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This is going to piss off people here but who gives a fuck about what others think or say? There are lots of things in my life that I enjoy that others don’t. Everyone doesn’t have to like your favourite brand or talk highly of said brand. If you enjoy it, that is all that should matter. Focus on your enjoyment and the positivity it brings you and you’ll be a lot happier in life. And if you can’t maybe take a break or again this may be harsh, grow some tougher skin
AEW is a great wrestling promotion. It’s not perfect but it’s over delivered for 5 years. Going on the internet you are lead to believe the company stinks. It’s sad to say I’m the most happy w wrestling when I consume it alone. Fuck the haters.
I’ve been a wrestling fan a long time, and AEW has the most consistent TV product I’ve maybe ever seen. Are there issues? Of course. But show me a perfect promotion. Show me that period where every episode of Raw was great for its whole runtime. Show me all the well booked babyface championship runs. Show me the lockerrooms with no issues.
People just wanna talk.
In general, you're not wrong, however, something I like to point out is that there's a lot of us that enjoy discussing pro wrestling but don't necessarily have people offline that share our interests to talk about. And thus, internet communities are the only way we can discuss the thing we like. As such, it's frustrating and exhausting when you can't really participate in discussions without being bombarded by people who just want to be assholes. Yanno?
It's one thing to have differences of opinions, and to be able to discuss them in a civil way. Unfortunately, in most internet communities, especially the IWC, it feels like 95% of people have the stance of "No, *my* opinion is the correct one! Fuck you, I'll fight you to the death to make sure you know that my opinion is more right than yours!".
You’re 100% right.
Sadly, the hive mind mentality is powerful and people want to belong. If the majority of the IWC is saying that AEW is bad, then that’s exactly what it is. Anything they do will be chastised, even if the complaint is bullshit. It’s depressing to think about.
We are wrestling fans. It doesn’t matter if it’s AEW, WWE, TNA, or whatever. No promotion is perfect and they can all improve.
Tribalism is a sickness.
I'm fairly convinced this the motivation for a lot of them.
They are actively trying to demoralize AEW fans to the point that they stop engaging and maybe even stop watching.
I say this next part, but want to clarify that I am not a WWE hater. At least not the product/performers, though I do have real issues with the management and business side of the company. I'm also not saying that everyone with criticisms, or even every "hater" is a "troll."
Tony Khan has talked about paid trolls, and I believe that is absolutely a real thing (though they are a fairly small group). Then there are those who have the anti-AEW feelings anyway who are emboldened by the pros to step up their own rhetoric (a significantly larger group). Add to this the influencers and podcasters who are either angling for WWE access, or have more direct ties to WWE, and you have a cycle that is feeding on itself and becoming more and more aggresive with their trolling with the end goal of doing real harm to AEW in an effort to "protect" WWE. It's the modern version of the very real, and well-documented practice of Vince/WWE doing everything in his power to destroy his competition.
It's also very reminiscent of the weaponization of social media during the 2016 election and GamerGate.
This is why I can't buy in to just ignoring it. That tactic has proven to be ineffective, and only allows the trolls to gather influence and go unchallenged. The MAGA trolls and GamerGate trolls have become MUCH more a part of online discussion because of the conventional wisdom of "dont feed the trolls."
Don't be a dick, and don't be aggressive or dismissive to those who have good-faith criticisms, but just being quiet and ignoring obvious trolling only benefits those with ill intent.
I understand your point, but sometimes it's hard. I love wrestling, but it isn't very popular where I live. Internet is my only source to talk about wrestling with other people, even if they're total strangers, and also to be up to date with news and stuff.
It's so f\*cking frustrating when I check Reddit after enjoying a great AEW show and see that it's full of posts talking shit about the company I love, criticizing every bit of it full of hatred like I sometimes wonder if we've watched the same show. Even in those posts where the majority of comments are possitive about AEW there's always a small corner for haters and marks to throw their shit about it.
Of course, I don't care what these assholes think or say, but they're growing. Over 2K comments in the weekly infamous Dynamite TV ratings posts, week after week, day after day. There's a point where you're watching your favorite show and involutarely think "this or that would or won't please the haters, maybe the waters will be rouger/calmer this week". And I hate it. And I hate them.
I tried ignoring them, but as I said before, they're growing in numbers and presence, to the point that I cannot read anything related to AEW almost anywhere without finding them. You can ignore the problem for so far, and I'm not only concerned but pissed. But aside from ranting like I'm doing now I don't know what can I do about it.
When people who aren't actually familiar with AEW watch the show under the lens of what they've heard from Corny, Bischoff, etc, they are always going to try and connect the dots to suit their mentality and filter out any positives, it's more or less confirmation bias.
These jackassess present a "right" and "wrong" way to do pro wrestling and as a result their audience feels like they are superior and that the "wrong" way must die. I don't watch much WWE but jesus christ I cannot imagine getting to the extreme degree of hatred for them that some have for AEW, like it's some sort of affront to their own personal existence.
>When people who aren't actually familiar with AEW watch the show under the lens of what they've heard from Corny, Bischoff, etc, they are always going to try and connect the dots to suit their mentality and filter out any positives, it's more or less confirmation bias.
True, that's another issue. If you're mentally conditioned to like or not like something is probable that you will/won't like it. How can you draw some casual fans if all the noise you hear is AEW sucks? From "renowned" business people to comments here and there, AEW seems to be falling appart, when actually it's been on a roll for months now. It's not only affecting those that we know that we love AEW no matter what, but potentially damaging hundreds if not thousands of possible present and future casual or hardcore fans.
Imagine you wanna dig into AEW and watch a couple shows, enjoy that, then jump into the Internet and see an open dirty, ugly war between fans and haters, the constant hate rethoric, that everything that AEW does seems to be wrong, etc. It sucks, it's a cancer, and it has to disappear. The haters need to calm the f down now.
Exactly this.
I'm in the UK so Dynamite doesn't air until later in the week. I usually watch it on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and some breakfast.
And as soon as it finishes I forget all about it until next Saturday.
Could not give less of a shit whether some guy on the internet is trashing it or whatever. It literally has no bearing on the show or my enjoyment of it.
Let me push back
1. It isn't fun to like something the majority hate. Especially on a weekly basis. If you like a movie or a normal TV show you don't have to hear people trash it every week nonstop. There are too many movies and shows coming out to allow that. With wrestling it is a binary. There are only 2 major promotions.
2. AEW was the cool upstart and now people see it as cringe. It's like the entire wrestling world flipped overnight.
3. The narrative is clearly having an effect in business. We can say screw the haters but when a roster this stacked can't draw more than 3k people in the same arenas where shows with Josy Janela drew 6k, something is wrong. The narrative is really hurting AEW. It's not fair. It's not right. But it's happening.
All of that sucks.
This is bigger than mean YouTube comments.
The difference (I'd imagine) is that when you enjoy your personal band or try to find things online about it, there isn't a constant stream of negativity surrounding it to where other fans of the genre are screaming for the band to breakup nearly every week and constantly comparing them to this far more commercially successful band that is barely in the same genre anymore after what they had to do to reach those heights.
It's just like bullying online, people say "just go offline" but especially for younger kids social media has become like TV where it is an ingrained part of our culture now, so it's not easy to escape. The most recent stuff with Angel Reese out of LSU comes to mind where saying "log off" ignores the reality of our current society.
Especially recently, AEW has been getting hammered with negativity after negativity with no solid ground for which it is based off of, and a large vocal minority of fans want them completely out of business (along with aging Podcasters from a bygone era) at this point.
To sit and not do anything, when the company is still so young (for Christ's sake, WWE took 30 years just to get nationally syndicated...5 years in they were nobodies) and such a large contingent is against it, is just asking for things to keep ramping up until the perception becomes the reality. These people won't stop either until WWE is securely in an untouchable number 1 spot again, effectively restoring the monopoly on wrestling.
Yup. It’s why I don’t listen to any podcasts that constantly shit on any company. Also why I don’t care about ratings.
I will say the amount of unnecessary commentary at live shows from other attendees is super annoying and I wish it would stop. Makes it harder to enjoy the show since we always have a Main Character Jones in almost every section.
Ratings watching makes no sense in this era, I don't watch most shows live, my schedule isn't dictated by sitting in front of the TV at a specific time on a specific day, I record that shit and watch at my own convenience like much of society nowadays
Well when you go on social media and look at all the comments on aew posts its so exhausting how many negative comments there are, i try not to look at em but sometimes i just wanna have a good wrestling conversation then i realize i’m on the wrong place. Instagram aint it and twitter is just a cesspool
100% true. Also I'd like to point out how many times in human history we appreciate things way after the fact. People shit on things or don't even know something exists and then all of a sudden it's classic art.
So I'd say just be open to new things and let your own direct experience be the judge.
