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Introduction: The WWE TV YouTube Experiment

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The WWE TV YouTube Experiment
I have an experiment that I wish to conduct. I don’t know if it will be successful or, indeed, any good at all, but that’s why experiments exist. I don’t have it in me to watch current WWE programming. I haven’t watched a single full episode of RAW or SmackDown since mid-July 2018. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to watch clips on YouTube. I’m gonna try, though, because that’s the experiment! Here’s a brief introduction of what led me into this foray:
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I Stopped Watching WWE in July 2018
With the exception of the 2019 Royal Rumble event (which I enjoyed) and WrestleMania 35 (which was… there), I haven’t watched a WWE pay-per-view offering since Money in the Bank 2018 (it was okay). Come to think of it, with the exception of Brock Lesnar versus Daniel Bryan from the 2018 Survivor Series (and the aforementioned Rumble and ‘Mania) I don’t think I’ve seen a single WWE PPV match since the Men’s MITB Ladder match in 2018. I didn’t like it — the Women’s one was great, though.
Long story short, I no longer watch WWE. I barely keep up with the product at all, to the point that I generally don’t even read results or reviews of anything. I almost feel sad about the fact that I don’t even miss it. Almost.
But, experiments! I love experiments. So, for the greater good of the scientific community, I must perform the WWE TV Youtube Experiment. I can spare about an hour and a half each week watching the clips WWE uploads to their official Youtube Channel.
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Scientific Experimentation
I’m going into this with an open mind. I spent too many years not enjoying WWE but watching anyway, essentially out of habit. The product got worse as time went by, so I quit. By many accounts (my Twitter feed, opinions I read on Facebook and Reddit occasionally), WWE may be worse now than it was a year ago when I threw in the towel. However, the people I interact with and pay attention to on social media (my Twitter feed especially) is skewed toward the negative.
I see complaints and negative opinions from people who seem to despise the shows but continue to watch week in and week out. Some do it because they desperately want it to get better (that makes no sense, but keep wasting your time on something you hate, I don’t mind) and some people watch because they have a website or a podcast, so they have to do it for the content of their show. I get that. Some of those people are my good friends, and some of those people make decent money subjecting themselves to the self-admitted torture of Monday Night RAW.
I do it… FOR SCIENCE!
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The Scientific Method
As with any experiment, I’ll start with the scientific method:
Observation/
I can’t stand to watch WWE TV. WWE uploads clips of their shows to the official WWE YouTube Channel. That gives me the opportunity to turn a 3-hour marathon into a 50-minute clip show.
Question/
More people across the world have access to WWE on Youtube than any other medium that exists. Ostensibly, one would say that the company would offer up their best available free content via that platform. If I only watch the content WWE deems worthy to upload to their largest social media platform, YouTube (44 million subscribers compared to 39 million fans on Facebook and 10.5 million Twitter followers), will I enjoy what they want me to see?
Hypotheses/
A) WWE uploads snippets of their best available free content on YouTube, and I dislike it.
B) WWE uploads snippets of their best available free content on YouTube, and I enjoy it.
Prediction/
WWE uploads what they think is best served to get people to want to watch their full shows, or buy their pay-per-views, or subscribe to the WWE Network. I believe this to be the truth. I also believe that the quality of the one-to-five minute clips will be indicative of the quality of the long-form full weekly product.
Even though I will enter this experiment with an open mind (I am the control and the variable because I am a scientist and therefore can do whatever I want), I anticipate that I’ll dislike, or at best be uninterested in, the content that I consume. This falls under hypothesis A being correct. My personal hope is that hypothesis B is correct, and not only because the journey to the outcome of A would entail subjecting myself to 2 months of torture. I also truly do wish to enjoy what I see, because I watched WWE for 20 years straight. I don’t miss it, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t welcome it back if I thought it was worth my time.
Analysis/
This will come after SummerSlam. Which hypothesis is correct? A or B?
Results/
The initial results and report will be submitted at the conclusion of SummerSlam week, which includes the episodes directly preceding and proceeding the PPV event. If I wish to continue this experiment after my initial results are published, I will do so. That is to be determined at a later date.
Length of experiment/
8 weeks (9 episodes of RAW, 8 episodes of SmackDown)
RAW/ June 17, 2019 – August 12, 2019
SmackDown/ June 25, 2019 – August 13, 2019
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Other Notes
I will pay attention to the WWE YouTube Channel in order to watch any other videos that I would consider pertinent to the experiment The WWE 24/7 Championship has its own playlist, for example. I may take a look at the videos on that playlist that aren’t also part of the RAW and SmackDown ones.
