I feel bitter toward AEW now and I wish I didn’t

[Viking Hall]

It's just... wrestling.

Enjoy what you like, don't worry about what you don't, it's not important.

[Deleted]

Yeah I've taken breaks both from wrestling and social media, including this board. I was a ppv only WWE fan for few years, when I was getting frustrated with product. It was a much better way to enjoy the company, as the ppvs were always average to good. If Smackdown didn't go to fox after I cut the cord, and I started really enjoying hanging in the live threads, I would probably still watch it that way. Now I have a Roku, Sling, and Fite watch almost everything. Wrestling helped me through last year.

I dont go on Twitter, I'm selective where I post on Reddit. Social Media can really mess with your mental heath even when its talking about something you love. I've been at this board since the beginning at wrestlecrap, lost my original screen name, but there was a time a couple years back I was read only. I would keep up with a lot of threads I but I stopped posting or commenting. It probably had nothing to do with wrestling or this board, and more so I was in a crappy place in my life. I just didn't feel like saying anything, didn't think anyone would care.

You just got to keep care of yourself in even the littlest of things. Because sometimes there's probably a bigger issue at hand.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Sept 7, 2021 15:09:37 GMT -5 Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story said:

Sept 7, 2021 15:01:29 GMT -5 Clash, Never a Meter Maid said:

To tell the truth, I think Elite is great. Loved them in New Japan. I appreciate how AEW emphasizes wins and losses, and uses enhancement talent and stables. Omega and the Bucks, Cody, Hangman, they’re killing it, as are many people in the company. I’m not rooting for All Elite to fail, I want all wrestling to grow. And keep in mind, I get on WWE’s case constantly about how ass their championship booking has been for years.

But some of the fans position themselves as “we’re the anti-WWE revolution” and they have this “we’re going to vanquish Vince’s wicked company, I don’t get how you can enjoy that other wrestling” vibe. It just reminds me of toxic fan arguments I’ve had in the past.

Basically, I just want to enjoy whatever I want and get no strange looks/remarks for it.

Are you having conversations of this nature on here? This board gets protective about AEW for sure but I don't know that I've seen that sentiment shared here. If it's happening elsewhere, I'm sorry for that and it's not indicative of wrestling at large. People can like what they want to like.

Much of it was elsewhere, yes. (Don’t go near YouTube wrestling comments.)

But I will say; I wish I had gotten these kinds of “it’s fine, you can like whatever you want and it doesn’t bother us” responses years ago. That does help me feel better some. Because before, it was rough.

[Mecca]

I think initially alot of AEWs fan base was the f*** WWE crowd. I think that's changing as their viewership grows.

[corndog]

I remember the "us against them" with Cena vs Punk and Bryan and originally RVD. But what is interesting to me is those matches and fueds made me respect Cena. He showed in those matches he was more than the "5 moves of doom" he was accused of and he used that hatred to really work those fans in the promos and matches. Infact, it felt like Cena go a lot of respect from everyone after both of those matches, especially the Punk match in Chicago.

[rnrk supports BLM]

I understand, really. It was disheartening to watch all the toxic, condescending, self-aggrandizing, self-pitying discussion that used to go on around here about Punk and Bryan back in the day quietly fade out, as if the people involved were genuinely maturing and moving on with their lives, only to see it back in full force once AEW kicked off, because the manchildren hadn't grown up so much as they just hadn't had anything to fixate on in the same manner for a while.

The best we can do is enjoy the product regardless, and pick and choose where we want to discuss what we do and don't enjoy about it. Getting mad at dorks on the internet really isn't worth the bother.

[Venti]

*some*(not all) AEW fans really turned me off from watching it for a good while. I think it's just a very vocal subset of fans.

But like, I still like WWE, and its obnoxious hearing these people throw around terms like "E-drones" and "Vincels." It's so damn cringey and childish to me.

I also kind of felt "unwelcome" as you put it because I never(and still don't) get or like wrestlers like Orange Cassidy or Kenny Omega, and those are the guys people were constantly insisting are the next biggest mainstream stars.

I'm over it all tho, AEW is signing some of my favorite wrestlers and feels like it's drifting away from what I felt like was a big budget indy mindset.
And if a few vocal fans on the internet annoy me, I'm just ignoring it because I've been watching Dynamite and Rampage again and I'm enjoying quite a bit of it.

Edit: just wanna add, staying away from places like Reddit and Twitter has helped a lot. If I want to read or occasionally take part in wrestling discussion, I just stay here because of the friendly atmosphere and if there's arguments or disagreements here, everyone is still generally cool with each other and nice.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I was never a fan of Cena's booking or super push... but I didn't go out of my way to say "Screw you for liking Cena over Bryan and Punk!"

