A brief summary

If there’s one guarantee, one thing in the entertainment that will always be prevalent for as long as any form of it exists, it’s the desire of fans to always portray their own personal preferences as the absolute, bonafide best thing out there for the world to see. It’s a trend that’s followed popular culture for as long as we can remember, the idea of being a part of something that’s ‘the best’ is always a reaffirming feeling to many, the content you consume is held in higher regard, more eyes are constantly on it & your opinions are likely to be taken more seriously when opposing the competition.

Wrestling is certainly no stranger to this, in fact, I’d argue wrestling fans engage in this more than almost any other fanbase out there. Sure, quarrels between other fanbases can be intense, such as Marvel & DC, Star Wars & Star Trek, The UK Office & US Office, basically any political system across the planet, wrestling fans though, we can display loyalty on an entirely different level. As hard as times may get in any industry, you won’t find many fans as loyal as those who follow professional wrestling, their dedication can be almost surreal.

From the days of the Monday Night Wars, the early days of the ‘Ruthless Aggression’ era in the early to mid-2000s, the rise of TNA, ROH or NJPW or as we’re all witnessing right now, the astonishing success of All Elite Wrestling, otherwise known as AEW.

AEW couldn’t have come at a better time, at least initially. Professional wrestling was (and to some degree, still is) seeing its biggest boom in years across the globe, not only was the WWE thriving and breaking financial records year upon year, the indie scene of the business had never looked hotter. NJPW in particular was injecting the wresting world with a product almost nobody can match today, shifting the conversation around the community as we know it, making it clear that WWE wasn’t the only brand in demand anymore. Rather than monopolize an industry, a new wave had arrived on the scene that wasn’t to be ignored. AEW capitalized on this to introduce what is arguably the biggest competitor the company has had since the days of WCW, a company run by those who were rejected by the WWE’s selective system who wanted wrestlers to create art in an environment unlike any other.

This wasn’t another TNA mind you, this felt different to anything that came before it. In its first year alone AEW has achieved incredible feats in the short span of time that it’s existed, from attendance records that have blown past industry expectations, a solid TV deal to air their programming, hoarding a plethora of overlooked talent & presenting the exact product that their competition doesn’t offer, something with far more grit to it than we’re used to seeing.

And for the most part, what we’ve gotten has been met with critical acclaim. Being fairly new to the product and only just catching up on what each show has to offer I’m probably a bit late to the party when it comes to talking about AEW, but I thought now more than ever would be a good time to take a dive into seeing if AEW truly is as well booked as it’s made out to be. Various online journalists, pundits & their rabid fanbase on platforms like Twitter have ranted endlessly about the product, so what better time to see where things really stand a little over a year after they came into existence?

Variety Like No Other

Right off the bat, AEW offers a product that virtually no other company in the industry does. I mean this as my biggest compliment towards their company in every regard, there isn’t a single one out there that has the variety for fans as they do.

From the high-flying style of Lucha Libre, to a more physical style that resembles the brawling style of British Wrestling, the insane physicality of Japanese wrestling, the hardcore tendencies that put places like CZW on the map, arguably the best use of comedic wrestling on the planet or more old school, classic storytelling we’ve seen from the days of Dusty Rhodes in the NWA (courtesy of his own son). AEW has something for everyone, and I mean everyone. While brands like NXT have a special place in my heart, their style always resembles a slight extension of WWE’s signature, more formulaic style, whereas AEW clearly has something aimed at catering to every class of fan watching their product. Rather than forcing you to buy into their take on wrestling, their programming is clearly more about giving the fan the most diverse experience possible & always leaving them with a little bit more to come back to.

Star Power

Depending on your stance on this topic, you’ll likely agree or disagree with this take. It’s become quite the meme to consistent bombard WWE’s comment sections with slander due to their use of older, less frequently used talent, particularly within the main event picture that I’ve always believed should focus on the future when necessary. It does seem like a double standard is in play when it comes to AEW, who are no strangers to this concept as the product stands.

