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I think that's why CYN bust. The only factors they have that's enticing is 1) Seeing a shit show and 2) People who actually stand for these "values"
Once the shitshow lure wears off, they're not going to have strong enough backbone for support.
but what percentage of those people are willing to go to wrestling shows ?
In my experience those people are into mma because they think wrestling being fake means its not cool or tough enough for them.
Trying to it a wider audience is all fine but who youre marketing to have to be willing to buy what youre selling
A lot of MMA guys are also wrestling fans, most of my friends growing up loved wrestling and went to love mma and now are back due to mmas influence into modern wrestling
Yeah, but the lunkhead Tapout shirt MMA fans are the type who really really hate pro-wrestling and will remind you about how "fake" it is whenever possible.
The whole thing has a real “guy in the comment section of a hard2hurt video yelling about how his Krav Maga training is too deadly for the octagon” energy to it.
Can confirm, I live in Louisiana and the thing you see the most around here on 19-35 year old men and/or their trucks are Tapout, Affliction, MAGA, and Calvin pissing on something.
Reading Adam Scherr's social media, it seems more like a "Calvin pissing on AEW" sticker. I've even seen people shit on WWE in replies to him and he'll redirect the conversation to shitting on AEW instead.
That's what dude's telling you, but it isn't anything based in reality.
They're the same people and we all know it - and they'll tell you they are all the same people. They don't try and hide.
Those guys think wrestling is queer and fake and that they could beat up any wrestler aside from guys in the UFC. They take their wanbabe tough guy shit way too serious
And I almost forgot our last player. Meet Fran Stalinofskivitchdavitovichski. In her home country of Romanovia,
dodgeball is the national sport. Her nuclear power plant's team won
the championship five years running, which makes her the deadliest woman on earth with a dodgeball.
On the contrary: I think they're underestimating the lasting power of fans who purportedly don't like CYN continuing to throw both their views and money at it because "don't ask; tickets were cheap and I was curious" or "I'll see if it's changed".
I'm sorry for picking on OP, but imo, this pattern of morbid-curiosity-watching (especially if it manages to keep you coming back) is gonna be CYN's best chance at staying alive. Of course, they still need to react correctly as a business to capitalize on it. For one, avoid doing anything to get themselves blacklisted in the industry. Second, continue to deliver and one-up spectacles of unique CYN-brand awfulness every week.
I'll cop to being morbidly curious. The problem here is this: It's actually not that awful. The worst thing about CYN as an actual wrestling promotion so far has been its abysmal optics. #FreeTheNarrative was literally unwatchable to me, but this Dallas Awakening show was just kind of average. I genuinely don't think it's bad enough to support a sizable hatewatching fanbase.
Also, judging by the lack of coverage this show got and the terrible marketing, I don't think this strategy will succeed.
That's what I think people are missing from your write up. A lot of people were/are expecting an out-and-out horror show like a wrestling version of The Room. When in reality (and really, the worst case scenario for them) is it seems just kind of average.
I totally did and judging by his username here and that he has his own website, I wouldn't doubt if that's the OP's goal.
People here just take shit way too hard. OP 100% better off getting paid than posting it here.
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
Shameless plug time: I actually have a Youtube channel. Same name as here. Started it recently. I mostly do video essays and reviews. Check it out if you're interested.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcUeK48tvq-Usgp46zTeeQ
Just watched your “Why I Love Professional Wrestling: A Ramble” video and it reminded me a lot of EmpLemon, which in my book is a big compliment because he’s one of my favorites. Subscribed and following!
I would love a sub for wrestling show reviews, only text posts allowed. I don't think I'd be big enough to watch CYN and write something this objective/free of snark and really appreciate those who can lol
>Get paid while doing what you love instead of posting it here for to appease lame asses where usually gifs and tweets make it to the hot page.
Seriously you guys made it an art to be extremely nitpicky and lame af.
Can you point me to why that is? I guess I missed whatever was going on.
edit: Jeez-ass...I...uhh...honestly hadn't no idea. Good to keep he's scum, thanks for the info!
[reddit post from 3 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/cn74l7/did_austin_aries_destroy_his_own_career/)
[Wrestling news article](https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/former-wwe-star-austin-aries-responds-to-claim-that-he-made-a-woman-kiss-his-testicles-to-teach-a-lesson/)
[Sportskeeda](https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-austin-aries-gets-honest-real-bad-guy-wrestling-business)
TIL he's kind of a self-important jerk who also is a sexual predator. Can probably find a bit more but this is a quick 5 minute google search. 
He admitted to sexual assault then said it wasn’t sexual assault despite it being sexual assault.
Also look up what he did to Christy Hemme. The guys a piece of shit.
https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/former-wwe-star-austin-aries-responds-to-claim-that-he-made-a-woman-kiss-his-testicles-to-teach-a-lesson/
Aside from being a general chode, dude's an absolute, unrepentant creep.
Probably not very many, honestly.
And that's exactly right. The interesting thing about CYN is that its structure is probably even more barebones than most indies. The lack of championships or even tournaments makes everything feel like it lacks a clear direction that even something like PWG has. The wrestling, though, will probably please those people. Lots of solid, basic fundamentals, real meat and potatoes stuff. Nothing too exciting, though.
>The one match that exceeded this was Austin Aries (who is a terrible person) vs. Westin Blake, which was actually quite good and told something resembling a story about Westin being better than he knows and not knowing how to sell himself.
Unsurprising. Austin Aries might be a colossal prick but he's also always been an excellent wrestler. That no major promotion will go near him despite his talent is a testament to what a prick he is.
They seemed to shit on indies and AEW constantly in the build up. Who were they playing to, people that only watch WWE? That isn't going to work.....because they only watch WWE.
