I also forgot to mention that this tends to affect tournaments in AEW. Brackets are usually filled with midcarders or tag team guys because Tony Khan is too scared to put his main eventers in tournaments and hand them losses.
Which is weird considering how much he is inspired by Japanese wrestling. Aces like NJPW's Okada or TJPW's Miyu Yamashita regularly don't do well in tournaments. It doesn't affect anything outside of it.
Absolutely. Like I think we all just want Joe vs MJF not a tourney to see if Joe can get to MJF. So either Joe wins the tourney (very predicable) or Joe looses and then we don't get Joe vs MJF.
For example take LA Knight, he lost his first feud to Bray Wyatt. But after that feud, more people got to know about him and that feud showed how charismatic he is. He is a megastar right now. So losing does not mean you are a loser but it shows your true potential.
Agreed. It's not as much whether a wrestler loses or not, but how they lose. They can lose and still come across like a credible threat or interesting character, or they can lose over and over again with no progression or real development.
This just makes me remember and miss the Ranking system AEW used to have...people actually had to go on win streaks and earn title title shots. Losses dropped people out of contention and they had to fight their way back. Good times.
The ranking system just had people stack wins on Dark to get to the top 5. The ranking system was good, but it didn't let them do the angles the way they wanted to without overmanaging everyone's wins and losses. It became something they had to work around by the end of its run.
Out of curiosity, I have kept track of the rankings. Mainly overall but I will soon update singles. Anyway, Orange Cassidy vs Moxley was 2nd vs 1st in overall rankings.
The only real gripe I have with AEW/Tony’s booking is not using the entire roster in big tournaments. Like the most recent example is the Grand Slam tournament. This tournament would be the perfect showcase for someone like Mike Santana trying to get his singles career going…or Andrade or Powerhouse Hobbs or Miro or even Kenny Omega or Konosuke Takeshita. TK should take notes from Ohbari and NJPW’s G1!!
This current tournament does not make any sense. It is for the most important title in AEW and you have people like Wayne, Berretta or Penta on it. They are very good wrestlers, don't get me wrong, but they are not top talent. Everyone knows that they have zero chances of winning. Imagine a tournament for the AEW championship featuring the likes of Omega, Danielson, Moxley, Page, White, Starks, etc. The REAL AEW potential champions. They are the ones supposed to be there.
@@rakansasas1111 Yeah sure they could do that, but what would the fights at PPVs be then if you do all the matches on TV with the "real potential champions"? If you have top talent fight each other multiple times a week it takes away from the hype of those top talents having a match. Also this tournament has literally been set up so you can have Roddy and Joe fight MJF, we had multiple promos setting up that story.
I feel like that's the core of the issue with the AEW fanbase. Cody put over Malakai Black heavily after he debuted for the company and the fans basically said "It doesn't matter if he gets a win over Cody". Then Cody went over Malakai in their third match and fans went "Cody is burying Malakai". Fans always assume that losing means getting buried and winning devalues the loser. Guys like Omega and Danielson don't mind putting people over, but then people complain that they're losing too much. Vicious cycle really.
Agreed its a vicious cycle. But just like what he said, “If you try to please everyone, you’ll please no one”. TK should just let the story be what he think would be great for it. People will hate it anyway. But a risk is needed if they want growth or to elevate themselves even more.
@@samarai82booking wise I think that's just Tony 1. Doesn't want to piss off the Elite & 2. The elite, the only thing they have in common with the kliq, only want to work with and lose to their friends
Al Snow had a great shoot interview about this very thing when fantasy booking some era of WWE. I remember him mentioning he would have Edge lose to Kane (as he was building Kane up) and he was making fun of the fans “OMG you are burying Edge!” “No, I just need to build a strong monster so he has to win to do that” - he of course had some very colorful language but he was absolutely right.
You are right. The booking feels way to overprotective. That's why we didn't have matches like Mox v Cody, Joe v Mox, Cody v Hangman, Claudio v Danielson, Claudio v Malakai, Punk v Cody, Lucha bros v LAX. Yes some of the matches I mentioned are still can happen but booking feels very conservative.
Instead, AEW often does Big Names vs. No Name matches, and it does no service to the fans because the Big Names never lose, and the No Names are treated as complete geeks.
@@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819 I agree. Very few lower card guys/girls get any elevation. People like AR FOX or Andretti get mini pushes but those are not sustainable enough.
You encapsulated what I think about AEW these days. I love the product, but I would like it even more if the big feuds happened. I still haven't gotten over the fact that Tony just didn't book Swerve vs. Keith Lee.
Lee has ongoing health issues and is possibly on the verge of retirement. They've been trying to protect him by keeping him out of big singles matches.
@@AdrianBeegoatz I think you almost got it. Tony is a booker, the same way Dana white is a booker for UFC. He sets up tournaments, #1 contenders, rematches. With the hope that when these personalities get on the mic they can take the story home, or bring the story to life. As an example, MJF vs Punk What Tony isn't - is HHH or Vince, that writes the story throughout. Whats the long term goal? Whats the plans for the winner and loser? We haven't seem that long term story effectively done since Hangman and Kenny and I have a feeling that wasnt Tony, moreso the Elite/Cody writing the story. Hope that makes sense
Fuck you just made me angry, I was literally waiting after the random partner tournament for the singles match. It was set up perfectly. Now we have swerve with hang lady which randomly involves the elite as a group now. So no singles feud for swerve
Cody, an EVP, left the company in the first two years. Regal left the company a few months after getting hired. Punk was fired in less-than two years; getting hired as the anti-WWE hero and getting fired as the dangerous ex-UFC shooter who everyone was afraid of even though he threw ‘weird punches’ and ‘couldn’t get Jack Perry in a front face-lock’. All three of these guys get booed now in AEW whenever their names are brought up. Let’s face it: AEW is now PWG with a budget, thanks to the EVPs whispering sweet nothings into Tony’s ear. We were supposed to have ‘sports-based wrestling’, but that left with Cody a long time ago. We even had a good wrestling show on Saturday nights for a few months while the EVPs and the dirt sheets like Meltzer and Alvarez were working diligently to paint the ‘Charles Manson’ Punk narrative: Kicking backstage talent out of his show, telling the talent what they can and can’t do on Collision (like any good booker would), and suddenly losing it on Jungle Boy where Punk - according to Jungle Boy - couldn’t manage to get a front face-lock on him and threw, “really weird and awkward punches that didn’t really hurt.” If those Jungle Boy statements sound truthful to you, I suggest you go outside, maybe find some friends, and meet people in public...because that is a straight-up yarn woven by JB to make himself sound like a badass.
pre-covid and post-covid AEW feel like two different promotions. 2019/2020 AEW everything had a purpose. Tightly booked storylines that progressed week-to-week and kept you hooked. The entire show felt *focused* Now it honestly feels like Tony is just drawing names from a hat. The world title tournament is the most random assortment of wrestlers. Put Starks in there! He's red hot after that strap match time for Tony to book him vs Gravity or some bullshit... Hangman and Swerve have started a feud then put them in there have them face eachother in a semi final. His booking is straight up bad now. This is why ticket sales went from 12k on dynamite to like 3k.
Massively agree. AEW are sitting on a lot of big money matches, and while they shouldn't do all of them straight away, it's crazy the amount of these wrestlers who are stuck wrestling jobbers on TV when way more interesting opponents are available and not doing anything. Totally forgetting that a loss can be just as much a driver of story as a win. Redemption, revenge, revolution, all come from losses. I really liked that Toni Storm when she lost her belt to Hayter, turned into a bitter heel, because Hayter and Baker cheated to win and got cheered for it, and Hayter got crowned as a real champion where Storm was just the interim. I like that the Acclaimed losing to House of Black triggered a fake retirement for Billy Gunn and the retirement of "scissor me daddy" for weeks, until he came back for revenge and to redeem their loss and win the belts. I like that Adam Page losing to Jericho and PAC and Omega led to the loss of confidence and alcoholism and making friends and that redemption arc and the world title. I like that every time Mox loses a big match, he always wrestles the same week on Dynamite, takes on somebody and beats them, that "I'm pissed off that I lost and I just wanna go out and beat someone up" mentality. Losses can be fun, interesting, they don't always mean the wrestler is getting squashed or de-pushed or held down. Sometimes losing a match can lead to a bigger push.
That's his way of giving a big name a competitive match to keep you invested... he knows it sucks you gotta watch 1 of your favs face a nobody so he wants you to enjoy the match so you won't change the channel
@@randallallgood8661that doesn’t make any sense. People want to see their favorite wrestler kick someone’s ass or have a good match with another top talent. They don’t want to see a competitive match with the guy who wrestles at the local VFW hall.
I love Punk as a wrestler but the issues caused by having him around definitely started to outweigh the positives so it is a massive shame he's gone. Hopefully have people like Andrade, Keith Lee and Malakai Black get more screen time now to fill the void.
