10 Things WWE Doesn't Want You To Know About AEW

5. "Wrasslin'" Is Actually Good

Cody Dustin Rhodes
Scott Lesh Photography/AEW

They told us for years, with the pejorative of wrasslin', that pro wrestling was something to be ashamed of. WWE divorced itself from its emulated sports roots to become a bastardisation of it under the vision of "sports entertainment". And because WWE monopolised under this mentality, it intensified.

Wrasslin' is defined by WWE, more or less, as boring old match-heavy programming that dared consider itself a "great sport" voiced by men with southern accents who were by definition dumber and less pleasing on the ear. Wrasslin' is something that had the temerity to take itself seriously; sports entertainment, in contrast, used the genre through ingrained shame as a platform to tack soapy drama onto the thin semblance of competition.

Vince McMahon hates the word "tournament", and only rarely promotes them. They are too closely associated with the sport he never reckoned WWE was. AEW promoted a wonderful World Tag Team Championship that created stars in Private Party and SCU. The win/loss ranking system breeds storylines divorced from cucks and monsters and graphics of dogs with an inability to properly bark. No match is booked on the fly, because it is presented as something germane to reality.

AEW is believable - as should, in its own context, be every entertainment medium.

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!