11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Fyter Fest 2021 Night 1

Downs...

1. Rampage Can't Come Soon Enough

AEW Rampage
AEW.com

AEW is not late-period David Lynch.

Provided you aren't a goldfish, the storytelling, while really quite clever and rewarding, is easy to follow. This is not the source of the following complaint: so much happens on this show that certain angles don't resonate. But maybe this is a take that the return of live crowds has batted away.

Virtually everything is over and over big, so how rushed and oversaturated can Dynamite be, really?

It remains a problem for the TV viewing experience, albeit a minor one. There's an obligatory and almost condescending quality to the multiple short backstage segments in which little is meaningfully advanced. AEW generally trusts its audience a great deal to grasp the story beats, and it's time this was reflected on the format sheet. Certain weeks don't need a nothing 20 second angle. Nobody is going to forget that FTR and Santana and Ortiz are feuding. The debut of Rampage will hopefully correct this inundation of things always happening. AEW is already producing three hours' worth of content across two on Wednesdays.

This approach also depicts the AEW universe as whacky, which circles menacingly around fake. Tonight, so much happened so conveniently that the vibe of a feasible broadcast was threatened at times.

But not others...

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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!