AEW
By Scott Keith on October 28, 2019
When AEW first came out, I was excited. I despise contract signings, wedding angles, and McMahon family drama. I have zero interest in seeing an on-screen authority figure who is any more involved than, say, Jack Tunney. Yet when I turn
on AEW, instead of seeing what I want, I just see a different version of what I don’t want. Aside from Hagar (who hasn’t had a match to my knowledge), is there anybody on the entire roster over 230? The show seems like a bunch of guys who couldn’t make it
on 205 Live. Jericho is great, but he’s 50. Moxley is great, but if the best you can put him up against is Neville – the man charisma forgot – then why would I bother watching? I’m not interested in spot-monkeys whose offense doesn’t look like it hurts.
It made me realize that what the WWE USED to be great at was spectacle. Their performers are larger than life – and being physically larger than life is a big part of that presentation. The whole premise used to be seeing these awe-inspiring personalities
telling great stories that climax in an in-ring fight. WWE is still doing that – they’re just doing a cover-your-eyes awful job of it. Not everything needs to be a hoss-fight, but a twisting-corkscrew-whatever doesn’t do it for me if the whatever part looks
softer than a Miz chop. If AEW has done one thing for me, it’s help me understand what it is that I want out of this crazy thing of ours in the first place. The work doesn’t have to BE stiff, it just has to look the part. I need to be able to suspend disbelief.
WWEs problems are still the same – homogenized personalities, overly-scripted promos, uninspiring stories, 50/50 booking – none of that is defensible. I tried watching some of the Japanese stuff and without knowing why they’re fighting, it’s hard to get invested
in the fight no matter how talented the performer. So what’s a guy to do? Is there a watchable promotion out there that delivers what I’m looking for? Or just turn it off and wait a decade and hope the next challenger delivers?
on AEW, instead of seeing what I want, I just see a different version of what I don’t want. Aside from Hagar (who hasn’t had a match to my knowledge), is there anybody on the entire roster over 230? The show seems like a bunch of guys who couldn’t make it
on 205 Live. Jericho is great, but he’s 50. Moxley is great, but if the best you can put him up against is Neville – the man charisma forgot – then why would I bother watching? I’m not interested in spot-monkeys whose offense doesn’t look like it hurts.
It made me realize that what the WWE USED to be great at was spectacle. Their performers are larger than life – and being physically larger than life is a big part of that presentation. The whole premise used to be seeing these awe-inspiring personalities
telling great stories that climax in an in-ring fight. WWE is still doing that – they’re just doing a cover-your-eyes awful job of it. Not everything needs to be a hoss-fight, but a twisting-corkscrew-whatever doesn’t do it for me if the whatever part looks
softer than a Miz chop. If AEW has done one thing for me, it’s help me understand what it is that I want out of this crazy thing of ours in the first place. The work doesn’t have to BE stiff, it just has to look the part. I need to be able to suspend disbelief.
WWEs problems are still the same – homogenized personalities, overly-scripted promos, uninspiring stories, 50/50 booking – none of that is defensible. I tried watching some of the Japanese stuff and without knowing why they’re fighting, it’s hard to get invested
in the fight no matter how talented the performer. So what’s a guy to do? Is there a watchable promotion out there that delivers what I’m looking for? Or just turn it off and wait a decade and hope the next challenger delivers?
I feel like NXT would be the best TV show to meet your needs. Or maybe MLW.
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