Opinion

Wrestling Media Was ALL IN. So What?

Published

7 years ago

September 5, 2018

Wrestling opinion is somewhat predictable when you’ve been around as long as I have. I have a pretty good idea of what people are going to like & what people won’t like. I know who will like certain things. On the other side, there’s always going to be dissenters that either don’t like the thing, don’t like the fact that people like the thing, or usually both. It all applies to ALL IN.

I knew that All In was going to get positive reviews from most of my fellow writers & online personalities. For one thing, a lot of them were there.

Everybody in the IWC is watching or attending #ALLIN. Except me, who is watching Louisville football & WWF Invasion. I'm odd.

— Steve Cook (@stevecook84) September 2, 2018

(For the record, I lasted three quarters through that debacle. The Louisville football game, not Invasion, which seemed better by comparison.)

When you’re at a wrestling event & you’re a wrestling fan, you typically end up enjoying it. Shocking, right? I’ve attended events & watched matches that I thought were great, then watched them on DVD later and wondered what the heck I was thinking. For example, the Triple H/Shawn Michaels Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2004 did very, very poorly on the rewatch. I thought it was great live, but on DVD you could see all the laying around & time-killing in lieu of doing anything. Being a few rows back from the Cell colored my live opinion. It’s natural.

All In doubled as the biggest non-WWE event in ages & the largest gathering of wrestling media/IWC personalities/podcast hosts that I can recall. This felt more hyped than the WrestleReunions & WrestleMania weekend conventions. Everybody from Dave Meltzer to Eric Bischoff to Maffew the Botchamania Guy was in attendance. Wrestling Twitter showed up in full force. It was a veritable who’s who.

The show itself was set up to celebrate independent wrestling while paying off a number of angles on the Being the Elite YouTube series. The goal was to make the audience happy, and it seems to have done just that. Catering to your fans makes sense for a one-time event. If you don’t, you’re not going to have a second.

The anti-All In reaction was predictable too. We knew the crowd of people that refuse to watch anything other than WWE wouldn’t be impressed. The “anti-smarks” that hate whatever the top IWC taste makers like weren’t going to like it. We knew Jim Cornette wasn’t going to like it because Joey Ryan was on it doing his dick stuff. Then there were the other fans that don’t mind Indy wrestling but simply don’t care for what this group was presenting.

The show didn’t win over any of these people. Nobody online was saying “Man, I wasn’t sure about these guys before. But that show was awesome baby!” There don’t seem to be any converts, at least not from those already familiar with the talent involved. The goal wasn’t conversion. All In was all about serving their fanbase. The people that watch the BTE series, the 10 Pounds of Gold series and anything else they can find with Cody, the Bucks & the others. This show was a reward to those fans to shore up their loyalty.

I didn’t get to watch the show live, but I will soon. I already have an idea of what I’ll like and what I won’t like, as I find my opinions predictable to me. I’ll like Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon, as I’m a fan of those guys & the reviews make it sound good. I won’t like Joey Ryan’s appearance, as that’s one of the things I think Cornette isn’t too far off on. Not my cup of tea. Unlike Jimmy, I won’t let one bad apple spoil the bunch.

One interesting take I’ve seen out there is that All In & the Starrcast convention was simply a way to get wrestling media on the side of Cody, the Bucks, and even good ol’ Conrad Thompson. If so, you really have to admire Thompson’s game. He has Meltzer eating out of one hand while selling “FDM” t-shirts with the other. Roll Tide, indeed.

They claim that wrestling media is co-opted now, and can’t be trusted for fair & balanced analysis due to their friendships with these folks & the fact that some got press passes & some got paid to be panelists at Starrcast. This is where I admit that I’ve been guilty of favortism in the past. In my defense, I’ve only showed it to beautiful women, which is a well-known weakness of mine that crosses genres of entertainment. (You won’t see me giving Insatiable a bad review, for example. Sup Debby Ryan?)

My question to these folks is simple. How is this different from Triple H doing NXT conference calls & giving winking interviews to the likes of Ryan Satin & David Shoemaker? Trying to get the press on your side is good for business. Trying to get anybody on your side is good for business. Putting your best foot forward for critics instead of offering up a shitshow seems to make sense. Having a show that somebody wants to watch is typically a good thing.

Right?

Wrestling media liking the show doesn’t mean they’re going to fall in line behind anything these guys do from now on. If they put on a All In 2 and it ends up being the drizzling shits like many sequels are (including WrestleMania 2…yeah, I said it), people will point it out. Heck, starting out on a high level means you can only go downhill. Unless Dave wants to add more stars, I suppose.

I guess what I’m saying is everybody needs to chill the heck out. Yes, the people you expected to like All In liked it. The people you expected to not like it didn’t. Nothing’s changed…except we have more evidence that professional wrestling without WWE’s name on the marquee can succeed.

That can only be a good thing. Especially for wrestling media folks like me looking for things to write & talk about.

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Related Topics:All In BTE Dave Meltzer Eric Bischoff Featured Featured Big

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

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SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

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SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

1 month ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1