#124 – Counterprogramming

The Scholars run down All In 2025 and Saturday Night’s Main Event, and go through the history of counterprogramming

The Scholars start by briefly talking about how they approached this mammoth Saturday of wrestling (spoiler alert; one Scholar elected to see Weird Al in concert instead) then they get into reviewing AEW ALL IN 2025 while touching on Saturday Night’s Main Event. They talk through the nitpicks of the length of the show and missed opportunities in some entrances/pacing of Omega/Okada V, but highlight the strength of the four main event matches. They also speculate the difficulties of producing the Saturday Night’s Main Event card in the wake of Seth Rollins’ injury, and discuss how Bill Goldberg did in his retirement match. They also touch on Adam Cole’s surprise retirement, Cope’s return, and Tyler’s new favorite female wrestler. (01:00)

Then, the Scholars pivot to the Word of the Day: Counterprogramming. They discuss the origins of the practice within wrestling and the past battles between WWF and JCP/WCW. They also talk about counterprogramming in a larger media landscape, mentioning the battle for attention during the Super Bowl halftime show, some strange feuds in Brazilian soap operas, and reverse counterprogramming or “burning off” an unwanted TV show. (50:00)

They close their episode with a discussion about all the recent counterprogramming on WWE’s part, how this has effected the potential success of WWE Evolution, and whether there is a way to do this ethically. (1:06:55)

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