AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Jacko]

My biggest issue is the constant 50/50 matches there’s very rarely anyone who comes out there and smashes through these lower carders, makes them all seem on the same ish level to me 

[Chili]

I know MJF has been in quite a slump recently, but I think going into some sort of feud with Hangman will do wonders hopefully. I liked in the backstage bit after how we all muttering to himself about how everyone loves Hangman regardless how he behaves, but he's treated differently. Fantastic bit of character mentality there, of course MJF thinks he's hard done by in fans opinion of him, it gives him a legit cause for complaint when he'll point out Hanger burnt a man's house down, but without truly understanding that the story of the fans hope for Hangman is that they KNOW there is still a good person in there. 

Also a brilliant turn in the story would be for Hangman to try and make some sort of apology to Swerve only for Swerve to tell him to fucking do one... For the time being.

Edited January 31, 2025 by Chili

[BomberPat]

I don't mind Swerve having 50/50 matches, because his style has never been that he's a guy who makes short work of his opponents. That's not the only way you show someone is a good wrestler - sometimes, like Swerve, they're on top because they can take everything an opponent has and keep coming back from it, and because they find countless different ways to win. You don't tell that story in a two minute squash. Ricochet, though, I think would benefit from some quick and dirty squashes to get his new aggression and mean streak over, to show that he's not trying to drag things out to be entertaining and flashy. 

Though really the problem is them both giving AR Fox a lot because they're mates, without AEW doing anything to establish why Fox is anyone worth caring about. If he were on TV for a few weeks prior to these matches, or got some promo time to explain his history with both Swerve and Ricochet to explain why he's become a bit player in their feud, there could be something there.

When AR Fox was a heel aligned to Swerve, I actually thought he did a great job of wrestling a high-flying style while still coming across as aggressive and heelish, which is often a struggle, because the natural instinct is to up the pace into all of the high spots, which is wrestling like a babyface, and then the big flips and dives are always going to get big babyface reactions. But AR Fox was, briefly, PAC-like in his ability to slow things down and make a dive feel like an act of aggression rather than a bit of acrobatics. So he definitely has something, but maybe not as a babyface, and definitely not just booked cold.

[Chris B]

On 1/30/2025 at 9:10 AM, tiger_rick said:

Crowd wasn't great. They said a hundred times where they were and I've still forgotten. Get them on the skip list anyway.

I'm surprised by this - I've only watched the first half hour or so, but the crowd seemed well into what was going on. 

[LaGoosh]

He better not shave that shit off. I want Homeless Eddie.

[tiger_rick]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I don't mind Swerve having 50/50 matches, because his style has never been that he's a guy who makes short work of his opponents. That's not the only way you show someone is a good wrestler - sometimes, like Swerve, they're on top because they can take everything an opponent has and keep coming back from it, and because they find countless different ways to win. You don't tell that story in a two minute squash. Ricochet, though, I think would benefit from some quick and dirty squashes to get his new aggression and mean streak over, to show that he's not trying to drag things out to be entertaining and flashy. 

Though really the problem is them both giving AR Fox a lot because they're mates, without AEW doing anything to establish why Fox is anyone worth caring about. If he were on TV for a few weeks prior to these matches, or got some promo time to explain his history with both Swerve and Ricochet to explain why he's become a bit player in their feud, there could be something there.

When AR Fox was a heel aligned to Swerve, I actually thought he did a great job of wrestling a high-flying style while still coming across as aggressive and heelish, which is often a struggle, because the natural instinct is to up the pace into all of the high spots, which is wrestling like a babyface, and then the big flips and dives are always going to get big babyface reactions. But AR Fox was, briefly, PAC-like in his ability to slow things down and make a dive feel like an act of aggression rather than a bit of acrobatics. So he definitely has something, but maybe not as a babyface, and definitely not just booked cold.