That's just shit. And it's embarrassing that we have to share a fandom with people like that who just try and ruin things for others... unfortunately many fandoms share the same shameful sentiment.

I'm sorry you feel this way Clash. I hope that this thread has helped in some way. You're valued here. Your love for Cena is valid. Your opinion is respected and I hope it continues to be.

["Cane Dewey" Johnson]

This would be less of an issue if AEW fans simply cheered for Cena harder and more frequently than they do currently.

[carter 15]

Man, my favourite wrestler is Goldberg. This is all supposed to be fun. If someone genuinely judges the person i am because i enjoyed squash matches when i was 7 years old - i’m not sure i’d spend a millisecond giving that person a second thought.

People are allowed to like whoever the hell they want man!

[King Devitt]

I really wish I knew the magic formula to help Clash not be traumatized by opinion. And not in a mean way, I sincerely wish I knew what words to say that would make them go "oh these people bullied me, they don't matter in the end, I like what I like and others are allowed to not like it, and I can not like what they like, and if they don't like me for it that's fine."

And I would never say someone needs therapy, but you're also private messaging people, myself included, because we said mean things about Cena and that makes you unhappy because you're allowed to like Cena.
But you were never directly mentioned. You made it about you due to the experiences in the past that feel like they're bordering on trauma.

Like, people's hatred of Cena does not correlate to you being a fan of Cena.
Maybe in the past when the Cena misery booking was at its height, but in the end you got what you wanted, you got your guy on top for over a decade.
Those of us who don't like him had to suffer through it. Many of us left due to it.
It wasn't Cena we hated, it was Vince's inability to book competently.
And now we're living vicariously through a company that listens to the fans, and books for the fans.
We're allowed to be happy, just as you were then, because we waited so long for it and wrestling became not fun for a lot of us.
It wasn't as good for you as it could've been due to toxic fans, and that part sucks.

Should you have been bullied over it? f*** no. But people don't have to like what you like.

It's not healthy, and the Cena fandom borders on obsessive, and to twist the narrative of things to be about your obsession.

I wish I knew what to say to help it make sense for you, and to let the past go.

The dude isn't even an active wrestler anymore, and I know it's self-expression, and you're feeling a lot of stuff about it, and obviously you're allowed to do that.
But again, your PM'ing people because we're being mean to Cena and going off on how you're allowed to like Cena, and now bringing up Cena in different sections that have nothing to do with him.

It's not healthy my friend.

You have a great group of people here who are listening, and supportive, if anything let that be more important than the mountain of hate you got all those years ago.
Let the positive you have here now for you outweigh all the shit you had to wade through in the past.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Sept 7, 2021 14:37:29 GMT -5 Clash, Never a Meter Maid said:

Sept 7, 2021 14:17:46 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

A lot of folks have expressed the same sentiment I feel so just to add my own wrinkles

Many of my favourite WWE moments would not be possible without Cena, and that includes all the facets of his character and booking I hated at the time but warmed to from 2008 onwards.

Summer of Punk II simply would not have worked if he did not have Cena to bounce off. Him being everything that he is, good or bad, is what made that angle electric and if you had someone a fraction less talented or over (and being a mercilessly booed top face still qualifies as I over if people still buy tickets to see you). Cena is great.

And frankly, Cena showing up in AEW to have a mega heel run, doing some combination of the NWO and anti-hardcore Mick Foley, would be genuinely extraordinary. I know you want to root for him as a face, but just... cheer for him anyway, you already did.

Wherever those diehard anti-Cena pricks are almost none of them are on this forum.

Even the people who hate him on this forum mainly have nothing against him as a person.

Even people who don't like his work can usually highlight talents he has they respect.

And many people, like me, who over a decade ago would have mocked you for being a Cena fan (literally I was still a teenager then, trolling boy band forums when I wasn't on here), are now nearly as big fans of him as you are.

The people you have beef with have changed or left and the rest of them aren't here and never were.

Like. You won, man. Cena got one of the biggest pops WWE has had in years when he came back. Nobody is starting these conversations any more.

Trust me my friend- the only thing I “won” was more paranoia about expressing myself.


The only way I could have gotten “The W” is if I had gotten to mark out for that silly and more juvenile wrestling without any older male fans taking any issue, or looking at me like I was a misfit.

Is starting threads like this not letting them keep beating you? Not instigating, genuinely asking.

[Ecks Ecks Ringout Ecks Ecks]

On seeing AEW as a revolution, and celebrating its success as shots across WWE's bow:

While this can be taken too far like anything else, at heart I think it's very much a good thing. And at least on this board, I think the majority of us are excited for AEW's growth not because we want WWE to die, but because we want Vince McMahon (and his successor(s), whenever he finally walks away) to stop making shitty decisions that hurt the talent, his company, and the wrestling business in general. We want things to be better for the performers we love and respect.