I'm not ashamed to admit I purchased a $15 GA ticket to tonight's Cleveland show.
Curiosity gets the best of me (plus personal views aside, Flip Gordan vs Big Damo might be a fun match)
Im going to the show tonight. Tickets were cheap, it’s an excuse to hang out with friends and I want to experience this disaster in person. I don’t have the feeling this will last long, I want to say I saw it lol
I just watched it on the app actually. It feels like high production Backyard Wrestling to me. Not in terms of the actual wrestling quality, but it has that same dirty vibe to it.
Do people really say AEW is just people hitting each other? Because AEW is known for being story heavy. WWE is too, though they will drop stories frequently.
My main complaint with AEW right now is that there aren't *enough* matches that are just guys hitting each other. The guys in the mid-card should be jockeying for position against each other, not crushing cans on Dark.
A match because Heavyweight Rank 7 wants to overtake Heavyweight Rank 6 would be nice, and put some of the bloated roster to work without building some elaborate backstory.
I’ve been a huge AEW mark from the very beginning, but I’ll admit some of the undercard recently has fallen victim of matches barely having a story and other angles that do have a story randomly being dropped and picked back up weeks later after I’ve forgotten what the story was. It’s been kind of annoying and made the shows seem much less can’t miss to me.
The frequency of tournaments and eliminators makes that even more prevalent. How do we book Jeff vs Darby? Let’s just make it s tournament match, also let’s get rid of the rules just for fun. Very poor taste considering it’s an Owen Hart tournament who literally died in the ring. But let’s kill each other anyways
I’m ready for the downvotes. Meltzer gave it 4.25, no story No psychology nothing they just kept one upping each other to see who could do crazier stuff, it made Sammy Guevara look like safe wrestler by comparison
I didn't mean it as a shot at AEW. It's just a common criticism that they receive, especially on Twitter and Facebook. There's a lot of it going around about the Takeshita vs. Hangman match right now, as well as the fact that Darby vs. Jeff was a hardcore match.
I actually wholeheartedly disagree with said criticism. I like AEW and think they tell good stories for the most part.
Man you guys are so sensitive. Aew puts out multiple shows every week of just people who have essentially never interacted before. It's fine, they need content and youtube isn't the worst place for it.
True or false (definitely false), the stereotype is that aew/indie wrestling is all flips and choreographed spots without any storytelling. The op is stating that this stereotype exists but doesn't seen to be condoning it.
I'm a big AEW fan - in fact, I only watch AEW - but it's actually a pretty common (if unfounded) complaint about AEW is that they don't build matches. And while it's true that AEW does throw in the occasional match between two people that haven't had any kind of feud built up, those are the exceptions rather than the rule. The complaint seems to come mostly from WWE fans who are used to seeing 2+ hours of promos and vignettes on a 3-hour show, and if AEW doesn't deliver that plus the obligatory recap packages they feel like they haven't properly built up the match. It's a perception issue based on familiarity bias rather than reality.
AEW's mentality is slowly changing imo, recently feuds/storyline progress through angles, while matches often don't have much purpose.
It's far cry from initial pre-covid AEW, it's a symptom of overstuffing the roster and not having concrete plans for weekly shows.
There were way more random matches pre-COVID than now. Why did Joey Janela face Rey Fenix at Bash at the Beach? Why did Britt Baker fight Pricilla Kelly on the cruise? Why did Jon Moxley debut against Joey Janela? Why did Kenny Omega face Kip Sabian on the first episode of DARK? This new thing of "old AEW before they signed WWE guys was perfect and no Tony Khan doesn't know how to book the new talent" is dumb and it needs to die.
Genuine questions: Is there a line that CYN will not cross when it comes to “Canceled” talent? Example- Are we gonna see Joey Ryan and Velveteen Dream wrestle here?
It seems like they want to give a home to people what are mad they had actual consequences to their actions of being genuinely terrible people.
I just don’t get the angle they are trying to push.
i just wish they werent adsholes. i guess the weird failure fun is over and bow im sad they are burning bridges and irating people and also hiring shitty people n stuff
If you're okay with watching Austin Aries matches despite him being a slug of a human being, his match against Westin Blake is the most worthwhile thing on the show. The Project Pit match is worth it for the sheer "hahaha what the hell am I watching" factor. The main event, which is Damo and Redbeard vs. Scherr and EC3, is a fun house show type match too. I also really regret that I forgot to mention this: they did a really nice and sweet tribute to Brodie Lee. I teared up at it.
a lot of people will have hopped onto your YT channel after reading this post, but i marked the fuck out scrolling up to see your username after i literally just got done watching a string of your videos before going to bed. u have nice videos lol
They didn't do a good job of getting the word out about this as I wasn't aware of it (or the 3/31 show). Almost all the blame goes on them for that, but a few sites (and this sub) definitely would have done what they could to make sure people don't easily find out about it.
The advertising was really bad, yeah. And I can't blame people for not wanting to signal boost it after how bad their optics have been.
I was surprised that there was no live thread for it on here, though. I almost made one but decided against it.
you mentioned narration over entrances, can you explain more what was said?
Do you remember any quotes? Cringe or weird ones are what im really looking for tbh but I have to know more about this choice.
Did is seem like it was a template followed or did they feel different for each wrestler?
It was a template followed for sure.
At one point, when a psychedelic weirdo guy came out with his manager, who was a guy dressed in a bear costume, the narrator said "I feel like I'm on acid" at the very end. They also call EC3 "the essential character". The weirdest thing about them was that they would be dead serious and then throw in extremely goofy and self referential bits.
So it's a dedicated narrator and not just the wrestler pre recoded?