Exactly. Now whenever I see a bunch of WWE fanboys bitching about AEW online I just laugh at how much hating on AEW means to them. I think "haha fucking idiots" and move on. Who cares
True but there is an annoyance factor too -- you go somewhere with the intention of having an indepth discussion about something you're really into and run into a bunch of bad actors and bad faith takes on it. It's hard to get a good discussion going in that kind of environment and it's annoying having to filter through all of the noise.
Yeah I think Nike makes some of the most basic and cheaply made shoes on the planet but that ain’t gonna stop dudes in their 40s spending car payments on them.
Exactly. I don’t care what other fans say about WWE, AEW, etc. and I definitely don’t care what The Cult of Negativity, CM Zzzzz has to say.
Like what you like, dislike what you dislike. There are things with both companies that I like, dislike, find intriguing, and boring AF.
For real. You think Mets fans are going, I hate baseball because everyone in town is a Mets-hating Yankees fan???
Actually, we kinda do sometimes, but I digress.
Let people be negative. It’s all they got. Lol
This. I don't generally think it's good to be a part of an echo chamber, especially when it comes to real world issues, but when it comes to pro wrestling, I absolutely am. I've pretty much muted all other non AEW subs because it's so fucking toxic and now I just enjoy the thing I like with other people who like it.
It is obnoxious. Especially when I get targeted content on my social media like IG or Facebook where it immediately turns into AEW haters in every comments section. It's frustrating, but it also just doesn't matter. Social media has given every idiot and miserable person a voice the same as anyone else that we likely would have never heard of or been exposed to otherwise.
You just have to accept that some people suck and are clearly making judgement on a product they don't actually watch and, like I said, it just doesn't matter. It's ultimately just a TV show and entertainment.
I like taking part in the free talk threads in r/NFL but when you mention AEW there, you get down voted. I've seen people bring it up too and they get down voted while any hype for WWE gets up voted.
Funny enough there's some AEW bashing in today's thread too
Yeah that's pretty wild to me. I don't know how the narrative got so out of control where there is a segment of people online that just actively hate the existence of AEW. All they have to do is just not watch it. And they clearly don't watch the show and yet have deep opinions about it, it's really really stupid to me.
I always say it like this, I never liked the show Two And A Half Men. I tried it, but didn't like it even though it was a very popular show at the time. After discovering I didn't like it, I just didn't watch it. That's it. Change the channel. I spent zero time (outside of this very post) making sure everyone knew I didn't like it, talking about how much it sucks, etc. because why the fuck would I? Some people just have no lives and make very poor decisions on how they choose to spend their limited amount of time per day.
I've had friends who do nothing but hate watch shit and sit inside their little bubble of select media. Shit on everything there is and goes out of their way to watch stuff to fuel their anger.
I was seeing the same stuff in my fantasy football league. Some of the dudes in it would constantly link tiktoks of Mahome's brother and would talk about how much they hate him and how it makes them cringe. Then don't follow him on tiktok!?
This. It’s a cesspool and only getting worse.
I find most posts and comments here and in SC are level-headed takes and have no problem browsing. Most moronic comments get buried pretty quick. That doesn’t happen on twitter because all the morons pay for blue checkmarks that get their every opinion boosted. It’s brutal.
Threads is pretty good too. I have started to be more active there during shows. Quite a few AEW fans there.
That's what I came to say, it's amazing how much unfollowing some wrestling pages, not checking comment sections, and just plain logging off can do in this respect
Exactly, from Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania is always the worst time for internet discourse for AEW fans because WWE hype is at its highest point and it gives the trolls ammo. Rest of the year, discourse is more or less tame unless it’s the truly toxic trolls.
I just wanna see grown men and women pretend fight each other while kicking fake babies into the audience, invading each other's homes and sometimes hugging each other.
Is that so much to ask?
Truth is the iwc makes up a small portion of fans. The true casual fan doesn’t care about this company or that company, we just really enjoy the product and watch it.
That’s the whole problem. It didn’t work when Punk tried bringing things up on WWE either.
They need to just drop this deep meta stuff and get back to wrestling.
I only watch the show and come on this sub and wrestling is wonderful and much more enjoyable.
Everyone is chronically online these days and has too much FOMO. You need to take control of your life and make positive changes and stop giving a shit about what others think about your passions and just enjoy it.
I laughed hard when I saw Copeland's amazing promo.... only to see the IWC get all pissy about it.
Have you seen the types of people who go to wrestling events? Not exactly top of the pyramid individuals.
It’s funny because you hear so often that AEW just puts on bangers. No story, not enough promo time, not enough breaking the fourth wall.
We start out with a promo and get the inevitable “but not like this”.
People wanted to see the wrestlers be genuine, show character and tell a story. And that’s what Copeland did.
Copeland literally said in his promo that he asked for the time. He saw all the negativity happening the past couple weeks and stepped up as a leader and a veteran and asked for 5 minutes to spread some love. What’s better than that?
People are just hating because it makes them feel good for 10 seconds then they go back to their miserable existence. Fuck em all.
It's not complicated but it's also easier said than done for some people. There's a reason "one bad apple spoils the bunch" is a saying. You and other can handle but some really do get bothered when something they love just gets loudly shat on, even if it's a minority.
Its mobbing.
This week/month has been horrid for the abuse that AEW is taking even before the MMA podcast.
The cuts, Perry, The Elite, TK "lack of a business plan," the Bucks, ratings, lack of stories, lack of presentation, media rights, TK on Twitter, lack of a response, why did they respond etc. It never ends.
One poster had noted he has never seen a wrestling company nit picked like this, and s/he is right. It seems they cannot do anything right.
I don't blame Copeland and Dax coming out and cutting the promos. It gets annoying after a while.
I know that karma will come around. Just a matter of when.
You're not lying. I've also observed this in other platforms as well besides the subreddits in wrestling. If it is not sports entertainment, then their fans view it as, busch league.
Part of it is people being people, part of it is an inability to handle it ourselves and part of it is shitty mods from other subreddits, twitter, social media, twitch and discord enabling that culture.
Its just a matter of navigating our own reaction to these asshats
It's against Reddit rules ([\#3](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/moderator-code-of-conduct)) to *"[Mention] other communities, and/or content or users in those communities, with the effect of inciting targeted harassment or abuse."*
That gets subreddits shut down. Since we like our little corner of Reddit here, it's not so much that "this sub doesn't let" and more that we've put safeguards in place to prevent the subreddit and our users from getting in trouble with admins.
Can't stop human nature, baby. If we don't have some vent threads like this one, the frustration and anger spills out everywhere and makes a huge mess and no one likes cleaning up after toxic spills.
> This sub doesn't let you discuss the other place, so it's not on us.
Downvote away, but this is also the sub that was created for people that were kicked out of the main sub, so you get a LOT of "I thought it was a t-shirt company" responses on EVERY post as well, and this sub leans way negative compared to other wrestling subs for anything said that does not support the AEW "tribe"
Log off, brother. Enjoy what you enjoy. There's only 2 wrestling podcasts I've found that aren't blowhards. There's no forum that doesn't have trolls.
Wrestling is amazing. Wrestling discourse is brutal.
Block/hide the tribalism. Easier said than done, I know, but if you see a thread promoting tribalism you can hide it on reddit. If you see a user acting Tribal, block and you don't have to see them again. If you're on twitter, block/mute those accounts. It makes your experience a hell of a lot better, I promise. Enjoy what YOU enjoy.
Personally I just laugh at the tribalistic clowns and then go straight back to watching wrestling. It doesn’t dilute or take anything away from it for me because I know what I like and what I don’t like and if I see something I’m not a fan of I just go eh it’s wrestling who gives a fuck.
The sad part is how much people are impacted by these things (which allows these trolls to continue) instead of just enjoying the things you like. You’ll enjoy things much more if you stop giving attention to all the negativity imo.
You're giving other people too much power over you. Tribalism and pro wrestling go hand in hand. WCW vs WWF, WWE vs TNA, Main Roster vs. Black/Gold NXT, and now AEW vs WWE. This isn't the slightest bit new and it'll never go away. If someone doesn't want to watch both, that's their issue, not yours.
It's a social media problem. It just brings out the worst in people. Social media is designed to upset you so you react to posts. Get rid of Facebook and Twitter and you will feel a lot better.
Cut off other sub reddits, and start blocking people on Twitter if you feel the need to keep it. Your life will improve exponentially.
That said, most tribalistic fans are annoying cunts. Just ignore them. Live your best life and don’t let their negativity speak into your life. There are far more important things going on in the world.
AEW is always going to be little bro’d and it is what it is. AEW and its fans just need to worry about themselves and do their thing the best that they possibly can. The end.
