Episode 13 - That Major Announcement

Today is as fitting a day as any to make the following announcement:

I will no longer be covering World Wrestling Entertainment's product as of April 4th, 2011. From then on, this little blog will focus solely on independent wrestling. I will likely hone in on a select few promotions, since I am not exactly rolling in the cash necessary to purchase shows from every indy promotion I want to. I may acquire some shows through other ways just to discuss them. But the important thing to take away from this is that I am done with WWE. I'd been toying with the idea of no longer watching the product for months, as I've seen such a decline in quality programming over the past year. But one single event pushed me over the line and gave me the strength to say, "I'm done with this shit." That is the inclusion of the putrid trollop known as Snooki as the guest host of Monday Night Raw tonight. Part of me wonders if this is only a rip-off of TNA bringing in another waste of oxygen from the embarrassing television program Jersey Shore. It's television like that that makes me understand why so many other people in other countries hate the United States. The fact that the people on that show are paid as much as they are sickens me. That we would promote such behavior by giving people money to do so on camera...I can't even think of a way to describe how angry that makes me.

But there's a silver lining to all of this. For nearly two years, I've had this blog. And for nearly that whole time, all I ever did was complain about the WWE product, all while basically ignoring independent wrestling. Frankly, I'm tired of being so negative. I know that negativity usually garners more publicity than positivity (see: Charlie Sheen), but I think it's time to inject some good thoughts into the internet wrestling community. So, as stated, this blog will become indy-exclusive as soon as Wrestlemania has concluded. I figure it's fitting that since I started this blog just after Wrestlemania 25, I should end my affiliation with WWE just after Wrestlemania.

Now, for those of you wondering which promotions I'll be following, I can say one thing: CHIKARA will definitely be at the top of the list. As to which other promotions I'll be covering, that remains to be seen. I have a good feeling I'll be covering Ring of Honor, since it's considered by many to be the best indy promotion in the world. There's a good chance I'll also be covering Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE, since both share wrestlers with both ROH and CHIKARA. And I've been hearing good things about Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and NWA Hollywood. Well, I'll watch NWA Hollywood because Colt Cabana is the NEW NWA World Champion. Also, I'll be trying to watch a lot more Japanese puroresu, so I'll be looking for NJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and Dragon Gate, among others. And maybe I'll try to cover some Mexican wrestling as well, though I'm not as sure how to find that. But if I can find some AAA or CMLL, you can bet that I'll talk about it here. So that's ten promotions right off the bat. That should provide me with plenty of material to talk about.

Also, I've been thinking about starting up a podcast wherein I discuss topics I don't cover here. Thanks to the Pro Wrestling Rewind returning to the airwaves a few weeks ago, I've never been more intrigued at the possibility of creating my own little podcast dedicated to the discussion of independent wrestling. So I think that once I get some good material, you may be hearing my voice on the airwaves.

Unfortunately, the one subject I doubt I'll be able to cover will be live events. Sadly, there is only one small promotion in the city I live, and it's nowhere near any of the promotions already mentioned. So that much will likely not be happening unless I work up the gumption to move somewhere with a more defined wrestling scene. Somewhere like Philadelphia or Souther California. But until that happens, you'll have to make do with DVD reviews and the like.

So there you have it. My announcement has been made. In fact, to make good on this (and to prepare me for not having anything to be home to watch on Monday and Friday nights), I will not be watching Raw or Smackdown in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 27. I just cannot watch the show anymore. Technically, I'm boycotting Raw tonight, but I figure that cutting myself off from the product entirely will help keep me away from it in the weeks following Wrestlemania.

I hope that those of you who read this will still read it after I transition to an indy promotion-exclusive blog. I encourage everyone to seek out more independent shows, as they are almost always of a much higher quality (in terms of in-ring action and characters) than the big promotions out there. I'll likely be back soon with reviews of the first three CHIKARA shows of 2011, as well as a look forward to King of Trios 2011, which is shaping up to be one hell of a great show. So stay tuned for the rerebirth of Rantables, because it's coming in three weeks. I'll catch you all on the flip side!