10 Ups & 10 Downs For AEW In 2019

9. Early Commentary Woes

Alex Marvez Excalibur
AEW

Alex Marvez is probably a great professional and a nice guy behind the scenes, but he isn’t suited to pro-wrestling commentary. This was abundantly clear on AEW’s maiden pay-per-view voyages, on which The Marv was found lacking with botched calls, ill-fitting inflexions, and forced, unnatural pitches and attempts at emotion. He had to go. Jim Ross, meanwhile, earned warranted criticism for frequently drawing attention to shoot problems (particularly in tag bouts - more on that later) when his role, as a paid company mouthpiece, is the opposite.

Much of this was fixed before Dynamite’s first episode, with Tony Schiavone and Goldenboy recruited, Marvez dumped, and Ross now considerably less grumpy than before. Excalibur has always been a tremendous asset to AEW as well, doing everything in his power to stop these issues from becoming a bigger blight to those early shows.

Thank the heavens that things improved; otherwise, this point would be higher up our list.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.