10 Times AEW Put Amazing Details Into Storylines
7. The Reveal Of The Exalted One
One almost feels guilty for not truly connecting with the Dark Order, they've went to such effort in a noble attempt to get it over.
The backlash to the supernatural overtones always felt a bit unfair, "sports-oriented" messaging be damned. The act fits holistically into the win/loss rankings framework perfectly; wrestlers lose, those losses matter to them, they feel like losers, the Dark Order preys on their battered psyches. It's a very neat premise for a heel stable in this specific promotion.
AEW effectively concealed the surprise reveal of the Exalted One via several barely perceptible teases - Raven sat ringside on Dynamite, allusions to Lance Archer on Twitter - and also, one so heavily implied that it functioned as a tremendous swerve. AEW went big on telegraphing Matt Hardy, but there was a subtlety to it, too, that played on the idea that he might have actually been revealed as the leader for those aware of how this storytelling device works.
Across several Twitter posts, AEW hid tiny, barely visible text within text, offering clues to its audience, one of which read "Sitting in a dead tree".
On Matt Hardy's Free The Delete series released in parallel, he sat on an ornate wooden throne - but "Sitting in a dead tree" is also a lyric from Three Chartreuse Buzzards, a girl scout singalong, effectively foreshadowing the arrival of former Wyatt Family member Brodie Lee.
Incredible misdirection.