AEW - what needs to change?

[quote the raven]

Send hook. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Biggest thing is how loaded all their shows are, and it's a problem across the board. From Dark being 2 hours of squash matches, to the warp speed pace of Dynamites, to Double Or Nothing this weekend- at present there's 11 matches, with 10 of them on the main card. 

You can definitely have too much of a good thing in AEW's case. We saw it at Revolution a couple of months ago. Hangman Page and Adam Cole had a cracking title match, but it barely got a reaction because the crowd was spent from the 4 hours of epics before it. Panama Sunrise on the floor, crickets.

[WyattSheepMask]

1 hour ago, Shane O' Mac Version 2 said:

Double Or Nothing this weekend- at present there's 11 matches, with 10 of them on the main card. 

You can definitely have too much of a good thing in AEW's case. We saw it at Revolution a couple of months ago. Hangman Page and Adam Cole had a cracking title match, but it barely got a reaction because the crowd was spent from the 4 hours of epics before it

This was something that struck me as they were doing the rundown for it on this week’s Dynamite.

Jade Cargill v Anna Jay (which I reckon won’t go anymore than 10minutes at the most) seemed to get thrown together last week for no reason other than ‘get Jade on the card’, while The Bucks v The Hardys also seems to have been hastily booked. 
Both of those matches could easily just happen on TV, the latter could easily headline a themed Dynamite.

The PPVs do tend to be very good, but they don’t need to be 4hrs every time 

[JimmyAnderson]

They need to keep red-hot acts hot after they achieve their goal as well as on their way there. 

Britt Baker cooled off almost immediately after winning the women's title, Hangman cooled off after winning the World title. It'll be interesting to see what happens with MJF and Wardlow post Double or Nothing.

Can they keep Wardlow's momentum going or will he fall off a cliff and start a pointless feud with Lance Archer. And can they retain MJF's heat or saddle him with another string of cheap shots at Brian Pillman.

[The King Of Swing]

19 hours ago, Shane O' Mac Version 2 said:

From Dark being 2 hours of squash matches

Haven't watched Dark in a while but is isn't it usually an hour or less these days?

Think they were mostly 2 hours during the no fans era. 

Agree on the PPV's not needing to be 4 hours.

Are AEW PPV's like $50 in the US? Might partly explain why they feel the need to overload the shows. 

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

5 hours ago, JimmyAnderson said:

Can they keep Wardlow's momentum going or will he fall off a cliff and start a pointless feud with Lance Archer. And can they retain MJF's heat or saddle him with another string of cheap shots at Brian Pillman.

I can already tell you Wardlow is gonna fall off a cliff sadly. Whenever he has a overlong match the crowd goes super mild. The chase and storyline is great, but after that... I have zero faith.

Real shame. I hope Im wrong.

[RedRooster]

3 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

I can already tell you Wardlow is gonna fall off a cliff sadly. Whenever he has a overlong match the crowd goes super mild. The chase and storyline is great, but after that... I have zero faith.

Real shame. I hope Im wrong.

Yeah, I'm similarly doubtful about his long term potential. I'd love to be proven wrong, though. The MJF feud has given him a platform, but it's what he does next that'll either make or break him. They'd be nuts to have him fanny around with the AFO, or a lower card talent - they need to at least try to capitalise on the momentum he's built up from this feud. 

He's not a main eventer, but Sammy Guevara could be a fun TV feud for Wardlow. 

[JimmyAnderson]

4 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

I can already tell you Wardlow is gonna fall off a cliff sadly. Whenever he has a overlong match the crowd goes super mild. The chase and storyline is great, but after that... I have zero faith.

Real shame. I hope Im wrong.

I've got a thought in my head (well lend it to Trigger!) that once he gets his AEW contract a number of the stables/factions that AEW have all try and persuade Wardlow to join them. That way he doesn't have to wrestle, doesn't even need to feud with anyone but keeps a focal part of the show. 

He can just stroll down to ringside, take a seat in his latest suit and watch matches from Dark Order, House of Black, America's Top Team, Jericho Appreciation Society, even the Elite and the rest as they to impress Wardlow enough to convince him to join them. Keep it going for a couple of months and then Wardlow says there'll be a Casino Battle Royale at whatever pay-per-view they're up to and whoever wins that match, that's the stable he'll join. Then the joker is revealed and it's Wardlow himself. He clears whoever is left in the ring and shrugs, saying I guess I don't need anyone to watch my back.

Then a voice calls out "Wrong Wardlow. Everyone needs cliques. Everyone needs their brothers for life." And out walks Bischoff, Hogan, Nash & Waltman. But as they make their way to the ring, a black baseball bat falls from the ceiling. Wardlow catches it and cleans house, he then looks up to the rafters where Sting & Darby are and nods in their direction.

[BufftheStuff]

The tag team division is poorly booked, they have FTR and Santana & Ortiz yet the belts have been on Jurassic Express for 5 months! A kid who bounces on the ropes 4 times to do an arm drag and a man pretending to be a dinosaur…

Tony’s booking…not understanding the difference between heel heat and go away heat (Cody & Brandi, Sammy & Tay). The Scorpio / Sammy feud is dreadful!

Hiring too many WWE rejects, some of us wanted AEW as an alternative, now the show is dominated by them, Tiny should have been more selective.

Adam F’n Cole! I don’t usually focus on a wrestler’s physique but the dude is so scrawny that I can’t suspend my disbelief in any of his matches. Samoa Joe should squash him in 2 mins. Get in the gym you lazy git Cole!

[seph]

On 5/29/2022 at 12:07 AM, BufftheStuff said:

Tony’s booking…not understanding the difference between heel heat and go away heat (Cody & Brandi, Sammy & Tay). The Scorpio / Sammy feud is dreadful!

DoN spoiler

Spoiler

They're starting to remedy that - the kiss spot where Frankie let Sammy & Tay get beat up got the biggest pop of the match, for the supposed 'heel' team to get that reaction shows a little awareness.

 

[Chris B]

One thing is that AEW tends to forget that just because they know where something's going doesn't mean that we know. DoN was a pretty cracking show with some changes, surprises and pay-offs - but pretty much everyone agrees that the set-up was a bit lacklustre. 

Obviously, mileage varies, but still - it feels like we've seen this in the past, when they know that something big is coming, they take their foot off the pedal a bit and don't work as hard at the set-up. Which can make people less enthusiastic going in.

I reckon this happens because they're going in knowing about the aces up their sleeves. But that could work even better if the set-up was better. It's not the end of the world, but it's an improvement I'd like to see.

[LaGoosh]

Completely agree. There's a big difference between long term and plodding/slow storytelling. AEW often cannot see the difference. 

[RedRooster]

It's a maligned concept, but I'm starting to wonder if AEW needs a creative team of sorts. Not writers as such, but a team of people ensuring continuity, consistency, that everything going on makes sense and that the bad ideas (eg. another singles title being introduced) are filtered out. Tony Khan's making a bit of a hash of things, right now. 

[Nick James]

I honestly think Omega may have been the glue holding it all together with terms of storylines and star power. Since he got injured and took time away, things have seemed messy for AEW standards. 

[Merzbow]

There was a funny BTE segment a few weeks back where Omega popped up and basically slagged off the current booking, I wonder how much of that was just a joke now.