Granted the company is using the likes of Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Brodie Lee, Cody, Dustin Rhodes & Shawn Spears within the boundaries of giving them new gimmicks that are heavily influenced by their own personalities, the principle does still stand that they are restricting newer talent from pushing upwards to new positions. Even with a plethora of new, fresh talent below the company is heavily hinging on ex-WWE talent to move their product forward. In terms of business practice, this makes perfect sense to anyone. Utilize established talent in the meantime for the sake of ratings, while building up the newer talent to a level that they can replace what’s been established, a strategy I’d argue AEW executes better than WWE on many fronts.

At times watching ex-WWE talent invade the screen can feel a bit reminiscent of TNA’s darker days (especially with some of the horrendous cheap shots they’ve taken to the product in the past), but for the most part the established talent isn’t often booked to sabotage newer talent or gimmicks, something I could write multiple articles about in regards to their main competition. And while this practice isn’t likely to be permanent due to the company’s ethic of making way for a new generation, at times the stars can feel like they overstay their time on screen.

Pay-Per-Views

There’s no way around it, AEW’s presentation in regards to their bigger shows have always drawn a bigger feel than most WWE shows not named WrestleMania. Most of this could be attributed to the layout of their product, the lower number of big shows across the calendar year, giving away a good number of more high-calibre matches on free TV & probably being smart enough to see how over-saturating your product with events can damage the product.

With the global situation as it stands, a lot of these criticisms are leveled more at the past booking of WWE, not the current product itself.

Glancing at their most recent string of shows, each one has an incredible feel to them, displaying every significant member of their product & giving each one a solid spotlight to shine under without neglecting the booking of their characters. The big matches feel big, but so does every other match in the bargain. AEW never portrays any of their matches as ‘lesser’ than others, it’s all part of their presentation in making the whole card feel like necessary viewing & not just the ones with the biggest names carrying them. If there’s one thing I can say AEW almost excels at, it’s presenting well thought out cards that aren’t just wise in regards to business decisions, but giving the fans what they want in the process.

The Best Promos In The Game

My favourite aspect of AEW programming, without question, is their openness when it comes to letting wrestlers be themselves, for better or for worse. WWE for so long has forced their talent into material that just doesn’t do the characters, or the talent themselves justice. Much of what they’re forced to spout doesn’t sound genuine, funny or simply fails to catch on with fans in the way they predict it will. A lot of this boils down to lazy writing but it’s a deeper-rooted issue that lies in the company’s constant need for control over every aspect of its programming.

AEW has thrived on this mistake. While not all of their promo work has been as fantastic as its top tier work, every talent feels like themselves, not a single one feels uncomfortable & the audience is far more receptive as a whole due to the creative freedoms given to everyone involved. Talents such as MJF, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley & more importantly, Cody have brought out a side to their talents previously unseen before, crafting characters that aren’t just phenomenal to listen to but have turned everything they’re involved with into pure gold.

If AEW has shown the wrestling business one thing, it’s how much quality stems out of trusting the talents you hire to deliver on their promise to entertain those in the audience, and I can’t think of anyone who’s happier with this than a masterful storyteller like Cody himself.

The Women’s Division

I decided not to divide this article into the traditional ‘positive’ & ‘negative’ categories, but as it stands my actual issues with the product generally start here, with the first major one being the women of AEW. With women’s wrestling coming such heavy lengths since the start of the 2000s my expectations for AEW’s women were obviously high, considering what a resounding success WWE’s revamped take on the division has been since the 2014 ‘revolution’ took place with their call-ups of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks.

That being said, this is the one section of AEW programming that’s completely dropped the ball for the most part. Not to say there isn’t talent in it, because there’s an abundance of it, just not utilized well enough to have the impact of its competition.  Talent such as Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, Awesome Kong, Bea Priestley & Hikaru Shida all possess the ability to standout amongst the main roster scene, but just seem shoved into the background for the most part week in & week out. It doesn’t help that a good chunk of their storylines have done little to forward the division, namely the ‘Nightmare Collective’ lead by Brandi Rhodes, who in my opinion, is amongst the weakest female talents active under any company banner & flew by so quickly almost nobody talks about it to this day.

As women gain more & more opportunities across the globe with time moving on, this is a key area the company needs to enhance. Most of the present talent is either too weak, too underdeveloped or doesn’t receive the substantial attention needed to truly create ‘stars’ to represent them. As solid as the main event scene may look at the moment, neglecting a division that has become a central function of the North American business model for professional wrestling (especially WWE) seems like a costly mistake they need to fix sooner rather than later.