Correct on Fox. He should be a bigger jobber. I think in general though, it's not a valid criticism. It's not a company who do many really short squash matches, and when they do, the jobbers are proper unknowns. Everyone else is afforded some time. That time is normally in the 5 minute range for lower card acts, 10 minutes for lower mid and then 15-anything for people higher up or stars. I think it's a pretty well-established system at this point, that combined with the win/loss records, gives you a pretty good indication of where people are pegged.

The announcers do a pretty good job of establishing it too. There are some exceptions, the Kommander one particularly annoying me recently, but generally they're pretty quick to point out who is important, who is a former world champion, who is on the up and who is struggling.

[Devon Malcolm]

33 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

He better not shave that shit off. I want Homeless Eddie.

Nick Offerman is All Elite.

[Supremo]

This is and always will be the Hangman Adam Page Show. Everyone else is just an extra.

On screen for about twenty seconds, and it’s all I can think about. Hangman looking in Swerve’s locker room was thrilling. Did he look a bit more clean shaven to anyone else? Did his eyes look to have softened a bit? Has he seen the light?! I live and die with this man.

He’s going to do the unthinkable. He’s going to turn babyface, team with Swerve Strickland, and actually salvage this Death Rider angle.

[Tennessee Moltisanti]

48 minutes ago, Supremo said:

This is and always will be the Hangman Adam Page Show. Everyone else is just an extra.

On screen for about twenty seconds, and it’s all I can think about. Hangman looking in Swerve’s locker room was thrilling. Did he look a bit more clean shaven to anyone else? Did his eyes look to have softened a bit? Has he seen the light?! I live and die with this man.

He’s going to do the unthinkable. He’s going to turn babyface, team with Swerve Strickland, and actually salvage this Death Rider angle.

Imagine if we get Omega, Ospreay, Swerve and Hangman teaming together to finish off the Death Riders?? That'd be incredible, and actually worth the whole run.

[The King Of Swing]

I certainly didn't hate the show but I was bored, quite a few times. A tag/multi match would have broken things up a little, imo. 

Looking forward to seeing Yuka again. In three months or so.

The Vendetta are shit. Serious go away heat.

[tiger_rick]

Completely skippable Collision. In fact, I think you'll enjoy Dynamite more if you do skip it.

Other than the fun main event and Toni being Toni, everything else felt completely inconsiquential, actively made upcoming matches less interesting or just died in front of a crowd who seemed bored to death for the most part.

The booking of Hounds of Hell vs. Takeshita and Fletcher for Dynamite is just baffling. Occasionally Tony books himself into a corner like this and does something creative that I didn't see coming but mostly, Tony just beats someone who shouldn't lose. Neither of these teams need a loss right now. Even if it will be Okada's fault. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

8 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Completely skippable Collision. In fact, I think you'll enjoy Dynamite more if you do skip it.

Other than the fun main event and Toni being Toni, everything else felt completely inconsiquential, actively made upcoming matches less interesting or just died in front of a crowd who seemed bored to death for the most part.

The booking of Hounds of Hell vs. Takeshita and Fletcher for Dynamite is just baffling. Occasionally Tony books himself into a corner like this and does something creative that I didn't see coming but mostly, Tony just beats someone who shouldn't lose. Neither of these teams need a loss right now. Even if it will be Okada's fault. 

You missed the actual highlight of the show. FEEL THE WRATH!

[The King Of Swing]

I thought Collision was way more entertaining than Dynamite.

Toni was great. 

Couple of fun squashes, including Rush battering Max. 

Good opening tag, entertaining three way and a fun, wild main event.

Really liked the Swerve/Trevor segment which was a refreshing change from the norm. 

Hell I even didn't mind the short Lio/Action segment. 

Yeah, Jericho is still shit. But you can't have everything. 

[tiger_rick]

3 hours ago, Supremo said:

I felt similar watching that recent TNA pay per view. My first time watching TNA in forever. It was good. I enjoyed it. But fuck me, it’s just more WWE.

