10 Times The Competition Totally Embarrassed WWE
5. Promos
"We don't trust you yet."
Those were the words of Brian 'Road Dogg' James, who spoke on After The Bell with Corey Graves last year about WWE's creative process. Promos are "scripted word for word," he said, under the belief that WWE contracts a group of "loose cannons" - as opposed to generations of talent too sh*t-scared to approach Vince McMahon's office - who might do something too "wrasslin'" on national television. You know, like get over as artists.
For two decades, the scripted model has persisted. For those two decades, WWE has created fewer stars than it has throughout its history. The correlation is obvious to all but the performative positivity accounts and the undiscerning brainwashed that follow them.
And, yes, AEW has illuminated how dumb and arrogant this approach is.
MJF effectively promoted a successful pay-per-view main event, ahead of All Out 2020, by adding a genius wrinkle to his heel persona. The only person worse than MJF is a politician. So he evolved into one. MJF, who cuts piss funny promos utterly convincing in his self-belief and the hatred he holds for his opponents, just scored AEW's first-ever #1 cable ranking.
WWE's approach can't even begin to grasp what AEW has done with Darby Allin - the new quarter hour demo god - whose ominous short films effectively create an atmosphere of danger around his matches. If he was on RAW, he'd say the word "relentless" about 80 times in every 10 minute promo.
You need a lot of words to fill those three atrocious hours.