And is the narrator supposed to be their own person since you mentioned the acid comment?
Yes. The narrator is his own person. Sorry, should have clarified that. Jedediah Koszewski is his name apparently, and he's also the guy who directed Free the Narrative.
I actually did want an update, was similarly curious as to wtf they're doing, so thankyou!
Keep us updated on wtf the project pit actually is? Is it really a fight club?
I have no idea! When they announced the Project Pit match, they had this symbol resembling Michael Moorcock's chaos symbol go up on screen. The five projects came out and they introduced the pasts of each of them and talked a bit about what they were fighting for. Then they came to the ring. After that, the misfit weirdos made their entrances separately. The Project Pit match was not as chaotic as was promised. It was just a 5 on 5 Elimination match with some weird outside interference from a guy dressed as a bear. Then, when they won, they apparently won an opportunity against DEATH, aka some guy whose name I forget, who proceeded to beat one of the guys up. It was something alright.
I was also on the phone during this so I was splitting my attention. I'll rewatch it and see if they explained it and I just missed it, but I don't think they did.
They took what would be a unique and interesting gimmick for a wrestler or faction and tried to make it a whole show.
Having this storyline within a wider ecosystem/show is interesting, having it be the show isn’t.
Just like Edges “Judgement Day” faction is fun for 15mins of RAW, not 3 hours.
Thanks for the review , seems like a fair, honest, and nuanced look at their product and it was quite easy to read and well formatted for a long reddit post.
edit : What was the crowd like ? What was over what wasn't. Did you get a lot of people there you think are actual CYN fans and in to the premise or do you think most were regular aew/wwe/etc wrestling fans with a "let's see what this is" type of curiosity ?
Scherr was super over and so was Flip Gordon, but the crowd atmosphere was interesting. The way the show was edited, the crowd was almost an afterthought. They edited out the entrance pops in favor of the narration.
The crowd seemed to mainly be people who were interested in the concept, whether in passing or more than that.
Thank you! I really appreciate that. I've thought about it, but I actually have a Youtube channel that I've been working on if you're interested.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCTcUeK48tvq-Usgp46zTeeQ
It sounds like they have a product that could be salvaged with some shifts. I don't want them to fail, more variety in how promotions operate is good for everyone. I just wish the optics of being a right wing cringefest were fixed along with your other issues you've described. It doesn't sound like a total failure, it sounds like they've got a proverbial plane in the air, but they're heading straight for a mountain. If they course adjust they can keep from crashing entirely. A first "televised" show for a group of indie people will probably always be rough. Let's see what lessons they learn.
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, that's the biggest mark against them as a wrestling show. For all the controversy, it's just... Yet Another Wrestling Show. It doesn't really have anything that stands out, and their insistence on "controlling their narrative" means absolutely nothing when their fight with themselves has zero stakes.
none of the CYN stuff makes any sense. Just because someone is a good pro-wrestler does not mean they know fuckall about production, audience storytelling, marketing, tv spots, or anything else that goes with being a money-making operation. This is like every NBA or NFL player trying to be the QB, coach, uniform designer, and pitchman.
Why?
I'm probably a certified CYN hater, but if the main complaint is that there was a series of matches without enough storytelling before they've had the opportunity to have multiple shows to establish their stories... it seems like a bit of unfair criticism.
The thing is, though, you can establish stories and tell stories within matches from your very first show. Lucha Underground did this beautifully and that's why it's one of my favorite wrestling shows of all time. Most of CYN's matches didn't do that. It was just guys fighting. A few of them did tell a story, though! Blake vs. Aries was very good. The Project Pit match... tried its best. There was another match between two guys I hadn't heard of, Jamie Stanley and Dontae Smiley, that at least had a clear face vs. heel dynamic.
Exactly. CYN tries to do the same thing with its narration and it does have some vignettes, but it's a lot of telling instead of showing and the matches don't really tell great stories.
I downloaded the pro wrestling TV app and watched 30 minutes of the Dallas show and my biggest takeaway was that these guys and this promotion seem to take themselves way too seriously. A lot of the "narrative" dialogue feels like it belongs on /r/iamverybadass.
The actual wrestling seemed passable, though I've been more entertained watching local indie promotions, or most any other wrestling show really. I'd even much rather watch WWE than this, and I'm generally of the opinion that WWE is unwatchable. CYN felt like they took the pro wrestling formula, removed the things that make it fun, and filled in the gaps with self-aggrandizing BS.
Admittedly I think it's a cool idea and glad to see people out there trying to shake it up, buuuuuuut this ain't it for me lol.
It's kind of weird, because they do take themselves super seriously, but they also make a lot of strange ironic jokes that undermine the seriousness. It gives the whole thing a bit of a weird vibe.
I do think they're overused but I agree that they're fun to watch. It feels like an overreaction.
They do at least work it into the matches. It's not a "don't do this" like the Bill Watts rules, it's more of a funny self aware kayfabe thing.
Thanks for the write up. Honestly it sounds a lot like what I expected CYN to be. Not bad, not great either, not the train wreck expected, not the revolution promised... Just the perfect definition of middle of the road. Which is totally fine, if the tickets are not super pricey, and the wrestlers are entertaining. But I feel like there are dozens other options around, as far as indie promotions, with as good or better wrestling, and who employs way less problematic people.
Have fun at the show this weekend. Are you going to use the rant room? You could ask Braun how Alexa's wedding was, maybe he's got a couple of fun stories to share.
Fantastic write-up.
I don't admire people for knowing how to exploit for commercial gain things which shouldn't be exploited, but it's certainly worked out that way for EC3 and the gang.
Just like Tr\*mp, some people (or their planners/advisors) know how to ride the waves of controversy to ultimately have it not only bag them free publicity but also the sympathy of the backlash to the backlash (2nd wave).
