AEW Is ALREADY Doing This One Thing Better Than WWE
Wins and losses matter.
AEW’s big, anti-WWE mission statement—they might deny that component, but it was very much differentiator and dig—is that wins and losses will matter in the upstart promotion, and will affect the storyline arcs of each performer. In WWE, wins and losses do not matter.
A win is barely a win, a loss barely a loss.
On this week’s SmackDown Live, Andrade faced off against Apollo Crews. The routine formula was accelerated; Crews didn’t have much opportunity to impress through his opening shine, because Zelina Vega tripped his feet within seconds. With only the thinnest reason to boo Andrade’s heat spot, the crowd reacted with apathy. Crews did generate a reaction with a splendid standing moonsault to the outside, but the subsequent comeback was filmed picture-in-picture, diminishing both his massive frame and the way it powers his remarkable feats of athleticism.
When we returned from the commercial break, Crews had mounted a second comeback, showcasing his explosive speed with a kick aimed in the face of his turnbuckle-bound opponent. He gorilla pressed Andrade to the mat before dazzling with a second standing moonsault. This was a clear showcase for Crews, a performer of unreal strength and aerial prowess—a super-athlete.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter.
Andrade defeated Crews following Vega’s well-executed interference. The finish was performed well, but it accomplished nothing. If the aim was to push Andrade as a great working heel, he sold too often. If the aim was to push Crews in defeat—and all data indicates he will vanish, and that’s not cynicism, it’s precedent—that didn’t work, either. He lost. It is a fundamentally wrong approach to storytelling, in that it does not progress a story. This match might as well have not happened. It lacked purpose.
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