12 Times AEW Was Better Than Literally EVERYTHING
10. Every Anarchy In The Arena Match
For a long time, it felt like pro wrestling had exhausted the possibilities of the gimmick match. Even the last great pre-AEW idea - Money In The Bank, so successful that it spawned its own annual PLE, one that expanded the Big Four into the Big Five - was a tweak on an existing idea. It was a Ladder match with six wrestlers in it. Every other “new” idea was a convoluted take on something that already existed (this was practically the speciality of TNA).
That was until the pandemic forced AEW to think creatively, and they did so to an extravagant degree with Stadium Stampede - a retooled version of which, Anarchy In The Arena, transplanted the deranged action and comedy hybrid into the wild throes of a big, packed building.
An outrageously entertaining melting pot of ideas, Anarchy In The Arena is amazing. Squads of five do battle across the entire arena and the backstage area. At its mind-blowing best, AITA is so unhinged and expansive that the director sometimes struggles to capture the next wild stunt. This is a feature, not a bug, that enhances the all-important sense of chaos; for an elaborate match that requires much in the way of expert timing, it never feels like it.
You could argue that the match is formulaic and thus contrived. Every year, a song plays on a loop over the PA before the heels find a way to cut it and deprive the crowd. Every year, since the Young Bucks have worked it, there’s an awesome, unexpected explosion spot. Every year, a babyface comes back from the dead and heroically walks down the ring to even the odds.
But it’s Wrestling Christmas; you do the same things every year precisely because they’re so great.
Anarchy In The Arena is the last great gimmick match, and very possibly the best.