Taking a small break from fiction and really wanted to share my experience with going to AEW, WWE: Smackdown and WWE: Raw for the first time.
Plus, I cover WWE live events here anyway, sooo it makes sense to haha!
As someone just getting into the pro wrestling scene, I got deep into the sport this year. Or is it an athletic soap opera? Haha. Because honestly, I’m all for the storylines. But anywaaaayyyy, besides writing about the live events and catching up on some biographies, I went to an AEW show in the summer, and just this Friday, I went to Smackdown. Then, obviously, I had to tie all that up and go to Raw.
Funny enough, I got the Raw tickets from my husband for my birthday first (thank you, babe!!). The AEW and Smackdown shows were all kinda impromptu, so it really built the hype.
So here’s how I feel about it all!
Ranking My Experience
AEW (July 10, 2024)
Rating: 2.5/5
Don’t get me wrong, I still had a lot of fun; it was also my very first wrestling live show I went to, so I enjoyed it for what it was. However, here are some of the gripes I had with it. I did notice that there’s not a lot of story going on. Everyone is doing cool moves, but it’s a bit overdone that it loses the shock value. I feel like I’m button-mashing while playing a fighter game. Blood is cool. I love blood, but when everyone bleeds, it stops giving that *gasp!* moment.
Also, what’s with all the belts? There was one fight where there were nine belts lying in the ring, LOL. And gosh, it was so long! They did two recordings for both Collision and the other one, and it was 5 hours long. My butt was numb by the end of it, not to mention sleepy and hungry. But I will say, there are some wrestlers that I would love to see make it to WWE one day!
Smackdown (Sept 6, 2024)
Rating: 4/5
I lost my voice LOL. Thanks Cody. He was the first to come out, and my voice was already gone from all the yelling and singing along to Kingdom. The lineup was strong and really fun. I got to see most of the wrestlers I like, including Jacob Fatu (he’s finally back)!! The only one I wish I could see live was Roman Reigns, but that’s okay. Maybe next time!
We had seats in the lower bowl, and gosh!!! That energy!! It was so much fun, and there were some matches that weren’t televised, so we got to see Dominik!!
I would also like to mention that after being to AEW first, I really liked how diverse the crowd was at WWE. There was a mix of kids, people of all ages, and women. AEW was lacking a lot of that.
I docked a star from my rating because after seeing Raw, I thought the matches were better, but I’m also more of a Raw fan, and it’s stories right now. So, that may be biased on my part. Would I still go to Smackdown again? Fuck yeah!!
Raw (Sept 9, 2024)
Rating: 5/5
My voice never got to recover from Smackdown, but here I am, at Raw. I literally got to see everyone I love, and it was awesome! I did like the tributes to the Calgary crowd, especially being there live. It was cool to see Bret Hart on stage. As someone who isn’t tied to wrestling in the olden days, I thought it was neat to see someone that everyone knows and loves. I did like that he set up the whole thing with Gunther and Sami. I also like that it painted Gunther to be a bigger heel (he was savage and I live for that). Bret wasn’t there to eat up time from the new gen, which is great. It’s like watching a legacy sequel where the old gen passes the torch on. Unlike you, CM Punk!!! (LOL sorry, had to).
Anyway, OMG, that Wyatt Sicks and American Made match was fire! The best match of the night, no, the whole wrestling weekend! The amount of times we chanted “This is awesome” and “Holy shit” was great! Wish we got to see more of Terror Twins, but at least they showed up, so yay!! (And Jey holding Rhea’s hand, hehehe so cute)
We did sit way at the back for this one, but next time we go, it’ll be the lower bowl. The crowd in the back were a bit too…quiet… We brought the energy, though, so I’m okay with that, haha. Also, my arms are so tired from yeeting; not complaining at all! It was a night of solid matches and I’m just happy to see ALL of my favourite wrestlers, including Otis, in an untelevised match!!
More Passion, More Energy, More Footwork
I will say, if you can, get seats in the lower bowl. The energy is insane, and you will probably lose your voice. If you’re just there for the atmosphere or don’t care much, then the top half will be better. I was surprised how much of a difference it made.
I enjoyed the energy from all the events. But I will say that the energy for WWE is way better. I felt the love people had for the wrestlers. It also felt like people actually had fun. The chants were super fun, and OMG, you know how fun it was to Yeet along with Jey?!
If you’re a fan of wrestling, whether old or new and haven’t been to a live show, I highly recommend it! It’s just a whole different experience and I’m so happy we got to do it.
Commercial Breaks: Who Did It Better?
AEW needs more work on working through their commercial breaks. It was silly watching Chris Jericho hold Samoa Joe for 3 minutes. But it had me giggling the whole time. Some of the entrances also went on forever just to let the commercials run. I don’t know if they’re trying not to be WWE, but something like this could use so much more improvement.
WWE, I guess when you’ve been around for so long, you know the rhythm. It didn’t even feel like there was a commercial break. They did the DX cam (which was hilarious), promoted their own products, showed fan signs, did tributes where appropriate, etc. You didn’t need a wrestler to come on and rile the crowd up for the whole duration or hold a specific move. WWE wins this.
I’m Sold!
Will I go to more? Fuck yeah!! But I’ll probably skip AEW #sorrynotsorry. I loved seeing all my favourite wrestlers live. I loved the energy, and the dream is to go to Wrestlemania one day. Now, THAT would be crazy. Honestly, just a live event would be amazing, too. I fell in love with the sport, and going to a live show definitely solidified it!
Wrestling rules
It is 100 percent an athletic soap opera and I wish they owned that a little more haha. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!