Finally, The Rock has come back to Boston. Wait, what? The Rock made a surprise appearance at a WWE live event over the weekend, which immediately widened eyes on Twitter.

Chris Jericho also rekindled his house show schedule, teaming with Dolph Ziggler in one match, and defeating Bad News/King Barrett in another that he described as “GREAT.”

GREAT match in #WWEReading w my former protege @WadeBarrett! He beat the hell out of me, but #Jerichoholics led me to victory! #WeWantTables — Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) June 29, 2015

Recently asked if he’d ever return to WWE when his movie schedule softened up, wrestler turned actor Dave Bautista said yes…kind of. He eluded to the appeal of Chris Jericho’s schedule; live events only. No TV cameras. No RAW. No storylines or angles; just wrestling. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Batista fans, as he’s always expressed his love for house shows; some of his favorite matches came at live events in Madison Square Garden.

Brock Lesnar will be wrestling on the upcoming Japan tour, apparently. Hulk Hogan will be the guest General Manager at several upcoming house shows. NXT is now on the road. Forgotten performers like Brad Maddox (or, Bo Maddox?) and David Otunga randomly show up in tweets from WWE Live Events. All of this begs the question: are live events becoming better than RAW, Smackdown, or even PPVs?

The short answer is no, but I’ll be damned if it’s not worth asking. The message is simple: attend live wrestling shows, regardless of how many cameras are present. TNA, the apparent second, third of fourth fiddle in the pro wrestling game, shocked viewers last night at Slammiversary when Jeff Jarrett (yes, that Jeff Jarrett) won “King of the Mountain.” Jarrett recently started his own promotion, Global Force Wrestling, so his return to TNA programming was a bit of a shock. Rumors of a GFW/TNA invasion angle have already begun. In wrestling, the words “invasion angle” are always interesting; they’re either awesome or they flop miserably. Boom or bust, they’re worth watching.

There are sports “fans” that only watch the 4th quarter of games, or wait until the playoffs to tune in. Similarly, there are wrestling fans that only watch Monday Night RAW and PPVs. This isn’t to say that’s wrong; those are still the money making shows. The lights are bright and the cameras are on, but in 2015, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the better experience.

Support and attend all professional wrestling, televised or not. WWE, TNA, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, Global Force Wrestling, PWG – it doesn’t matter. Go out and be entertained.

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