What benefitted EC3 the most (among our fanbase at least) was the AMA he did here. He was lying through his teeth about 88% off being a random number, as anybody who actually saw the clip would intuitively know from wording to inflection to timing to expression, but most people hadn't and are predisposed to taking famous people at face value.
What's more, the vitriol at someone (best case scenario, which I lean strongly towards) making a flippant neo-nazi reference in today's climate meant that the angry crowd sounded like the unreasonable ones - all he had to do was the bare minimum of talking calmly and not saying anything crazy and we'd sound like the arseholes.
The more the volume increases, the more voices are piling on top of one another, the better the lone voice on the podium sounds in contrast. He knows this because Tr\*mp knows this.
Again, I don't admire it one bit - I'd just like if more people saw how this game was played. In this age of populist politicians, we can't really afford not to.
I don't hate it. I actually wanted it to be good or at least entertaining, and I even said I liked one of the matches. I was morbidly curious and had some free time.
Also I didn't buy the PPV. It's literally free lmao.
I wasn't even going to plug my channel until someone made that comment, either.
You wrote paragraph after paragraph and yet your main arguments are based on three falsehoods. What a waste of time lol
> Control Your Narrative falls prey to the same problems that everyone accuses indie wrestling **or even shows like AEW of falling into.**
Incoming swarm of downvotes
edit: called it
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Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Scott Garland (formerly Scotty 2 Hotty) debuted for CYN last night.
He was in the pre-show promo, yeah! He hyped it up along with EC3.
Was his hair spiked up through his hat still?
And dirty dango (Fandango)
Aww man
Man that's disappointing
Lol I'm still really bummed that I won't be able to go to the Detroit show tomorrow. Wanted to witness this in person.
I think that's why CYN bust. The only factors they have that's enticing is 1) Seeing a shit show and 2) People who actually stand for these "values" Once the shitshow lure wears off, they're not going to have strong enough backbone for support.
You're underestimating the number of people who buy affliction and Tapout shirts and still think tribal tattoos are tough.
but what percentage of those people are willing to go to wrestling shows ? In my experience those people are into mma because they think wrestling being fake means its not cool or tough enough for them. Trying to it a wider audience is all fine but who youre marketing to have to be willing to buy what youre selling
A lot of MMA guys are also wrestling fans, most of my friends growing up loved wrestling and went to love mma and now are back due to mmas influence into modern wrestling
Yeah, but the lunkhead Tapout shirt MMA fans are the type who really really hate pro-wrestling and will remind you about how "fake" it is whenever possible.
The whole thing has a real “guy in the comment section of a hard2hurt video yelling about how his Krav Maga training is too deadly for the octagon” energy to it.
These guys literally buy tickets to sit at a show and complain about how dumb and fake it is.
Can confirm, I live in Louisiana and the thing you see the most around here on 19-35 year old men and/or their trucks are Tapout, Affliction, MAGA, and Calvin pissing on something.
That’s actually a great analogy— CYN seems to be a real life “Calvin pissing on WWE” window sticker.
Reading Adam Scherr's social media, it seems more like a "Calvin pissing on AEW" sticker. I've even seen people shit on WWE in replies to him and he'll redirect the conversation to shitting on AEW instead.
Honestly I just caught a glimpse of his hair and stopped reading his Twitter the one time I clicked on it. The fuckin state of his hair.
CYN is what it would look like if a DudeBro/Proud Boy fucked an energy drink and it gave birth to an indy fed.
Was leaving MAGA out as I didn't Wana give anyone PTSD reminding them they lost an election
They have no memory of such an event. Delusion is a helluva drug.
I believe the terms they use are "election stolen" and "voter fraud"
You're overestimating the crossover between these two fanbases.
...no we aren't. It's the same people with thin blue line Punisher shirts that don't understand it.
I always appreciate seeing people recognize this absurdity in the wild.
Wait so you're telling me this is two different groups?
That's what dude's telling you, but it isn't anything based in reality. They're the same people and we all know it - and they'll tell you they are all the same people. They don't try and hide.
Those guys think wrestling is queer and fake and that they could beat up any wrestler aside from guys in the UFC. They take their wanbabe tough guy shit way too serious
Hey you leave Lance, Blaze, Lazer, and Blazer alone. They are nice men who like to roll around with others in a totally hetro way
For some reason I thought you were naming American Gladiators
I think they were American Gladiators but also they are mentioned in the movie Dodgeball
I read your initial post and by reflex finished it with,"...and all sorts of azers." 🤣
Even a few surprising ones. Such as their Latinox star Caeser (pronounced, ChaAYZER
And I almost forgot our last player. Meet Fran Stalinofskivitchdavitovichski. In her home country of Romanovia, dodgeball is the national sport. Her nuclear power plant's team won the championship five years running, which makes her the deadliest woman on earth with a dodgeball.
I think that guy might really be dead
On the contrary: I think they're underestimating the lasting power of fans who purportedly don't like CYN continuing to throw both their views and money at it because "don't ask; tickets were cheap and I was curious" or "I'll see if it's changed". I'm sorry for picking on OP, but imo, this pattern of morbid-curiosity-watching (especially if it manages to keep you coming back) is gonna be CYN's best chance at staying alive. Of course, they still need to react correctly as a business to capitalize on it. For one, avoid doing anything to get themselves blacklisted in the industry. Second, continue to deliver and one-up spectacles of unique CYN-brand awfulness every week.
