How AEW Made Me Love Wrestling Again

6. Creative Freedom You Can FEEL On Screen

From Jon Moxley getting a kick out of being the guy that beats people into a fine paste, to Austin "Luchasaurus" Matelson becoming a camera-shaking dinosaur after hearing a fan chant and turning it into his entire persona, AEW feels like it prioritises creative freedom.

Now, I simply don't know the realities of WWE management. I'm not a hardcore wrestling fan overall; I've not kept up with any number of behind-the-scenes factors over the years, but what little I have heard from wrestlers departing WWE for any number of reasons lines up with why AEW appeals where WWE falls down.

Watching AEW's "Before the Bell" documentary from 2019 and realising that wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks double as EVPs for their own company imbues the whole production with an almost grassroots spirit.

Yes, billionaire backer and show planner Tony Khan is instrumental too, but any member of a workforce elevating themselves to a management position - versus a stat-watching businessman dictating "what's right" - will always result in something more directly appealing to an audience or recipient.

Not to make this a WWE hate-piece (I literally don't know enough to do that with any authority), but AEW feels like it knows what I want, in a way WWE does not.