9 Ups & 9 Downs For AEW In 2022

1. The Feeling And The Magic Is Still There

At times, even when in form, AEW has operated at a very high if unspectacular level. And yes, perspective should be maintained, but standards are standards.

Many feuds could not be faulted for their internal logic, but this is a promotion capable of seminal storytelling as if it's a production line of brilliance. That's the standard. Too often this year, it was hard to get hyped up and practically fixated on the stories. Everything about, for example, Jungle Boy Jack Perry Vs. Luchasaurus made sense - but did it feel like it took forever to arrive because the anticipation was so palpable?

Not particularly.

The AEW magic still exists, even it's not quite the source of power it once was. Anarchy In The Arena was a magical spectacle: a witty, chaotic, iconic bloodbath that elicited a level of adrenaline so potent, and was worked with such expressive energy, that you were never asked to think about the incredible amount of thought and attention that clearly went into it.

The type of pop Kenny Omega generated at All Out only erupts when something has been built to perfection. Omega, in his most ostentatious gear, fully restored as the Best Bout Machine after pretending to look more broken than he was in 2021, was a phenomenal work. That's the AEW magic: they don't just conjure the loudest reactions in wrestling; with expert narrative guile, they make you feel like they may never come.

Orange Cassidy Vs. Katsuyori Shibata; Keith Lee Vs. Isiah Kassidy; the outrageous interactions between Darby Allin and Satnam Singh: Khan remains a wizard of a matchmaker even if his ability to map out long-term stories can be questioned in good faith.

Even throughout its most uneven year yet, AEW, at its best, is still somehow everything its base wanted wrestling to be when the monopoly was at its most bland and oppressive.