10 Reasons AEW Is Still The Undisputed Best Wrestling Promotion
4. Everything Matters
Perhaps not everything. AEW has form in dropping certain developments.
Remember when PAC and Lance Archer were set to feud? Probably not. Remember when FTR were the #1 contender's to the World Tag Team titles? That's rather easier, since they're still ranked #1 and Dax Harwood takes the piss out of it on Twitter daily. Nobody is saying AEW is perfect, but it is an incredibly rewarding watch when developments do get paid off - and most do.
To use one specific example - and in general, the top-tier feuds are elegantly laid out to reach an emotional crescendo mapped out from the beginning - MJF's promos are immaculately detailed.
Nobody does their research like MJF. Just last week, he recalled his prior programme with Jon Moxley to underscore how much he has evolved as a performer. Much like the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions, it was another indication that virtually everything that has happened in the promotion counts - which of course encourages the audience to invest in the promotion for the next however many years. MJF researched Mox's book and was clever enough to recall Mox's story, of being haunted by a demon, to get himself over as his real big bad.
Pay attention to everything - or almost everything - and it will get paid off. Remember when CM Punk refused MJF's handshake?
Punk's handshake with Bryan Danielson is the picture that convinced MJF to become a wrestler. In their very first meeting, MJF's Stan character was both foreshadowed and emboldened.