Rants

I mean, honestly…

By Scott Keith on 23 June 2019

Hey Scott! Thanks for taking the time to answer e-mails, hope you're well.

When I look over the schedule of the upcoming G1 Climax, I can't help but be struck by the staggering amount of great wrestling we'll be getting over that month or so. And the most astonishing part is that there's going to be great wrestling going on everywhere else in the world too.

The worldwide talent pool has become so deep and so diverse that it really does feel like The Best Time Ever to be a Wrestling Fan. Access to the art (both in a logistical and economic sense) has never been easier or more widespread. The demand for professional wrestling is so great that AEW looks ready to do gangbusters as a second major North American promotion.

So…is right now, in fact, the best time ever to be a wrestling fan? The only counterargument I can think of is that the "main" product of the largest promotion in the world is consistently terrible…and perhaps the fact that said promotion is strangling Indy wrestling in Europe…and also that they're in bed with murderous fascists…but hey, things are pretty great otherwise!

All the best!
It's pretty staggering how much content there is to watch on the WWE Network alone. And as you note, if you get tired of their product, there's always NXT and NXT UK on there. Or New Japan World and their staggering library of classic content. Or hell, there's tons of free stuff on FITE.tv and YouTube. It used to be the that tape traders had to trawl all over the internet for glimpses of the hot new thing. Now I can type "Orange Cassidy" into YouTube and get a highlight reel in 10 seconds.
However, I'd still have to vote for 96-2000 as the best time overall. There was a sense of thrill and excitement to the Monday Night Wars that I don't think we're ever gonna see again.