10 Things WWE Doesn't Want You To Know About AEW
4. AEW Is The Premier Storytelling Company
"We make movies," Vince McMahon famously said on the Beyond The Mat documentary, and his body language reeked of total condescension: the lip-smacking and the raised eyebrows painted a picture of a man above it all.
WWE makes sh*tty movies - quite literally, in the case of the Marine franchise - but also tells sh*tty stories. They are a nightmare of continuity, the heroes are wet, and they are often retconned into oblivion. And this is WWE's selling point. Stephanie McMahon compared WWE to Shakespeare a few years back, for f*ck's sake, but still, the perception is there. WWE tells stories, Indy guys do flips.
AEW is perfecting the art of pro wrestling storytelling.
The succession of incident is incredible in those faction wars. The Inner Circle formed as Chris Jericho's ego safeguard, and exist to further his campaign to reshape AEW in his hubristic image, which of course draws the men behind the company into a fight for its soul throughout intricate angles, in which the motivation of each moving part is considered very carefully.
And because AEW stars are encouraged to perform as themselves, style and mentality drives the narrative, not tacked-on, soapy drama. Kenny Omega was sent a message by Jon Moxley at Double Or Nothing; to fully understand it, he entered Moxley's violent domain by proving himself against Joey Janela. Moxley reframed his G1 Climax exploits in AEW canon as a means of studying his opponent.
And this is without considering Cody and Chris Jericho's transcendent babyface versus heel grudge feud, the best in several years, MJF's Machiavellian rise to infamy, the sporting framework that itself breeds competition and stakes at the purest level...