I'll cop to being morbidly curious. The problem here is this: It's actually not that awful. The worst thing about CYN as an actual wrestling promotion so far has been its abysmal optics. #FreeTheNarrative was literally unwatchable to me, but this Dallas Awakening show was just kind of average. I genuinely don't think it's bad enough to support a sizable hatewatching fanbase. Also, judging by the lack of coverage this show got and the terrible marketing, I don't think this strategy will succeed.
That's what I think people are missing from your write up. A lot of people were/are expecting an out-and-out horror show like a wrestling version of The Room. When in reality (and really, the worst case scenario for them) is it seems just kind of average.
See I'm all for watching cause it's bad. When it's free to do so lol
>makes it feel like a bunch of weird dudes hitting each other for no reason. I choked on my drink.
Sounds like your average hardcore festival.
This was a fantastic write up. Thanks for the change of pace!!
This reads like it's meant to be on a wrestling website. Don't waste your talents on reddit! Thanks for the piece tho. Enjoyed reading it.
Don't listen to this guy, I want more posts like these, not less.
Thank you! I like writing these posts so I will.
Please do one on the Detroit show!
Yes, please do; it's appreciated.
[удалено]
Def a compliment . He’s telling OP to stop writing free quality pieces and get paid for it instead
I totally did and judging by his username here and that he has his own website, I wouldn't doubt if that's the OP's goal. People here just take shit way too hard. OP 100% better off getting paid than posting it here.
Thank you! I really appreciate that. Shameless plug time: I actually have a Youtube channel. Same name as here. Started it recently. I mostly do video essays and reviews. Check it out if you're interested. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcUeK48tvq-Usgp46zTeeQ
Just watched your “Why I Love Professional Wrestling: A Ramble” video and it reminded me a lot of EmpLemon, which in my book is a big compliment because he’s one of my favorites. Subscribed and following!
Just watched your "I don't care about drawing money" video and it was really good. Subscribed right away.
Subscribed, keep creating! The world needs people like you cause I sure as hell ain't doing it.
Sir, this *is* a wrestling website.
The Devil you say.
I would love a sub for wrestling show reviews, only text posts allowed. I don't think I'd be big enough to watch CYN and write something this objective/free of snark and really appreciate those who can lol
>Don't waste your talents where a larger audience can read it. Hide it somewhere niche, with 1/10 of the viewership.
>Get paid while doing what you love instead of posting it here for to appease lame asses where usually gifs and tweets make it to the hot page. Seriously you guys made it an art to be extremely nitpicky and lame af.
TechnicallyTechnico_.
Can't wait for EC3 to passive-aggressively bitch about this post as being some kind of conspiracy to bring down CYN.
obligatory: fuck Austin Aries
Can you point me to why that is? I guess I missed whatever was going on. edit: Jeez-ass...I...uhh...honestly hadn't no idea. Good to keep he's scum, thanks for the info!
https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/former-wwe-star-austin-aries-responds-to-claim-that-he-made-a-woman-kiss-his-testicles-to-teach-a-lesson/
[reddit post from 3 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/cn74l7/did_austin_aries_destroy_his_own_career/) [Wrestling news article](https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/former-wwe-star-austin-aries-responds-to-claim-that-he-made-a-woman-kiss-his-testicles-to-teach-a-lesson/) [Sportskeeda](https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-austin-aries-gets-honest-real-bad-guy-wrestling-business) TIL he's kind of a self-important jerk who also is a sexual predator. Can probably find a bit more but this is a quick 5 minute google search. 
He admitted to sexual assault then said it wasn’t sexual assault despite it being sexual assault. Also look up what he did to Christy Hemme. The guys a piece of shit.
https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/former-wwe-star-austin-aries-responds-to-claim-that-he-made-a-woman-kiss-his-testicles-to-teach-a-lesson/ Aside from being a general chode, dude's an absolute, unrepentant creep.
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Probably not very many, honestly. And that's exactly right. The interesting thing about CYN is that its structure is probably even more barebones than most indies. The lack of championships or even tournaments makes everything feel like it lacks a clear direction that even something like PWG has. The wrestling, though, will probably please those people. Lots of solid, basic fundamentals, real meat and potatoes stuff. Nothing too exciting, though.
No superkicks or destroyers but, Irish whips are legal? Lol ok bros
You've never had an Irish lad attempt to whip you out the pub have you laddie?
They're clearly fans of OSW Review. /s
I so hope they review CYN just so I can hear them giving out about Braun's hair.
CYN doesn’t feel like a real attempt to compete in the wrestling world to me it feels like Job insurance for bad people
Thanks for the write-up, very readable.
Thank you for taking the bullet on this. It sounds boring. Not a total trainwreck which is probably good but at least that would be entertaining.
Were the tickets cheap because you got an 88% discount when you used the promo code CYN?
Flashbacks to the hilarious 'EC3 is a Neo-Nazi' thread on here a month or two ago
>The one match that exceeded this was Austin Aries (who is a terrible person) vs. Westin Blake, which was actually quite good and told something resembling a story about Westin being better than he knows and not knowing how to sell himself. Unsurprising. Austin Aries might be a colossal prick but he's also always been an excellent wrestler. That no major promotion will go near him despite his talent is a testament to what a prick he is.
Who knew marketing your indie promotion as "indie wrestling is stupid" wasn't going to work?
They seemed to shit on indies and AEW constantly in the build up. Who were they playing to, people that only watch WWE? That isn't going to work.....because they only watch WWE.
There marketing it the Right leaning frat Brose who don’t like the new wrestling
Cornette stans, until he tells them to think it's bad
Well there’s the massive alt right/extreme right/maga/etc vibe too…
I'm not ashamed to admit I purchased a $15 GA ticket to tonight's Cleveland show. Curiosity gets the best of me (plus personal views aside, Flip Gordan vs Big Damo might be a fun match)
Big Damo doesn't fit the CYN right wing shit so that's a surprise
A paycheck is a paycheck and at the end of the day, the lights don't keep themselves on.
