10 Things You Only Learn Attending AEW LIVE

3. Production Notes, Various

House Of Black
AEW

In order to keep the crowd engaged between commercial breaks, Justin Roberts chats with the crowd. His patter could do with a bit of work, honestly: he does a Cartman voice bit that barely raised a snigger in Vegas. It was a bit teenaged.

Unlike WWE, AEW uses the same ring canvas throughout the night - or at least they did at the Wednesday TV taping. This might change elsewhere, if the mat is covered with excessive blood stains, but when changing the ring display from ROH to Dynamite to Rampage, and back to ROH again, the ring crew uses a sheet of protective flooring so that their dusty boots don't track all over the canvas that the workers grapple upon.

The pyro is a spectacle, but it could do with a bit of variation. Orange Cassidy's single lazy poof is a tremendous bit, but elsewhere it's the same combination of sparklers and flames. The Collision money could help AEW set apart more of its talent.

AEW runs the same videos on a loop before and between tapings. Between the constant Fight Forever adverts and Justin Roberts' banter, it gets a bit boring and tiring - but maybe this is all an attempt to steer you towards the merch stand.

Chris Jericho did a bit before heading to the Rampage commentary desk. It's an attempt to get the fans to sing 'Judas' by pretending they don't deserve to do it. They do it, of course. That description makes it seem terrible, but it was actually really funny.

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!