10 Ups & 10 Downs For AEW In 2019

5. Cocaine Cowboys

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AEW

That AEW’s preferred form of tag team wrestling was becoming repetitive was clear by Dynamite’s fourth episode, as the show featured three similarly-paced bouts between The Lucha Brothers and Private Party, SCU and The Dark Order, and The Young Bucks and Best Friends.

You know the type: fast-moving, fluid, all-action, and cocaine-fuelled, designed to “woo” and “wow” with big spots and superhuman feats. The style itself wasn’t the problem, particularly as it almost always gets over in AEW, but there was a hunger for something different. Something a little more grounded.

Persisting down this route would’ve fatigued even AEW’s most ardent supporters. Yes, teams like Private Party can excel in this environment, but the tag division needed variety. It needed different layouts, different styles, and different flavours. It needed something else.

Matches like The Young Bucks vs. Pride & Powerful from Full Gear show this rich, diverse tag roster has so much more in their locker, and we’re now seeing this spread throughout the division as well. The promotion has acted. Spot-heavy bouts haven’t been consigned to the scrapheap (neither should they be), but the division is evolving for the better.

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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.