Let's hope. Cause punk was upset for the right reasons but handled it way wrong. But now the place is gonna be wild with no one keeping them in check. Tk has no balls and he's not gonna put any one in line
@@GrilliamGHe got flown out to a meeting in Georgia with the elite to hash things out, the elite cancelled last minute which was a giant waste of time, then when he gets to London they left him stranded there, he got lost and had to find his own way to his hotel, then when he gets there he sees Jack Perry mouthing off to him to the camera over a situation that CM punk didn't even start, he was asked by management to talk to Perry about the glass spot. I think he ultimately handled it the wrong way but I don't blame him one bit for the mood he was in at the time
Something that a booker have to consider is the fact that the main event scene are THE CHOSEN FEW, that is a important part that made them fell important and special in comparison with everybody else
The point you made on momentum is very valid. Ive always thought that TK has his flavour of the month style booking where he shines the spotligjt on someone for a couple of weeks and then moves away from them to showcase someone else - without any plan of what to do with the original person after that. In a way everyone gets a little bit of a chance to shine, maybe it keeps everyone happy when its their 'turn' but it doesnt help them afterwards when they are left to sink or swin. We saw it with Starks original push that fizzled out after his title match wiyh MJF. We saw it with Jungle Boy when he beat Cage in that battle royale and faced Omega for the title. After that - right back to midcard and tag matches. We saw it with Action Andretti - a huge debut againast Jericho, TV time against major names, then... where is he now? Rampage? Wardlow - mega push - huge feud with MJF. TV Champion - lacklustre reign after reign. And now, hes nowhere to be seen. Thats just a few of the names that have suffered from that style of booking. TK would be much better hand picking 3 or 4 guys and saying 'these are the ones that will get the focus' and build around them long term.
That’s what I feel like WWE has done well. They have their foundation and have their 3 or 4 guys that are stars but that don’t mean the rest won’t have their time like LA Knight and Jey Uso right now
I love these kinda critique videos because it shows that this channel more than a just Aew fan channel. Some people just confirms whatever their favorite wrestling company doing. It brings more objectivity
You have a point brother, but i think you're missing one importent issue: most of the talent who made AEW in the early years wasn't about being a 'free agaent' - Jericho lost a lot, Omega lost a lot (hell, both of them still loosing a lot this year alone). With the exacption of Danielson, who put people over a gave to company so much from the moment he signed (A LOT more then Punk - not a taunt, just a fact), most of those ex-wwe talent - Miro, Malachai, Andrade - always had a notion about them that if they won't get booked 'strong', they're gonna come back north in no time. The rumer is that this is the reason Miro was so poorly-used this past year - the guys didn't want to put people over! and you can't book a talent like that, no matter how talneted he is. it's not that i don't agree that TK can be bit more bald and give us more main-eventers clashes, but i'm not sure it's exacly his fault. Sometimes you have people who are here to tell stories and wrestle no matter what the outcome for them, and sometimes... well, the business is only for yourself...
This is something that have been bothering me for a while. When I see a card for a Dynamite show I instantly predict how things are going to unfold, there is no surprise almost and all the outcomes are predictable. Maybe the matches are good quality, but predictability kills the drama and the emotional engagement. When Punk got out, I instantly thought… man why didn’t they do 5-6 dream matches with him instead of dragging and dragging things..
Though it makes sense for the main eventers in the early days of aew to jump from one feud to another, it's also a problem because it left feuds with one match and then they go and fight someone else w/ no repercussions and no last effects like mjf vs cody
I've had so many complaints recently with AEW that I forgot this was a problem. You definitely nailed it, and please never have tournaments unless you are going to have major names lose and not have predictable finals.
The NCAA Tournament isn't compelling because Kansas, UNC, Duke, UConn, Kentucky, or UCLA are going to inevitably win it. It's compelling because the at the time perceived best teams in the country could eat an absolute shit sandwich to five people who play pickup basketball regularly. It's compelling because those five people could go on an absolute fire streak, give everyone who is better on paper a run for their money, and even bust their way into a semifinal or title match. It's compelling because that team, having the best match of their life, could still lose to any of the blue bloods who, up until the tournament began, had one of their school's worst seasons that could still make the dance.
I like how you turned it around at the end. The video was mostly about Tony being too scared to book his guys to lose, but it stands to reason that if he's scared to do that, it's because people have reacted poorly to ideas he's pitched. Everyone is at fault here, not just the wrestlers, and not just Tony.
I strongly suspect that a big part of AEW's style is that with all the extra creative freedom at the company, wrestlers are expected to utilize that but many are happy to just collect their checks, so you get this feeling of matches just sort of happening. For every Moxley, Cody, or Jericho who are constantly hustling and coming up with new angles, there are a handful of guys who are waiting to hear who they're wrestling and then just sort of do the match and wait for the next one. Those wrestlers need to understand that Tony isn't WWE and he isn't going to just tell them who they are and what they're doing this week - they need to take that on themselves and work it out if they want to get extra TV time.
@@sheets75not every one is a creative individual though the Head Booker should be able to create storylines for these people or have other Booker's under him that can get them involved because at the end of the day it falls on the boss to get the most out of his employees.
Today on Collision we got THREE active open challenges in the same week on the same show: International, TBS and Tag Team champs all cut the exact same promo. Open Challenges are just TK code for enhancement matches nowadays.
AGREED! One great example of this you didn’t mention is the current Championship tournament where most of them are not Champion material. I also like this video since it’s a rare glimpse of you critiquing the company. AEW is the only wrestling show I watch and I haven’t missed an episode or PPV ever. But when someone such as yourself only ever seems to praise it, it can come across as one sided and unrealistic. I love AEW but it still has many problems. So hearing some of your negative thoughts makes you seem more real and believable when you praise it in future so thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work!
I think I know why TK does this type of booking. If a top star takes too many losses, people will rightfully call it out just as they would if they win too often. Damned if you do and all that.
Agreed, though there are notable exceptions, like Danielson tapping out to MJF. We NEED tournaments to be bigger and G1 style. Big matches, big names, and lots of slots for midcard guys to showcase themselves as well. I do NOT understand why Tony doesn’t do this. The Owen Cup was the perfect opportunity. Instead, it’s a humdrum 8-man bracket with fairly predictable outcomes.
He's been there 2 years and Cody is the only 1 Worth mentioning... the match with Penta sucked... they teased him with Omega, Pac and Kingston and we got none... the PAC 1 was really weird because he blinded him so that Match should've definitely happened
This was a great video. Also, can we get a video about Cassidy? He was considered a "Comedy Wrestler" by many critics. But his fantastic run with the international title really elevated both him and the title. I would love to hear your opinion.
I've actually been considering not watching all the weekly TV anymore for this reason. It's just not compelling enough to spend 5+ hrs a week on. The only thing keeping me watching is the potential turn around in storyline development now that Collision is settling in post PPV. We'll see what the next couple of months brings.
Exactamundo!! Tbh I would enjoy it if TK had a gimmick like he became a shady recluse like Howard Hughes and had a Jack Tunny or Gorilla Monsoon like character for his GM. Or heck even hire Cornette to play the GM! That would be ironic and so much fun!!
@@DrinkYourNailPolish Corny would be a dream come true but I doubt he’s take the job. Whoever they would get should definitely be in that Corbett’s vein, old school story telling and logical match making.
I don't care about dream matches, I want them to have a coherent booking with compelling storylines so they can put over their guys with the potential to be stars like Starks, Hobbs, Wardlow, Allin, the Gunns, Juice Robinson, MJF, etc... But Tony keeps doing random multimen matches, 3 ways, random no DQ matches, tournaments filled with midcarders and jobbers, etc... Why is FTR doing cold matches and without a feud? Why is MJF doing sports entertainment segments and defending the ROH tag belts in a handicap match on PPV? Where's Wardlow? Where's Hobbs? Where's Malakai Black and Matthews? Why is Orange Cassidy still pushed like a top star? Why can't Big Bill win a singles match? Why all the storylines are about friendship? Why does QTV still exist? Why the Jacksons can win singles matches but Dax or Cash have to do jobs? Why are the referees not ensuring that the wrestlers follow the rules or at least protect them from their stupidity? Why so many hardcore matches or meaningless blood? Why are the wrestlers acting like teenagers? The product objectively is not good at the moment, sure they have good wrestlers but a lot of people (like me) want to watch a good wrestling show with no forced comedy and good storylines that could be supported with good in ring action, I thought we were all tired of the sports entertainment stuff but the AEW hardcore fanbase always protect and defend the promotion even when they do stupid things the WWE and WCW did in the past that can't be defended.
Really great video. It seems to me that TK had a story mapped out for the first couple of years, now that the story's finished, he's having trouble doing the sequel. Especially seems like the issues you've mentioned, are like mental blocks preventing him from being as inventive.
