COVID-19 is said to take around 5-14 days to show signs. As a result, simply doing a temperature check is worthless. Holding your show outdoors surely helps a tad, but you still are supposed to maintain social distancing and proper mask usage. That said, I have seen clips lately featuring a large handful of promotions running while either doing smoke and mirror bullshit to maintain a false sense of security (despite doing the bare minimum) or, even worse, some just throwing shit in the fan directly and saying they literally don't give a fuck about anyone. Stateside ICW, for example, and their Insane 8 bullshit. The clip I saw featured a rather packed crowd, not a mask in sight. ICW, fuck you!
WWE bribed a politician to continue running and has fucked things up over and over and over again. AEW did far better but has still fucked up over and over again. New Japan talked a big game, rightfully condemning the two parties I just mentioned, and then started running shows with fans before they did. Japan is starting to have issues again last time I looked. They also had the nerve to run shows recorded stateside after making those statements. STARDOM, DDT, Dragon Gate, NOAH, etc etc etc etc.
All of these companies have been running shows, some with fans. Even the ones with large amounts of cash and doing a decent job of testing everyone are still running into issues. Despite that, the small indie feds think they know better. GALLI, a lucha fed near Chicago that I've had some history with, is ran by a gentleman that mocked the virus and then got it and was hit hard by the thing. He has since been running shows and also is doing smoke and mirror bullshit using every cheap excuse possible. Houston has an unprofessional dude that acts like Shaggy that is doing similar shit and is also making crappy excuses. The dude is literally a child so it's not that surprising. You might have purchased a shirt from the kid.
We keep rushing to get back to normal without truly weighing the consequences of our actions. The selfish behavior I keep seeing, putting the talent and staff, their families, the fans, the fans' families, etc at risk is simply not okay and we need to stop gaslighting ourselves into accepting otherwise. MLW has done decent, but lets be honest and admit the owner financially abuses the talent so he's not really hurting. Court is a wannabe Paul Heyman in many ways. ROH hasn't ran but is about to.
So, if you are one of those promoters doing a shitty job and running shows right now, just know that there's a chance you're going to get someone killed and I sincerely hope you can live with yourself afterward. Of course you can, though. With limited contact tracing, you're none the wiser and can act innocent. Hell, Jericho participated in that crap factory motorcycle KKK rally, which if we're being honest is a good description, and then acted like the cases being attributed to the event was nothing. There of course is no such thing as a moral billionaire, but if you have a smaller fed you still have a chance to show you actually aren't a complete tool, take it. Most wrestlers are a bit dim, but companies need to take full responsibility.
Note that because of what I've seen, I've decided to no longer praise promotions due to the way I've seen their true colors lately. The promotions are exploiting talent and risking lives. New Japan, AEW, DDT, IWRG... I'll still watch matches that catch my eye, but I will focus exclusively on praising the talent and not the place in which they do business. This means I will watch WWE content again, for the record, because I love some of the workers there. I will consider going back to watch pre-boycott WWE content, even. I will also note that my financial contributions to the industry will largely be attempted to be guided directly, as much as possible, to talents themselves instead of subscriptions to streaming services. I will ensure that no money from me directly goes to scumbag promoters (nor scumbag talents) if I can help it in any way.
I want the top promotions in the game to do well in the sense that I want the business itself to be healthy and the talent to have chances to get paid as they should, for the record. Know that a good bud of mine told me to cut the chord completely and just stop watching wrestling in general. I love this damn murder opera too much for that, though. I'll still tell fans who to check out and which eras to consider, which I know will inevitably feature some talk of promotions. I own hoodies, hats, and shirts with AEW, NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, and NXT logos and now those logos solely represent the talent that busts their asses off to me. If someone asks about them, I'll remind them that they are home to great talent but ran by assholes. I know I'll still list promotions here for records etc. Hell, for the most part, my reviews will be about the same as they've been. I am simply going to call out crap far more often when I post things.
In regards to my boycott, I am officially canceling it as a result. Let this post and any future complaints serve as my disdain for this selfish bullshit but I want to keep promoting the talent here in the blog and support them as much as I can and I have already punished myself for five months.
Fuck the scumbags, praise the talent (while calling out talent that are scumbags, too).
I'd apologize for the rant, but honestly I think this was a needed announcement. Note that if you have been watching these shows I don't blame you. If you are a wrestler working these shows, I also don't judge you as I know there are many reasons why you might need to work and it is what it is. I solely am tired of scumbag owners and I no longer want to praise billionaires (or wannabe billionaires) when I could praise the talent that made me, and keeps me, a fan. I get that without the home, the tenants are homeless, but there are many homes open to them all and I will do what I can to ensure the talent is being promoted and praised and that I buy stuff from them at the very least.
Hopefully this makes sense. If not, consider it the random ramblings of a mad man.
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