The Secret Stat Behind Why AEW Matches Mean More

Disqualifications and countouts aren't the only tired trope eschewed by AEW. Wrestling's most harmful finish, the outside distraction, is almost unheard of in Jacksonville. A wrestler losing because they took their eye off the ball and concentrated more on some goober standing on the ramp or apron than the person they were in the ring with invariably makes the loser look like an idiot. Yes, it's another McMahon favourite.

He Stole One! isn't a thing in AEW either, with the promotion careful to frame roll-ups and other counter-based victories as products of smarts, ingenuity, and timing. Riho's entire acclaimed Women's World Championship reign was built around this. Recently, Jungle Boy has taken the mantle. WWE, meanwhile, will more often than not make these things look like flukes, undermining whatever rub the victor was supposed to gain.

All of this plays into how AEW has truly made wins and losses matter, fulfilling Cody's January 2019 promise.

If Jon Moxley is booked against Darby Allin on Dynamite, you can tune in knowing that the chance of a dirty finish is literally less than 1%. One man will win and the other will lose. Definitively. Your good faith will be repaid, your investment rewarded.

If Drew McIntyre is booked against Keith Lee on Raw, RETRIBUTION are going to show up before the wrestlers break out of house show speed. The match announcement means nothing because bullsh*t is guaranteed.

Raw opened 2015 with its viewership hovering around the 4 million mark. If WWE is lucky, they'll leave 2020 with a figure close to 1.8 million.

And they wonder why people are tuning out.