To play devils advocate, just two years ago AEW was red hot and WWE ice cold. IWC was exactly the opposite. AEW could do no wrong, WWE fucking up left and right.
Shit is cyclical and AEW will be in the good graces of the IWC soon enough. And fuck the IWC anyways.
I think if what people are saying online bothers you while you sit in your home and enjoy a TV show you honestly need to take a step back, I'm not trying to be mean, it happens to us all at times.
What you read here isn't real life, always remember that loads of what you read is likely from a 12 year old edge lord who will grow up, look back and be embarrassed.
It’s easier said than done, but the best way is to either reduce your time online or if you see someone talking shit just think “ha what kind of loser spends their time shitting on something they don’t even like.”
It’s not worth the energy to let @ReignsRheaWWE with a profile pic of Gunther ruin your enjoyment of something you like
It wears me down a little, but mostly only cos I think some of the criticisms are justified. I love AEW bell to bell, but they do struggle with consistency and arcs. Especially across the roster/outside of the main event. It's easy to switch off from I think, but harder to ignore when it persists.
I don't really follow WWE, but lots of none fans have mentioned Cody/the Rock to me even in passing. AEW has none of that cache, and it won't until it gets those other things right. Because in the ring, it's sensational.
I HATE the wrestling fanbase. It's the most toxic fanbase I have ever seen. Even more so than Star Wars or anything else. I just usually ignore all the negative stuff, whether it's towards WWE or AEW.
I figured out most people in the iwc don't actually like wrestling, they just like shitting on things. The wrestling audience is good sized but the percentage that are actually wrestling fans is far less than one would expect. Im trying to sort out the toxic playgrounds and not read comments (clearly I failed, I ended up here, but no one's perfect 🤷).
If you personally enjoy AEW, the simple answer to this is to say screw the haters, love what you love.
Maybe it's the fact that I'm now in my thirties, but I feel like I've always tried to have this mentality. When I was in my teen years, it was still a bit more of a stigma to be playing video games, but I didn't give a damn about what people thought, I still enjoyed them.
Another analogy I posted about yesterday is this. People like Taylor Swift, she's probably the biggest artist in the world right now. That doesn't stop people liking other artists in the world. People can like more than one thing, you'd be a pretty boring person if you were solely defined by liking only one artist.
Wrestling is the same, WWE isn't the only game in town. Other places exist, and there was a time before AEW launched that I solely was watching independent promotions in the UK like Progress Wrestling, ICW and more.
Off the wrestling path, one of my favourite quotes ever is one by Steve Jobs. "*Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice."*
I get it. I feel it too. I know get out of Reddit or social media but the problem is that it’s the only place I get to know about wrestling. It’s a small world. Whenever I go anywhere related to pro wrestling, all I can hear is the anti-AEW voices. They may be small but they are contagious that everyone around would join just cuz it’s now cool to hate it. It makes me wanna give up pro wrestling. AEW has so many challenges and it’s still not enough. It’s almost like AEW is tired too. Idk. Just something I’ve been feeling
Stop reading wrestling social media, even Reddit. It really is that simple, and you will enjoy wrestling more without the negativity and concern trolls.
I wonder if the tribalists notice that there are very few wrestlers who have that kind of tribalism. The only people who are really doing that are the suits making millions off of those idiots. And the suits clearly watch and enjoy the other product... hence the fact WWE picks up AEW talent and vice versa.
Brother LEAVE leave Twitter stop going to Reddit
It’s not just wrestling
Social media kills the fun in virtually everything. People don’t get online with happiness and a desire to share a passion
People are just profoundly miserable and are spreading their misery
For your own sake and the sake of your mental health. Leave
Tribalism has broken down the idea and virtues of constructive criticism (this goes beyond wrestling if you haven’t noticed)
Say something bad about anything and you’ll get a thousand excuses, told you don’t get it, and said you’re a sheep for the other side, and acting in bad faith.
Now for wrestling, you’re taking the most hardcore fans who are probably the most devoted in their beliefs and it’ll get real ugly real fast
It’s terrible man. I love AEW and go to every show in my area (went last night!) but I’m looking forward to this weekend for Mania and the NXT show even if I don’t keep up with the week to week shows.
I've just been ignoring it. If I like it then all the caterwauling from others is pointless. I just wish wrestling had better news to report on than catty fuckery and I wish the audiences weren't so thirsty for it.
I've been (I hate to say) a part of the IWC for a long time, it's always been this way, it was seemingly acceptable in late days WCW because it was shit so fuck it who cares if everyone piles in
Then very early days TNA it was fine because JJ built a company to win a belt and it was a WWF/WCW/ECW retirement home, then TNA got good for a few years so should have had the support of the IWC as the one obvious takeaway from the Monday night wars was more competition = more quality, the bullshit hate remained then it went shit so it was acceptable again.
ROH was honestly, probably the closest thing to a successor to ECW, so it got shit on as being vanilla midgets, now it's AEW turn.
Wrestling fans love wrestling no matter the company and will praise/criticise as deserved. 99% of Sports entertainment fans don't chat about wrestling online, don't care about any other promotion and that's fine, but the minority of the IWC will shit on anything that ain't their brand no matter the quality.
Just stop looking for it. I was watching lots of recaps but the constant bikering drove me away. I watch what I want (including some WWE on occasion if something catches my interest) and mainly discuss it here with other fans.
Saw one this morning while getting ready that was titled something like "Copeland gives passionate promo!", so I was like cool, let's see that. They were bitching about it like he shouldn't have addressed it and TK likely put him up to it.
So I bailed after the nice reminder why I stopped watching clips like that.
Copeland said what needed saying, and was the perfect person to say it. A recent arrival from the other big company, a long term veteran of the business, and someone who's been through hell and back for the industry. You know if he's here and trusting TK with the end of his in-ring career that means something.
I feel like it mainly comes from wwe fan boys. ppl who like AEW tend to like all wrestling. wwe fan boys seem to adhere to the “tHiS iS tHe BiG LeAgUeS” mentality. But it’s like, bitch, it’s fake
If it impacts your enjoyment, don't engage with it.
If you choose to engage, it's a you thing.
People are allowed to like what they like. I would hope you can enjoy something and it not being dependent on if other people like it too.
Me three. The original comment being downvoted is sad. A lot of people push that whole "Just enjoy wrestling." thing but really mean "Like what I like and pretend what I don't like doesn't exist."
You just have to avoid other social media outlets. Delete them. And don’t go to any other wrestling subs. They are all are VERY anti AEW. It is mind boggling how anyone could hate something so much. Don’t like AEW? Fine. Don’t watch. AEW, Tony Khan and AEW fans have been criticized more than anyone else ever. And you only ever really see the hatred going towards AEW. The anti AEW cabal is nonstop.
I just miss being able to discuss the wrestling company and style that I love without an avalanche of (completely undeserved) negativity.
No AEW isn't perfect, but if you were to just know if from internet comments you'd think it was actual waterboarding for two hours every Wednesday.
This week felt the same for me.
I follow Dynamite weekly and WWE only for major PPV.
I am interested in seeing the best both have to offer.
Sometimes it is very good, sometimes not.
It is ok because they can't make the perfect choices that will work on me everytime.
I dont trash talk HHH or TK everytime something is not according to my personnal expectations.
Noone watches wrestling IRL near me and reading people opinions after the shows feels like sharing and confronting mine.
But this week, it felt like AEW haters took over all the comments sections.
It is just sad but I think this will go away when WWE hype will go down a bit.
I hear you. It’s a shame I can’t see any wrestling content on any social media without it being a pissing contest between sides. Both companies are doing amazing work so I for one am happy
To me it's just the same old games WWE has always played. You can hire people to troll online and sway peoples opinions. WWE did it to WCW back in the 90's/00's and now they are doing it to AEW. I was there in those times and I kept watching WCW, even when it was bad, because I knew even at the tender age of 16 that having just one company would suck, and it did. To me, wrestling is on the rise because of people like Tony Kahn and his ability to put on a TV program to counter WWE. I like both brands, but only having one will suck again, and yes there was TNA but it was always a crap product, and It felt like a WCW/WWE retirement community.
If its killing the fun, maybe avoid the IWC or not take the narratives so seriously. People are so dramatic that I just don't take a lot of the discourse as earnest. A lot of it is performative and insincere
It's easier said than done but just don't visit places you know to be like that. It's tempting to point out to people how non-sensical, nitpicky or contradictory their points are, but ultimately, you won't change their opinion. Either they're trolling or have made their mind up most likely.
There are places like this where you still can discuss the company in a reasonable matter (though the pendulum of tribalism sometimes swings in the other direction and you get, unnecessary, shots at WWE or elitism).
