How The Oldest Wrestling Lie JUST Got Exposed

Big matches are preserved as big matches through limited physical interaction; the Cody Vs. MJF and Taz Vs. Sabu programmes are very different in tone and conflict, but the philosophy is identical. Paul Heyman and Tony Khan both made you desperate to see the blowoff through a graduating sense of escalation and a vast space.

There's a faction-based, dovetailing connectivity to it that breeds new match permutations and avoids singles rematches influenced by modern day New Japan Pro Wrestling, and those endlessly watchable trios bangers are direct descendants of Michinoku Pro and Dragon Gate. Granted, Khan needs to blow the dust off those All Japan Women's tapes when looking towards the east, but AEW is an e-fed, a glorious e-fed, and they laugh at you for caring that much.

But it's no mere patchwork quilt. Khan isn't a plagiarist. He knows the specific foundational brilliance to apply, and has the verve to do it with a new slant because he is an intelligent student of the game. There is a defiant and expressive soul unique to AEW, a sporting narrative framework, and an intricate, deft ability to weave stories that separates itself from its inspirations.

That 12-man tag on last night's Dynamite was a symphony of beautifully textured booking that made incredible use of characters far more complex than an old template AEW has advanced upon.

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