Something amazing is happening within the internet wrestling community. A place has slowly emerged where enthusiasm is flying high, community is truly appreciated, and toxicity has no place.

This place is BlueSky.

Started in 2019 as a research initiative, BlueSky was initially developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as a way to decentralize the app. Essentially, it means users have control over their own data, including what they see and how they interact. It’s like Twitter in 2009, long before it was bought out by Trump’s billionaire lapdog Elon Musk, and turned into a noxious hellscape.

Now run by CEO Lantian “Jay” Graber, the app has exploded to over 20 million users in a very short time. In February of 2024, that number was only at 3 million users. Yes, the most recent election has a large part in this, and more on that later…

But first things first, why BlueSky and what does that mean for pro wrestling?

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The BlueSky Experience and Pro Wrestling

The experience on the BlueSky platform hits different. Their algorithm is geared towards your actual tastes, and will show you what you’re actually interested in. If you don’t like something, you can simply just block it. You will never see that account again, no matter what.

It means that common internet trolls that exist to serve as nothing more than rage bait won’t really have a place on this platform. If they travel to this realm, they will likely be blocked or banned by users who don’t have time for those levels of negativity.

Known misogynist and low-IQ piece-of-shit Andrew Tate joined BlueSky and within one day was already blocked by a swarth of users. This led to next to no engagement for his own posts, and he deactivated his own account shortly after.

Building engagement on a foundation of unfettered vitriol is how X/Twitter and Facebook grease the cogs that keep their toxic machine running. BlueSky gives you a foundation of building a community you actually want to be in, and to have positive discussions with people you actually respect.

You aren’t bombarded with ads, or even posts from other users you know you disagree with in hopes for mindless and bitter engagement.

This works especially well for AEW fans, who have largely taken over the app. Many AEW content creators and fans have found a place to simply enjoy AEW without the negativity that comes with other platforms.

As far as I know, WWE currently does not have a BlueSky account, and there might be a reason for that, but we’ll get into that later…

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There Are No Troll Bridges in the Sky

As mentioned, content creators that promote divisiveness and hate have no place here. Wrestling podcaster and known edgelord JDFromNY even tried out the app for a few days, spewing his usual anti-AEW hate.

He was quickly blocked en masse and essentially run off the app where he now rarely posts at all. He currently has a whopping 147 followers.

Wrestling content creators like Denise Salcedo, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, and Amy Nemmity of Wrestlejoy already have followers in the thousands. And guess what? Their material tends to consist of positivity within the wrestling community.

It turns out that most positive people just want to be around other positive people.

“But isn’t it an echo chamber?”

Sure. This is professional wrestling. A joyful hobby. An entertainment medium. We don’t need common bridge trolls invading spaces to yell at clouds about TV ratings, attendance figures, or how “they” would have booked a segment of Dynamite.

Is there currently less engagement on BlueSky due to a lower number of users compared to X and Facebook? Of course. But I’d rather have fewer positive engagements than more negative engagements. What kind of life is it to choose to exist in toxicity simply because there is more of it available?

And furthermore, let’s face it, X/Facebook have made wrestling fans kind of dumb…

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X/Facebook/YouTube Have Made Wrestling Fans Dumb

I’m not calling Jim Cornette dumb, for the record. Not at all. However, are his listeners likely easily influenced? Have other content creators simply taken after his “I hate everything AEW” approach in a very formulaic manner?

Yes. Many online wrestling fans no longer think for themselves.

Do you know how easy it is to go down the anti-AEW pipeline on X and Facebook in a span of a day? It is so easy for many wrestling fans on X and Facebook to see a negative opinion, engage with said opinion, and then get fed more posts to engage with said negativity that either fits their preconceived view, or even change a once held positive view.

Wrestling fans online have become extremely malleable, and as such, easily influenced by the most repetitive talking points by the loudest voices. Enjoying the negative wrestling discourse has become more important than enjoying the actual wrestling product itself, and that’s just depressing.

X has become the wrestling space for “AEW BAD”, and not much more. Conversations within X/FB largely surround years-old talking points involving TV ratings, attendance, or not “building” stars.