Great video as always Tranquilo. You do bring up a very valid point when it comes to AEW in general. Not to say that the Booking is necessarily bad but I feel like lately myself and I'm sure you and a good amount of other people say "It could've been better" alot And when I hear you say that TK is too busy keeping everybody happy and thinking about how the Punk situation was handled, it really puts into perspective how big of a problem this has really been and I didn't realized how bad it really was til recently. You are 100% right, TK is trying to keep everyone happy and not just on-screen but behind it as well and I think that's TK's biggest flaw. TK is too focused on being everyone's friend instead of being a boss and taking risks and it cost AEW and it's fanbase so much on and off screen and if AEW wants to stay in business for many years and possibly generations to come, TK's attitude needs to change when it comes how he books his product and how he run All Elite Wrestling as a business I'm not saying that TK needs to be like Vince McMahon and rule with a iron fist and be a complete asshole to his employees but you can still be a good person while also be a strict boss/booker as well. In a industry full of egomaniacs, you gotta be able to put your foot down and lay down the law when necessary or wrestlers and employees alike will do whatever they want with belief that their "boss" won't do shit to them whatsoever and/or just give them the slap in the wrist That's all I got to say. Keep up the great work Tranquilo
The creator of a big AEW facebook group banned people that criticizes AEW because it greatly affects his mental health. While I understand the sentiment, it also summarizes the AEW fanbase in a nutshell.
Hello, what is the name of the song used during the sponsored segment? I've tried to find it since hearing it in other videos but its not listed in the description
I had been saying for years. AEW needs to bring back the ranking system. I'm tired of having random nobodies receiving title shots to protect the main eventers Why THE HELL is Nick Wayne on a title picture tournament? Why is Darby there after losing? Why is Trent Barreta there? Why is Jeff there who haven't fought single matches? I love Penta, but why is he there went he has been losing non stop?. Joe and Roderick for storyline reasons, but the rest? Is embarrassing. This give the tournament 0 credibility and make it stupidly predictable. TK is way too worry and thinking 5 years ahead instead of giving people what they want straight up. Use those guys and put those dream matches to start long term feuds that is gonna be revisited in the years along the line and creating a hyper long rivalry
Looking down the roster there's several big stories that would be money but TK has been afraid to pull the trigger on. Adam Cole vs. Kenny Omega (revenge for 2017 Bullet Club firing), Andrade El Idolo vs. Malakai Black (run it back from the NXT days because they killed it), Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland (never finished their story), Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley (no reason for BCC to continue), Claudio Castagnoli vs. Miro (2 of the most underrated guys from WWE could surely do something good together), Orange Cassidy vs. MJF (Freshly Squeezed deserves a world title shot after a stellar performance as International Champion), Chris Jericho vs. Sting (they teased it and it just needs to happen while they both can still go).
I love your videos and love AEW as they brought me back into wrestling after almost 10 years. It’s a shame at the matches/feuds we lost out on but I think as much as we jump on TK for being to diplomatic and not being an assertive leader (handling the punk drama much earlier) he’s still learning. As much as the tournament line up sucks I’m excited for Joe vs MJF and especially excited for Swerve vs Hangman. Hopefully with a less drama filled AEW the storylines can flourish and either Swerve or Jay White become the next champion (as much as I love MJF)
I think most criticism of aew are vapid and in bad faith but this is a huge problem i wish more people talked about. Always love your videos. I will say we were supposed to get Danielson and Omega at All In but Danielson wasnt cleared yet. I hoping we are stil moving that way.
A loss does not always mean a wrestler is buried. Wheeler lost to Mox, but he looked strong in defeat. Eddie Kingston is an even better example. He lost msny times, but that only made him more popular. He fought hard and always looked strong in defeat and now he is a double champion. With that said, TK needs to stop with the overprotective booking. Look at Mox. He rarely loses, even in matches where he could afford to lose.
A bigger problem ito me is Tony not pulling the trigger on talent when time calls. Then forcing a moment after they have lost several times and gotten an unearned title shot. Sad thing is hes kinda gotten away with it but its super frustrating..
Big Star feuds are what draw big money. If everyone lives on their own because they don’t want to lose island it’s pointless. Imagine if Rock and Austin never happened.
One thing people can't get their head around is that more isn't always more. In the old days, there was a formula for a territory: 8 baby faces, 8 heels, 4 tag teams, and a few job guys. It was that was for a LOT of reasons, and it worked.
The issue is back stage everyone is NOT on the same page. I get everyone blames punk but a lot of these guys have heat with each other. There are a lot of egos backstage.
You are right ! if you think of it this tournament means nothing at the end of the day we already know that we are going to have Samoa Joe versus MJF . This is a meaningless booking excuse my French really this time…
@@Baraka_Obama_ OK this is not an attack or anything but do you think that people would care about a match between MJF versus Roderick strong or a match versus Samoa Joe ? Logically a match versus Roderick strong. Is the right way to go but I don’t think that people would care much about Roderick Strong. I don’t know just a feeling.
@@Endname343 The disappointing thing is Punk was supposed to be MJFs next opponent but obviously that ain't happening so either Joe or Strong is ok with me
i dont think tony makes decisions for himself tbh. He claimed he fired punk off of a reccomendation + he doesnt seem like the guy who can say no to things hence why perry probably used glass anyway leading to unecessary turmoil.
AEW's booking for 95% of their matches have no stakes leading into a PPV. It's usually a top star against someone else from another fed who will lose, a match thrown together at last minute, and maybe 1 or 2 with some build.
9:08 Andrade is simply nowhere near as good as he thinks he is. His promo skills are abysmal and while he's a solid in-ring performer he comes with a load of baggage. He isn't a needle mover by any stretch of the imagination
In the ring, he's still one of the best wrestlers in the world. He definitely needs a manager who can talk on the mic, fans wanted Ric Flair but that's now dead since Andrade and Charlotte are separated
@@Baraka_Obama_ The AEW roster is chock full of wrestlers who eclipse Andrade or are at the same level in terms of wrestling pedigree such as Allin, Castagnoli, Cole, Danielson, Hangman, Miro, MJF, Moxley, Omega, Starks, Strickland, etc. Fans wouldn't bat an eye if Andrade were to leave
that was my biggest excitement in 2021 when all these guys got signed, the dream match potential this benefits everyone involved, they lose but they get over because they’re in a good storyline, they win they raise their stock, if they’re already established, they keep their name value while uplifting someone else’s. also makes titles more prestigious.
Bro do you guys remember whenn darby was on his first tnt runand then mir came detroyed him and went on to have one of the best runs with the TNT title? Big stars feuding with each other or emerging onez is the corner stone of a good AEW moment. Someone needs to send creatove these videos.
I do agree slightly, you make some great points. Kenny did just eat a couple of pins from Takeshita, pushing him to the main event scene. More definitely needs to be done, iI wouldve like to have seen Orange beat Mox but maybe he'll get the win back down the line.
@Dredagoat30 yeah idk why people wanted MOX as champ when he's a perpetual main eventer who should always be in the world title scene. OC was doing incredible things with that title and yet again in TK fashion he can't book champions.
@greenion42 Usually I'd agree with you on the booking but Oranges run was great, the build up on injuries was the story and mox was one step too far. I hope he wins it back later down the line.
The biggest issues is Aew has such a massive roster and a lot of guys that should be featured guys in storylines and big matches on a regular basis just sit in catering and he just books meaningless multi man matches. Guys like Miro, Wardlow, Keith freaking Lee, Hobbs, Malakia and Andrade all of that so little I feel since comign to AEW.
AEW is the only wrestling company I've seen but now that you've brought up the over protective booking, I feel I've been conditioned to avoid thinking about "dream matches". It's rare for the big names to clash even in multimans. Now I'm thinking of all kinds of match ups I'd love to see. God, there's so much potential just sitting that roster.
@@tranquiloclub50 You are correct. I'm a big fan. I've been watching since the early days. I just wasn't in the head space for this one and thought I would leave a comment for the algorithm.
I agree with 90% Tranquilo Club... However do think the protectiveness means that some feuds like Swerve vs Hangman reach even higher highs, because of the previous protection making us ever more excited to see who will win/lose. This might become diluted if anyone can lose any time.
I agree with the main message in this video, I'm glad we will soon see fresh match ups in MJF vs Samoa Joe & Swerve vs Hangman. There are so many main eventers & future main event talent that not being used well or at all I mean has anyone see Keith Lee lately, still waiting for that match up between him & Swerve.
I don't think it's fair to say Adam Cole HAD to be featured in a Trios feud, he was in a team with his long-time friends. It's like Triple H teaming up wuth HBK or like The Shield reuniting.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say. Contrary to what I say; AEW is perfect the way it is, but there is still some improvement that needs to happen ASAP. This is the main one. Tony Khan is an amazing booker, but he needs to crawl a little more out of his shell and give some top stars a loss or two now and then. There has been improvement recently, to the point that we're finally getting some fresh new matchups, but Khan needs to capitalize on the momentum. I know this will benefit AEW in the long run if he books more of these top stars in matches, without being afraid of giving them losses
Another point is that AEW and Khan will prolong feuds past where they should end. Feuds shouldnt go past a ppv cycle honestly. We had Eddie feuding with Jericho for like, an entire half of a year and for what? Didnt really help either of them.
