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| You won't miss out by dropping the E |
So allowing a sub to lapse and purposefully doing other things on Mondays, Tuesdays, and one Sunday night per month was a big deal, even if my interest in the company waned enough to allow me not to spend the money or time. As it turned out, the decline that started with breaking up The Shield and turning Seth Rollins instead of Roman Reigns or Dean Ambrose was my undoing, in addition to the gross labor violations, the campaigning and fundraising for Donald Trump, and the blood-soaked money they're taking from the House of Saud. Every wrestling promotion is bad because promoters are capitalists whom you cannot trust to do the right thing. However, there's shorting talent money and there's *gesturing broadly at WWE's entire history under Vincent Kennedy McMahon*. You can't be full of arch-scumbags and put out a bad product. That makes cutting the cord easy even for cowards like myself.
However, the fear of missing out dissipated when I realized that without paying a Hamilton a month to McMahon and his talent-hoarding shell corporation that funds whatever the fuck Alpha Entertainment is, I could shell out money for other wrestling services, like New Japan World and Independent Wrestling TV. Those services are far from the only ones around; you can sub to Powerslam TV, Highspots, STARDOM World, DDT Universe, or AJPW TV. Aside from paid streaming, All Elite Wrestling also provided two free shows and has made it to weekly television. You can find additional AEW content on YouTube, and the National Wrestling Alliance also debuted its weekly show, Power, yesterday on the streaming service. Major League Wrestling runs weekly. CMLL broadcasts at least two times a week on YouTube, and AAA has a deal with Twitch. Hell, even Impact is still kicking around.
When people say it's a great time to be a wrestling fan, they're not talking about revenue earned for promoters to distribute paltry sums to their talent before hoarding the rest. I don't care how much money McMahon or Tony Khan or Bushiroad Corporation make. I care about wrestling available to me. It's how everyone should care about wrestling. By that metric, the industry is in a boom period. You can watch any company you want on your time and be current on something if that's what you choose. WWE chased me away from itself, but it didn't chase me away from wrestling. I was able to watch the entire G1 Climax (as covered here, obvs), and it left me richer for the experience than any run of Monday Night RAW from June of 2014 until today.
If WWE is wrestling to you, and you decide to part ways with it completely, I understand. The idea of replacing one mode of consumption with another isn't the answer for everyone. But you don't have to fear missing out on wrestling and the community it fosters if you decide WWE is too awful for you anymore. No matter what wrestling is out there, it has a group of people talking about it. You can watch whatever company you want, and you can share your thoughts with someone who, like you, has chosen that particular promotion to enjoy. The point is that you don't have to suffer through something you don't like in order to find something that you can enjoy yourself and possibly with other people.
So if you're spending money and time in a promotion that is actively harming the industry and isn't putting out an enjoyable product for you, you don't need to feel like you're missing out if you cut ties. Obviously, some people are still gonna watch and talk about WWE like it is something worth their time, but honestly, let them do them. If they derive enjoyment from WWE, well, they know that ethical consumption under capitalism is a lie and also let them derive that enjoyment. It's not up to anyone but them to know what they like. But if you aren't on the same wavelength as what WWE puts out, then you don't have to keep up with it. You won't miss it, I promise you. I sure don't.