This is useless for legitimate conversations, as nothing is celebrated, appreciated, or discussed in a constructive manner. The discourse has been centered around what AEW is doing ‘wrong’ and never what they are doing right, (yet not fairly in the other direction, as if WWE is flawless).

And this has created a lot of new armchair bookers…

Armchair booking has been around as long as the internet wrestling community has. But holy crap, has this number seemingly tripled in size, as if suddenly every online wrestling fan and/or creator are now booking experts.

“Here’s what I would do” has become the norm for many content creators that wish to feel relevant in a void of like-minded WWE fans who want to dunk on AEW. It’s become the norm even for WWE fans who watch WWE.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I don’t watch a TV show or movie and consistently think to myself “now here’s what I would have done differently”. What’s the actual point of that? If I enjoyed it, I will pick out what I enjoyed. If I didn’t enjoy it — I quietly move on…

Some children in social media spheres have trouble with this concept. The very large majority of these desperate, negative content creators have no clue how to actually put together a good wrestling show from top to bottom. Many online wrestling fans don’t even know what they want half the time, as proven by the exodus away from AEW back to WWE, as many WWE fans never truly wanted an alternative in the first place.

Well, some fans actually do want an alternative; and this goes beyond pro wrestling.

BlueSky has entered the chat…

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Blue Sky is a Liberal Haven

Remember when I said WWE wasn’t on BlueSky (at least not to my knowledge)? Well, Tony Khan and AEW are on Blue Sky. 

In fact, many of Blue Sky’s users deactivated their X accounts after the election and popped over. Over 1.1 million users deactivated their X accounts on Nov. 6 alone. Left-leaning celebrities, politicians, and long-time journalists have all left the platform and have moved to BlueSky.

Many AEW talents have also created BlueSky accounts. Yes, they still maintain their X accounts, including Tony Khan, but a shift has occurred.

It’s clear that many left-leaning individuals are tired of the toxicity on X, as well as the fascist billionaire owner in Elon Musk.

So why hasn’t WWE followed?

My assumption is based on their audience.  Correlation doesn’t always equal causation. However:

-If X largely consists of WWE fans and conservative voices
-If Blue Sky largely consists of AEW fans and liberal voices
-Non-scientific conclusion drawn: WWE knows their online fan base may lean to the right, and may not dip their toes in Blue Sky just yet. Though there are WWE fans on Blue Sky, and like AEW fans, they aren’t bullied, nor are they fighting with each other. 

Everyone here just enjoys wrestling; be it AEW, WWE, TJPW, STARDOM, etc. That’s the only assignment here, and everyone is acing it so far. Though it seems like there are more AEW fans here for now, which of course, I absolutely love.

Again, this is assumption and a vague generalization. But with Linda McMahon being appointed Secretary of Education (because she has so much experience in education…), Dana White as a good friend of Donald Trump’s, and Paul Levesque donating to Republicans this election — there is still a clear tie between WWE/TKO and the Republican party on some levels.

Even if vague, it’s a vibe that I don’t think many AEW fans want to be a part of. And I think this is why so many left-leaning wrestling voices have ended up on Blue Sky.

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Come to the Blueside. We Have Cookies.

You don’t have to have change the world through social media. Angry discourse isn’t necessary to find understanding on a subject. “Fighting” it out online with fellow human beings doesn’t have to be the norm in digital interactions.

Above all, you can still have fun on social media! Crazy idea, right?

Blue Sky has become a safe place for AEW fans to simply enjoy themselves and the product they love. It’s been weeks and I have yet to encounter a stupid comment about many of the outdated talking points about AEW. Most engagement comes from a young group of active and positive wrestling fans who just want to have fun.

And as mentioned, WWE fans are also welcomed! This (so far) really is the best place on the internet to be if you’re a wrestling fan who just wants to have fun and enjoy your passion without judgement.

Now we just need Skye Blue to join Blue Sky and take over the platform…

-TKW
tokusenwrestling@yahoo.com