Totally agree with you. Bcc v elite. Just single matches could carry AEW for a year or more. Remember dark at the beginning had more than squash matches. No squash matches on tv. Please
So far the booking for AEW has been disappointing. So far all the stars that have come over from WWE make big debuts and then just fade into the background weeks after. No big storylines or anything. It’s getting more & more disappointing IMO.
Not sure I fully agree with this. Did Danielson fade into the background? Did Claudio? Did Toni Storm? Did Adam Cole? Did FTR? Roderick Strong? Did Swerve? Did Samoa Joe? Etc. etc. Most of the ex-Fed hires have been used extensively on TV. There have been some big misses like Keith Lee, but his alleged health issues were responsible for a lot of that. And it was the backstage behaviour of Andrade and Miro that caused their extensive absence from television. Plus, it’s a balancing act, Tony can’t just stuff the shows full of the ex-WWE guys at the expense of the AEW originals.
I would also say, they keep putting certain people away and it’s really not working as well as they want. How many times have we had the “ooh, Eddie’s on the verge of a major win in his career, but can he make this one stick the landing?” And then he looses and it feels worse for it. Like, im not invested in the story of “Eddie falls short every time” because it’s not being presented as a story. Its being presented as an excuse to be lazy. Same applies to the likes of Ruby Soho. They keep up the narrative that she’s good but can’t land the big matches and it just does not hit. Look at Hangman’s way to the world title. Similar concept: Hangman is good, but always falls short due to his own issues and feelings of inadequacy (and the Superelite) but unlike those other ones *It’s an actual story*. It’s treated with gravity, snd stakes and follow-up, and not just a noncommittal shrug. And it just feels lame. Why couldn’t you just let Eddie get the Boston crab at Blood and Guts on Chris Jericho, why couldn’t you just let him get the win at the barbed wire everywhere match against Jericho’s stupid Painmaker gimmick. There is no good reason. EDIT: HE FINALLY FUCKING DID IT. Yes, it was satisfying to see Eddie finally overcome his demons and beat Claudio of all people, but I still hold my point. This arching story is cool and all, but leading up to it, any story involving Eddie has felt like a foregone conclusion. I know that any team of individual feud involving Eddie will see him lose the feud, and it's really frustrating. But, I'm glad for him. I hope he has a good reign with the ROH belt, and I hope we can see him move back onto AEWs main stage soon
On your main premise, youre building off the assumption that every single male roster member "never wants to lose", but do we know that for a fact? It may very well be that some, if not many, of the guys are frustrated with the overprotective booking and wont care about losses so long as theres a better atory progressing rather than padding wins against midcarders or jobbers. The problem could very well be only Khan and his own fears about his male stars losing too much. Sure there have been recent examples of politicking for wins, but those were rare in AEW from reports we heard.
i think what was Tony’s last strike was when Punk came back and beat Mox and then Punk got injured and had the press conference mess, probably felt like he just made his world champion of the last couple months lose a match with a pretty bad feud all for punk to just get injured and bury half the roster
That is what was so great about collision, rocky starks went from punk, and then Segwayed right into Danielson, while punk went into an already teased feud with Joe, but punk is gone now so idk how the booking will be… it’s all because dynamite has too many people, collodion has a perfect roster
Great video! I have always told my friends that AEW is too conservative and some of my boys just didn’t understand. Just cuz we see blood and violence doesn’t mean they’re putting their best foot forwards man. Cody and Punk are gone and there are plenty of good matches left for both of them in AEW. Problem is we have seen so many punk and Cody matches with low level people. Sad that we got Punk Vs Bobby Fish, but not Malakai. Cody Vs agogo, but not Kenny Omega
I never knew how bad the booking was until I watched this video, multiple stars put into trios, tag teams. What made AEW unique was the stables but they have overused them. WWE has learned to use a few EX. Bloodline, Judgement day, Bobby Lashleys new crew, LWO
There have been quite a lot of misses in aew because of this. We still haven't got Adam Cole vs Kenny Omega or Elite vs Undisputed Era. That has been mishandled badly. I seriously hope we get a Bullet Club Gold Vs Blackpool Combat club program which features matches like White vs Danielson, White vs Claudio and ends with Jay White pinning Jon Moxley to become AEW international champion . We still haven't got swerve vs Keith Lee. That feud was fumbled bad. Look at MJF man, he takes Losses when it makes sense and wins where it makes sense. That's how everyone should follow. With Cody Rhodes And CM PUNK gone , Tony Khan has to shake up some things and take some risk to learn and grow as a promoter. Departure of these 2 has already caused AEW quite a hit and although they are 2 billion in valuation, they would've made Hell lot of money with CM Punk and Cody Rhodes in the centre. Time to build Hook. Have him retire ftw title and go for other championships as well. AEW can do a lot of stuff but we all know the culture of that place. And if you shills wanna defend without logic instead of constructive criticism, feel free to shit in replies so that i can laugh on your low IQs😂
They were riding Tony Kahn for awhile even booker of the year singing his praises blah blah blah then Cody leaves now he can't book a match to save his life. Weird how that happened
Tranq I’m with you 💯 Aew Is my favorite wrestling promotion currently but we need more stories. This is why I loved punks run so much because he was able to tell good stories re ignite feuds and brought back some life (not that there wasn’t any)
This is fair, and I agree. This past Dynamite and Collision felt like they had some kind of direction, which is nice to see after months of seemingly random thrown together booking, and of course CM Punk being fired. But there's still so much that hasn't happened that should have happened. I don't know what happened to Action Andretti, but he got that shock win over Jericho, he was an overnight success, he was doing big run-in saves, and then... nothing. He was back to doing nothing, all momentum gone. Swerve and Keith Lee have their falling out, Swerve breaks the cinderblock on Keith Lee's chest, and then nothing. They even got paired together in that wildcard tag team tournament and STILL haven't had a match. As TBS champion, Jade Cargill never faced Britt Baker, Ruby Soho, Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Thunder Rosa, literally none of the main women on the roster. Jon Moxley has like an 83% career win rate in AEW, and I'm sure a lot of his losses were from tag matches with the BCC so he himself was never really the one losing. That's absolutely insane. In singles matches, you could count how many guys he lost to on one hand (probably, I think it's only like 5 or 6 people in 4 years). But yeah, there are still so many dream matches to be had and stories that never had a proper end sooooo let's see 'em, Tony.
As well as AEW weathered the pandemic, I do think that era harmed them in the sense that it lead to a lot of AEW programming becoming clogged with jobber squashes. Words we don't need to see advertised for TV are "[Big Name] is in action!"; i.e., they're going to squash a local enhancement talent in a minute and then probably get beat down after the match/during their interview to set up a bigger feud. I also think Tony has had a lot of old-school heads in his ear telling him to never give anything away for free (despite them not having house shows or monthly PPVs), so it's lead to a lot of this overprotective booking.
I really don’t think there’s a problem with overprotective booking at all. Nearly all of the main stars lose matches, both in singles and in tag matches. I think it’s fair to say there’s too many tag matches though, which was particularly apparent at All In. Tony definitely does fixate on fitting too much in at once, to a fault. A lot of your criticisms here feel like impatience though. AEW is great at long-term booking and we might have to wait a long time for a tasty feud to happen, but that makes the payoff all the better. If we were just getting top guy vs top guy feuds in a constant cycle they’d lose what makes them special imo. I prefer them to build over time, like Eddie vs Claudio. I think some of it’s out of Tony’s hands too. Both Malakai and Andrade have had limited singles bookings and main events for various reasons other than what Tony seems to have any control over. As for Wardlow, he’s just not that engaging. He’s fun in the ring but there’s a limit to what you can do with him. The only time he felt important was when he was feuding with MJF and that’s because he elevates everyone. He could probably even make Jay Lethal seem engaging.
This is literally the only reason (and the bloodline story) why I like wwe more… malaki is too good for trios, jay white is too good for tag team, andrade is too good to not even be on tv, so many other names that’s should be in singles feuds with omega, hangman, hell even Cassidy or Jericho
I feel like Tony tends to listen too much to fans online, which can be deterimental when a bunch of those are honestly kids whining that wrestler X was "buried" because he or she lost one match or feud. If the fued is engaging and the match(es) competitive, it doesn't really matter too much if a wrestler lost. MJF didn't lose steam after losing to Punk, Cole doesn't feel less important after losing to MJF, or Starks to Danielson, or Hobbs to Miro to look at the most recent events. What indeed can kill the momentum of a wrestler is to get stuck into random matches against midcarder or jobbers for weeks until something worth any attention happens again. A main eventer going through the various Trent, Martin, Kommander can give some nice in-ring performance, about which most people will not care (which has been one of the main issues plaguing Rampage).
