10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About AEW

6. "The Matches Go On Too Long"

Brandi Rhodes AEW
AEW

Just because Fight For The Fallen only finished a few hours ago doesn't mean that every AEW match goes too long.

Here's a statistic: since the inception of AEW Dynamite, just one match has exceeded 17 minutes in length: Kenny Omega and Hangman Page Vs. The Lucha Brothers. Most Dynamite matches on average settle between 10 and 12 minutes. If anything, some matches are too short. This still isn't ideal, but that's a different criticism to the pervasive ranting.

The complexion of the women's scene in North America - i.e., the fact that NXT signs every female talent - has left AEW with a fleet of raw and promising talents with the potential to star as their ostensible stars. The way to become stars is by wrestling longer matches on a bigger stage, but as has been the case with Britt Baker and Big Swole, those matches are for the coaches to appraise more so than the fans to savour. The women need more time, which cuts into the time of the main events. Perhaps this accounts for Scorpio Sky's very, very slightly underwhelming star-making bid.

He could have done with an additional five minutes to put over both the last stand of his World Tag Team Title win finish and his spirited AEW World Title loss to Chris Jericho.

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!