What If... Wrestling's WORST Era Never Happened
Without fans being present in buildings, the likes of WWE and AEW had to think outside the box - or ring in this case - to keep the folks locked within their homes engaged.
In WWE's case, this resulted in a wave of cinematic and outrageous outings.
Those were somewhat inconsistent in quality, though, is one way of putting it. For every thrilling and novel Firefly Funhouse or Boneyard match, there was a soul-destroying One Final Beat, weird Backlash tag team brawl, and Eye for an Eye war.
That's right, without this terrible era, you wouldn't have been gifted the bat-sh*t visual of Rey Mysterio's eye popping out, people.
AEW also chucked in their own occasional cinematic misfire, too, seen in the Tooth & Nail mess and forgettable Elite Deletion. But the fresh, young company's unrivalled creativity during these dark times was very much on show when it came to the creation of the magnificent Stadium Stampede battle.
The Elite & Matt Hardy and The Inner Circle produced absolute wrestling gold at Double or Nothing 2020 as the units unleashed wonderfully silly comedy, genuinely inspired bar room brawls, and utterly terrifying spots inside of TIAA Bank Field.
Had it not been for the pandemic forcing such a compelling innovation, the numerous brilliant Stampede follow-ups and Anarchy in the Arena spin-offs probably wouldn't have occurred. That means everything from a burning Jack Perry to the iconic sight of Eddie Kingston wandering out with murderous intentions possibly wouldn't have seen the light of day. And that's a world not even worth thinking about.
Folks all around the globe being forced to stay exactly where they were for the most part also led to the beginning of another fantastic AEW staple.
With Jon Moxley not being able to fly over to Japan to defend the IWGP United States Championship he'd won in 2020, NJPW - who'd not allowed their fans to cheer in the early pandemic days as a way of trying to stop the spread - had no choice but to start a working relationship with AEW as they looked to promote a KENTA vs Mox showdown.
So, without this often dreadful wrestling era, those first few steps towards the Forbidden Door being royally booted down maybe wouldn't have been taken as early as they were. Mox likely would have just hopped on a plane back to Japan to put the strap on the line throughout 2020/21 while NJPW continued to question whether this new American promotion were anything more than "fly-by-nighters."
KENTA's arrival on the Beach Break episode of Dynamite was the first of many AEW x NJPW crossovers, and that new partnership ultimately led to the creation of the Forbidden Door pay-per-view, one that has seen everything from Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega to Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi dream bouts go down on it over the years.
Are WWE as open to playing nicely with others today in a universe where they don't see the success of things like this important New Japan/All Elite partnership? Perhaps not.
Oh, and the aforementioned Forbidden Door isn't the only massive wrestling show that was shaped by this unreal time...