How THIS Was AEW’s First Major Mistake
It may seem flippant to pick on a the former Jack Swagger on a show that otherwise delivers, or at least does when there are butts in seats. But Dynamite, as with NXT, is a show that deserves the deeper dive. With due respect to Raw and SmackDown, f*ck Raw and SmackDown.
The thing about Raw and SmackDown is that WWE somehow convinced USA and Fox to part with hundreds of millions and billions respectively for the shows, leaning on the sales pitch that they mirror live sports in terms of retaining viewers as they're happening rather on catch-up. Approximately 2,000,000 Americans (give or take the week or returning Attitude Era star) agree.
The eye-watering financials first showing themselves in 2018 linked arms with the similarly absurd amount of cash the company were raking in for putting on the big Saudi Arabia shows to usher in a terrifying norm. Fan-driven revenue fell under 50% for the first time in company history. The money from our pockets had never mattered less to WWE, so why then should our myriad of opinions and thoughts and cares and hopes and dreams matter either?
The fundamental link between audiences and the quality of the output had been severed, and this more than anything else was why September's ALL IN felt so potent as this was happening. 10,000 tickets were sold because wrestlers and their DIY storylines rooted in their independent backgrounds still had the power to draw in spite of WWE building everything and one around a brand that wasn't.
AEW's billionaire-backed launch in January 2019 sucked some of the spirit out of the endeavour, but enormous promises about quality were actually kept with Dynamite from September onwards. This itself was refreshing in an era where the opposition had never been so blasé about even the most basic of bait and switches.
But everything is broken in 2020. Including now, a strand of trust between Tony Khan and his fiercely supportive fanbase. And all because of a weird faith in a signing gone wrong.
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