10 Big Improvements AEW MUST Make Before All Out
The road to Chicago is paved with good intentions.
All Elite Wrestling burst into life with Double Or Nothing on 25 May. A home-run show in every sense, it felt like the start of a paradigm shift, and while quality is entirely subjective, the show's effectiveness as a buzz-generator and impressive buyrate mark it an objective success.
Subsequent shows haven't been so triumphant, with 13 July's Fight for the Fallen exposing a bunch of new warts. This was to be expected. In entering (and trying to break) a monopolised market with unparalleled resources, AEW are attempting something unprecedented. Roadbumps were to be expected, and now, with All Out looming (31 August), AEW are well-placed to prove they can learn from their mistakes.
The criticisms within come from a place of hope. Like many others, your writer is rooting for AEW to succeed, though there's much work to be done if this promotion is going to break into the mainstream and challenge WWE. While their lofty goals aren't completely out of reach, Fight for the Fallen and Fyter Fest's hitches can't not be addressed.
All Out must exceed Double Or Nothing across the board. Solving these issues would give it a tremendous chance of doing so...
10. Find That "Real Sport Feel"
AEW have been talking about delivering a product that closer resembles a "real sport" than WWE's wacky Sports Entertainment world ever could from their first press conference.
While they didn't mention WWE by name, the shot was clear to anyone paying attention. AEW, if their horde of Executive Vice Presidents are to be believed, are trying to offer something different. They don't want a pantomime, but simulated combat exhibitions with meaningful match outcomes, stats, analysis, and other touches.
Although AEW's three shows have shown enough to suggest that wins and losses do already matter, we're yet to see much else on this front. The Road to Fight for the Fallen's third episode saw Alex Marvez run through some numbers ahead of Cody and Dustin Rhodes' clash with The Young Bucks. A nice touch, but a tiny one, and only seen by the 191,000 people who watched that YouTube video.
One would expect AEW to push this aspect of their product harder as we head towards TV in October. They'll hopefully do it sooner than that, though, using the Road to All Out to frame their product as something totally different to the competition.