10 Ways WWE Is Better Than AEW
5. Making It Look BIG
Thanks in no small part to Dick Ebersol and the Saturday Night Live production staff in the mid-1980s, WWE has always looked bigger than all the rest even when they weren't doing stadium shows seemingly every other month.
It was mandated to keep even an average Superstars or Wrestling Challenge look grandiose, in lockstep with Vince McMahon's belief that he'd salvaged wrestling from mythical smoke-filled bingo halls and grimy VFW halls. Throughout the organisation's lean years, miniscule high school gyms were hard to obscure, but McMahon attempted it anyway. AEW, oddly, has the opposite problem.
The excellent WrestleTix twitter account highlights that most locations still have a healthy thirst for AEW's product, especially in contrast to some sagging markets for WWE. You'd not always think it on television.
Grand Slam 2021 was the most egregious offender - the Kenny Omega Vs Bryan Danielson main event was categorically the headline attraction the second the match was announced, but Arther Ashe Stadium itself was the second biggest draw. All until the show itself - the gorgeous and historic tennis venue looked better full than it did empty.