How AEW Killed "Being The Elite"

Episode 115 of Being The Elite (12 August 2018) is just one of numerous examples of the show reaching its critical and commercial apex in 2018. The former because it was hilarious on the reg and made inch-perfect and logical use of all its characters, the latter because it had convinced 10,000 fans to buy a ticket to see a historic live rendering of their wrestling adventures in Chicago later that month.

In this particular edition, the shoot portions are made up of all the usual cast members sharing their thoughts about ALL IN; hopes, fears, dreams, worries and other relatable traits that took them away from the spotlight of their regular stage and into the hearts of the regular audience. These moments of genuine humanity feed brilliantly into the worked and scripted content which is - without exception - sublime.

Kenny Omega expresses his dissatisfaction to The Young Bucks, Kota Ibushi, Marty Scurll and Chase Owens about them being booked against one another in a six man until Matt Jackson hilariously proposes that they "plan out, move for move, here in the back, what we're gonna do out there. We'll choreograph every single second of the match and - this is the best part - they're gonna think we're actually fighting." Omega, worried about forgetting the choreography is reassured by Matt's advice - "whisper into the confused individual's ear, the spot". Later in the episode, Hangman Page was called a "f*cking d*ckhead" by his own cowboy boots for attempting to murder the still-very-much-alive Joey Ryan. Wrestling, in case these skits weren't clear enough about reminding you, is not real - but none of this absurd silliness felt the tiniest bit fake. Not with a historic pay-per-view mere weeks away.

Long accused of "killing the business" by those from a very different corner of it, this was the group literally exposing the magic of it to an audience that have long known how the rabbit comes out of the hat. Nothing was lost or damaged or - god forbid - killed, by the segments, and it was aoo future-proof for any fans discovering the show later into their fandom of the group or pro wrestling at large. The Elite were being the change they wanted to see, filming it, and proving that others wanted to see it too.

September 2018's ALL IN was couched as the end destination for the content and banter to coalesce, but it proved far more than a final destination.

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