Does AEW have the most toxic fan base?

[ppl591]

I know this may be a controversial subject but I'm interested in what others have to say.

This topic came to mind today after watch the latest MarkyD video where he watches current wrestling. He mentioned in his first video doing this he gave dynamite a 5/10 and got death threats for not rating the show higher.

I've seen this on Twitter and Facebook as well. And to a much lesser extent here where you can't dislike things without getting attacked. For example on a wrestling Facebook group I mentioned I don't like Danhausen and was immediately attacked for being too stupid to get the gimmick and go back to raw. I haven't watched a full wwe shoe start to finish in years and not a second of raw or smackdown in months.

Maybe it's just me that sees this because while I enjoy a lot of things in AEW, there are a lot of popular things I don't enjoy.

So anyway to my point does anyone see this with other companies? Is it just a vocal minority? Am I just insane?

[Urethra Franklin]

I wouldn’t say the AEW fan base is any more or any less toxic than any other fan base, even outside of wrestling.

There’s an element of virtually every fan base you can think of - wrestling, sports, movies, games, comics, whatever - that is entitled, hostile towards outsiders and responds to criticism by lashing out. Some of them are just awful people.

I’m sure that type of person exists in the AEW fan base, but those losers are everywhere.

[Fade]

Feb 5, 2022 12:34:46 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

I wouldn’t say the AEW fan base is any more or any less toxic than any other fan base, even outside of wrestling.

There’s an element of virtually every fan base you can think of - wrestling, sports, movies, games, comics, whatever - that is entitled, hostile towards outsiders and responds to criticism by lashing out. Some of them are just awful people.

I’m sure that type of person exists in the AEW fan base, but those losers are everywhere.

Any and every fandom has it because fandom requires passion. Unfortunately, people go overboard with it.

[lucas_lee]

Honestly there's a lot of holdover from the bad fanbases of ECW and the MNW era where you pick a side and there being no middle ground. Also fanatic fans are just outrageous especially death threats. What a bunch of lovers for doing that

[Final Countdown Jones]

Nah there's goblins in WWE's fanbase too. The problem isn't one fanbase or another it's that a lot of people really, really f***ing suck and the absolute dregs of it are the ones who gravitate toward unregulated Thunderdome platforms like public Facebook groups and twitter. And while I know you probably mean wrestling, to my knowledge AEW twitter trolls have ever coordinated mass-scale harassment campaigns like some online communities have. There's far worse out there than what goes on in the wrestlesphere and that speaks ato a wrose illness that isn't specific to one show or interest, it's just a nightmare problem right now.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

No, they have toxic fans, but to say they have the most toxic fanbase? I would say it's not even close even in the realm of wrestling. I've seen far worse in other non-AEW sections

Fandoms in general all have toxic people, you're going to see them everywhere, it's just the territory of a fandom, unfortunately. I would argue strongly that there isn't really much toxicity here when it comes to AEW, no one gets "attacked' for their opinions, there is plenty of discussion though, that's why I come here for it, many places are worse.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Na, there is super gremlins in every fanbase

[ppl591]

Feb 5, 2022 12:49:02 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

No, they have toxic fans, but to say they have the most toxic fanbase? I would say it's not even close even in the realm of wrestling. I've seen far worse in other non-AEW sections

Fandoms in general all have toxic people, you're going to see them everywhere, it's just the territory of a fandom, unfortunately. I would argue strongly that there isn't really much toxicity here when it comes to AEW, no one gets "attacked' for their opinions, there is plenty of discussion though, that's why I come here for it, many places are worse.

I'm not singling anyone out and this forum has great moderation so it doesn't run rampant. Having said that there definitely is a small amount of toxicity here, only not to thr extreme degrees like death threats. There is however an amount of passive aggressiveness and your opinion for the most part is dismissed if you say don't think the young bucks are all that good.

For myself personally I watch dynamite mostly every week. WWE maybe once a month but follow the results. As I've said I enjoy some things on dynamite but there are things I think are not good but I don't feel comfortable expressing those thoughts here often not because I'm threatened or anything insane like that but you're definitely talked down to if you disagree so I'd argue there is a level of that toxicity just a different sort.

[Deleted]

The types of people that would comment on some random guy’s subjective YouTube video are toxic in every fanbase. That’s not even remotely AEW exclusive.

If you want to get up close and personal with how toxic the dregs of the WWE fanbase can be, spend .0001 seconds over at r/scjerk.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 5, 2022 12:55:56 GMT -5 ppl591 said:

Feb 5, 2022 12:49:02 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

No, they have toxic fans, but to say they have the most toxic fanbase? I would say it's not even close even in the realm of wrestling. I've seen far worse in other non-AEW sections

Fandoms in general all have toxic people, you're going to see them everywhere, it's just the territory of a fandom, unfortunately. I would argue strongly that there isn't really much toxicity here when it comes to AEW, no one gets "attacked' for their opinions, there is plenty of discussion though, that's why I come here for it, many places are worse.

