It's Official: AEW Needs A MAJOR Wake-Up Call
This is less than ideal, because the format needs to remain in place (mostly).
AEW is the wrestling promotion in which championships are the main objective. The announced fixtures must continue, but promoting every match in advance while logical can feel staid. The format makes it very obvious when an angle is going to happen, the outcomes are mostly obvious to begin with, and as a result, Dynamite - even when it is very good - can fail to crackle with an unexpected energy. The show is booked via spreadsheet and all too often, it shows. Wrestler whose job it is to lose in a speed run of failure - Bobby Fish (2021), Jay Lethal (2022), Brian Cage (2023) - get rid, get rid, get rid.
One way of bringing back the special, premium feeling is to introduce a fifth and sixth AEW exclusive pay-per-view outside of the traditional four and Forbidden Door. Even at its very best - special, all-time great, euphoric pro wrestling - AEW has never booked a flawless run between its pay-per-view offerings. Even the vaunted summer of 2021, as amazing as it was, started with a dismal residency at Daily's Place in the month after Double Or Nothing before Kenny Omega Vs. Hangman Page heated up and the rumours of CM Punk signing began to swirl. AEW can often meander narratively before the big angles happen, and the most intense promos are cut, in the weeks before the big shows. Bluntly, Revolution doesn't feel special. Khan faffed around with too many key stories. The long wait didn't generate anticipation; just a combination of isolated in-ring thrills and tedium.
In one of the very best episodic TV shows of all time, the November 16, 1985 edition of Mid-South Wrestling, Bill Watts cut an unsettled figure as he furthered the show-long storyline: Ted DiBiase was bloodied by a Dick Murdoch attack ahead of his NWA World Heavyweight title match opposite Ric Flair, but demanded his shot regardless, Watts relented. DiBiase had suffered arterial damage, but the flow of blood was halted by a pressure bandage. Were it to come loose, the show could get real gory, Watts warned. DiBiase shed an ocean of blood, was counted out in front of horrified punters - and Murdoch, the bastard, still went back for more. Suspense was built. The drama was palpable, frightening. Blood loss was sold, to stunning effect, as something life-threatening. The World champion and challenger were both protected. The territory's next big grudge feud sparked into life.
Bill Watts did more with a prop and an idea than Khan has accomplished in recent times with an all-timer of a roster. Deviating from the typical format on occasion, with an experimental show-long storyline, might disrupt the monotony. He can't do anything like the pressure bandage angle because blood has been spilled to near-meaningless excess. That is another issue.
There might actually be 100.