I will not be reading full show results or reviews. I will continue to be part of the discourse on various social media platforms, but in order to keep my perspective based mostly upon WWE’s YouTube selections I will not seek out full results. If it didn’t make it to YouTube, I will make the assumption that it wasn’t relevant to WWE’s storyline goals. Filler, perhaps, would be an apt term for content that doesn’t make it to YouTube. While that may not necessarily be true, it is assumed to be true for this experiment.
Side Note: While I won’t be reading full reviews, I will peruse them in order to watch the YouTube videos in the order in which the segments appeared on TV.
If I see a lot of buzz surrounding a full match that happens on RAW or SmackDown, I may watch the match. This does lead to the possibility of slightly skewing the results of the experiment, but I’ll take that risk.
I have no idea how WWE recaps PPV events on YouTube, or if they do it at all. If they do, and I’ll find out very soon, then those recaps will be included in this experiment. Those would include Stomping Grounds (June 23), Extreme Rules (July 14), and SummerSlam (August 11). I’ll figure that out as it comes along. The only thing that matters to this experiment are the results and other happenings on those events because this experiment pertains to the content of RAW and SmackDown.
It is very unlikely that I will watch Stomping Grounds, but if the YouTube clips for RAW and SmackDown cause me to be so inclined, I may check out Extreme Rules and/or SummerSlam. If that occurs, it would be a sign of a positive outcome for this experiment and would go a long way in proving that my prediction (hypothesis A being correct) is wrong.
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Full Disclosure
The majority of this experiment will be taking place during New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament (July 6 through August 12). That tournament will be taking precedence over this experiment. This experiment is something I am doing for my own amusement. It will hopefully also help me with my writing because my writer’s block has been so unbelievably overwhelming. I have a goal with a set timeframe. I’m doing this for me, but I hope you come along for the ride and I hope that we all enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, well, my bad. I’ll try to be entertaining. If I don’t enjoy it, well, that sucks. But hopefully, it will help pull me out of my writing slump.
I do not anticipate a regular schedule for my reviews. While I will attempt to have RAW reviews posted on Tuesdays and SmackDown on Wednesdays, there will be times (more often than not, probably) where they won’t come until later in the week. Sometimes I may put them together if I don’t have much to say about a particular episode. Just come to the website every day and enjoy the other great content we have. My stuff will pop up at some point every week. You’ll see it.
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Nick Marsico/ Writer (Kinda)
The Chairshot Dot Com
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About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
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)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
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!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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DeMarco: Top 5 Non-Title WrestleMania Matches In WWE History
Not all WrestleMania classics had titles on the line. Dive into the top 5 non-title matches that stole the show & defined legacies. #WrestleMania #WWEHistory

Not all WrestleMania classics had titles on the line. Dive into the top 5 non-title matches that stole the show and defined legacies.
WrestleMania is the Showcase Of The Immortals, but it’s not always the championship matches that steal the show—or define careers. In fact, some of the most iconic, business-defining, and emotionally resonant contests at the Grandest Stage of Them All didn’t feature a title at all. These matches succeeded because of character work, in-ring execution, and the kind of storytelling that sells tickets and moves merch.
Here are the five best non-title matches in WrestleMania history—at least, according to me!
5. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan – WrestleMania X8 (2002)
This was never going to be a five-star technical clinic—but it was always going to be the moment. “Icon vs. Icon” was a tagline, sure, but it was also the reality: the biggest star of the ‘80s vs. the biggest star of the Attitude Era. And Toronto turned it into magic. Hogan walked in a heel but walked out immortal (again), with the SkyDome shaking on every punch, every look, every gesture.
What made this work was its self-awareness. Rock and Hogan read the crowd and flipped roles mid-match—Rock became the arrogant aggressor while Hogan Hulked Up to thunderous applause. It’s not often a non-title match headlines a card emotionally the way this one did, but it dominated every headline and highlight reel.
4. Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania X (1994)
Sibling rivalries don’t usually lead to technical masterpieces, but then again, this wasn’t your average family drama. Owen and Bret opened WrestleMania X with a wrestling clinic that stood tall over a night packed with title changes. Owen needed to prove he was more than Bret’s little brother, and he did it by out-wrestling the best wrestler in the company. Clean. One-two-three.
