Last couple of years I've developed a system:

Watch from January-April.

Start about 3 weeks before Royal Rumble, watch that then all through until and including the Raw following wrestlemania.

Then take the rest of the year off to de-tox from wrestling.

It's funny you don't really miss all that much and the annoying things are less annoying when there's just less hours a year to watch of it

To be honest I found some of the opinions in this thread pretty shocking.

However I think in life most people underestimate how much of their opinion is situational. We think of the other side as ignorant or ill-informed when for all of us I think, to quote Belloc from Raiders of the Lost Ark: "I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light. ".

A few life circumstances can easily turn a conservative into a  liberal and a liberal into a conservative. It's mostly what happens around you that colors your opinion. But in reality everything is rigged by the few people in control....it's bad for us to think in extremes and create divisions amongst us.

Friendship is possible, for example Smoking Guns and I chat all the time on facebook, he seems to be a some type of republican leaning right winger while I'm left wing and was excited about Bernie Sanders changing america. But we all like GNR

I think there's a few issues with Melissa:

1. Some people don't want a girl. I dislike the ghostbuster's style "you don't like it and they're female, so you're automatically a misogynist" argument - so i'm not saying that's true of everyone - however at the same time there's probably some around who honestly don't want girls. Likewise I think the reverse is true too - there's people who got excited to have her because she's a girl. Either for girlpower or cos they like to look at girls.

2. Her image is questionable for the band. This is one of the ones that bugs me a little. It reminds me of how Robin didn't look like he was in the right band in 2001. Or how bucket's image (although fun) doesn't sit well when you think of AFD era. Or how some people didn't like Axl
s braids look. Currently the rest of the band has gone on a UYI/AFD styled look. Richard fits into this well because of all his tattoos. You can look at Axl, Duff, Slash and Richard and believe richard is Izzy, and believe in the whole fabled street-gang-junkie-kids-on-the-run-hell-house GNR backstory. They look like guys who wrote AFD - even though Richard Didn't. But Melissa looks out of place - her styling and dress sense is more anime or something. So it feels awkward. The vibe is questionable too - lets face it a lot of GNR music has pretty male centric lyrics - it's awkward to think of her signing along to some of the more "sexist" type songs. Would be easier to swallow if she was some kind of biker rock chick maybe...I dunno.

3. Bad timing. Bad Placement. This is the reunion tour. So everyone who is not AFD 5 is a little irreverent to most people. However they're making a big deal out of her. She's more noticeable in stage placement than Dizzy. Which is odd when Dizzy's been in the band 100 years and no one came to see either of them.

4. Second keyboardist. Lets face it. GNR is a guitar band. There's people who didn't like NR cos it was pussy music. Then there's people (like Slash lol) who didn't want Dizzy added cos it would lead to more keys. Now there's a second (or third if you include Axl) keys player. A lot of people don't want playback and if they want it they want it triggered by dizzy or someone not a troll doll In fairness too - Pitman didn't exactly inspire love too. The person who plays the synth is the face of all that is wrong with Chinese Dem to many fans. If Slash misses a show there's no godfather solo - if chris/mel misses a show then there's no masturbating robots in better.....and we wonder why people complain....

5. Similar to the "fitting in" complaint is that she's there 24/7 on the show. If they dragged her out like Teddy when she's needed on a specific song I think people would be into it. But it looks weird her standing rocking the fuck out legs spread like Slash to ISE when there's no synth line on ISE and whatever she is playing is turned down to inaudible in the mix! I'm happy for her to come out for Madagascar....but I struggle watching her dance to Jungle....

6. She's a replacement. Like how many of you folks don't really like Bumble because he isn't Buckethead. Pitman doesn't actually have the same love...in fact as I said above most dislike him and his role, but it's more odd to see it farmed out to someone who doesn't seem to fit the band image.

It's nice to have the band back to Axl and Slash as their chemistry is one of those unique creatures - like Joe/Steven, like Keith/Mick, it's one of those special things you can't really duplicate and it's what made the band in the first place.

That said, I feel for guys like Bucket and Bumble who are absolutely phenomenal guitarists but never really got a proper shot to demonstrate how they might shine in the Slash role due to the imposition of the 3 guitar policy. Add to that whatever the business and psychological issues are that prevent the release of new material and cause GNR to be unable to function like it's peers and you have a real lost opportunity.

Nothing was going to recapture the lightening in a bottle of the old band, however, in an alternate world the new band could have been a fulfilling and creative solo endevour for Axl - much like how some of Ozzy's most memorable things happened outside of Black Sabbath. It's a shame - however of course it's nice to have the magic back now.