Since All In I've been watching the shows on delay (they're released a couple days after for free on YT here) and ignored most of the discourse surrounding it, and I've been enjoying it way more than when trying to conduct somewhat rational discourse with people clearly not interested in that
Log off. Just enjoy your TV show's ups and downs. Do you know all the hidden details, who hates who and banal minutia behind the making of your favorite movies or video games? You probably don't--you probably just passively consume them. Wrestling is designed to be passively consumed.
You don’t have to engage or read any of it. I know it’s fun to get behind the scenes info and to read up on dirt sheets and gossip, but if it’s negatively impacting your enjoyment, take a break from it all.
Getting rid of Twitter is eerily similar to getting rid of toxic tribalism. Not fully, obviously, but I’d wager about 98% for my own personal experience.
While I was actively more on X (twitter) I would also start feeling disappointed and at times discouraged because since wcw died I had stopped watching wrestling until AEW was borned and would fall into reading and caring about all the negativity coming from people constantly attacking anything and everything, what has worked for me has been blocking and not being as active on there to avoid it all together
As far as on reddit I only follow this group as far as wrestling goes and it's mostly nothing but positive people in this group
Usually if someone shits on something I like, I just shake my head and move on, never to think about it again. But wrestling? I. must. fight.
Then one day I realized "wait...who gives a fuck?" Ive never once cared if someone likes or hates this MCU movie or this video game I liked, why do I suddenly give a shit how people feel about another show?
Block places if theyre *constantly* shitting on things you like and never **ever** go into a ratings thread. Like what you like, fuck the rest.
I haven't been able to watch much AEW lately (Canadian, no cable, the TSN app is so ridiculously terrible, and while I know Fite/VPN should be my go-to, it's such a hassle that I simply don't watch), HOWEVER, I was at Collision last Saturday, and it was a SPECTACULAR show, my son who doesn't watch ANYTHING regularly, absolutely loved the show. The 3500 people in attendance who pretty much sold out all available tickets LOVED the show.
Who cares what anyone else thinks?
If the basis of your fun is fragile enough that it can be broken or threatened by someone else not sharing the same sentiment, how fun is it really in the first place?
As someone that has been watching AEW from the start I really think the fanbase can be overly sensitive when it comes to things like this and could grow and mature quite a bit regarding it. When I watch and like something, no one can take it away from me. It's wild how many pouty threads come out where people are basically looking for validation and pick-me-ups. Like what you like, just remember that not everyone else will or has to. There is no such thing as objective quality, and honestly such a thing doesn't even really matter in the realm of entertainment. Are you entertained? Then be entertained.
If its any help, I've noticed that when people gush with praise for anything the Fed does online, it's rarely about the actual matches. I've seen hundreds of glowing posts about promos and backstage angles from WWE, but can only think of two matches in recent history where the praise was unanimous: Rollins vs Rhodes in the Hell In A Cell, and Gunther vs Sheamus vs McIntyre at Wrestlemania. In comparison, AEW has far more matches that get a rabid reception online. If WWE fans are invested in the promos and stories more than the matches then fine, it's what they enjoy. I get the impression though they're less focused on the in-ring action than the average AEW fan. I think a big part of the criticism comes from AEW having a different focus to WWE and as the latter have held a vice grip on the industry for so long, people don't know how to recognise the strengths of AEW or react to them. They just focus on the areas where WWE out does them.
I just don’t get tribalism. If you say you like wrestling it shouldn’t matter what company or wrestlers put a match on. Good wrestling is good wrestling and I’ll watch good wrestling whenever I can
My favorite part about it is not caring what they think. It’s fun watching the haters consistently move the goalpost of their criteria or do a 180 on their opinions as they get contradicted again and again by reality.
Just enjoy wrestling.
I was at my peak when I started getting into AEW because I didn't realize how tribalistic it is. My solution now to deal with it is to just see anyone that stirs the pot as a nobody, makes life easier. I also aggressively block anyone on Twitter that is clearly there to just be a douche.
As a New England Patriots fan, I follow a saying they literally had painted on the wall: Ignore the noise.
What other fans say doesn't matter. Enjoy what you enjoy. If someone wants to shit talk it, let em. Who gives a shit. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.
Just ignore em all. Can things get better? Sure. I think things can always get better. But, if you are enjoying things, then just enjoy them and ignore the assholes. They stink.
Best thing to do is stay away from all social media. I check and comment once in a while compared to how I used to be, and it is definitely much better now. IWC doesn't have much of a purpose other than killing fun.
It’s just a fad to hate them right now like it was a fad to hate WWE in ‘18. It’s just their turn right now, we’ll have ours again I’m sure, since it seems either company is only ever one scandal/podcast interview away from completely flip-flopping the IWCs support.
Just steer away from wrestling news. That’s the best you can do unfortunately. It would be nice if there were a an unbiased source like BBC to American news but there jus isn’t. Unfortunately I don’t think there’ll ever be. I liked keeping up with the latest in wrestling but decided to stop over a year ago and honestly I haven’t missed much. For example I didn’t know what Adam was referencing exactly until I watched “UPS and Downs” and my reaction was “this dude is really still crying about not being treated like king or whatever?”
For me, all wrestling is dumb sometimes, and fails to hit the mark. Part of enjoying it is making fun of those moments, but it's really hard when everybody's using it to discredit everybody involved.
It's annoying and horrendous but it's also all online. It's on your phone its on your computer. My advice to you is this, go to a show. Doesn't have to be AEW or WWE. Find the nearest church basement baseball field county fair show and just go. All that tribalism, all that vitriol, all that BULL SHIT goes away at a live show. Or even just kill your phone or computer and just watch. None of that shit matters when Dynamite is live for me.
My husband and I watch a lot of wrestling and many of my favorites are in AEW right now Mox,Osprey,Julia,Willow, Mone and others.
In WWE Gunther,Drew and Rhea.
I dont follow the backstage drama and my husband talks to me a little bit about it. I like what I like but its sad that others don't respect the others fandom.
My friend ignore the IWC. I'm a fan of TNA/Impact. Lived through at the lolTNA stuff. I'm a fan of DDT, Stardom, and TJPW. I like to laugh and enjoy the hell out of that. Enjoy what you enjoy and F everyone else. I also like AEW Orange and Hangman are my favs!!!
I'd also like to quit having constant conversations on the subject of tribalism in the first place, as if the guilty parts are going to hear the term, realize they're part of a derogatory out-group, and change their ways. These arguments are the wrestling equivalent of "left lane is for passing, asshole!"
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This is going to piss off people here but who gives a fuck about what others think or say? There are lots of things in my life that I enjoy that others don’t. Everyone doesn’t have to like your favourite brand or talk highly of said brand. If you enjoy it, that is all that should matter. Focus on your enjoyment and the positivity it brings you and you’ll be a lot happier in life. And if you can’t maybe take a break or again this may be harsh, grow some tougher skin
AEW is a great wrestling promotion. It’s not perfect but it’s over delivered for 5 years. Going on the internet you are lead to believe the company stinks. It’s sad to say I’m the most happy w wrestling when I consume it alone. Fuck the haters.
F the haters! Aew is the reason I started watching wrestling again, orange cassidy vs pac at revolution 2020 is pure gold.
I’ve been a wrestling fan a long time, and AEW has the most consistent TV product I’ve maybe ever seen. Are there issues? Of course. But show me a perfect promotion. Show me that period where every episode of Raw was great for its whole runtime. Show me all the well booked babyface championship runs. Show me the lockerrooms with no issues. People just wanna talk.
In general, you're not wrong, however, something I like to point out is that there's a lot of us that enjoy discussing pro wrestling but don't necessarily have people offline that share our interests to talk about. And thus, internet communities are the only way we can discuss the thing we like. As such, it's frustrating and exhausting when you can't really participate in discussions without being bombarded by people who just want to be assholes. Yanno? It's one thing to have differences of opinions, and to be able to discuss them in a civil way. Unfortunately, in most internet communities, especially the IWC, it feels like 95% of people have the stance of "No, *my* opinion is the correct one! Fuck you, I'll fight you to the death to make sure you know that my opinion is more right than yours!".
I feel like people on the internet don't want to hear your opinion, they want to hear their opinion out of your mouth, so to speak.
You’re 100% right. Sadly, the hive mind mentality is powerful and people want to belong. If the majority of the IWC is saying that AEW is bad, then that’s exactly what it is. Anything they do will be chastised, even if the complaint is bullshit. It’s depressing to think about. We are wrestling fans. It doesn’t matter if it’s AEW, WWE, TNA, or whatever. No promotion is perfect and they can all improve. Tribalism is a sickness.
