10 Creeping Problems AEW MUST Fix

2. The Constant Need To Shoot Angles

Andrade AEW
AEW

AEW Dynamite is at times episodic to a fault.

AEW should shoot angles. AEW has booked the best and wildest angles since the heyday of the Monday Night Wars. MJF and Chris Jericho beating up Papa Buck and scarpering like terrified wimps was tremendous heel fun, and the scene informed the greatest promo Matt Jackson ever cut as a babyface. Dynamite is an episodic TV show and is the epicentre of the discourse as a result of it mastering the format. Mostly.

This is a case of doing the sensible and important things too often. In just one recent example of a redundant habit, Matt Hardy has twice assaulted Christian Cage in the post-match in consecutive weeks. Nothing was meaningfully advanced; Christian just looked a bit inept.

For a company that entrusts its audience to infer the most nuanced of details, to guess the future direction of a storyline by looking at the expression of a wrestler stood in the background, AEW doesn't half have a tendency to remind you that certain wrestlers are feuding. Couldn't Christian have simply celebrated his win, resonated as a winner, only for Matt Hardy to appear later in the show in a 30 second pre-tape taunt?

They already booked the beat-down seven days prior. The second attack felt more like a reminder than a hot angle, and this numbing approach is compounded since a post-match angle is almost mandatory across the two hours. If a feud needs juice, the dynamic is more often than not the problem.

On the subject of which...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!