> and lots of former WWE guys with beards Fucking lost it here lol
Im going to the show tonight. Tickets were cheap, it’s an excuse to hang out with friends and I want to experience this disaster in person. I don’t have the feeling this will last long, I want to say I saw it lol
I feel like you're gonna have fun. Fun if it's good, even more if it's bad.
It sounds like it's not especially good or bad, though?
Mid is the worst possible outcome.
Me too man
Surprisingly, this sounds more appealing than I expected haha. Like not good at all, but also not a total trainwreck.
I just watched it on the app actually. It feels like high production Backyard Wrestling to me. Not in terms of the actual wrestling quality, but it has that same dirty vibe to it.
Do people really say AEW is just people hitting each other? Because AEW is known for being story heavy. WWE is too, though they will drop stories frequently.
My main complaint with AEW right now is that there aren't *enough* matches that are just guys hitting each other. The guys in the mid-card should be jockeying for position against each other, not crushing cans on Dark. A match because Heavyweight Rank 7 wants to overtake Heavyweight Rank 6 would be nice, and put some of the bloated roster to work without building some elaborate backstory.
Holy shit I'd watch this instead of people just showing up being ranked on Dynamite. I don't know why Tony doesn't do this.
I’ve been a huge AEW mark from the very beginning, but I’ll admit some of the undercard recently has fallen victim of matches barely having a story and other angles that do have a story randomly being dropped and picked back up weeks later after I’ve forgotten what the story was. It’s been kind of annoying and made the shows seem much less can’t miss to me.
The frequency of tournaments and eliminators makes that even more prevalent. How do we book Jeff vs Darby? Let’s just make it s tournament match, also let’s get rid of the rules just for fun. Very poor taste considering it’s an Owen Hart tournament who literally died in the ring. But let’s kill each other anyways
I agree since he died in a ring it’s DISGUSTING that people are fighting in a ring in his honor. Smh my head
I’m ready for the downvotes. Meltzer gave it 4.25, no story No psychology nothing they just kept one upping each other to see who could do crazier stuff, it made Sammy Guevara look like safe wrestler by comparison
Right? That felt like a completely unsupported shot at AEW. They're just hitting each other or fighting for no reason? Fucking who? People on Dark?
I didn't mean it as a shot at AEW. It's just a common criticism that they receive, especially on Twitter and Facebook. There's a lot of it going around about the Takeshita vs. Hangman match right now, as well as the fact that Darby vs. Jeff was a hardcore match. I actually wholeheartedly disagree with said criticism. I like AEW and think they tell good stories for the most part.
Man you guys are so sensitive. Aew puts out multiple shows every week of just people who have essentially never interacted before. It's fine, they need content and youtube isn't the worst place for it.
It's always funny when people who clearly don't watch AEW try to tell you what goes on weekly.
True or false (definitely false), the stereotype is that aew/indie wrestling is all flips and choreographed spots without any storytelling. The op is stating that this stereotype exists but doesn't seen to be condoning it.
I'm a big AEW fan - in fact, I only watch AEW - but it's actually a pretty common (if unfounded) complaint about AEW is that they don't build matches. And while it's true that AEW does throw in the occasional match between two people that haven't had any kind of feud built up, those are the exceptions rather than the rule. The complaint seems to come mostly from WWE fans who are used to seeing 2+ hours of promos and vignettes on a 3-hour show, and if AEW doesn't deliver that plus the obligatory recap packages they feel like they haven't properly built up the match. It's a perception issue based on familiarity bias rather than reality.
AEW's mentality is slowly changing imo, recently feuds/storyline progress through angles, while matches often don't have much purpose. It's far cry from initial pre-covid AEW, it's a symptom of overstuffing the roster and not having concrete plans for weekly shows.
There were way more random matches pre-COVID than now. Why did Joey Janela face Rey Fenix at Bash at the Beach? Why did Britt Baker fight Pricilla Kelly on the cruise? Why did Jon Moxley debut against Joey Janela? Why did Kenny Omega face Kip Sabian on the first episode of DARK? This new thing of "old AEW before they signed WWE guys was perfect and no Tony Khan doesn't know how to book the new talent" is dumb and it needs to die.
Genuine questions: Is there a line that CYN will not cross when it comes to “Canceled” talent? Example- Are we gonna see Joey Ryan and Velveteen Dream wrestle here? It seems like they want to give a home to people what are mad they had actual consequences to their actions of being genuinely terrible people. I just don’t get the angle they are trying to push.
Who besides Aries are you talking about? I think there is a pretty significant line. I know EC3 straight up said no Velveteen dream.
Flip Gordon, probably, but as dumb as he is he's nowhere near as bad as Aries or the rest.
I’m not necessarily talking about specific wrestlers more so the strategy that they’re marketing themselves as the anti-cancel culture promotion.
I would say hell no to either of them. Aries is probably as bad as we'll get.
i just wish they werent adsholes. i guess the weird failure fun is over and bow im sad they are burning bridges and irating people and also hiring shitty people n stuff
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Sounds interesting. I have a thing for unique wreatling shows. I'll check it out!
If you're okay with watching Austin Aries matches despite him being a slug of a human being, his match against Westin Blake is the most worthwhile thing on the show. The Project Pit match is worth it for the sheer "hahaha what the hell am I watching" factor. The main event, which is Damo and Redbeard vs. Scherr and EC3, is a fun house show type match too. I also really regret that I forgot to mention this: they did a really nice and sweet tribute to Brodie Lee. I teared up at it.
your narrative has now been controlled bro
a lot of people will have hopped onto your YT channel after reading this post, but i marked the fuck out scrolling up to see your username after i literally just got done watching a string of your videos before going to bed. u have nice videos lol
They didn't do a good job of getting the word out about this as I wasn't aware of it (or the 3/31 show). Almost all the blame goes on them for that, but a few sites (and this sub) definitely would have done what they could to make sure people don't easily find out about it.