I'm not singling anyone out and this forum has great moderation so it doesn't run rampant. Having said that there definitely is a small amount of toxicity here, only not to thr extreme degrees like death threats. There is however an amount of passive aggressiveness and your opinion for the most part is dismissed if you say don't think the young bucks are all that good.

For myself personally I watch dynamite mostly every week. WWE maybe once a month but follow the results. As I've said I enjoy some things on dynamite but there are things I think are not good but I don't feel comfortable expressing those thoughts here often not because I'm threatened or anything insane like that but you're definitely talked down to if you disagree so I'd argue there is a level of that toxicity just a different sort.

Tons of people here have said the Young Bucks aren't that good though? Like... it's not something that's shouted down, plenty of people have differing takes and criticisms and they freely express them here.

FAN has literally had an unpopular AEW Opinion thread go on for like 8 pages and no one ate each other. There are certainly disagreements but unless your take is like... way out there, I don't think there's much shouting down done here, I've seen plenty of positive takes or counterpoints be disagreed upon if someone isn't fond of a direction or character as well, it just happens in discussions.

[Deleted]

I also kind of want to say that I think the very concept of “AEW fans” and “WWE fans” is asinine.

I’m a wrestling fan. I think AEW has the better product at the moment, but that’s not, like, an infallible opinion. When I was a kid I was a WCW fan until about 1998 and then became a WWF fan because the product was better.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Hana Kimura's death is actually a really horrible but useful case study on how awful people online are. She got harassed online so hard she took her own life not because of wrestling people, but from fans on the reality TV show she was on. I had an ex that used to watch past seasons of the show, and it's meant to be a fairly cozy show of 20-somethings living together, contrasting more western takes on that concept that end up being very high drama by bringing what seems on the surface like a more 'real' drama. The producers had Hana act a certain way and deceptively edited footage to make her look worse, and then demented fans of the shwo bombarded her with death threats and bile for disrupting the peace of the show. They did that without a single hint of irony to it and it cost someone her life.

If fans of a reality show meant to be fairly chill will lash out with death threats at somebody on the show? That's a sign there's no hope for us as a people. Trying to make it a dividing line about internet communities you want to scapegoat is missing the forest for the bugs on the trunk of a tree.

[dbrussel]

Nah. Stupid people is everywhere.

Yesterday with Goldberg in WWE social media is an example.

[Deleted]

No, people online are generally just toxic in general, but that's a hard genie to put back in the bottle.

It's really a testament to HMARK Center and the mod team here that this place runs as smoothly as it does.

[smokinvokoun86]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fanbase or even been apart of one that wasn’t toxic to some extent. Getting death threats because you didn’t like a wrestling show is most definitely beyond horrible.

I know I disagree with a lot of people if they don’t like something. But I can’t imagine caring that much that I would make it personal with someone. Especially here. I don’t agree with Lizuka on practically anything, but i have no doubt his feelings are genuine and I’m sure he’s a good guy. So why. should anyone take criticism personally?

But i don’t think it’s the MOST toxic, especially when a ton of fanbases; WWE fans included, could be just as toxic. Sadly it’s the nature of fandoms in general.

[Cyno]

SCJerks is more toxic than any other element of wrestling fandom out there and they despise AEW. It's like the 8chan of wrestling.

I'm not sure it's fair to include Hana Kimura's suicide into this, though. The abuse and harassment came when she was on a reality show and IIRC, it was "fans" of that show that came after her and not Japanese wrestling fans.

[Bad Moon]

Just last year there was a story circulating about a joshi wrestler committing suicide because of fan harassment. So no, not even close.

[Eunös ✈]

I've been on a few forums in the past where if you dare to have an opinion that goes against the grain, Oh boy prepare to have an Angry mob come at you.

You say something even slightly positive about Cena and they will come after your blood.

But anyway, I have no doubt alot of AEW fans are cool, unfortunately there will always be those who ruin it for everyone else.

[Citizen Snips]

I wouldn’t say “toxic”, but a lot of their fans straddle a very thin line between “dedication” and “obsession”.

[robferatu]

Don't get me wrong, I love and enjoy wrestling... I've been a wrestling fan since the attitude era, but I've never understood the whole "getting up in arms" over someone else's arbitrary rating system.

It's not different than video games, television, film and comic books... It's all subjective, and based on personal preference and it just seems archaic to actually care so much about someone else's opinion on a form of entertainment that you threaten their life.

With that said, from my experience (keyword "my") the most toxic fans I've encountered have been either "Star Wars" or comic book fans in general while the most accepting have been horror fans.

AEW (or just wrestling fans in general) seem to fall some where in the middle, and I liken WWE and AEW fans to Marvel and DC cinematic fans... They seem to extremely loyal to their "brand" and at times oblivious to any negative aspects of them.