OT: AEW

[MSUDC11]

They’ve been running live weekly shows on TNT for almost a month now so I’m curious to hear impressions from those that have been watching.

For me personally, I have loved it. They do so many things well that WWE doesn’t have a clue about. Not reinventing the wheel, they just cut out the BS and just let it be about the wrestling, which has been super entertaining.

Jericho is the perfect guy to play the big villain. It’s crazy how they’ve made guys like Cody, Moxley, and Pac feel like true stars after WWE never could figure out what to do with them. Plus they have a ton of guys who have never had a platform like this and are really shining.

Been a lot of fun so far, and it really highlights just how dull WWE has become in recent years. Hope these guys can keep up the good work for a long time.

 

[DoomSlayer]

It's been good, even great at times. My only complaint is the lack of psychology in the matches, Jericho and Cody excluded. If you take a move where you are dropped on your head, you shouldn't be doing dives 2 minutes later. Of course I've had that complaint forever and I've been watching these guys way before AEW.

 

[11thEagleFan]

Love it. Hope that it continues to gain steam and popularity. My only complaint is that Kenny Omega isn’t being featured all that prominently. Loved the DDP surprise!

 

[Seinfeld]

I can easily say that I’ve enjoyed it more than WWE at any point in recent history. It really reminds me a lot of Nitro back in the day where the focus is mostly on good wrestling, giving matches purpose, and giving guys a chance to build their own character without being overloaded with scripts and stupid jokes.

Say what you want about Cena, but that dude almost single handedly killed WWE for me.

I will say that I think AEW is going to eventually need some additional Jericho-level star power, but I love the fact that they’re taking the slow burn approach to a lot of their feuds, and they clearly know their lane. I don’t see them making the same mistake that TNA made when they thought they were suddenly ready to compete with Raw before they were anywhere close. Rhodes knows the business, and it frankly doesn’t seem like he gives a damn about WWE in the first place.

If they could somehow sign Punk, look out

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

I have a large lapse in wrestling viewership. I stopped in 2002. picked up again late last year when my 8 year old discovered wwe. wwe looks like crap now. we've gone to local promotions. we had the wwe streaming for a bit, so I could show him the older stuff (which he thinks is awesome).

I've watched all the AEW shows and I like it a whole lot more than wwe, but...... their roster is lacking. other than cody v. Jericho, they are stretching thin. last week, they had "Jurassic" with some guy that my kid could beat up. ...and don't even get started on what they are trying to do with the women.

Jericho doesn't sound good on the mic now, in fact, they seem to be forcing "cool" or "smark". actually reminds me of the start up days of ECW.

 

[BrunswickDawg]

I can easily say that I’ve enjoyed it more than WWE at any point in recent history. It really reminds me a lot of Nitro back in the day where the focus is mostly on good wrestling, giving matches purpose, and giving guys a chance to build their own character without being overloaded with scripts and stupid jokes.

Say what you want about Cena, but that dude almost single handedly killed WWE for me.

I will say that I think AEW is going to eventually need some additional Jericho-level star power, but I love the fact that they’re taking the slow burn approach to a lot of their feuds, and they clearly know their lane. I don’t see them making the same mistake that TNA made when they thought they were suddenly ready to compete with Raw before they were anywhere close. Rhodes knows the business, and it frankly doesn’t seem like he gives a damn about WWE in the first place.

If they could somehow sign Punk, look out

If you grew up with NWA/WCW as your favorite wrestling, then you have almost always hated WWE style shows. They really haven't changed much over the years - the exception being the Attitude Era. And once WCW & ECW went under, WWE went right back to their old ways. It has always been more about the fluff than the work. The old pre-Raw days of Monday Night Main Event, you got 90 minutes of interviews/staged "shows" like Pipers Pit/and outside the ring shenanigans and 30 minutes of wrestling split between 5 matches with 8 of 10 wrestlers being steroid monsters. It was horrible.

AEW looks and feels a lot like classic WCW - much longer, technical matches, lots of influence from the Luchadores and New Japan, more "normal" sized athletes, just enough blood to make it interesting, and less "top end" talent.
I hope they try to develop their own guys instead of poaching WWE or bring back an influx of old talent. If they stick with developing their own guys they will do better.

 

[The Situation]

I have a large lapse in wrestling viewership. I stopped in 2002. picked up again late last year when my 8 year old discovered wwe. wwe looks like crap now. we've gone to local promotions. we had the wwe streaming for a bit, so I could show him the older stuff (which he thinks is awesome).

I've watched all the AEW shows and I like it a whole lot more than wwe, but...... their roster is lacking. other than cody v. Jericho, they are stretching thin. last week, they had "Jurassic" with some guy that my kid could beat up. ...and don't even get started on what they are trying to do with the women.

Jericho doesn't sound good on the mic now, in fact, they seem to be forcing "cool" or "smark". actually reminds me of the start up days of ECW.

Not a coincidence. 2002 is when the competition went away.

 

[aTotal360]

WWE now has their hands tied with corporate sponsors. "Cancel Culture" has single handily killed mainstream rasslin. Especially the kind that always interested me. The days of Flair, Rock, Austin, DX, saying over the top stuff are over.

 

[SwampDawg]

I prefer the movies based on comic book heroes. Much more realistic.

 

[jkpz28]

I've enjoyed AEW and the NXT show much more than Raw or Smackdown. Much like a few others, I stopped watching around 2001/2002. I got back into it during the last 2 years of the CM Punk era. My nephew is obsessed with it so I get a kick out of taking him to any local shows.