10 Ways AEW Has Made Other Wrestling Unwatchable

4. Finishes

Chris Jericho
AEW

There is no excuse, purpose, heat, catharsis, any-f*cking-thing to the way WWE finishes virtually 80% of its matches.

The booking makes Ryback look like a brain surgeon.

It is non-committal carny bullsh*t that absolutely eviscerates the idea of tiers, arcs, or that anything matters, or that anything might matter in the future. Disqualification finishes are rarely if ever punished, and if they are punished, it is with - f*ck me - a(nother) wrestling match, which should not come as a problem to people who are paid to wrestle professionally for a living. There's so little clarity to the booking that it creates an indistinguishable mass of bodies that just happen to wrestle some weeks. Since nothing is left to register, if a match does end cleanly, it will simply happen again more often than not.

In AEW, the wins and the losses matter, and the matches are very rarely ran back because why would they be? They have happened. The winner has been determined. The winner proceeds to the next challenge.

The loser registers the loss - Colt Cabana joined the Dark Order, Hangman Page drank himself stupid - because it is meant to affect them.

One promotion is almost uniformly meaningless.

Its competition operates with meticulous cause and effect.

But yes, be impartial.

Be neutral, as if you're covering a f*cking hugely sensitive civil war with many competing factors at play.

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!