How AEW Has Actually Answered Its Biggest Complaint
Yes, this is sports(-centric) entertainment.
Several mutants who may have heard of UWFi, Battlarts and Bloodsport but have never, ever watched it - nor have the inclination to watch worked shoot style pro wrestling, hence why it remains a niche product and all but died as a mainstream concern years ago - prowl the hellscape that is online pro wrestling fandom.
They lick their thick, wart-ridden green lips and suck the pooling saliva into their mouths as they furiously type, just knowing that they have stumbled upon something. They have discovered The Take. The Take will make it seem like they are not trolling. They recite the deep magic, under the impression that they will nail that pesky All Elite Wrestling bang to f*cking rights. They crack their scaly fingers, eight on each hand, belch up some bile, and they log on:
"I'm so disappointed in AEW. I was expecting a sporting product!!!!"
It is, in fact, quite clear what they are attempting to do. The mutants are attempting to pretend that they really, truly want to like AEW, but alas, they simply cannot. It is not the sporting competition promised to them.
What's also irritating about this take, other than its transparent bad faith, is that it wasn't exactly nor definitively what was promised, despite what the self-designated "league" indicated in the press release that heralded its partnership with WarnerMedia. AEW EVP Cody is on record as stating "I want to be the sports-centric alternative in the pro wrestling world" - but he has also spoken at length that the company intended - and intends - to be a "buffet" of professional wrestling in a bid to differentiate AEW from WWE.
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