Everything from how it’s framed, produced, scripted, performed, formatted. It’s just WWE in a smaller building, with a different cast.

Worst is that I don’t blame them at all. I’m just as guilty. I know I’d love to see pro-wrestling done in a wildly different way, but even I can’t really explain or pinpoint how you do it. The monopoly has indoctrinated us all. I’d end up just doing more WWE, too.

Apologies for dragging this away from the Negativity thread but I didn't want to make that an AEW thread - and also some of this might get me accused of being too positive again!

I thought AEW initially did a great job of avoiding coming across as a small-time WWE. It's a fine line, because there are a lot of things that people consider WWE tropes, as a result of the monopoly, that have always been in wrestling. So you still pretty much have to do them, no matter what wrestling show you are presenting. 

I think the biggest thing in differentiating yourself from WWE is the match-making. Having a reason for matches to matter, for outcomes to matter and for title shots to be given. AEW had that with the ranking system and the win/loss records. I know they weren't for everyone but what they did particularly well was avoid matches just happening for title shots constantly.

I think that's the number one reason why they've felt more like WWE in the last couple of years, moving away from that and into a situation where there are constant battle royals, multi-man matches and random number one contender matches for the various titles. The icing on that particular shit cake was the rip off MITB situation. MITB is already a horrible over-used trope that's ten years past its best. Who in their right mind would rip it off???

 They are doing PPVs, which is a nice departure from WWE who stopped doing them. Again, PPVs are not a WWE concept, they just popularised it in wrestling. So doing them feels special. I'd just like to see more work on the theming and the presentation so it feels like a big one-off event, the sort we all crave since WCW got shit and WWE gave up trying on PPV.

From a presentation POV, AEW's announce teams, their two entrance ways and the different arenas do help them stand out. I'd love them to do more work on the backstage interviewing. They've got phenomenal talent handling interviews. But the standing around backstage feels so much like WWE. I'd love to see the interviewers have a constant spot, like a sports desk where the talent would sit for interviews and also to make post-match interviews with the winners and losers a constant thing. After big matches, I'd do it on the steps or ringside. For normal matches, the top of the ramp or the "sports desk" would do.

Generally, I don't think talent is an issue. They should sign talent they have a use for, no matter where they've been or who they are associated with. But that talent should always feel like themselves in that new environment. There was a criticism of Edge/Copeland's music recently that I really agree with. Having that familiar theme song was OK for a one off pop on debut. But having the same music and entrance as when he was Edge and now even shortening his name to "Cope" just makes it feel so second rate. I thought the same with Matt Hardy when he came in, or Adam Cole and his band of talentless shitbags. Leave everything at the door. Compare and contrast that with Brodie Lee or Miro. We know what they are but they didn't feel it at all. It felt like a fresh version of a guy we already liked. IMO, an upgrade.

The product being aimed at an adult audience, with a bit of gore and some bad (ish) language is probably a decent differentiator. It's not a rabbit hole I'd go down, personally. I think wrestling should always be PG if you're on a national level. New fans are nearly always young fans. For all their evils, that's something WWE have absolutely spot on.  

[RedTwoster]

11 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

The product being aimed at an adult audience, with a bit of gore and some bad (ish) language is probably a decent differentiator. It's not a rabbit hole I'd go down, personally. I think wrestling should always be PG if you're on a national level. New fans are nearly always young fans. For all their evils, that's something WWE have absolutely spot on. 

It’s possibly a symptom of being a dad, but I totally agree with this. I feel like AEW’s television product could easily be toned down to a PG level without anyone noticing, and it might actually improve of their stories - such as the Death Rider plot, which has gone to such extremes that it feels rather stupid.

My favourite ever AEW storylines are pretty much all PG, or would work within those confines - Hangman/Omega, Jericho/MJF, Punk/MJF, Moxley/Kingston and the evolution of Toni Storm into Timeless Toni. They’d lose out with characters like Swerve; who has made brutality work for him, but I think the trade-off would be worth it on the whole.