Day 1
I watched WWE’s “Day 1” pay-per-view tonight. It seems, sadly, that Day 1 is no different from the previous 365 days.
As a fan of professional wrestling since Wrestlemania 8 nearly thirty years ago, I was a WWE ride or die for most of the last three decades. Even when the company was demonstrably terrible, I was too emotionally invested to let go. But when AEW arrived as an alternative in 2019, it made the scales fall from my eyes and see just how bad the company I’d been loyal to for all these years had become. For a while I kept up with both brands, but during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 I noticed something: each week I would look forward to the next edition of AEW, and would watch WWE like it was some sort of chore or obligation. Eventually I decided to stop watching the weekly, joyless, predictable WWE shows and only watch their pay-per-views. But the last few WWE PPVs have been dull or nearly unwatchable after getting so used to the high quality professional wrestling on offer with AEW. Today, before sitting down with Day 1, I made the mistake of watching Friday’s AEW Rampage. The three matches which took place in that single hour were more compelling than anything that happened in the WWE’s three hours of “premium” programming. Obvious in the worst way, as soon as Brock Lesnar was announced as an addition to the Fatal Fiveway title match because of Roman Reigns’ positive covid 19 result I said to my wife “well he’s winning then.” When I saw Maryse interfere on behalf of the Miz in his match against Edge, I said out loud “Beth Phoenix is clearly going to come and support Edge”. I hadn’t watched their TV show in months, but knew the outcome of every match.
It was boring. A waste of a night.
Meanwhile I have no doubt that Wednesday night’s debut of AEW Dynamite on TBS will be phenomenal. Great matches full of meaning and moments.
I’m never entirely done with WWE - the wound goes too deep after so many years. But right now it’s become that disappointing family member you see only because you have to, and as infrequently as possible. And when you see them, despite hoping that they’ve finally got their life together, you’re always disappointed that they’re still so fucked up.
This show should have been a new start. Instead, it was more of the same old shit.