10 Reasons WWE Loyalists Should Give AEW A Chance

Most of us understand that Brand loyalty is a bit silly. Why choose to routinely give your hard earned money to one multinational company while running down another that makes a broadly similar product?

We know it doesn’t really matter if one company sells more soft drinks than another. It’s why no one at a bar has ever been asked, “we’ve only got Pepsi, is that ok?” and replied, “no, I’m afraid I’ll be taking my business elsewhere. It’s rum and Coca Cola or nothing for me.” Still, millions of advertising dollars are spent every year on manufacturing that loyalty and its easy to get suckered in sometimes.

Similarly, while we understand deep down that it doesn’t matter which gaggle of overpaid ball chasers scores the most goals, it doesn’t stop us investing and feeling despondent when our team doesn’t win.

For all its flaws, WWE’s decades of brand building and approximation of sport inspires rabid loyalty and devotion from a certain section of the fanbase. For these fans WWE IS professional wrestling. They picked a side in this new wrestling war long before it even began. But why fight when we can have it all?

All we are saying is give peace(and AEW) a chance.

Depending on their sources, fans might be forgiven for thinking that AEW Dynamite is an outlaw mud show populated by no-selling garbage wrestlers out to to pop the boys and undermine the business.

Even people praising the product might be inadvertently putting people off. The most fast-paced and spot heavy of Dynamite’s matches have been described as “cocaine wrestling”.

It’s not unreasonable for a long time WWE fan to think, “You know what? That flippy sh*t’s not for me. Spot-fests just aren’t to my taste.”

But for every superkick party or mind melting Rey Fenix spot there’s an example of great ring psychology underpinning the action. Plenty of the action is designed to further in-ring storytelling rather than just drop jaws.

Plus not every AEW match is about moonsaults or hurricaneranas. Neither is everything wrestled at a lightning pace. Cody and Chris Jericho’s Full Gear classic slowed the pace down and kept the crowd gripped throughout in a match that felt almost old fashioned and all the more welcome for it.