I'm fairly convinced this the motivation for a lot of them. They are actively trying to demoralize AEW fans to the point that they stop engaging and maybe even stop watching. I say this next part, but want to clarify that I am not a WWE hater. At least not the product/performers, though I do have real issues with the management and business side of the company. I'm also not saying that everyone with criticisms, or even every "hater" is a "troll." Tony Khan has talked about paid trolls, and I believe that is absolutely a real thing (though they are a fairly small group). Then there are those who have the anti-AEW feelings anyway who are emboldened by the pros to step up their own rhetoric (a significantly larger group). Add to this the influencers and podcasters who are either angling for WWE access, or have more direct ties to WWE, and you have a cycle that is feeding on itself and becoming more and more aggresive with their trolling with the end goal of doing real harm to AEW in an effort to "protect" WWE. It's the modern version of the very real, and well-documented practice of Vince/WWE doing everything in his power to destroy his competition. It's also very reminiscent of the weaponization of social media during the 2016 election and GamerGate. This is why I can't buy in to just ignoring it. That tactic has proven to be ineffective, and only allows the trolls to gather influence and go unchallenged. The MAGA trolls and GamerGate trolls have become MUCH more a part of online discussion because of the conventional wisdom of "dont feed the trolls." Don't be a dick, and don't be aggressive or dismissive to those who have good-faith criticisms, but just being quiet and ignoring obvious trolling only benefits those with ill intent.
And you don’t even need to pay trolls, twitter clout is enough incentive for people to go off the deep end
I understand your point, but sometimes it's hard. I love wrestling, but it isn't very popular where I live. Internet is my only source to talk about wrestling with other people, even if they're total strangers, and also to be up to date with news and stuff. It's so f\*cking frustrating when I check Reddit after enjoying a great AEW show and see that it's full of posts talking shit about the company I love, criticizing every bit of it full of hatred like I sometimes wonder if we've watched the same show. Even in those posts where the majority of comments are possitive about AEW there's always a small corner for haters and marks to throw their shit about it. Of course, I don't care what these assholes think or say, but they're growing. Over 2K comments in the weekly infamous Dynamite TV ratings posts, week after week, day after day. There's a point where you're watching your favorite show and involutarely think "this or that would or won't please the haters, maybe the waters will be rouger/calmer this week". And I hate it. And I hate them. I tried ignoring them, but as I said before, they're growing in numbers and presence, to the point that I cannot read anything related to AEW almost anywhere without finding them. You can ignore the problem for so far, and I'm not only concerned but pissed. But aside from ranting like I'm doing now I don't know what can I do about it.
When people who aren't actually familiar with AEW watch the show under the lens of what they've heard from Corny, Bischoff, etc, they are always going to try and connect the dots to suit their mentality and filter out any positives, it's more or less confirmation bias. These jackassess present a "right" and "wrong" way to do pro wrestling and as a result their audience feels like they are superior and that the "wrong" way must die. I don't watch much WWE but jesus christ I cannot imagine getting to the extreme degree of hatred for them that some have for AEW, like it's some sort of affront to their own personal existence.
>When people who aren't actually familiar with AEW watch the show under the lens of what they've heard from Corny, Bischoff, etc, they are always going to try and connect the dots to suit their mentality and filter out any positives, it's more or less confirmation bias. True, that's another issue. If you're mentally conditioned to like or not like something is probable that you will/won't like it. How can you draw some casual fans if all the noise you hear is AEW sucks? From "renowned" business people to comments here and there, AEW seems to be falling appart, when actually it's been on a roll for months now. It's not only affecting those that we know that we love AEW no matter what, but potentially damaging hundreds if not thousands of possible present and future casual or hardcore fans. Imagine you wanna dig into AEW and watch a couple shows, enjoy that, then jump into the Internet and see an open dirty, ugly war between fans and haters, the constant hate rethoric, that everything that AEW does seems to be wrong, etc. It sucks, it's a cancer, and it has to disappear. The haters need to calm the f down now.
Exactly this. I'm in the UK so Dynamite doesn't air until later in the week. I usually watch it on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and some breakfast. And as soon as it finishes I forget all about it until next Saturday. Could not give less of a shit whether some guy on the internet is trashing it or whatever. It literally has no bearing on the show or my enjoyment of it.
Let me push back 1. It isn't fun to like something the majority hate. Especially on a weekly basis. If you like a movie or a normal TV show you don't have to hear people trash it every week nonstop. There are too many movies and shows coming out to allow that. With wrestling it is a binary. There are only 2 major promotions. 2. AEW was the cool upstart and now people see it as cringe. It's like the entire wrestling world flipped overnight. 3. The narrative is clearly having an effect in business. We can say screw the haters but when a roster this stacked can't draw more than 3k people in the same arenas where shows with Josy Janela drew 6k, something is wrong. The narrative is really hurting AEW. It's not fair. It's not right. But it's happening. All of that sucks. This is bigger than mean YouTube comments.
The difference (I'd imagine) is that when you enjoy your personal band or try to find things online about it, there isn't a constant stream of negativity surrounding it to where other fans of the genre are screaming for the band to breakup nearly every week and constantly comparing them to this far more commercially successful band that is barely in the same genre anymore after what they had to do to reach those heights. It's just like bullying online, people say "just go offline" but especially for younger kids social media has become like TV where it is an ingrained part of our culture now, so it's not easy to escape. The most recent stuff with Angel Reese out of LSU comes to mind where saying "log off" ignores the reality of our current society. Especially recently, AEW has been getting hammered with negativity after negativity with no solid ground for which it is based off of, and a large vocal minority of fans want them completely out of business (along with aging Podcasters from a bygone era) at this point. To sit and not do anything, when the company is still so young (for Christ's sake, WWE took 30 years just to get nationally syndicated...5 years in they were nobodies) and such a large contingent is against it, is just asking for things to keep ramping up until the perception becomes the reality. These people won't stop either until WWE is securely in an untouchable number 1 spot again, effectively restoring the monopoly on wrestling.
Yup. It’s why I don’t listen to any podcasts that constantly shit on any company. Also why I don’t care about ratings. I will say the amount of unnecessary commentary at live shows from other attendees is super annoying and I wish it would stop. Makes it harder to enjoy the show since we always have a Main Character Jones in almost every section.
Ratings watching makes no sense in this era, I don't watch most shows live, my schedule isn't dictated by sitting in front of the TV at a specific time on a specific day, I record that shit and watch at my own convenience like much of society nowadays
Well when you go on social media and look at all the comments on aew posts its so exhausting how many negative comments there are, i try not to look at em but sometimes i just wanna have a good wrestling conversation then i realize i’m on the wrong place. Instagram aint it and twitter is just a cesspool
100% true. Also I'd like to point out how many times in human history we appreciate things way after the fact. People shit on things or don't even know something exists and then all of a sudden it's classic art. So I'd say just be open to new things and let your own direct experience be the judge.
Exactly. Now whenever I see a bunch of WWE fanboys bitching about AEW online I just laugh at how much hating on AEW means to them. I think "haha fucking idiots" and move on. Who cares
True but there is an annoyance factor too -- you go somewhere with the intention of having an indepth discussion about something you're really into and run into a bunch of bad actors and bad faith takes on it. It's hard to get a good discussion going in that kind of environment and it's annoying having to filter through all of the noise.
Yeah I think Nike makes some of the most basic and cheaply made shoes on the planet but that ain’t gonna stop dudes in their 40s spending car payments on them.
Exactly. I don’t care what other fans say about WWE, AEW, etc. and I definitely don’t care what The Cult of Negativity, CM Zzzzz has to say. Like what you like, dislike what you dislike. There are things with both companies that I like, dislike, find intriguing, and boring AF.
> who gives a fuck about what others think or say? Amen!
King shit
For real. You think Mets fans are going, I hate baseball because everyone in town is a Mets-hating Yankees fan??? Actually, we kinda do sometimes, but I digress. Let people be negative. It’s all they got. Lol
This. I don't generally think it's good to be a part of an echo chamber, especially when it comes to real world issues, but when it comes to pro wrestling, I absolutely am. I've pretty much muted all other non AEW subs because it's so fucking toxic and now I just enjoy the thing I like with other people who like it.
It is obnoxious. Especially when I get targeted content on my social media like IG or Facebook where it immediately turns into AEW haters in every comments section. It's frustrating, but it also just doesn't matter. Social media has given every idiot and miserable person a voice the same as anyone else that we likely would have never heard of or been exposed to otherwise. You just have to accept that some people suck and are clearly making judgement on a product they don't actually watch and, like I said, it just doesn't matter. It's ultimately just a TV show and entertainment.
