10 Things AEW Needs To Stop Doing IMMEDIATELY

4. Presuming Everyone Watches Dark And Dark: Elevation

Bryan DAnielson
AEW

Tony Khan himself has previously discussed how he views AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation as developmental shows designed for younger or more inexperienced talents to hone their craft ahead of breaking out on main Dynamite and Rampage programming.

For non-televised shows that feature a lot of lesser-known names and squash match showcases, that is absolutely the perfect way to utilise these YouTube offerings. What's not ideal, though, is delivering main TV output that is reliant on your audience having watched Dark and/or Elevation.

To take an example, so much of the ongoing, nauseating tale of the Stokely Hathaway and the Firm owning Matt Hardy's contract has played out within the confines of YouTube. While this story has been featured on Dynamite as well, one has to have watched AEW Dark to be aware of the full ins and outs of the arc.

It's great that Excalibur or Taz are on-hand to recap any Dark developments, but this shouldn't need to be the case, and likewise a quick line or two from one of the Dynamite commentary team doesn't give the full picture as to what may have transpired on YouTube.

There is the argument that having storyline elements at play on Dark or Elevation can be viewed as a tool to drive TV viewers to your YouTube programming, but the reality is that those watching Dark next week will likely be the same people who always watch Dark regardless.

Likewise, when, say, Powerhouse Hobbs randomly turns up on Rampage with a literal Book of Hobbs in his hand during his entrance, those who haven't seen Big Willy bringing that book to the ring with him on Dark and Elevation in the prior weeks may be left a little confused as to why the fella is now doing so.

Even worse, sometimes you have to watch Dark or Elevation to even realise that certain major names are still active, such as poor Hikaru Shida spending several months of last year only competing on YouTube where it pertains to her AEW bouts.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.