far more similar than we are different.