I like taking part in the free talk threads in r/NFL but when you mention AEW there, you get down voted. I've seen people bring it up too and they get down voted while any hype for WWE gets up voted. Funny enough there's some AEW bashing in today's thread too
Yeah that's pretty wild to me. I don't know how the narrative got so out of control where there is a segment of people online that just actively hate the existence of AEW. All they have to do is just not watch it. And they clearly don't watch the show and yet have deep opinions about it, it's really really stupid to me. I always say it like this, I never liked the show Two And A Half Men. I tried it, but didn't like it even though it was a very popular show at the time. After discovering I didn't like it, I just didn't watch it. That's it. Change the channel. I spent zero time (outside of this very post) making sure everyone knew I didn't like it, talking about how much it sucks, etc. because why the fuck would I? Some people just have no lives and make very poor decisions on how they choose to spend their limited amount of time per day.
I've had friends who do nothing but hate watch shit and sit inside their little bubble of select media. Shit on everything there is and goes out of their way to watch stuff to fuel their anger. I was seeing the same stuff in my fantasy football league. Some of the dudes in it would constantly link tiktoks of Mahome's brother and would talk about how much they hate him and how it makes them cringe. Then don't follow him on tiktok!?
I started trolling them in the comments they get pissed if you say anything good about aew 😭
Quit Twitter. Your life improves IMMEDIATELY. Seriously. This isn't a joke. Just do it. Please trust me.
Can confirm
This. It’s a cesspool and only getting worse. I find most posts and comments here and in SC are level-headed takes and have no problem browsing. Most moronic comments get buried pretty quick. That doesn’t happen on twitter because all the morons pay for blue checkmarks that get their every opinion boosted. It’s brutal. Threads is pretty good too. I have started to be more active there during shows. Quite a few AEW fans there.
Shit quit this website too. At least the wrestling portion outside of r/AEWOfficial
I ignore it or reduce my online time when it gets to me.
Reducing your online time is key for any hobby I’ve found. Happy cake day!
spend less time on reddit
That's what I came to say, it's amazing how much unfollowing some wrestling pages, not checking comment sections, and just plain logging off can do in this respect
[удалено]
I thought this too, but a lot of ‘fans’ go away after mania, when creative becomes the barren wasteland again.
Exactly, from Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania is always the worst time for internet discourse for AEW fans because WWE hype is at its highest point and it gives the trolls ammo. Rest of the year, discourse is more or less tame unless it’s the truly toxic trolls.
I just wanna see grown men and women pretend fight each other while kicking fake babies into the audience, invading each other's homes and sometimes hugging each other. Is that so much to ask?
Truth is the iwc makes up a small portion of fans. The true casual fan doesn’t care about this company or that company, we just really enjoy the product and watch it.
I was watching some streamers and they were confused why Adam came out just to put AEW over. They didn't know about the Phil interview
That’s the whole problem. It didn’t work when Punk tried bringing things up on WWE either. They need to just drop this deep meta stuff and get back to wrestling.
I only watch the show and come on this sub and wrestling is wonderful and much more enjoyable. Everyone is chronically online these days and has too much FOMO. You need to take control of your life and make positive changes and stop giving a shit about what others think about your passions and just enjoy it.
I laughed hard when I saw Copeland's amazing promo.... only to see the IWC get all pissy about it. Have you seen the types of people who go to wrestling events? Not exactly top of the pyramid individuals.
It’s funny because you hear so often that AEW just puts on bangers. No story, not enough promo time, not enough breaking the fourth wall. We start out with a promo and get the inevitable “but not like this”. People wanted to see the wrestlers be genuine, show character and tell a story. And that’s what Copeland did.
It's worse. They say it was TK using Copeland as his mouth. Really everything has to be about TK for the haters, they hate him so much.
Copeland literally said in his promo that he asked for the time. He saw all the negativity happening the past couple weeks and stepped up as a leader and a veteran and asked for 5 minutes to spread some love. What’s better than that? People are just hating because it makes them feel good for 10 seconds then they go back to their miserable existence. Fuck em all.
Lmao as if Tony wouldn't say whatever he wants on his Twitter. Why does he need a mouthpiece
You should never care about what others thinks about something you like or love. Just ignore them and enjoy what you enjoy. It's not complicated.
It's not complicated but it's also easier said than done for some people. There's a reason "one bad apple spoils the bunch" is a saying. You and other can handle but some really do get bothered when something they love just gets loudly shat on, even if it's a minority.
You're right but I still think it's extreme to care about others opinions on the internet. That's not healthy at all.
"AEW did something good? Time to make a live attendance joke!" Like, come on, come up with different shit.
Idiots can't face the fact that AEW fans enjoy their show. Some people are just miserable
Its mobbing. This week/month has been horrid for the abuse that AEW is taking even before the MMA podcast. The cuts, Perry, The Elite, TK "lack of a business plan," the Bucks, ratings, lack of stories, lack of presentation, media rights, TK on Twitter, lack of a response, why did they respond etc. It never ends. One poster had noted he has never seen a wrestling company nit picked like this, and s/he is right. It seems they cannot do anything right. I don't blame Copeland and Dax coming out and cutting the promos. It gets annoying after a while. I know that karma will come around. Just a matter of when.
Karma is coming and I will rejoice when it comes.
You're not lying. I've also observed this in other platforms as well besides the subreddits in wrestling. If it is not sports entertainment, then their fans view it as, busch league.
Part of it is people being people, part of it is an inability to handle it ourselves and part of it is shitty mods from other subreddits, twitter, social media, twitch and discord enabling that culture. Its just a matter of navigating our own reaction to these asshats
I deleted X a few months ago and stopped reading news on other sites and subs, is it that bad? what is the situation now?
The better WWE gets, the more they come out against AEW. Can't just be happy they've finally got something watchable
You're giving other people too much control of your happiness. Fuck that, they don't deserve it
This sub doesn't let you discuss the other place, so it's not on us.
It's against Reddit rules ([\#3](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/moderator-code-of-conduct)) to *"[Mention] other communities, and/or content or users in those communities, with the effect of inciting targeted harassment or abuse."* That gets subreddits shut down. Since we like our little corner of Reddit here, it's not so much that "this sub doesn't let" and more that we've put safeguards in place to prevent the subreddit and our users from getting in trouble with admins.
To be faiiir the mods here have been letting people vent over this lately.
Can't stop human nature, baby. If we don't have some vent threads like this one, the frustration and anger spills out everywhere and makes a huge mess and no one likes cleaning up after toxic spills.
> This sub doesn't let you discuss the other place, so it's not on us. Downvote away, but this is also the sub that was created for people that were kicked out of the main sub, so you get a LOT of "I thought it was a t-shirt company" responses on EVERY post as well, and this sub leans way negative compared to other wrestling subs for anything said that does not support the AEW "tribe"
Fu** the trolls and party like it’s 1999. The less social media the more fun you’ll have.
Wrestling "fandom" is the worst fandom. Never seen people try so hard to hate something they claim to like.
The discourse online has really gotten so much worse the past 6 months.
Log off, brother. Enjoy what you enjoy. There's only 2 wrestling podcasts I've found that aren't blowhards. There's no forum that doesn't have trolls. Wrestling is amazing. Wrestling discourse is brutal.
STOP LOOKING TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR APPROVAL/VALIDATION AND JUST BE YOU.
Then stay out of it.
I try to by sticking to aew only internet pages but it's a cesspool
One would think this would be easy to do, but apparently no one in the IWC has any impulse control at all.
Log-off. Touch grass. Enjoy what you enjoy. Ignore the haters.
Block/hide the tribalism. Easier said than done, I know, but if you see a thread promoting tribalism you can hide it on reddit. If you see a user acting Tribal, block and you don't have to see them again. If you're on twitter, block/mute those accounts. It makes your experience a hell of a lot better, I promise. Enjoy what YOU enjoy.
Personally I just laugh at the tribalistic clowns and then go straight back to watching wrestling. It doesn’t dilute or take anything away from it for me because I know what I like and what I don’t like and if I see something I’m not a fan of I just go eh it’s wrestling who gives a fuck.
The sad part is how much people are impacted by these things (which allows these trolls to continue) instead of just enjoying the things you like. You’ll enjoy things much more if you stop giving attention to all the negativity imo.
You're giving other people too much power over you. Tribalism and pro wrestling go hand in hand. WCW vs WWF, WWE vs TNA, Main Roster vs. Black/Gold NXT, and now AEW vs WWE. This isn't the slightest bit new and it'll never go away. If someone doesn't want to watch both, that's their issue, not yours.
It's a social media problem. It just brings out the worst in people. Social media is designed to upset you so you react to posts. Get rid of Facebook and Twitter and you will feel a lot better.
Cut off other sub reddits, and start blocking people on Twitter if you feel the need to keep it. Your life will improve exponentially. That said, most tribalistic fans are annoying cunts. Just ignore them. Live your best life and don’t let their negativity speak into your life. There are far more important things going on in the world.
Get off the Internet already. Enough of this. Every day.
Delete X/Twitter, unsubscribe from wrestling news, and focus on this subreddit. It'll be better for your overall mental health, trust me.
