You guys need to present this to me much more simply...
Hmm...
Wrestling in the 80's and 90's - steroided-out largely cartoon characters come to life with ridiculous story lines designed to appeal to kids
Wrestling now - incredibly athletic, smaller guys (and gals) with storylines that are much more grounded in reality
Major promotions:
- WWE - the 900lb gorilla, what most people think of when they think of wrestling, the top stars, but story lines rarely make any sense and seem to change from week to week. They have two separate 'brands' - Raw which airs on Monday nights on USA, and Smackdown which airs on Tuesday nights on USA but is moving soon to Fox Sports I think.
- WWE NXT - the WWE farm league available only on the WWE Network, they do a weekly show and several large PPVs a year, the storylines are generally much more thought out, and build over longer periods of time. There is a similar streaming-only 'brand' called 205 live that features guys weighing less than 205lbs. You'll see a lot of incredibly acrobatic performers.
- NJPW - New Japan Pro Wrestling - Presented like a legitimate sport, maybe the best athletes in the world, many of whom have MMA backgrounds. Matches tend to be very long, with storylines that have long slow builds. NXT is a lot like NJPW. Available on AXS TV on Friday nights
- ROH - Ring of Honor - a small promotion that like NJPW, is based on presenting wrestling as serious athletic competition. Most of the top stars in the US got their start in ROH. ROH has never been able to grow though, and is difficult to find on TV. Last I saw, it airs Sundays around midnight on WJLA in this area.
- AEW - All Elite Wrestling - started by a group of guys who largely made their names in ROH and NJPW, they ran a PPV last year and will have their second PPV in May, expect it to be a US version of NJPW, they are backed by the Khan family that owns the Jacksonville Jaguars and are likely to equal the production values of the WWE once they finally get a TV show
- MLW - Major League Wrestling - Kind of a clone of ROH, available Friday nights on BeIn sports.
- Impact Wrestling - they used to be the #2 promotion in the US but have collapsed in recent years, they are still on TV somewhere
I watch NJPW pretty regularly, and MLW once in a while. BTW, there is a WWE show coming up in a few weeks at the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax if you want a date night. :-)
