Why WWE Is Hot And AEW Is Cold
Revolution was a huge sleeper hit of a PPV; as Meltzer pointed out, acclaim for the show and in particular the main event was so strong that people bought it well into the third and fourth week after it aired, which rarely happens. What followed next was not great.
MJF proved himself a worthy AEW World champion by drawing, but the Four Pillars storyline was a decided if noble failure. Fans did not buy Jack Perry and Sammy Guevara in main event slots. Guevara's promo work was weird, and while he wasn't a heel masquerading as a babyface - he was building his face turn and eventual programme with Chris Jericho in plain sight - the plotting was probably too ambitious. There was a narrative elegance to it all, in retrospect, but it was fussy. Busy. Bluntly, people would rather have watched a strong singles PPV challenger than watch what ultimately amounted to chapters in the long-term character arcs of Guevara and Perry. Too often this year, AEW has lost sight of immediate big match drama. It's no coincidence that Forbidden Door was the most anticipated show AEW has promoted all year. While this may read as counterintuitive for the episodic TV model, Tony Khan has spent too long wondering what is next, and as a result, a not inconsiderable portion of his TV viewership seems happy to miss out on what is happening now. The destination is too elusive, and AEW builds towards too many of them.
Elsewhere, the promotion is being carried by the Elite Vs. the Blackpool Combat Club storyline. Incredible between the ropes, as a larger story, something is missing. Again, it's too intricate for its own good. Somewhere along the way, between the mystery of who is aligned with whom and where Don Callis fit into everything, the all-important premise was forgotten. Why do these characters hate each other, and why should people care?
The core idea is too loose. Obviously, the BCC are surrogates for CM Punk and his perception of the Elite as "amateurs", but it never felt real coming out of Bryan Danielson's mouth. The programme has functioned as the latest backdrop for the ongoing Elite saga, and this is especially pronounced now that the Dark Order have crept into the narrative. Only the most forgiving Elite nerds care about that dangling plot thread, and even this one is exhausted by it.
Most of AEW's best stars have been consumed by a rivalry that felt like a political compromise from the off, and now that Jon Moxley is more preoccupied with Eddie Kingston than his supposed philosophical enemies, it feels like even less of a concern to the characters involved. AEW was once majestic at weaving various plot threads together.
CONT'D...(4 of 5)