It wasn’t just a great match—it was perfect storytelling. Owen’s victory, contrasted with Bret’s later world title win, set the tone for an entire year of brother-vs-brother tension. Bret became champion, but Owen had the moral victory—and all the bragging rights. This is proof that opening matches can steal the show.
3. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 25 (2009)
If WrestleMania moments could be trademarked, this match would be the reason why. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels wasn’t about championships—it was about legacy. Michaels wanted to be the man who ended The Streak. The build was steeped in biblical imagery: light vs. dark, heaven vs. hell. And the match? Pure perfection. Each man brought everything they had—near-falls, psychology, reversals that had 70,000+ people gasping in unison.
It was 30 minutes of generational storytelling that transcended pro wrestling. And here’s the kicker—it wasn’t even the main event. Yet it dwarfed everything that followed. Meltzer gave it 4.75 stars, fans gave it their hearts, and WWE gave it a sequel the next year. A match so good it forced the company to run it back—because lightning actually struck.
Now, if THIS MATCH is #3, what could possible be #2 and #1…
2. Bret Hart vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – WrestleMania 13 (1997)
This wasn’t just a match—it was the turning point of an era. The Submission Match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin was as violent as it was poetic, with Ken Shamrock enforcing the rules and the Chicago crowd growing more frenzied by the second. The brilliance? The shift. Bret Hart, the traditionalist hero, grew darker and more self-righteous by the second, while the disrespectful anti-hero Austin refused to quit, even when drowning in his own blood. There was no title on the line, but the stakes felt bigger than gold.
The infamous double turn changed the business. Austin’s defiance turned him into the voice of a new generation of fans—blue collar, anti-authority, Attitude Era. Meanwhile, Bret would go on to lead the heel Hart Foundation. WWE didn’t need a championship to create a moment that catapulted Austin into superstardom and ignited the company’s hottest era. This match is business-first booking at its absolute best.
1. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 21 (2005)
Dream matches often disappoint. This one didn’t. At WrestleMania 21, Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle went hold-for-hold and spot-for-spot with Mr. WrestleMania himself, and together they delivered a masterclass in in-ring psychology. Every sequence had stakes, every near-fall had meaning. It was a stylistic war: Michaels’ heart vs. Angle’s intensity.
Angle forcing Michaels to tap was a statement—it told fans that pure wrestling, not just spectacle, could still main-event caliber storytelling without any need for a title. Michaels sold the ankle lock like death, and Angle’s post-match collapse sold the moment as a hard-fought war. This is the kind of match that keeps purists up at night, smiling, and leaves the storytelling fans like myself as happy as can be!
10 Honorable Mentions (Not Honorable, Just For The Heck Of It)
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Edge vs. Mick Foley – WrestleMania 22 (2006)
A hardcore war that solidified Edge as a top-tier main eventer. That flaming table spear is still played in every Edge highlight reel. -
AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon – WrestleMania 33 (2017)
Everyone expected smoke and mirrors—what they got was a surprisingly technical, high-energy opener that kicked off the show right. -
The Undertaker vs. Triple H – WrestleMania 28 (2012)
“End of an Era” wasn’t just a tagline. The Hell in a Cell match, with HBK as referee, was a brutal epilogue to a generation’s legacy. -
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho – WrestleMania XIX (2003)
A student-teacher battle of wills. Jericho’s low blow post-match was the perfect heel punctuation to a career-defining contest. -
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 31 (2015)
The greatest RKO of all time. That curb stomp reversal belongs in a museum. -
Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show – WrestleMania XXIV (2008)
More sports-entertainment than wrestling, but a crossover moment that made mainstream headlines and paid off with a great finish. -
Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis – WrestleMania III (1987)
A retirement match with big heat, a hot crowd, and Piper walking off into the sunset (for a minute). -
The Firefly Funhouse Match – John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt – WrestleMania 36 (2020)
Cinematic weirdness at its best. A meta masterstroke that broke Cena down in layers. -
Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison – WrestleMania 37 (2021)
Bad Bunny stunned everyone. He didn’t just belong—he elevated the show. -
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio – WrestleMania 39 (2023)
Father vs. son in a grudge match that played perfectly off real-life drama and Hall of Fame weekend emotions.
Some of these matches shaped legacies. Others shifted eras. But all of them proved that the most memorable moments at WrestleMania don’t need a title—they just need truth in the storytelling and fire in the execution.