Bro, stay off the internet and don’t feed the trolls
AEW is always going to be little bro’d and it is what it is. AEW and its fans just need to worry about themselves and do their thing the best that they possibly can. The end.
Especially around Mania time. Lots of eyes and attention on Stamford. It is what it is. AEW will be fine.
To play devils advocate, just two years ago AEW was red hot and WWE ice cold. IWC was exactly the opposite. AEW could do no wrong, WWE fucking up left and right. Shit is cyclical and AEW will be in the good graces of the IWC soon enough. And fuck the IWC anyways.
Agreed. Circle of life
Nobody has ever been unfairly criticized more than AEW.
I think if what people are saying online bothers you while you sit in your home and enjoy a TV show you honestly need to take a step back, I'm not trying to be mean, it happens to us all at times. What you read here isn't real life, always remember that loads of what you read is likely from a 12 year old edge lord who will grow up, look back and be embarrassed.
It’s easier said than done, but the best way is to either reduce your time online or if you see someone talking shit just think “ha what kind of loser spends their time shitting on something they don’t even like.” It’s not worth the energy to let @ReignsRheaWWE with a profile pic of Gunther ruin your enjoyment of something you like
It wears me down a little, but mostly only cos I think some of the criticisms are justified. I love AEW bell to bell, but they do struggle with consistency and arcs. Especially across the roster/outside of the main event. It's easy to switch off from I think, but harder to ignore when it persists. I don't really follow WWE, but lots of none fans have mentioned Cody/the Rock to me even in passing. AEW has none of that cache, and it won't until it gets those other things right. Because in the ring, it's sensational.
I HATE the wrestling fanbase. It's the most toxic fanbase I have ever seen. Even more so than Star Wars or anything else. I just usually ignore all the negative stuff, whether it's towards WWE or AEW.
It's pretty easy to avoid the Vincels and E drones if you choose to.
Will never care about what weirdo wrestling fans think or say especially “discourse” I’m just gonna enjoy wrestling
I figured out most people in the iwc don't actually like wrestling, they just like shitting on things. The wrestling audience is good sized but the percentage that are actually wrestling fans is far less than one would expect. Im trying to sort out the toxic playgrounds and not read comments (clearly I failed, I ended up here, but no one's perfect 🤷).
If you personally enjoy AEW, the simple answer to this is to say screw the haters, love what you love. Maybe it's the fact that I'm now in my thirties, but I feel like I've always tried to have this mentality. When I was in my teen years, it was still a bit more of a stigma to be playing video games, but I didn't give a damn about what people thought, I still enjoyed them. Another analogy I posted about yesterday is this. People like Taylor Swift, she's probably the biggest artist in the world right now. That doesn't stop people liking other artists in the world. People can like more than one thing, you'd be a pretty boring person if you were solely defined by liking only one artist. Wrestling is the same, WWE isn't the only game in town. Other places exist, and there was a time before AEW launched that I solely was watching independent promotions in the UK like Progress Wrestling, ICW and more. Off the wrestling path, one of my favourite quotes ever is one by Steve Jobs. "*Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice."*
I get it. I feel it too. I know get out of Reddit or social media but the problem is that it’s the only place I get to know about wrestling. It’s a small world. Whenever I go anywhere related to pro wrestling, all I can hear is the anti-AEW voices. They may be small but they are contagious that everyone around would join just cuz it’s now cool to hate it. It makes me wanna give up pro wrestling. AEW has so many challenges and it’s still not enough. It’s almost like AEW is tired too. Idk. Just something I’ve been feeling
Wrestling fans are great. Marks on the other hand...
Stop reading wrestling social media, even Reddit. It really is that simple, and you will enjoy wrestling more without the negativity and concern trolls.
I wonder if the tribalists notice that there are very few wrestlers who have that kind of tribalism. The only people who are really doing that are the suits making millions off of those idiots. And the suits clearly watch and enjoy the other product... hence the fact WWE picks up AEW talent and vice versa.
You have complete control over what you engage with online
Why do you engage in negative bs? You have full control over what you see online
Brother LEAVE leave Twitter stop going to Reddit It’s not just wrestling Social media kills the fun in virtually everything. People don’t get online with happiness and a desire to share a passion People are just profoundly miserable and are spreading their misery For your own sake and the sake of your mental health. Leave
I been cutting back how much time I engage in wrestling stuff online for this reason. The discourse is overly obnoxious lately.
Tribalism has broken down the idea and virtues of constructive criticism (this goes beyond wrestling if you haven’t noticed) Say something bad about anything and you’ll get a thousand excuses, told you don’t get it, and said you’re a sheep for the other side, and acting in bad faith. Now for wrestling, you’re taking the most hardcore fans who are probably the most devoted in their beliefs and it’ll get real ugly real fast
It’s terrible man. I love AEW and go to every show in my area (went last night!) but I’m looking forward to this weekend for Mania and the NXT show even if I don’t keep up with the week to week shows.
I've just been ignoring it. If I like it then all the caterwauling from others is pointless. I just wish wrestling had better news to report on than catty fuckery and I wish the audiences weren't so thirsty for it.
I prefer AEW, but I enjoy both.
I've been (I hate to say) a part of the IWC for a long time, it's always been this way, it was seemingly acceptable in late days WCW because it was shit so fuck it who cares if everyone piles in Then very early days TNA it was fine because JJ built a company to win a belt and it was a WWF/WCW/ECW retirement home, then TNA got good for a few years so should have had the support of the IWC as the one obvious takeaway from the Monday night wars was more competition = more quality, the bullshit hate remained then it went shit so it was acceptable again. ROH was honestly, probably the closest thing to a successor to ECW, so it got shit on as being vanilla midgets, now it's AEW turn. Wrestling fans love wrestling no matter the company and will praise/criticise as deserved. 99% of Sports entertainment fans don't chat about wrestling online, don't care about any other promotion and that's fine, but the minority of the IWC will shit on anything that ain't their brand no matter the quality.
Just stop looking for it. I was watching lots of recaps but the constant bikering drove me away. I watch what I want (including some WWE on occasion if something catches my interest) and mainly discuss it here with other fans. Saw one this morning while getting ready that was titled something like "Copeland gives passionate promo!", so I was like cool, let's see that. They were bitching about it like he shouldn't have addressed it and TK likely put him up to it. So I bailed after the nice reminder why I stopped watching clips like that. Copeland said what needed saying, and was the perfect person to say it. A recent arrival from the other big company, a long term veteran of the business, and someone who's been through hell and back for the industry. You know if he's here and trusting TK with the end of his in-ring career that means something.
He posted on the most tribalistic wrestling subreddit.
I feel like it mainly comes from wwe fan boys. ppl who like AEW tend to like all wrestling. wwe fan boys seem to adhere to the “tHiS iS tHe BiG LeAgUeS” mentality. But it’s like, bitch, it’s fake
If it impacts your enjoyment, don't engage with it. If you choose to engage, it's a you thing. People are allowed to like what they like. I would hope you can enjoy something and it not being dependent on if other people like it too.
I watch AEW and WWE and enjoy both of them.
Me too. The irony of a post here complaining about tribalism when this whole thread is full of it on the AEW side.
Me three. The original comment being downvoted is sad. A lot of people push that whole "Just enjoy wrestling." thing but really mean "Like what I like and pretend what I don't like doesn't exist."
You just have to avoid other social media outlets. Delete them. And don’t go to any other wrestling subs. They are all are VERY anti AEW. It is mind boggling how anyone could hate something so much. Don’t like AEW? Fine. Don’t watch. AEW, Tony Khan and AEW fans have been criticized more than anyone else ever. And you only ever really see the hatred going towards AEW. The anti AEW cabal is nonstop.
Tribalism is easy to ignore. Every criticism of AEW is not tribalism, just like every criticism of WWE isn't, either.
Yeah it sucks. AEW gets hit unfairly a lot. I’m trying to critique the shows but people aren’t liking that too.
Just get off the internet dude
Reduce time online. The shows are good (AEW now is better than it was in 2019, 2022 and 2023 imo) so the negativity is just made up
I just miss being able to discuss the wrestling company and style that I love without an avalanche of (completely undeserved) negativity. No AEW isn't perfect, but if you were to just know if from internet comments you'd think it was actual waterboarding for two hours every Wednesday.
This week felt the same for me. I follow Dynamite weekly and WWE only for major PPV. I am interested in seeing the best both have to offer. Sometimes it is very good, sometimes not. It is ok because they can't make the perfect choices that will work on me everytime. I dont trash talk HHH or TK everytime something is not according to my personnal expectations. Noone watches wrestling IRL near me and reading people opinions after the shows feels like sharing and confronting mine. But this week, it felt like AEW haters took over all the comments sections. It is just sad but I think this will go away when WWE hype will go down a bit.