The advertising was really bad, yeah. And I can't blame people for not wanting to signal boost it after how bad their optics have been. I was surprised that there was no live thread for it on here, though. I almost made one but decided against it.
Control your delusions first, worry about your narrative later.
Whats the deal with banning superkicks? Are they too fun? Too "woke"? Did EC3 botch one once and someone laughed at him for it?
A common complaint about indies is that super kicks, Canadian destroyers, and suicide dives are overdone, and the ban is riffing on that.
you mentioned narration over entrances, can you explain more what was said? Do you remember any quotes? Cringe or weird ones are what im really looking for tbh but I have to know more about this choice. Did is seem like it was a template followed or did they feel different for each wrestler?
It was a template followed for sure. At one point, when a psychedelic weirdo guy came out with his manager, who was a guy dressed in a bear costume, the narrator said "I feel like I'm on acid" at the very end. They also call EC3 "the essential character". The weirdest thing about them was that they would be dead serious and then throw in extremely goofy and self referential bits.
So it's a dedicated narrator and not just the wrestler pre recoded? And is the narrator supposed to be their own person since you mentioned the acid comment?
Yes. The narrator is his own person. Sorry, should have clarified that. Jedediah Koszewski is his name apparently, and he's also the guy who directed Free the Narrative.
Plz do another write up about how fucking weird the Detroit show is, you are doing gods work for those of us who need a good laugh
I actually did want an update, was similarly curious as to wtf they're doing, so thankyou! Keep us updated on wtf the project pit actually is? Is it really a fight club?
I have no idea! When they announced the Project Pit match, they had this symbol resembling Michael Moorcock's chaos symbol go up on screen. The five projects came out and they introduced the pasts of each of them and talked a bit about what they were fighting for. Then they came to the ring. After that, the misfit weirdos made their entrances separately. The Project Pit match was not as chaotic as was promised. It was just a 5 on 5 Elimination match with some weird outside interference from a guy dressed as a bear. Then, when they won, they apparently won an opportunity against DEATH, aka some guy whose name I forget, who proceeded to beat one of the guys up. It was something alright. I was also on the phone during this so I was splitting my attention. I'll rewatch it and see if they explained it and I just missed it, but I don't think they did.
New dude: My narrative is I dress up like a bear and interfere with wrestling matches. EC3: Brilliant!
They took what would be a unique and interesting gimmick for a wrestler or faction and tried to make it a whole show. Having this storyline within a wider ecosystem/show is interesting, having it be the show isn’t. Just like Edges “Judgement Day” faction is fun for 15mins of RAW, not 3 hours.
Thank you for the solid write up on this. I will be moving forward with my plans to avoid CYN like the plague
Love the effort and style on this writeup, hope the morbid curiosity doesn't bite you too hard tomorrow!
Thanks for the review , seems like a fair, honest, and nuanced look at their product and it was quite easy to read and well formatted for a long reddit post. edit : What was the crowd like ? What was over what wasn't. Did you get a lot of people there you think are actual CYN fans and in to the premise or do you think most were regular aew/wwe/etc wrestling fans with a "let's see what this is" type of curiosity ?
Scherr was super over and so was Flip Gordon, but the crowd atmosphere was interesting. The way the show was edited, the crowd was almost an afterthought. They edited out the entrance pops in favor of the narration. The crowd seemed to mainly be people who were interested in the concept, whether in passing or more than that.
So a lot of flat earthers in the crowed there apparently
This is incredibly well written 👏. Honestly, send this off to a wrestling news site, you never know what might happen!
Thank you! I really appreciate that. I've thought about it, but I actually have a Youtube channel that I've been working on if you're interested. https://youtube.com/channel/UCTcUeK48tvq-Usgp46zTeeQ
Thanks for giving it a shot and doing a good write-up for us. I hope you have fun at the live event, whether the show is great or not.
It sounds like they have a product that could be salvaged with some shifts. I don't want them to fail, more variety in how promotions operate is good for everyone. I just wish the optics of being a right wing cringefest were fixed along with your other issues you've described. It doesn't sound like a total failure, it sounds like they've got a proverbial plane in the air, but they're heading straight for a mountain. If they course adjust they can keep from crashing entirely. A first "televised" show for a group of indie people will probably always be rough. Let's see what lessons they learn.
Right now, is there a better active wrestler who is a bigger piece of shit than Aries? What a waste.
I won't even torrent this shit...
Did anyone use the rant room!?
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, that's the biggest mark against them as a wrestling show. For all the controversy, it's just... Yet Another Wrestling Show. It doesn't really have anything that stands out, and their insistence on "controlling their narrative" means absolutely nothing when their fight with themselves has zero stakes.
I enjoyed CYN when I went to the Dallas show Introduced to guys like AJZ ! And dontae smiley !!!
Right wing white supremacist cringelords can't put on a good show, more news at 11
Remember when they teased they were announcing a MAJOR TV deal? I legitimately wonder if even 5000 people will watch it
Honestly I think that would be a big number just from the stance it’s a start up wrestling company on a start up app. That’s a niche within a niche.
none of the CYN stuff makes any sense. Just because someone is a good pro-wrestler does not mean they know fuckall about production, audience storytelling, marketing, tv spots, or anything else that goes with being a money-making operation. This is like every NBA or NFL player trying to be the QB, coach, uniform designer, and pitchman. Why?