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
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)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
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!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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DeMarco: The Biggest WrestleMania Match WWE Is Afraid To Book
Greg DeMarco breaks down the one match WWE was seemingly afraid to book for WrestleMania, despite setting it up over the span of two years!

Greg DeMarco breaks down the one match WWE was seemingly afraid to book for WrestleMania, despite setting it up over the span of two years!
WWE loves its WrestleMania moments. But sometimes, the most electric moment is also the most terrifying. And if we’re being honest, there’s one match that could shatter the internet, define an era, and launch two careers into another stratosphere—if WWE had the guts to actually pull the trigger:
Rhea Ripley vs. Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 41.
Sounds crazy? Maybe. But it’s also he most logical, lucrative, and legacy-defining decision WWE could make for both stars. Let’s break it down like we always do here: not through fantasy, not through fan service, but through business. Because this match had major upside—and one very real risk.
Pro #1: A Headline-Grabbing Spectacle With Viral Potential
WrestleMania is about the moment—and Ripley vs. Dominik is a moment waiting to happen. Their on-screen relationship in Judgment Day has become one of WWE’s most compelling, meme-able dynamics, blending soap opera with real emotion and elite trolling. YouTube clips rack up views. Social media runs wild with edits and thirst traps. The chemistry between them? Off the charts.
A WrestleMania match between them isn’t just “intergender” for the sake of it. It’s the end of a long-term story that’s already over with the audience. WWE doesn’t need to create this heat—it exists. All they’d be doing is lighting the match and letting it burn all the way to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Pro #2: A Massive Risk That Can Pay Off With the Right Booking
Let’s be real: intergender wrestling is still a hot-button issue. But the times are changing—and WWE knows it. They’ve already had Rhea get physical with Akira Tozawa, Solo Sikoa, and in the men’s Royal Rumble. Fans haven’t rejected it—they’ve embraced it, because it fits her character.
Dominik, meanwhile, isn’t some powerhouse male wrestler. He’s a weasel. A brat. And most importantly, he’s believable as someone who could get wrecked by Rhea and still come out better for it. This isn’t Chyna vs. Jeff Jarrett in 1999. This is something entirely fresh.
And if AEW can run intergender matches with stars like Adam Cole and Britt Baker without fallout, then WWE—a much more disciplined, family-conscious product—can do it right. Book it with logic, lean into the emotion, and structure the match like an unsanctioned war, and you’ve got lightning in a bottle. Plus there IS precedent for this in WWE. You have Chyna, of course, and more recently you have Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth.
Pro #3: Judgment Day Drama Finally Pays Off In a Big Way
Judgment Day has been one of WWE’s best long-term success stories. But you can only tease the implosion for so long before fans check out. Finn’s beefing with Priest. JD is being JD. But the real core—the engine that kept this stable at its most relevant—was Rhea and Dom.
They were the emotional center. The dynamic people actually cared about. So if they’re going to culminate in a match, you don’t do it on a random Raw. You don’t do it at Elimination Chamber. You do it at WrestleMania. And you do it in a way that matters.
This match would be the culmination of everything. Betrayal, heartbreak, dominance, redemption. Dom turned on Rhea, Dom costs Rhea the Women’s World Championship more than once (think the Raw On Netflix premiere, and rewrite the ending to Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley) and now Rhea wants the revenge she never got. The story writes itself. And it sets the table for their next chapters with clean slates and elevated status.
Con: It Risks Undermining Rhea Ripley’s Star Power
There’s one real risk WWE has to weigh: Rhea Ripley is a top-tier star. Maybe the top star in the women’s division. She should have main-evented WrestleMania 39 Night One. She’s the face of cross-brand credibility. She moves merch. She trends. She wins.
Taking her out of the title picture for a “personal” match—even one this hot—is a gamble. If not done correctly, it could trivialize her reign, reduce her to a storyline prop, or worse: send a message that her biggest spotlight doesn’t involve a championship.
And make no mistake—there’s a business cost to that. Rhea is the division right now. If WWE doesn’t protect her aura and keep her looking like a destroyer, even in loss or emotional turmoil, the entire angle could unravel. The story only works if Rhea stays the alpha, even while taking the emotional damage.
Final Bell
Rhea Ripley vs. Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 41 isn’t a joke. It isn’t shock booking. It’s a rare opportunity where character, emotion, long-term storytelling, and business aligned perfectly. WWE has built this slow burn for nearly two years. The most unexpected—and potentially best—WrestleMania match was right in front of them.
All they had to do… was be brave enough to book it.
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
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)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
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!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!