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I also forgot to mention that this tends to affect tournaments in AEW. Brackets are usually filled with midcarders or tag team guys because Tony Khan is too scared to put his main eventers in tournaments and hand them losses.
Which is weird considering how much he is inspired by Japanese wrestling. Aces like NJPW's Okada or TJPW's Miyu Yamashita regularly don't do well in tournaments. It doesn't affect anything outside of it.
@@originalhuggies9740Exactly. A loss in a tournament is the safest loss a main eventer can take. NJPW has proven it.
Absolutely. Like I think we all just want Joe vs MJF not a tourney to see if Joe can get to MJF. So either Joe wins the tourney (very predicable) or Joe looses and then we don't get Joe vs MJF.
And when a top guy loose everyone will blame tony saying he burried them. Logic of western audience
I so so soooo want an elite tournament in Aew. A tournament with all the top stars
For example take LA Knight, he lost his first feud to Bray Wyatt. But after that feud, more people got to know about him and that feud showed how charismatic he is. He is a megastar right now. So losing does not mean you are a loser but it shows your true potential.
Well said❤
Agreed. It's not as much whether a wrestler loses or not, but how they lose. They can lose and still come across like a credible threat or interesting character, or they can lose over and over again with no progression or real development.
Aew did the same with Ricky stark. But i dont like the constant rematches tbh.
@@HishamXno you don’t
@@HishamXif Eli Drake is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear LA Knight, you know who he is 😂
This just makes me remember and miss the Ranking system AEW used to have...people actually had to go on win streaks and earn title title shots. Losses dropped people out of contention and they had to fight their way back. Good times.
They need to bring this back
The ranking system was quickly losing steam, IMHO. Pac was winning more than Darby Allen, but Darby got title shots. That’s when they lost me. [>
The ranking system just had people stack wins on Dark to get to the top 5. The ranking system was good, but it didn't let them do the angles the way they wanted to without overmanaging everyone's wins and losses. It became something they had to work around by the end of its run.
Yea but they probably felt this pigeonholed their booking. Now they can sho horn whoever they want into matches /feuds.
Out of curiosity, I have kept track of the rankings. Mainly overall but I will soon update singles.
Anyway, Orange Cassidy vs Moxley was 2nd vs 1st in overall rankings.
The only real gripe I have with AEW/Tony’s booking is not using the entire roster in big tournaments. Like the most recent example is the Grand Slam tournament. This tournament would be the perfect showcase for someone like Mike Santana trying to get his singles career going…or Andrade or Powerhouse Hobbs or Miro or even Kenny Omega or Konosuke Takeshita. TK should take notes from Ohbari and NJPW’s G1!!
This current tournament does not make any sense. It is for the most important title in AEW and you have people like Wayne, Berretta or Penta on it. They are very good wrestlers, don't get me wrong, but they are not top talent. Everyone knows that they have zero chances of winning.
Imagine a tournament for the AEW championship featuring the likes of Omega, Danielson, Moxley, Page, White, Starks, etc. The REAL AEW potential champions. They are the ones supposed to be there.
And like the recent tournament...you know whos winning it when its dudes like AR FOx and NICK WAYNE who hasn't won a fucking match
@@rakansasas1111I'd love to see a tournament that made the final of danielson omega
My belief is that all the WWE cast offs who believe they are above "jobbing" to the indie kids.
@@rakansasas1111 Yeah sure they could do that, but what would the fights at PPVs be then if you do all the matches on TV with the "real potential champions"? If you have top talent fight each other multiple times a week it takes away from the hype of those top talents having a match. Also this tournament has literally been set up so you can have Roddy and Joe fight MJF, we had multiple promos setting up that story.
I feel like that's the core of the issue with the AEW fanbase. Cody put over Malakai Black heavily after he debuted for the company and the fans basically said "It doesn't matter if he gets a win over Cody". Then Cody went over Malakai in their third match and fans went "Cody is burying Malakai". Fans always assume that losing means getting buried and winning devalues the loser. Guys like Omega and Danielson don't mind putting people over, but then people complain that they're losing too much. Vicious cycle really.
Agreed its a vicious cycle. But just like what he said, “If you try to please everyone, you’ll please no one”. TK should just let the story be what he think would be great for it. People will hate it anyway. But a risk is needed if they want growth or to elevate themselves even more.
@@samarai82booking wise I think that's just Tony 1. Doesn't want to piss off the Elite & 2. The elite, the only thing they have in common with the kliq, only want to work with and lose to their friends
Al Snow had a great shoot interview about this very thing when fantasy booking some era of WWE. I remember him mentioning he would have Edge lose to Kane (as he was building Kane up) and he was making fun of the fans “OMG you are burying Edge!”
“No, I just need to build a strong monster so he has to win to do that” - he of course had some very colorful language but he was absolutely right.
You are right. The booking feels way to overprotective. That's why we didn't have matches like Mox v Cody, Joe v Mox, Cody v Hangman, Claudio v Danielson, Claudio v Malakai, Punk v Cody, Lucha bros v LAX. Yes some of the matches I mentioned are still can happen but booking feels very conservative.
@@rif5556That whole feud with The Factory was his idea though. He wanted to elevate those guys. Unfortunately, he just ended up devaluing himself.
Instead, AEW often does Big Names vs. No Name matches, and it does no service to the fans because the Big Names never lose, and the No Names are treated as complete geeks.
@@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819 I agree. Very few lower card guys/girls get any elevation. People like AR FOX or Andretti get mini pushes but those are not sustainable enough.
Claudio and Malakai put on a really good match in the E at Extreme Rules 2019 highly recommend it!
@@00pium_kingvampstan I know. A banger of a 10 minute sprint. Highly underrated.
You encapsulated what I think about AEW these days. I love the product, but I would like it even more if the big feuds happened.
I still haven't gotten over the fact that Tony just didn't book Swerve vs. Keith Lee.
Lee has ongoing health issues and is possibly on the verge of retirement. They've been trying to protect him by keeping him out of big singles matches.
@@AdrianBeegoatzFor a non booker, he has booked the best stuff this century i have seen outside of golden age new japan
@@AdrianBeegoatz I think you almost got it. Tony is a booker, the same way Dana white is a booker for UFC. He sets up tournaments, #1 contenders, rematches. With the hope that when these personalities get on the mic they can take the story home, or bring the story to life. As an example, MJF vs Punk
What Tony isn't - is HHH or Vince, that writes the story throughout. Whats the long term goal? Whats the plans for the winner and loser? We haven't seem that long term story effectively done since Hangman and Kenny and I have a feeling that wasnt Tony, moreso the Elite/Cody writing the story.
Hope that makes sense
Fuck you just made me angry, I was literally waiting after the random partner tournament for the singles match. It was set up perfectly. Now we have swerve with hang lady which randomly involves the elite as a group now. So no singles feud for swerve
But booked Jericho and Lee in the midst of that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 make it make sense
Cody, an EVP, left the company in the first two years. Regal left the company a few months after getting hired. Punk was fired in less-than two years; getting hired as the anti-WWE hero and getting fired as the dangerous ex-UFC shooter who everyone was afraid of even though he threw ‘weird punches’ and ‘couldn’t get Jack Perry in a front face-lock’.
All three of these guys get booed now in AEW whenever their names are brought up.
Let’s face it: AEW is now PWG with a budget, thanks to the EVPs whispering sweet nothings into Tony’s ear. We were supposed to have ‘sports-based wrestling’, but that left with Cody a long time ago.
We even had a good wrestling show on Saturday nights for a few months while the EVPs and the dirt sheets like Meltzer and Alvarez were working diligently to paint the ‘Charles Manson’ Punk narrative: Kicking backstage talent out of his show, telling the talent what they can and can’t do on Collision (like any good booker would), and suddenly losing it on Jungle Boy where Punk - according to Jungle Boy - couldn’t manage to get a front face-lock on him and threw, “really weird and awkward punches that didn’t really hurt.”
If those Jungle Boy statements sound truthful to you, I suggest you go outside, maybe find some friends, and meet people in public...because that is a straight-up yarn woven by JB to make himself sound like a badass.
pre-covid and post-covid AEW feel like two different promotions. 2019/2020 AEW everything had a purpose. Tightly booked storylines that progressed week-to-week and kept you hooked. The entire show felt *focused*
Now it honestly feels like Tony is just drawing names from a hat. The world title tournament is the most random assortment of wrestlers. Put Starks in there! He's red hot after that strap match time for Tony to book him vs Gravity or some bullshit... Hangman and Swerve have started a feud then put them in there have them face eachother in a semi final.
His booking is straight up bad now. This is why ticket sales went from 12k on dynamite to like 3k.
Focus left with Cody.
