10 Ways AEW Has Made Other Wrestling Unwatchable

6. Match Cards Announced In Advance

WWE's chaotic and lazy approach hardly creates a sense of anticipation, not that creative bothers to engineer it. If nothing is booked in advance - if no match is deemed important enough to hype you up for - then why are you going to watch it?

WWE ritually forgets itself as a wrestling promotion time and time again.

Every single segment of Dynamite is announced in advance. There is a dual purpose to this.

Firstly, it creates a sense of anticipation and reassurance. You are encouraged to fantasy book the various permutations and simply look forward to a card of action promoted to you as if it matters. No rematch is cynically inserted into the show as it unfolds.

Secondly, it creates a sense of immersion that enables suspension of disbelief. Every minute is accounted for in advance - "...with TV time remaining..." - as if Dynamite could feasibly exist as a real sporting attraction and not a very obviously contrived production that cannot possibly be real.

AEW invites this scrutiny irrespective of whether there's a match to be won or a steak to be eaten. It is far closer to real sports, or the NJPW framework, if you don't pretend not to notice these attentive details.