This is the real fancy sh** right here, I'm writing a blog update for a month that hasn't even started yet. You've probably noticed that I've been quiet, at least on this blog, for about two weeks now, and maybe somebody out there is wondering why. If you follow me on Twitter(@htk0215) you would already know, but if you don't, my computer literally broke shortly after my Fully Loaded review. When I say literally, I mean literally, one of the hinges ripped itself out and the computer is basically holding itself together by a couple wires right now. Don't get a laptop with a touchscreen folks, it ain't worth it. I borrowed another computer to keep working on the Dog League, which you can find on my second blog, but now I've managed to get a new one of my own, so I'm ready to come back to work on this blog.
In the time that I've been gone, I thought about what I wanted to do going forward, and the one thing that I've kept coming back was an uncomfortable feeling in continuing to support Vince McMahon and the WWE. Now really isn't the time for a debate on how ethical any wrestling promotion really is, but the main point is that I really want to move on from covering any shows from that company. If you really need a second reason, I've also seen so much of their best work from 2000-onward anyway, so it would eventually get very boring for me.
That leaves me the choice to go just about anywhere for new content, since WWE reviews are all I've been posting for the last couple months. I thought about going back to Henry's Universe Mode, but there's just so much water under that bridge, I want to do something new. I tried to get a Madden series idea going, but I just couldn't translate the experience of playing games into interesting posts. Reviewing wrestling shows is just what I've fell in love with in 2020, and I think it's what I'm best at as a writer.
So if I want to keep reviewing shows, I need to find a new company to cover. All Elite Wrestling could be fun, but they haven't put on too many pay-per-views and they're all so expensive, I'm not made of money. I really wanted to do Ring of Honor, but they have a tiered subscription system, and only the higher one includes all pay-per-view, and once again, that's too rich for my blood. I reviewed a Wrestle Kingdom in 2018 and really enjoyed it, so I was convinced that New Japan would be what I chose. But the Japanese wrestling schedule just wouldn't work quite right for the way I like to sequence my reviews. It's sort of hard to explain, but if you want a simpler answer, translation issues were also a big issue. Most of their newer shows have English commentary but I would want to cover just about everything, and most shows prior to about 2016 or so have only Japanese commentary, so I would have a lot of difficulty following the stories and understanding characters, which is my bread and butter. In the end, there was really only one choice.
LOLTNA
You may roll your eyes, and trust me, I did too when I first started this process, but it's the only option that makes sense. Their Impact Plus service costs just 8 bucks a month and has an extensive free trial, so if I don't like it or the reviews aren't popular, I could pull the plug without investing too much time or money. Also, I really haven't watched any of their pay-per-views, so everything would be brand new, but still featuring tons of big names that I recognize, with a treasure trove of pretty terrific matches. I also really like the idea of supporting a company that have been down on their luck for years, it's a much more gratifying experience than just continuing to toss money into Vince's back account. Look, you may not have to like this decision, and again, I get it if it seems stupid. But I'm very excited to do something new, and I'm going to do my absolute best to make this as enjoyable as possible. First up will be Impact's first foray into the monthly pay-per-view market, Victory Road 2004. I'm hoping to cover every single pay-per-view the company has ever produced, but I did skip all of the weekly stuff since that would take absolute ages to get through. As to how long this will go, only time will tell. I do hope you're willing to have an open mind and join me on this journey. I can't promise reading my thoughts on these shows will be as fun as the WWE reviews, but I can promise that I will make it as good as I possibly can. This is going to be a gas.
- Henry
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