@@staalhard666Mainstream focus from casual wrestling fans left with CM Punk too.
Massively agree. AEW are sitting on a lot of big money matches, and while they shouldn't do all of them straight away, it's crazy the amount of these wrestlers who are stuck wrestling jobbers on TV when way more interesting opponents are available and not doing anything. Totally forgetting that a loss can be just as much a driver of story as a win. Redemption, revenge, revolution, all come from losses.
I really liked that Toni Storm when she lost her belt to Hayter, turned into a bitter heel, because Hayter and Baker cheated to win and got cheered for it, and Hayter got crowned as a real champion where Storm was just the interim.
I like that the Acclaimed losing to House of Black triggered a fake retirement for Billy Gunn and the retirement of "scissor me daddy" for weeks, until he came back for revenge and to redeem their loss and win the belts.
I like that Adam Page losing to Jericho and PAC and Omega led to the loss of confidence and alcoholism and making friends and that redemption arc and the world title.
I like that every time Mox loses a big match, he always wrestles the same week on Dynamite, takes on somebody and beats them, that "I'm pissed off that I lost and I just wanna go out and beat someone up" mentality.
Losses can be fun, interesting, they don't always mean the wrestler is getting squashed or de-pushed or held down. Sometimes losing a match can lead to a bigger push.
when when AEW has a “squash match” it’s always competitive and 10 min long usually like wtf. Tony’s scared to hurt the local jobbers feelings too 😂
That's his way of giving a big name a competitive match to keep you invested... he knows it sucks you gotta watch 1 of your favs face a nobody so he wants you to enjoy the match so you won't change the channel
@@randallallgood8661that doesn’t make any sense. People want to see their favorite wrestler kick someone’s ass or have a good match with another top talent. They don’t want to see a competitive match with the guy who wrestles at the local VFW hall.
I love Punk as a wrestler but the issues caused by having him around definitely started to outweigh the positives so it is a massive shame he's gone. Hopefully have people like Andrade, Keith Lee and Malakai Black get more screen time now to fill the void.
Let's hope. Cause punk was upset for the right reasons but handled it way wrong. But now the place is gonna be wild with no one keeping them in check. Tk has no balls and he's not gonna put any one in line
@@AdrianBeegoatz don't think it has anything to do with the man himself and more the fact that they had an extra show to fill
@@AdrianBeegoatzAndrade?
@@briandelgado4985 What right reasons? And I think your whole point falls apart since Khan fired his favorite.
@@GrilliamGHe got flown out to a meeting in Georgia with the elite to hash things out, the elite cancelled last minute which was a giant waste of time, then when he gets to London they left him stranded there, he got lost and had to find his own way to his hotel, then when he gets there he sees Jack Perry mouthing off to him to the camera over a situation that CM punk didn't even start, he was asked by management to talk to Perry about the glass spot. I think he ultimately handled it the wrong way but I don't blame him one bit for the mood he was in at the time
Something that a booker have to consider is the fact that the main event scene are THE CHOSEN FEW, that is a important part that made them fell important and special in comparison with everybody else
The point you made on momentum is very valid.
Ive always thought that TK has his flavour of the month style booking where he shines the spotligjt on someone for a couple of weeks and then moves away from them to showcase someone else - without any plan of what to do with the original person after that.
In a way everyone gets a little bit of a chance to shine, maybe it keeps everyone happy when its their 'turn' but it doesnt help them afterwards when they are left to sink or swin.
We saw it with Starks original push that fizzled out after his title match wiyh MJF.
We saw it with Jungle Boy when he beat Cage in that battle royale and faced Omega for the title. After that - right back to midcard and tag matches.
We saw it with Action Andretti - a huge debut againast Jericho, TV time against major names, then... where is he now? Rampage?
Wardlow - mega push - huge feud with MJF. TV Champion - lacklustre reign after reign. And now, hes nowhere to be seen.
Thats just a few of the names that have suffered from that style of booking.
TK would be much better hand picking 3 or 4 guys and saying 'these are the ones that will get the focus' and build around them long term.
That’s what I feel like WWE has done well. They have their foundation and have their 3 or 4 guys that are stars but that don’t mean the rest won’t have their time like LA Knight and Jey Uso right now
@bigboicomedy2392 Tell that to Keith Lee. He had loads of potential, but Vince pissed all of that away.
@@zemox2534 and look at him in AEW not much of a difference
I love these kinda critique videos because it shows that this channel more than a just Aew fan channel. Some people just confirms whatever their favorite wrestling company doing. It brings more objectivity
Exactamundo!!
You have a point brother, but i think you're missing one importent issue: most of the talent who made AEW in the early years wasn't about being a 'free agaent' - Jericho lost a lot, Omega lost a lot (hell, both of them still loosing a lot this year alone). With the exacption of Danielson, who put people over a gave to company so much from the moment he signed (A LOT more then Punk - not a taunt, just a fact), most of those ex-wwe talent - Miro, Malachai, Andrade - always had a notion about them that if they won't get booked 'strong', they're gonna come back north in no time. The rumer is that this is the reason Miro was so poorly-used this past year - the guys didn't want to put people over! and you can't book a talent like that, no matter how talneted he is. it's not that i don't agree that TK can be bit more bald and give us more main-eventers clashes, but i'm not sure it's exacly his fault. Sometimes you have people who are here to tell stories and wrestle no matter what the outcome for them, and sometimes... well, the business is only for yourself...
This is something that have been bothering me for a while. When I see a card for a Dynamite show I instantly predict how things are going to unfold, there is no surprise almost and all the outcomes are predictable. Maybe the matches are good quality, but predictability kills the drama and the emotional engagement. When Punk got out, I instantly thought… man why didn’t they do 5-6 dream matches with him instead of dragging and dragging things..
Though it makes sense for the main eventers in the early days of aew to jump from one feud to another, it's also a problem because it left feuds with one match and then they go and fight someone else w/ no repercussions and no last effects like mjf vs cody
I've had so many complaints recently with AEW that I forgot this was a problem. You definitely nailed it, and please never have tournaments unless you are going to have major names lose and not have predictable finals.
The NCAA Tournament isn't compelling because Kansas, UNC, Duke, UConn, Kentucky, or UCLA are going to inevitably win it. It's compelling because the at the time perceived best teams in the country could eat an absolute shit sandwich to five people who play pickup basketball regularly. It's compelling because those five people could go on an absolute fire streak, give everyone who is better on paper a run for their money, and even bust their way into a semifinal or title match. It's compelling because that team, having the best match of their life, could still lose to any of the blue bloods who, up until the tournament began, had one of their school's worst seasons that could still make the dance.
I like how you turned it around at the end. The video was mostly about Tony being too scared to book his guys to lose, but it stands to reason that if he's scared to do that, it's because people have reacted poorly to ideas he's pitched. Everyone is at fault here, not just the wrestlers, and not just Tony.
I strongly suspect that a big part of AEW's style is that with all the extra creative freedom at the company, wrestlers are expected to utilize that but many are happy to just collect their checks, so you get this feeling of matches just sort of happening. For every Moxley, Cody, or Jericho who are constantly hustling and coming up with new angles, there are a handful of guys who are waiting to hear who they're wrestling and then just sort of do the match and wait for the next one. Those wrestlers need to understand that Tony isn't WWE and he isn't going to just tell them who they are and what they're doing this week - they need to take that on themselves and work it out if they want to get extra TV time.
@@sheets75not every one is a creative individual though the Head Booker should be able to create storylines for these people or have other Booker's under him that can get them involved because at the end of the day it falls on the boss to get the most out of his employees.
Today on Collision we got THREE active open challenges in the same week on the same show:
International, TBS and Tag Team champs all cut the exact same promo.
Open Challenges are just TK code for enhancement matches nowadays.
You should protect 2 faces and 2 heels. And then cycle them out as necessary.
AGREED! One great example of this you didn’t mention is the current Championship tournament where most of them are not Champion material. I also like this video since it’s a rare glimpse of you critiquing the company. AEW is the only wrestling show I watch and I haven’t missed an episode or PPV ever. But when someone such as yourself only ever seems to praise it, it can come across as one sided and unrealistic. I love AEW but it still has many problems. So hearing some of your negative thoughts makes you seem more real and believable when you praise it in future so thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work!
I think I know why TK does this type of booking. If a top star takes too many losses, people will rightfully call it out just as they would if they win too often. Damned if you do and all that.
Facts!!!
People already wonder why Omega keeps eating losses.
@@angelynx1primeyea but omega doesn’t ale a loss before kicking out of EVERYTHING in the match so his losses aren’t bad
Simple answer. Dont fill weekly tv with matches with all the top guys. And get rid of some fucking titles too. Theres like 3 women's titles. No point.