An Overcrowded Battlefield

Is it just me, or is there almost too much happening at times in AEW?

Nothing about this is necessarily a nudge at eventful programming, but the spacing out & planning of the companies shows at times seems to cram too many ideas into one place, a decision that can be quite jarring. For myself personally it’s the equivalent of throwing every conceivable idea at the wall and seeing what sticks the best at that very moment.

Understandably the company wants to jump into action as quickly as possible considering how much competition it has around the world, at times it just seems a lot of their creative ideas lose steam almost too quickly at times. Whether that be the latest debuts of both Matt Hardy or Brodie Lee, which granted were affected due to COVID-19, the failure to establish certain stables such as The Dark Order, The Librarian Gimmick which nobody cared for in the slightest or the previously mentioned ‘Nightmare Collective’. I love a product that is always changing, always adapting, but AEW at times rushes into things too quickly for its own good, leaving little room for anything to breathe. Generally, that kind of pacing to a product is humongous positive, in this case it’s made me want a little bit less if anything, since certain aspects of the show lose steam so quickly despite an incredible amount of potential in the long-run.

The saying always goes ‘’quality over quantity’’, and that’s incredibly relevant when watching their shows a lot of the time.

The ‘Ranking System’

When it comes to the ‘ranking system’ introduced in the brands early days, I don’t have much to say about it because it’s been seemingly abandoned altogether just a matter of weeks into the official launch of AEW Dynamite.

Clearly the company placed this system at the forefront to give off that more ‘sports-centric’ feel they had originally discussed prior to launching the brand on national television, but has had next to no impact on what’s been occurring since then. AEW tends to refer to it when it’s appropriate within the context of on-going storylines but is something that’s constantly overlooked in favour of pushing newer talent that needs more airtime. Which isn’t a bad decision at all mind you, just one that conflicts with something I thought would be a central element of how they decide who gains championship matches rather than Russian roulette.

Nothing about this is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s just a complete waste of time that really has no baring on how anything flows from week to week. I like the idea of keeping track of win-loss records amongst talent, having it serve no purpose is something I heavily question since it seems like a tiny nudge at their opposition’s views on wins & losses that have been well documented.

And finally, Orange Cassidy…

I just couldn’t pass up a chance to drool over just how excellent the Orange Cassidy character is. Cassidy is a treasure to the wrestling world, he’s not only the most over wrestler on TV right now, he possesses one of the most unique gimmicks ever conceived on a grand stage in the business. Every angle or match the man is involved in may not be a ‘mat classic’ by any stretch, but it’s a strong bet that it’ll garner the biggest reactions on any given evening regardless of what’s before of after it. Cassidy is a charisma magnet, and considering he’s a wrestler who quite literally puts no effort into what he does in the ring, he has the audience more invested in him than practically anyone else around him at this moment in time. His match against PAC in particular is one of the most surreal spectacles you can witness in the past year of wrestling & is something everybody needs to check out.

Orange Cassidy will likely never be AEW Champion (although, never say never when it comes to professional wrestling), but he’s the gift that keeps on giving every time he comes on screen & whatever he’s a part of next, I’ll be the first to scream when he comes out to that squared circle.

Analysis – Is AEW well booked?

To answer this question simply would do it a disservice, hence my walking through the main sections of the programming I felt were important to analyse when answering such a question. AEW is a product that isn’t without its flaws, and at times it does feel like fans of the product hold a ludicrous double standard when held against its competition, but the hype behind the product is something I generally support.

It’s a unique breath of fresh air to have a wrestling product of this scope & size exist on a weekly basis opposing WWE programming, but one that needs work in areas I mentioned just prior to this. In terms of variety, characters, presentation & their aim as a company, it’s something every wrestling fan should vocally support rather than rally against for the sake of argument, but that isn’t the world we live in these days.

Most of us need to keep in mind that AEW is in its very first year of operations, and this time will be ideal for them to test the waters, make mistakes, course correct & see what works best in regards to what they want to accomplish in the long-term. Nothing about what they do will be perfect as long as they’re around, the important thing is that they build on the blunders they currently have as we speak rather than patiently wait around & fall behind.

AEW’s future is as bright as anything right now, and while they aren’t perfect in the slightest, what they’re offering fans right now is something special that demands attention.