10 Things AEW Stopped Doing That We Really Want To See Again
AEW is still Elite - but is it still All Elite?
It's upsetting to read something critical of your favourite pop culture escape.
It's understandable.
The world is sh*tty enough without the thing you like - the ultimately frivolous thing you like - being ripped to shreds after an off week.
But has AEW just experienced an off week, or is the over-booking descending, at an alarming rate, into self-parody? What's worse: Tony Khan not knowing that his favoured tropes are lazy, and growing tiresome, or knowing full well that people are taking the piss and thinking some awesome angle or debut he has planned will make people forget?
AEW has set a bar in which anything under an 8/10 TV show feels in some way like a disappointment. Some weeks, the promotion seems all too content to deliver a 7. A 9 is never too far away, so perhaps everything does average out in the end, but be honest with yourself: ahead of and at All Out 2021, didn't you think AEW would be...better than this in January 2022?
You'll not read a more moderate and constructive critique of what remains a staggeringly great product at its very best.
The following article is written entirely in good faith and is about what hopefully isn't the glory days...
10. Carefully Measuring The Chaos
Tony Khan has stumbled upon a booking trap by aggressively expanding his roster.
The sheer size of it applies too much pressure on an established fictional rule, and the result is near-constant over-booking. Every act in AEW, and there are loads at this point, is associated with a stable, loosely or otherwise. Because they'd look like ar*eholes if they didn't save their mate from a beat-down, they save them, but the whole deal while logical is growing tiresome, overdone, and redundant. Anything in excess is bad, and AEW has encountered excess in the extreme with a favoured booking pattern.
It wasn't always like this, and AEW has crafted a stable-based universe since its inception. A more restrained approach is possible. We've already seen it.
On the October 30, 2019 Dynamite, Hangman Page of the Elite defeated Sammy Guevara of the Inner Circle in the opener. This didn't lead to a blur of run-ins and saves. The clean result stood as a fixture, building Page ahead of his Full Gear clash with PAC. The Elite Vs. Inner Circle was instead advanced when Chris Jericho revealed that the contract signing was a ruse with which to isolate and injure Dustin Rhodes later in the broadcast. This stellar booking avoided redundant repetition and put Jericho over as a savvy, vicious heel. This sort of inspiration has been lacking of late.
The way in which the run-ins are booked is another instance of booking excess...