Agreed, though there are notable exceptions, like Danielson tapping out to MJF. We NEED tournaments to be bigger and G1 style. Big matches, big names, and lots of slots for midcard guys to showcase themselves as well. I do NOT understand why Tony doesn’t do this. The Owen Cup was the perfect opportunity. Instead, it’s a humdrum 8-man bracket with fairly predictable outcomes.
The most overprotective booking is for malakai black for sure 💯
He's been there 2 years and Cody is the only 1 Worth mentioning... the match with Penta sucked... they teased him with Omega, Pac and Kingston and we got none... the PAC 1 was really weird because he blinded him so that Match should've definitely happened
This was a great video. Also, can we get a video about Cassidy? He was considered a "Comedy Wrestler" by many critics. But his fantastic run with the international title really elevated both him and the title. I would love to hear your opinion.
Definitely will be working on a vid on Big Orange 🍊
It may have elevated the title but he……is too much of a slacker (that’s his gimmick I don’t mean the human being) to my liking.
I'd argue that Cassidy has been doing prove yourself matches since like 2021.
@ChigoIEbere revolution 2020
@@tranquiloclub50big orange is great 😂
I've actually been considering not watching all the weekly TV anymore for this reason. It's just not compelling enough to spend 5+ hrs a week on. The only thing keeping me watching is the potential turn around in storyline development now that Collision is settling in post PPV. We'll see what the next couple of months brings.
Great synopsis!
How to fix AEW
1. Off screen booking committee
2. On screen Authority Figure (Not TK)
3. Title consolidation
Exactamundo!!
Tbh I would enjoy it if TK had a gimmick like he became a shady recluse like Howard Hughes and had a Jack Tunny or Gorilla Monsoon like character for his GM. Or heck even hire Cornette to play the GM! That would be ironic and so much fun!!
@@DrinkYourNailPolishTeddy Long would be cool in that role but I wonder if he still has a contract with WWE
@@DrinkYourNailPolish Corny would be a dream come true but I doubt he’s take the job. Whoever they would get should definitely be in that Corbett’s vein, old school story telling and logical match making.
@@tylongkicks8821 Teddy Long would be great. I could also see Nick Aldis or Kurt Angle filling the role.
I don't care about dream matches, I want them to have a coherent booking with compelling storylines so they can put over their guys with the potential to be stars like Starks, Hobbs, Wardlow, Allin, the Gunns, Juice Robinson, MJF, etc... But Tony keeps doing random multimen matches, 3 ways, random no DQ matches, tournaments filled with midcarders and jobbers, etc... Why is FTR doing cold matches and without a feud? Why is MJF doing sports entertainment segments and defending the ROH tag belts in a handicap match on PPV? Where's Wardlow? Where's Hobbs? Where's Malakai Black and Matthews? Why is Orange Cassidy still pushed like a top star? Why can't Big Bill win a singles match? Why all the storylines are about friendship? Why does QTV still exist? Why the Jacksons can win singles matches but Dax or Cash have to do jobs? Why are the referees not ensuring that the wrestlers follow the rules or at least protect them from their stupidity? Why so many hardcore matches or meaningless blood? Why are the wrestlers acting like teenagers?
The product objectively is not good at the moment, sure they have good wrestlers but a lot of people (like me) want to watch a good wrestling show with no forced comedy and good storylines that could be supported with good in ring action, I thought we were all tired of the sports entertainment stuff but the AEW hardcore fanbase always protect and defend the promotion even when they do stupid things the WWE and WCW did in the past that can't be defended.
Really great video. It seems to me that TK had a story mapped out for the first couple of years, now that the story's finished, he's having trouble doing the sequel. Especially seems like the issues you've mentioned, are like mental blocks preventing him from being as inventive.
I’ve noticed you’ve been feeling this way since Wardlow’s 1st TNT title Run. I can’t say I disagree
Great video as always Tranquilo. You do bring up a very valid point when it comes to AEW in general. Not to say that the Booking is necessarily bad but I feel like lately myself and I'm sure you and a good amount of other people say "It could've been better" alot
And when I hear you say that TK is too busy keeping everybody happy and thinking about how the Punk situation was handled, it really puts into perspective how big of a problem this has really been and I didn't realized how bad it really was til recently. You are 100% right, TK is trying to keep everyone happy and not just on-screen but behind it as well and I think that's TK's biggest flaw. TK is too focused on being everyone's friend instead of being a boss and taking risks and it cost AEW and it's fanbase so much on and off screen and if AEW wants to stay in business for many years and possibly generations to come, TK's attitude needs to change when it comes how he books his product and how he run All Elite Wrestling as a business
I'm not saying that TK needs to be like Vince McMahon and rule with a iron fist and be a complete asshole to his employees but you can still be a good person while also be a strict boss/booker as well. In a industry full of egomaniacs, you gotta be able to put your foot down and lay down the law when necessary or wrestlers and employees alike will do whatever they want with belief that their "boss" won't do shit to them whatsoever and/or just give them the slap in the wrist
That's all I got to say. Keep up the great work Tranquilo
Seriously tho, they could have at least done Kenny vs Buddy during the trios feud
That was a match I wanted so bad 😢 Buddy is definitely underrated he's basically a Australian Omega
The creator of a big AEW facebook group banned people that criticizes AEW because it greatly affects his mental health. While I understand the sentiment, it also summarizes the AEW fanbase in a nutshell.
Video idea: The departure of CM Punk from AEW (similar to your "departure of Cody Rhodes" video)
Hello, what is the name of the song used during the sponsored segment? I've tried to find it since hearing it in other videos but its not listed in the description
This video hit the nail on the head.
I had been saying for years. AEW needs to bring back the ranking system. I'm tired of having random nobodies receiving title shots to protect the main eventers
Why THE HELL is Nick Wayne on a title picture tournament?
Why is Darby there after losing?
Why is Trent Barreta there?
Why is Jeff there who haven't fought single matches?
I love Penta, but why is he there went he has been losing non stop?.
Joe and Roderick for storyline reasons, but the rest? Is embarrassing. This give the tournament 0 credibility and make it stupidly predictable. TK is way too worry and thinking 5 years ahead instead of giving people what they want straight up.
Use those guys and put those dream matches to start long term feuds that is gonna be revisited in the years along the line and creating a hyper long rivalry
Looking down the roster there's several big stories that would be money but TK has been afraid to pull the trigger on. Adam Cole vs. Kenny Omega (revenge for 2017 Bullet Club firing), Andrade El Idolo vs. Malakai Black (run it back from the NXT days because they killed it), Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland (never finished their story), Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley (no reason for BCC to continue), Claudio Castagnoli vs. Miro (2 of the most underrated guys from WWE could surely do something good together), Orange Cassidy vs. MJF (Freshly Squeezed deserves a world title shot after a stellar performance as International Champion), Chris Jericho vs. Sting (they teased it and it just needs to happen while they both can still go).
I love your videos and love AEW as they brought me back into wrestling after almost 10 years. It’s a shame at the matches/feuds we lost out on but I think as much as we jump on TK for being to diplomatic and not being an assertive leader (handling the punk drama much earlier) he’s still learning. As much as the tournament line up sucks I’m excited for Joe vs MJF and especially excited for Swerve vs Hangman. Hopefully with a less drama filled AEW the storylines can flourish and either Swerve or Jay White become the next champion (as much as I love MJF)
I think most criticism of aew are vapid and in bad faith but this is a huge problem i wish more people talked about. Always love your videos. I will say we were supposed to get Danielson and Omega at All In but Danielson wasnt cleared yet. I hoping we are stil moving that way.
A loss does not always mean a wrestler is buried. Wheeler lost to Mox, but he looked strong in defeat. Eddie Kingston is an even better example. He lost msny times, but that only made him more popular. He fought hard and always looked strong in defeat and now he is a double champion. With that said, TK needs to stop with the overprotective booking. Look at Mox. He rarely loses, even in matches where he could afford to lose.
The problem with some fans. If their favourite isn't getting an instant title run, they are being buried
A bigger problem ito me is Tony not pulling the trigger on talent when time calls. Then forcing a moment after they have lost several times and gotten an unearned title shot. Sad thing is hes kinda gotten away with it but its super frustrating..
Big Star feuds are what draw big money. If everyone lives on their own because they don’t want to lose island it’s pointless. Imagine if Rock and Austin never happened.
One thing people can't get their head around is that more isn't always more. In the old days, there was a formula for a territory: 8 baby faces, 8 heels, 4 tag teams, and a few job guys. It was that was for a LOT of reasons, and it worked.
The issue is back stage everyone is NOT on the same page. I get everyone blames punk but a lot of these guys have heat with each other. There are a lot of egos backstage.
You are right ! if you think of it this tournament means nothing at the end of the day we already know that we are going to have Samoa Joe versus MJF .
This is a meaningless booking excuse my French really this time…
Could be Roderick Strong since he's involved with Cole
@@Baraka_Obama_ OK this is not an attack or anything but do you think that people would care about a match between MJF versus Roderick strong or a match versus Samoa Joe ?
