January 4 and 5 will be New Japan Pro Wrestling presenting Wrestle Kingdom 15 from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Due to COVID restrictions, there won’t be a full Tokyo Dome or even half way of screaming wrestling crowds like there has been in years past. I shouldn’t have to write that sentence but I do because people act like this is something new for every wrestling show since March.
Here in North America, we haven’t had much in terms of audiences. All Elite Wrestling allows fans into Daily’s Place but they are grouped in pods and distanced from others for safety. They are also far away from the wrestlers in the ring. Independent wrestling shows in the United States of America have tried to have crowds separated a chair or so apart. In Japan, some independent companies have run similar. In NJPW, they’ve had fans distanced in masks not allowed to make noise aside from claps and stomps.
This has been the case since March of 2020. We’re now in January 2021. And yet every wrestling show I’ve watched has involved during the discussion someone complaining about the crowd reaction. Someone saying they wish there were cheers and boos. Someone saying there isn’t enough people in the audience. Someone saying the crowd reaction hurt their enjoyment.
We get it.
We get it.
We got it 10 months ago.
You don’t have to keep saying it. Either watch the show or don’t. I feel like I’m 15 years younger reading Matt Casamassina IGN articles about how the Nintendo Wii isn’t as graphically impressive as a PlayStation 3 or X-Box 360. No duh Matt. You’re playing a Nintendo Wii. It doesn’t have to be mentioned in your review every time. Neither does the audiences in pro wrestling.
I don’t know what compels people to discuss this every time. It’s like they have absolutely zero restraint on expressing every little thing that bothers them and feel it’s important to express this when everyone knows it. It’s common knowledge. Everyone is trying their best to work around it. World Wrestling Entertainment spent millions on a weird TV screen set up where you can see fans look like cheap GIFs while piping fake crowd noise. Is that good enough? Nope. What about AEW having an actual audience but not a lot of people and only having pro wrestlers around the ring. Good? Nope? Okay how about New Japan actually having over a thousand people in the stands. Not good enough?
Of course it isn’t for you. But we’re in a pandemic you selfish orc.
If we could do packed houses safely everyone would. This isn’t a feature that can be added. This isn’t the promotions making a choice they want to that hurts your experience. This is the best we can do until the pandemic is over and if the arenas were packed this pandemic would certainly be extended.
But you know that. I know you do. And yet you still complain about the crowd reaction every show. Every week. Every time. Even when the calendar has flipped you’re still yapping about wrestling crowds.
I’m just tired of it.
Shut up. Just shut up.