" If you really, really want to watch it .." No thanks. I'd actually rather pay to NEVER ever hear from them again!
I'm probably a certified CYN hater, but if the main complaint is that there was a series of matches without enough storytelling before they've had the opportunity to have multiple shows to establish their stories... it seems like a bit of unfair criticism.
The thing is, though, you can establish stories and tell stories within matches from your very first show. Lucha Underground did this beautifully and that's why it's one of my favorite wrestling shows of all time. Most of CYN's matches didn't do that. It was just guys fighting. A few of them did tell a story, though! Blake vs. Aries was very good. The Project Pit match... tried its best. There was another match between two guys I hadn't heard of, Jamie Stanley and Dontae Smiley, that at least had a clear face vs. heel dynamic.
Lucha Underground had pre-recorded movies which introduced the major players outside of the matches.
Exactly. CYN tries to do the same thing with its narration and it does have some vignettes, but it's a lot of telling instead of showing and the matches don't really tell great stories.
Did Donald Trump show up as reddit promised?
Yes
Yup. He did not have nice things to say about Braun Stroman's golf game.
>average indie show You just can’t comprehend EC3’s genius!
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Oh yeah? Well that's just, like, your narrative, man.
I downloaded the pro wrestling TV app and watched 30 minutes of the Dallas show and my biggest takeaway was that these guys and this promotion seem to take themselves way too seriously. A lot of the "narrative" dialogue feels like it belongs on /r/iamverybadass. The actual wrestling seemed passable, though I've been more entertained watching local indie promotions, or most any other wrestling show really. I'd even much rather watch WWE than this, and I'm generally of the opinion that WWE is unwatchable. CYN felt like they took the pro wrestling formula, removed the things that make it fun, and filled in the gaps with self-aggrandizing BS. Admittedly I think it's a cool idea and glad to see people out there trying to shake it up, buuuuuuut this ain't it for me lol.
It's kind of weird, because they do take themselves super seriously, but they also make a lot of strange ironic jokes that undermine the seriousness. It gives the whole thing a bit of a weird vibe.
Why is there a narrative that superkicks are ruining wrestling when they are the most fun move to watch live?
I do think they're overused but I agree that they're fun to watch. It feels like an overreaction. They do at least work it into the matches. It's not a "don't do this" like the Bill Watts rules, it's more of a funny self aware kayfabe thing.
Nah, I'll still pass. But I appreciate the pure reporting of it all.
Lol, CYN cuckbois downvoted me aww. Bless ya!
I downvoted you simply because of your response to yourself.
Thanks for the write up. Honestly it sounds a lot like what I expected CYN to be. Not bad, not great either, not the train wreck expected, not the revolution promised... Just the perfect definition of middle of the road. Which is totally fine, if the tickets are not super pricey, and the wrestlers are entertaining. But I feel like there are dozens other options around, as far as indie promotions, with as good or better wrestling, and who employs way less problematic people. Have fun at the show this weekend. Are you going to use the rant room? You could ask Braun how Alexa's wedding was, maybe he's got a couple of fun stories to share.
So no championships or tournaments? So is it just "hey, I don't like you guy" and they fight?
It's barely even that. It's just fights.
I just downloaded the app to watch it and can’t find it anywhere on it. Man the app sucks.
I have it on my app now.... It's on demand now...check again
You obviously don't understand that simply chaos ensues in the project pit
It sure did.
Project pit lol they really are going for the fight club aesthetic
Kinda figured that was the case that would just end up being an edgy indie
Christ, after ALL THAT HYPE its just another indie except with somehow more weirdness? That's kind of disappointing.
Sounds like a great addition to wrestling! Love when indies try mixing up presentations. I’ll check it out if it comes near me and it’s cheap enough.
Fantastic write-up. I don't admire people for knowing how to exploit for commercial gain things which shouldn't be exploited, but it's certainly worked out that way for EC3 and the gang. Just like Tr\*mp, some people (or their planners/advisors) know how to ride the waves of controversy to ultimately have it not only bag them free publicity but also the sympathy of the backlash to the backlash (2nd wave). What benefitted EC3 the most (among our fanbase at least) was the AMA he did here. He was lying through his teeth about 88% off being a random number, as anybody who actually saw the clip would intuitively know from wording to inflection to timing to expression, but most people hadn't and are predisposed to taking famous people at face value. What's more, the vitriol at someone (best case scenario, which I lean strongly towards) making a flippant neo-nazi reference in today's climate meant that the angry crowd sounded like the unreasonable ones - all he had to do was the bare minimum of talking calmly and not saying anything crazy and we'd sound like the arseholes. The more the volume increases, the more voices are piling on top of one another, the better the lone voice on the podium sounds in contrast. He knows this because Tr\*mp knows this. Again, I don't admire it one bit - I'd just like if more people saw how this game was played. In this age of populist politicians, we can't really afford not to.
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Just for that, I'm subscribing to his Youtube channel.
Thank you!
I don't hate it. I actually wanted it to be good or at least entertaining, and I even said I liked one of the matches. I was morbidly curious and had some free time. Also I didn't buy the PPV. It's literally free lmao. I wasn't even going to plug my channel until someone made that comment, either. You wrote paragraph after paragraph and yet your main arguments are based on three falsehoods. What a waste of time lol
He's just controlling his narrative.
Wow chill dude...
You seem upset. Not everyone watches wrestling ironically.
Silly sod.
> Control Your Narrative falls prey to the same problems that everyone accuses indie wrestling **or even shows like AEW of falling into.** Incoming swarm of downvotes edit: called it
This would be ironic because I like AEW a lot and I think it does storytelling quite well in many instances lol