5 Problems about AEW nobody wants to admit
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.
All Elite Wrestling arrived on TNT with their smash-hit weekly TV show Dynamite in the fall of 2019. Ever since its inception, AEW has projected itself as a wrestling promotion that wants to bring professional wrestling back to the people. Over the course of almost a year, with a weekly TV show and several PPVs in its back pocket, AEW has put on some of the best pro wrestling in North America in recent history. As refreshing as the new promotion has been, that does not mean that they haven't had some missteps. AEW's honeymoon phase is definitely over, and they have started to display some notable weak spots.
It is clear that AEW is a welcomed alternative to the often-described "stale" product of WWE, and many vocal fans have been sure to make that clear on social media and in arenas across the country. The change from the norm is something that wrestling fans have been calling for for a long time. Vince McMahon's target audience resides within the casual fans, not necessarily the die-hards who WWE knows will be watching no matter what, as Monday night wrestling has been etched into the brains of many long-time fans. Of course while this approach has not been producing stellar ratings or big arena ticket sell-outs, the brand is still proving to be successful. Television money from broadcast partners USA and FOX is at an all-time high, and partnerships across the world are stronger than ever. WWE's approach to wrestling as "sports entertainment" and seemingly making "wrestling" a dirty word has left a bad taste in the mouths of all many long-time hardcore fans. As the number of dissatisfied individuals increased each week, AEW was essentially willed into existence.
Despite massive ratings victories overall and in key demographics on Wednesday nights agains the direct competition of NXT, AEW has had a few issues of its own that definitely need to be worked out.
AEW has been great and is a much needed respite from the cookie-cutter product that has been served up for so many years. Tony Khan's upstart promotion does not produce a flawless product, however. Initially, a lot of the mistakes made by AEW were forgiven by fans, as the company was in its infancy. Now, as AEW has had some time to settle down and has been producing shows for 10 months, it is susceptible to the same harsh level of criticism that WWE faces every week. Complaints of under-utilized stars such as Shawn Spears and Jimmy Havoc have been made. On the same note, the fans' disapproval of Brandi Rhodes' Nightmare Collective faction resulted in enough backlash that AEW was forced to end the storyline prematurely. Conversely, great wrestlers like Scorpio Sky, Jungle Boy, and Darby Allin have risen to superstardom.
With all of the above in mind, here are 5 problems that nobody wants to admit about All Elite Wrestling.
#5 Too much in-ring cooperation
To be fair, this is not just a problem with AEW. Too much of wrestling nowadays has been reduced to spot-fests where a lot of the moves are performed with an assist from a wrestler's opponent. Although every wrestling match in the industry does not have to be a tough battle between two aggravated opponents who want to hurt each other, a lot of the wrestling featured on AEW feels like a make-believe battle between two friends in a game of one-upmanship.
A lot of the product in 2020 is too different from the traditional mat-style of wrestling from previous decades that focused on realistic battles. AEW has been very keen on putting out performances to keep the audiences in awe rather than forming matches that look like true contests of physical competition. They lack a certain aggression and intensity that is the norm of traditional sporting events.
This is not a knock on the current spot-driven wrestling style or the traditional style of realistic offense or any hybrid of the two. In my opinion, the overall aim of a wrestling match should be to win, not just checking off a to-do list of spots. A sense of logicality is required for everything that happens in the ring. Each spot should be centered around a need to take home a victory. If a sense of importance can't be brought to winning a wrestling match, the idea of having the match itself becomes questionable.
AEW's wrestlers, particularly those featured in the tag team division, have been guilty of losing track of the desire to win matches. Instead of scratching and clawing to put out victories in a company that claims that wins and losses are more important than anything else, they have been putting too much effort into creating matches that will make for great highlight reels.