Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 2/27/25
Orange Cassidy of AEW
AEW Dynamite has become an afterthought in my wrestling viewership, sad to say.
Wednesday rolls around and I find my wrestling appetite has already been sated by RAW. This is especially true because I review RAW and spend a lot of time thinking about it and honing my critiques throughout the week. As of now, I have no intention of purchasing AEW's next ppv. I need to save money, for one thing, and I'm not enamored with any particular story. If I find myself bored and with nothing better to watch, I'll put Dynamite on the TV when I get home from work, but there's no longer a sense of urgency. There was a time when I firmly believed AEW was producing not only the best weekly wrestling television show at present, but the best I'd ever seen at any time in my life.
It's no longer better than RAW, though it does feature better action.
I find Will Ospreay captivating.
Orange Cassidy is one of my favorite modern wrestlers.
Kris Statlander is a star.
Timeless Toni Storm is unmatched.
I strongly dislike the Death Riders and Jon Moxley's current incarnation, which makes it hard to enjoy the show overall since he's such a big part of it.
Even so, I think the dialogue about AEW's imminent demise is a lot of nonsense. People love to hate this company for all the wrong reasons.
Criticize how it uses women. Criticize how its backstage camerawork is indistinguishable from WWE's. Criticize how they don't provide wrestlers with healthcare. Don't just post a meme with the word "failure" plastered over wrestlers faces, performers who you think the company hasn't "gotten over".
People bathe in the negativity of low attendance numbers and low ratings. For what? It's pure Schadenfreude. Critical of AEW as I am, I'm overjoyed they exist. They showcase a wide variety of wrestling styles and that's healthy for the art. Consider Orange Cassidy who, for me, is the best character wrestling has produced in over twenty years. He would never work if he had debuted in WWE. There needs to be a place where off-beat, even controversial characters can thrive. The same goes for MJF, arguably AEW's most successful home-grown product. In WWE, he would be what CM Punk called, "a less famous version of The Miz".
Eventually, some of these wrestlers will go to WWE and bring their followers along for the ride. Those loyal fans will be the fuel for pops and help make relatively unknown characters seem like big deals. So calm the fuck down and keep your opinions to yourself. Be glad a place exists where creative people can thrive and then, later bring that creativity to the big leagues.
But no one will calm the fuck down so why should I even write it? Writing that merely satisfies me and the like-minds who read this blog. And it's not like the other side who defends their chosen organization against criticism is any less juvenile. If I see one more "hot take" from a wrestler saying fans don't "just enjoy" wrestling anymore I'll tear what remains of my hair out. It's 2025. It should be clear to us all that everyone is going to share their opinion about everything all the time.
Is that good? Absolutely not.
It's so bad, in fact, that it has destabilized democracies. But the internet is here and it's here to stay so why not try to find a more nuanced way to nudge people towards healthier forms of discourse? I have no delusions of grandeur. The ten people who read this likely already agree with me. But maybe this blog can help them articulate their thoughts more clearly, or dissuade them from reacting emotionally to an annoying post about Eric Bischoff. We all need to take a collective breath and remind ourselves that our discussions are not life and death. If we're approaching wrestling and the online discussion about wrestling in such a severe way then there is clearly a void in our lives we're trying desperately to fill. Keep that in mind when you see and hear wrestling fans up in arms about anything. They're sad about something in their real lives. They use wrestling to help them through it.
I've been in that destructive mental state before so I understand it. You can't sustain that level of angst. It will break you.
I'm happy to report my relationship with pro-wrestling is the healthiest it's ever been. It took work to get here, though. I've gone through several bouts of disillusionment, some even catalogued on my podcast and I wince to think those episodes are still out there, heard out of context. I used to think wrestling was the problem, that there was something inherently flawed about the medium that caused me mental hardship. In reality, it was my approach to wrestling that was flawed and the result was burnout. I'd reached my limit podcasting weekly for two years with no hiatus. I've come to learn I need breaks, so I bake them into the experience of my show.
Right now, I've hit a nice stride. I look forward to producing episodes on the weekends and releasing them on Monday. I don't feel stretched too thin and I feel my analytical mechanism is getting sharper. I'm glad this weekend I already know what the episode will be, a review of Elimination Chamber. I've made my peace with the fact that John Cena must win. I'm so at peace with it, in fact, that if anything else happens I'll be stunned. The only other conceivable winner is CM Punk, but I just don't see that happening.
In other news, my mental health has been pretty good the past few weeks. I hesitate to write that because I don't want to jinx anything. Cutting off negative thoughts and replacing them with positive or, more accurately, life affirming thoughts has been working. I segment my day into 15 and 30 minute units. I check the clock often so as to orient myself in time and stay on task.
I'm starting to internalize the idea that everything is not somehow related to me, and it's exhilarating. For example, I was sitting on a bench the other day eating a sandwich when I noticed a woman seated on another bench not far away. She turned her back to me. I kid you not, my go-to reaction was, "What did I do?" But then it hit me like a welcome slap to the face, "Schnap out of it!"
Her movement was entirely unrelated to me. The same applies to my day-job. When you have an anxiety disorder or a mental illness, it's very easy to fall into a paranoid shame-spiral where every little nuance of social interaction gets poured over. I'll be having the most innocuous of days when I find myself figuratively looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is out to "get me". And then I realize the oh so sage advice, "Nobody cares". I'm fine. Everything is okay. The tumult in my head is just that, entirely in my head.
To bring this back to wrestling, let's start applying this calmer approach to the expression of our opinions. Every perceived bad booking decision is not about us, it's not a personal slight, and it's not the end of the world. Instead of being down in the muck slinging random thoughts, ascend to a larger view that takes an art in totality. In totality, wrestling has never been better. We're fortunate to be alive at this time, with so much choice and so many different expressions of the medium at our fingertips.
Despite my complaints about annoying opinions, I love being a part of this community. I feel connected to my fellow wrestling fan in a way I haven't before. Ever since attending WrestleMania 35, I've had a newfound appreciation for the fans and what they bring to the medium. They bring life and humor to these shows, an appreciation for the athleticism on display and the mix of characters. The relationship between the WWE and wrestling fans is less contentious nowadays, which is a good thing. It leaves room for the wrestling and less room for hate and negativity.
I'll be tuning in to Elimination Chamber excited to see what will happen. In addition to the main event we'll have Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens in what promises to be a brutal affair. I do worry about the trajectory of both superstars, though. Who will they face at WrestleMania? It would feel wonky if they faced each other again in a "sanctioned" match. Time will tell.
Thank you for your reading.
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