There's so much to be mad about. Not "I'm an adult fan who dislikes a kid-focused gimmick" mad, though I don't doubt you've encountered plenty of that kind of nonsense elsewhere on the internet. It's Saudi deal mad. Third-party-platform-edict mad. Proximity-to-certain-politicians mad. Being tone deaf to abusive behavior mad. Pushing problematic talent while punishing others for stupid reasons mad. "You're an independent contractor, but we basically own your soul" mad.

It's not just about having a major promotion catering to our tastes, though I absolutely love that we do. It's because the last time Vince admitted he'd lost the plot was when WCW was kicking his ass. The result was a boom period with better pay, more opportunities and more creative freedom for the talent. It ended after WCW made clownshoes decisions of their own and Vince bought out his rival.

On some level we want this situation to play out again sans shitty ending, because it benefits everyone, talent and fans alike. It's a different time, the way we consume media is different, but the principle is still the same: it's a lot harder to get away with rotten behavior when a viable competitor emerges and lights a fire under your ass.

[Dub H]

Sept 7, 2021 18:24:27 GMT -5 King Devitt said:

I really wish I knew the magic formula to help Clash not be traumatized by opinion. And not in a mean way, I sincerely wish I knew what words to say that would make them go "oh these people bullied me, they don't matter in the end, I like what I like and others are allowed to not like it, and I can not like what they like, and if they don't like me for it that's fine."

And I would never say someone needs therapy, but you're also private messaging people, myself included, because we said mean things about Cena and that makes you unhappy because you're allowed to like Cena.
But you were never directly mentioned. You made it about you due to the experiences in the past that feel like they're bordering on trauma.

Like, people's hatred of Cena does not correlate to you being a fan of Cena.
Maybe in the past when the Cena misery booking was at its height, but in the end you got what you wanted, you got your guy on top for over a decade.
Those of us who don't like him had to suffer through it. Many of us left due to it.
It wasn't Cena we hated, it was Vince's inability to book competently.
And now we're living vicariously through a company that listens to the fans, and books for the fans.
We're allowed to be happy, just as you were then, because we waited so long for it and wrestling became not fun for a lot of us.
It wasn't as good for you as it could've been due to toxic fans, and that part sucks.

Should you have been bullied over it? f*** no. But people don't have to like what you like.

It's not healthy, and the Cena fandom borders on obsessive, and to twist the narrative of things to be about your obsession.

I wish I knew what to say to help it make sense for you, and to let the past go.

The dude isn't even an active wrestler anymore, and I know it's self-expression, and you're feeling a lot of stuff about it, and obviously you're allowed to do that.
But again, your PM'ing people because we're being mean to Cena and going off on how you're allowed to like Cena, and now bringing up Cena in different sections that have nothing to do with him.

It's not healthy my friend.

You have a great group of people here who are listening, and supportive, if anything let that be more important than the mountain of hate you got all those years ago.
Let the positive you have here now for you outweigh all the shit you had to wade through in the past.

Juat one correction: I would never say someone need therapy.

nah,EVERYONE needs therapy.I know what you mean but lets normalize therapy,it is good for everyone.

[Instant Classic]

Hang in there man, Cena is the freaking man!

[Bang Bang Bart]

Sept 7, 2021 12:31:04 GMT -5 The Ichi said:

There are Punk/Danielson fans that also like Cena. I'm one.

Me too. Cena’s dedication to making kids happy thru Make a Wish is something to be admired.

[Deleted]

I mean, by and large, wrestling forums are relatively pleasant places to discuss fake fighting with other fans of fake fighting. This forum is a prime example of that, in my opinion.

I’m an AEW fan so I just avoid places like r/scjerk where I’d be ridiculed for something that I enjoy.

Fans who take it seriously enough to ridicule you are the HUGE minority, and are extraordinarily lame losers. There’s no reason to take it seriously enough that it affects your ability to enjoy something years later.

At the end of the day, it’s just scripted fighting against the backdrop of melodrama. It’s one of the most absurd things in the world. The minute it starts causing stress in your life instead of being a respite from the real world is the minute you should take a step back from it.

[freeze Austin]

I'm not sure what to say other than just be happy there's a major American wrestling alternative to WWE that talent can work at, get to be on major national television, and get paid. Also, a lot of Cena critics who either didn't like his ringwork or booking or on screen character in the mid-2000's eventually came around and at least learned to appreciate what he can do and what a hard worker the dude is, myself included.

[r.]

Digitally alter the entire the AEW roster to have Cena's face.

Easy solution.

But seriously, I can only suggest to try and associate the company with positive things. IE; I hated Impact for a long time because of a certain (not here) forum of superfans that shit on everything else. Getting past that I've been able to enjoy some good matches that the company put out

[Deleted]

What in the world?