Why WWE Is Hot And AEW Is Cold
That is a strong if all too simplistic argument, one that almost suggests that there's little the blameless AEW can do about it, and with Steve Austin and Goldberg on top, both the WWF and WCW were ultra-competitive for much of 1998.
WWE has clawed back the fans predisposed to enjoying the product by making the product better and more coherent. The Bloodline saga has earned back their trust; they believe the storyline is compelling, that it has a firm, unwavering trajectory that they cannot predict but wish to see unfold. Even if you find the ac-ting very broad, the cinema comparisons laughable, it is wildly successful and twist-heavy.
People want to enjoy the WWE product. Think about this: across the 2010s, Vince McMahon gave viewers multiple opportunities to run away. Many did, of course - so many that AEW became viable as an alternative - but it was so antagonistic at its worse and decelerated so much that were lucky to find a floor.
WWE is easier to watch. That might read as nonsense to some, given the nauseating camera cuts and hysterical commentary, but it isn't an ambitious product in which investment is difficult.
The Judgment Day are a productive unit; everybody involved has been elevated to a far stronger position than they were this time last year. Triple H's TV might be boring and repetitive and cheap a lot of the time, but he gets the basics right. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are the beloved cult favourites who made it big at last, in an echo of his best work at the helm of NXT. Watching several long title reigns isn't the most electrifying viewing experience week to week, but it all adds up to something more than three dry hours of Monday Night Raw. In going long with GUNTHER, Roman Reigns, and for a while there Bianca Belair, Triple H has conditioned his audience to take a handful of regular cast members seriously as winners and stars. This isn't remotely complicated, but it's demonstrably effective. The idea that these great champions, and Austin Theory, will one day be toppled is a fruitful one.
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