Thursday, June 23, 2022

A Quick Note Regarding This Weekend's Forbidden Door PPV

Well, last night was another edition of AEW Dynamite and by proxy, the go-home show for this weekend's upcoming Forbidden Door PPV where AEW wrestlers will face off against New Japan wrestlers and a couple titles will be on the line on top of that.

I will not be watching that show.

Here's the thing. I like the AEW schedule of having four PPVs a year; it makes them feel special. And after years of monthly WWE PPVs with most of them not being worth it, I don't have the stomach to put up with another minor PPV a month after the last one. But perhaps the one thing that drove me to my decision is the lack of sufficient built towards this show. I watch AEW on a regular basis, but my exposure to New Japan has been extremely limited. I know names, I know faces, but that's about the extent of it. So I thought that AEW would take the time to introduce some of these names and help the AEW audience unfamiliar with New Japan and give that audience some emotional investment and reason to care about this upcoming Forbidden Door.

I did not get that.

As someone who doesn't watch New Japan, I didn't have the handicap of coming up with dream matches and scenarios that more than likely were not going to happen on this first (or possibly only) collaborative PPV. The appeal of such a crossover piqued my curiosity, but that's about all it did. Naturally, the thought of another PPV so soon after Double Or Nothing gave me pause and while I wasn't holding lofty expectations for the final card, the one thing I needed - a reason to care enough to buy this show - was the one thing I didn't get.

No doubt some folks will argue that whatever the card ends up being, it'll be a great wrestling show and I have no doubt that will be the case. AEW is capable of putting out great wrestling product and New Japan has certainly proven itself more than capable of putting out a wrestling product leagues above its contemporaries. The thing is that we live in an age where we can get good wrestling anywhere and everywhere. There's plenty of streaming services, plenty of tapes and DVDs floating around out there, and hell, there's some free good matches you can look up on Youtube that are legally broadcast for the masses to see. I don't need this show for my fix of good wrestling.

But what I do need is a reason to care, a reason to get invested, a reason to spark that interest that will prompt me to buy this show. A bunch of multi-man matches and two guys competing for the right to keep the AEW World title warm while current champ CM Punk is out of action is not exactly setting my world on fire. And don't get me started on that whole All Atlantic International World Global Legends Western States Heritage Big Gold Super Heavy Metal Weight World Championship thing.

This is the first AEW PPV that I'll be skipping and as such, there will be no PPV musings on the show as a result. I'll find something else to ramble about in its place and if not, we'll skip a week in this case and we'll dive into the WCW stuff in July. I doubt I'm going to ruin everyone's day with this overblown "I'm not watching" announcement, but if someone is wondering where that Forbidden Door musings is at, stop wondering because there isn't one.

Maybe down the road, I'll change my tune. But not anytime soon. And if you're watching the show, I hope you enjoy it. I'll be doing something else this long weekend.

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