10 Major Moves AEW Could Make On Its Debut TV Show
8. Another Symbolic Burial Of WWE
This isn't an endorsement. Personally, the big, throne-breaking moment at Double Or Nothing did very little. It felt unnecessary, and it's not as if any sympathy was directed to the target. Cody's coy explanation felt transparent, too. Insulting. He did a better job upstaging Triple H by wrestling a classic in his trademark, unfashionable pace.
But, at the same time, f*ck it.
The visual appeal borders now on the iconic. It generated a talking point, it took some balls in an era where the WWE roster is castrated, and crucially, it generated a monster reaction in the MGM Grand. The AEW fanbase revels in this bullsh*t. They love feeling like a part of the resistance, like their support might help change professional wrestling for the better. Another moment, with more eyes on the product, may represent an irresistible shortcut to the ultimate point of all this. AEW wants to change the world, and who rules it right now?
And, if it feels niche, fawning, desperate - this mudslinging is something that has worked historically. ECW's opposition to the greedy corporate copycats of WCW strengthened the resolve of its ardent fanbase to reject the mainstream. In turn, WCW's anti-WWF campaign conditioned their audience to receive the product as one step ahead.
It felt cooler to be in the know.