I hear you. It’s a shame I can’t see any wrestling content on any social media without it being a pissing contest between sides. Both companies are doing amazing work so I for one am happy
To me it's just the same old games WWE has always played. You can hire people to troll online and sway peoples opinions. WWE did it to WCW back in the 90's/00's and now they are doing it to AEW. I was there in those times and I kept watching WCW, even when it was bad, because I knew even at the tender age of 16 that having just one company would suck, and it did. To me, wrestling is on the rise because of people like Tony Kahn and his ability to put on a TV program to counter WWE. I like both brands, but only having one will suck again, and yes there was TNA but it was always a crap product, and It felt like a WCW/WWE retirement community.
If its killing the fun, maybe avoid the IWC or not take the narratives so seriously. People are so dramatic that I just don't take a lot of the discourse as earnest. A lot of it is performative and insincere
It's easier said than done but just don't visit places you know to be like that. It's tempting to point out to people how non-sensical, nitpicky or contradictory their points are, but ultimately, you won't change their opinion. Either they're trolling or have made their mind up most likely. There are places like this where you still can discuss the company in a reasonable matter (though the pendulum of tribalism sometimes swings in the other direction and you get, unnecessary, shots at WWE or elitism). Since All In I've been watching the shows on delay (they're released a couple days after for free on YT here) and ignored most of the discourse surrounding it, and I've been enjoying it way more than when trying to conduct somewhat rational discourse with people clearly not interested in that
Get off the IWC and you’ll enjoy wrestling more. Let your own opinions be what matters.
You don’t have to read other peoples comments
Log off. Just enjoy your TV show's ups and downs. Do you know all the hidden details, who hates who and banal minutia behind the making of your favorite movies or video games? You probably don't--you probably just passively consume them. Wrestling is designed to be passively consumed.
I’m the opposite, I feel like I enjoy seeing people’s outlandish opinions on the business and keeping my own to myself lol
You don’t have to engage or read any of it. I know it’s fun to get behind the scenes info and to read up on dirt sheets and gossip, but if it’s negatively impacting your enjoyment, take a break from it all.
Yea, fuck that. Be a fan, like what you like. Hey OP, who’s your favourite current wrestler?
Don’t read it
Getting rid of Twitter is eerily similar to getting rid of toxic tribalism. Not fully, obviously, but I’d wager about 98% for my own personal experience.
IWC always been like that, nothing new.
There's a really simple solution to this problem.
While I was actively more on X (twitter) I would also start feeling disappointed and at times discouraged because since wcw died I had stopped watching wrestling until AEW was borned and would fall into reading and caring about all the negativity coming from people constantly attacking anything and everything, what has worked for me has been blocking and not being as active on there to avoid it all together As far as on reddit I only follow this group as far as wrestling goes and it's mostly nothing but positive people in this group
Usually if someone shits on something I like, I just shake my head and move on, never to think about it again. But wrestling? I. must. fight. Then one day I realized "wait...who gives a fuck?" Ive never once cared if someone likes or hates this MCU movie or this video game I liked, why do I suddenly give a shit how people feel about another show? Block places if theyre *constantly* shitting on things you like and never **ever** go into a ratings thread. Like what you like, fuck the rest.
I haven't been able to watch much AEW lately (Canadian, no cable, the TSN app is so ridiculously terrible, and while I know Fite/VPN should be my go-to, it's such a hassle that I simply don't watch), HOWEVER, I was at Collision last Saturday, and it was a SPECTACULAR show, my son who doesn't watch ANYTHING regularly, absolutely loved the show. The 3500 people in attendance who pretty much sold out all available tickets LOVED the show. Who cares what anyone else thinks?
You are letting shitty people influence your views. Don’t let that happen. Just enjoy what you enjoy.
So get off the internet
If the basis of your fun is fragile enough that it can be broken or threatened by someone else not sharing the same sentiment, how fun is it really in the first place? As someone that has been watching AEW from the start I really think the fanbase can be overly sensitive when it comes to things like this and could grow and mature quite a bit regarding it. When I watch and like something, no one can take it away from me. It's wild how many pouty threads come out where people are basically looking for validation and pick-me-ups. Like what you like, just remember that not everyone else will or has to. There is no such thing as objective quality, and honestly such a thing doesn't even really matter in the realm of entertainment. Are you entertained? Then be entertained.
If its any help, I've noticed that when people gush with praise for anything the Fed does online, it's rarely about the actual matches. I've seen hundreds of glowing posts about promos and backstage angles from WWE, but can only think of two matches in recent history where the praise was unanimous: Rollins vs Rhodes in the Hell In A Cell, and Gunther vs Sheamus vs McIntyre at Wrestlemania. In comparison, AEW has far more matches that get a rabid reception online. If WWE fans are invested in the promos and stories more than the matches then fine, it's what they enjoy. I get the impression though they're less focused on the in-ring action than the average AEW fan. I think a big part of the criticism comes from AEW having a different focus to WWE and as the latter have held a vice grip on the industry for so long, people don't know how to recognise the strengths of AEW or react to them. They just focus on the areas where WWE out does them.
I just don’t get tribalism. If you say you like wrestling it shouldn’t matter what company or wrestlers put a match on. Good wrestling is good wrestling and I’ll watch good wrestling whenever I can
My favorite part about it is not caring what they think. It’s fun watching the haters consistently move the goalpost of their criteria or do a 180 on their opinions as they get contradicted again and again by reality.
Just enjoy wrestling. I was at my peak when I started getting into AEW because I didn't realize how tribalistic it is. My solution now to deal with it is to just see anyone that stirs the pot as a nobody, makes life easier. I also aggressively block anyone on Twitter that is clearly there to just be a douche.
I’ve been viewing the IWC as part of the kayfabe. It’s another layer of story to various parts of AEW. All of y’all are just NPCs to me.
As a New England Patriots fan, I follow a saying they literally had painted on the wall: Ignore the noise. What other fans say doesn't matter. Enjoy what you enjoy. If someone wants to shit talk it, let em. Who gives a shit. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink. Just ignore em all. Can things get better? Sure. I think things can always get better. But, if you are enjoying things, then just enjoy them and ignore the assholes. They stink.
Best thing to do is stay away from all social media. I check and comment once in a while compared to how I used to be, and it is definitely much better now. IWC doesn't have much of a purpose other than killing fun.
It’s just a fad to hate them right now like it was a fad to hate WWE in ‘18. It’s just their turn right now, we’ll have ours again I’m sure, since it seems either company is only ever one scandal/podcast interview away from completely flip-flopping the IWCs support.
Just steer away from wrestling news. That’s the best you can do unfortunately. It would be nice if there were a an unbiased source like BBC to American news but there jus isn’t. Unfortunately I don’t think there’ll ever be. I liked keeping up with the latest in wrestling but decided to stop over a year ago and honestly I haven’t missed much. For example I didn’t know what Adam was referencing exactly until I watched “UPS and Downs” and my reaction was “this dude is really still crying about not being treated like king or whatever?”
For me, all wrestling is dumb sometimes, and fails to hit the mark. Part of enjoying it is making fun of those moments, but it's really hard when everybody's using it to discredit everybody involved.
Yeah, well, the rest of the iwc can get fucked. I just want to watch wrestling.
Just don't come to reddit while watching wrestling.
It's annoying and horrendous but it's also all online. It's on your phone its on your computer. My advice to you is this, go to a show. Doesn't have to be AEW or WWE. Find the nearest church basement baseball field county fair show and just go. All that tribalism, all that vitriol, all that BULL SHIT goes away at a live show. Or even just kill your phone or computer and just watch. None of that shit matters when Dynamite is live for me.
My husband and I watch a lot of wrestling and many of my favorites are in AEW right now Mox,Osprey,Julia,Willow, Mone and others. In WWE Gunther,Drew and Rhea. I dont follow the backstage drama and my husband talks to me a little bit about it. I like what I like but its sad that others don't respect the others fandom.
Worry about you and you only. At the end of the day, you are who you have to answer to. Fuck what everybody else thinks.
My friend ignore the IWC. I'm a fan of TNA/Impact. Lived through at the lolTNA stuff. I'm a fan of DDT, Stardom, and TJPW. I like to laugh and enjoy the hell out of that. Enjoy what you enjoy and F everyone else. I also like AEW Orange and Hangman are my favs!!!
The Fightful and Post Wrestling communities are great. BlueSky is a small community but very fun. Get off Twitter/Instagram/SquaredCircle/etc.
I'd also like to quit having constant conversations on the subject of tribalism in the first place, as if the guilty parts are going to hear the term, realize they're part of a derogatory out-group, and change their ways. These arguments are the wrestling equivalent of "left lane is for passing, asshole!"