10 Ways AEW Has Made Other Wrestling Unwatchable

10. Promos

Jon Moxley says what he's going to, straddling the glorious edge of b-movie cornball, and he does it. In under two minutes.

Eddie Kingston bleeds his soul in verbal missives radiating with as much pathos as dangerous energy. He makes it feel more real than anybody else. Cody's voice quivers as he unleashes the classic babyface promise. When he needs to help realise the promise of another babyface, he will play it with a heelish edge, demanding they meet his exacting standards. That he possesses these standards, incidentally, allowed Darby Allin's Full Gear win to resonate. Taz chooses the most wonderful phrases - horse sh*t, chicken sh*ts, burns my ass - to best sound aggressive and pissed off in his phonaesthetically marvellous New York accent.

MJF is piss funny with the put-down and reels off his boy-poppers with a sumptuous, confident rhythm. Chris Jericho is an all-timer on the stick, capable of cycling through modes with a near unrivalled panache.

These promos feel alive, and they aren't just authentic. There are good talkers in the WWE system, some capable of transcending the lame, overwritten verbiage, but the key difference is that the promo masters in AEW don't recap the events of the show or the storyline. They sell you on the match. They make the match feel huge.

They promote the matches.