Logically a match versus Roderick strong. Is the right way to go but I don’t think that people would care much about Roderick Strong. I don’t know just a feeling.
@@Endname343 The disappointing thing is Punk was supposed to be MJFs next opponent but obviously that ain't happening so either Joe or Strong is ok with me
@@Baraka_Obama_ yeah you right ..
I have PTSD now when people say the name CM PUNK .. I think you can understand
i dont think tony makes decisions for himself tbh. He claimed he fired punk off of a reccomendation + he doesnt seem like the guy who can say no to things hence why perry probably used glass anyway leading to unecessary turmoil.
AEW's booking for 95% of their matches have no stakes leading into a PPV. It's usually a top star against someone else from another fed who will lose, a match thrown together at last minute, and maybe 1 or 2 with some build.
9:08 Andrade is simply nowhere near as good as he thinks he is. His promo skills are abysmal and while he's a solid in-ring performer he comes with a load of baggage. He isn't a needle mover by any stretch of the imagination
In the ring, he's still one of the best wrestlers in the world. He definitely needs a manager who can talk on the mic, fans wanted Ric Flair but that's now dead since Andrade and Charlotte are separated
@@Baraka_Obama_ The AEW roster is chock full of wrestlers who eclipse Andrade or are at the same level in terms of wrestling pedigree such as Allin, Castagnoli, Cole, Danielson, Hangman, Miro, MJF, Moxley, Omega, Starks, Strickland, etc. Fans wouldn't bat an eye if Andrade were to leave
that was my biggest excitement in 2021 when all these guys got signed, the dream match potential this benefits everyone involved, they lose but they get over because they’re in a good storyline, they win they raise their stock, if they’re already established, they keep their name value while uplifting someone else’s. also makes titles more prestigious.
And it's crazy because those 3 guys all came in together with 0 interaction with 1 another in a 2 year time frame
Bro do you guys remember whenn darby was on his first tnt runand then mir came detroyed him and went on to have one of the best runs with the TNT title? Big stars feuding with each other or emerging onez is the corner stone of a good AEW moment. Someone needs to send creatove these videos.
I do agree slightly, you make some great points. Kenny did just eat a couple of pins from Takeshita, pushing him to the main event scene. More definitely needs to be done, iI wouldve like to have seen Orange beat Mox but maybe he'll get the win back down the line.
Exactly man and it’s crazy Mox hasn’t put anyone over since coming to AEW and had rarely loss he didn’t need the win vs OC
@Dredagoat30 yeah idk why people wanted MOX as champ when he's a perpetual main eventer who should always be in the world title scene. OC was doing incredible things with that title and yet again in TK fashion he can't book champions.
@greenion42 Usually I'd agree with you on the booking but Oranges run was great, the build up on injuries was the story and mox was one step too far. I hope he wins it back later down the line.
Tbf, During the BCC vs. Elite feud Tony was keeping Danielson in bubblewrap so he could wrestle okada at FD.
The biggest issues is Aew has such a massive roster and a lot of guys that should be featured guys in storylines and big matches on a regular basis just sit in catering and he just books meaningless multi man matches. Guys like Miro, Wardlow, Keith freaking Lee, Hobbs, Malakia and Andrade all of that so little I feel since comign to AEW.
AEW is the only wrestling company I've seen but now that you've brought up the over protective booking, I feel I've been conditioned to avoid thinking about "dream matches". It's rare for the big names to clash even in multimans. Now I'm thinking of all kinds of match ups I'd love to see. God, there's so much potential just sitting that roster.
I recommend you watch other wrestling promotions just to really see the different booking styles like MLW, NJPW, Impact, even WWE.
I prefer the more positive videos. There is so much negativity online it is nice to just hear when someone is loving something.
This isn’t negative. It’s constructive criticism.
@@tranquiloclub50 You are correct. I'm a big fan. I've been watching since the early days. I just wasn't in the head space for this one and thought I would leave a comment for the algorithm.
I agree with 90% Tranquilo Club... However do think the protectiveness means that some feuds like Swerve vs Hangman reach even higher highs, because of the previous protection making us ever more excited to see who will win/lose. This might become diluted if anyone can lose any time.
I agree with the main message in this video, I'm glad we will soon see fresh match ups in MJF vs Samoa Joe & Swerve vs Hangman. There are so many main eventers & future main event talent that not being used well or at all I mean has anyone see Keith Lee lately, still waiting for that match up between him & Swerve.
I don't think it's fair to say Adam Cole HAD to be featured in a Trios feud, he was in a team with his long-time friends. It's like Triple H teaming up wuth HBK or like The Shield reuniting.
Its not even main event guys. He wont even book his midcard guys for months because hes scared of having to book them to lose
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say. Contrary to what I say; AEW is perfect the way it is, but there is still some improvement that needs to happen ASAP. This is the main one. Tony Khan is an amazing booker, but he needs to crawl a little more out of his shell and give some top stars a loss or two now and then. There has been improvement recently, to the point that we're finally getting some fresh new matchups, but Khan needs to capitalize on the momentum. I know this will benefit AEW in the long run if he books more of these top stars in matches, without being afraid of giving them losses
Going to Collision tonight..nice to warm up with Tranq. talking S.about booking ha.
I need a beer.
To me, in wrestling, wins and losses matter very little, it's more like how you win or how you lose that's more important
Another point is that AEW and Khan will prolong feuds past where they should end. Feuds shouldnt go past a ppv cycle honestly. We had Eddie feuding with Jericho for like, an entire half of a year and for what? Didnt really help either of them.
Totally agree with you.
Bcc v elite. Just single matches could carry AEW for a year or more.
Remember dark at the beginning had more than squash matches.
No squash matches on tv. Please
Overprotective booking is one of the reasons I'm not watching AEW like I used to.
Do you think the keeping track of wins/losses plays a role in the booking? Would you do away with it?
So far the booking for AEW has been disappointing. So far all the stars that have come over from WWE make big debuts and then just fade into the background weeks after. No big storylines or anything. It’s getting more & more disappointing IMO.
Agreed unfortunately
Not sure I fully agree with this. Did Danielson fade into the background? Did Claudio? Did Toni Storm? Did Adam Cole? Did FTR? Roderick Strong? Did Swerve? Did Samoa Joe? Etc. etc. Most of the ex-Fed hires have been used extensively on TV. There have been some big misses like Keith Lee, but his alleged health issues were responsible for a lot of that. And it was the backstage behaviour of Andrade and Miro that caused their extensive absence from television. Plus, it’s a balancing act, Tony can’t just stuff the shows full of the ex-WWE guys at the expense of the AEW originals.
I would also say, they keep putting certain people away and it’s really not working as well as they want. How many times have we had the “ooh, Eddie’s on the verge of a major win in his career, but can he make this one stick the landing?” And then he looses and it feels worse for it. Like, im not invested in the story of “Eddie falls short every time” because it’s not being presented as a story. Its being presented as an excuse to be lazy. Same applies to the likes of Ruby Soho. They keep up the narrative that she’s good but can’t land the big matches and it just does not hit.
Look at Hangman’s way to the world title. Similar concept: Hangman is good, but always falls short due to his own issues and feelings of inadequacy (and the Superelite) but unlike those other ones *It’s an actual story*. It’s treated with gravity, snd stakes and follow-up, and not just a noncommittal shrug. And it just feels lame. Why couldn’t you just let Eddie get the Boston crab at Blood and Guts on Chris Jericho, why couldn’t you just let him get the win at the barbed wire everywhere match against Jericho’s stupid Painmaker gimmick. There is no good reason.
EDIT: HE FINALLY FUCKING DID IT. Yes, it was satisfying to see Eddie finally overcome his demons and beat Claudio of all people, but I still hold my point.
This arching story is cool and all, but leading up to it, any story involving Eddie has felt like a foregone conclusion. I know that any team of individual feud involving Eddie will see him lose the feud, and it's really frustrating.
But, I'm glad for him. I hope he has a good reign with the ROH belt, and I hope we can see him move back onto AEWs main stage soon
On your main premise, youre building off the assumption that every single male roster member "never wants to lose", but do we know that for a fact? It may very well be that some, if not many, of the guys are frustrated with the overprotective booking and wont care about losses so long as theres a better atory progressing rather than padding wins against midcarders or jobbers.
The problem could very well be only Khan and his own fears about his male stars losing too much. Sure there have been recent examples of politicking for wins, but those were rare in AEW from reports we heard.
i think what was Tony’s last strike was when Punk came back and beat Mox and then Punk got injured and had the press conference mess, probably felt like he just made his world champion of the last couple months lose a match with a pretty bad feud all for punk to just get injured and bury half the roster
Amazing Video I hope this Video reaches Tony Khan.
0:41 Hi I’m Joseph Knoxville, welcome to Tranquilo Club. (Unicycles off the 10M Platform and into the Olympic Pool)
That is what was so great about collision, rocky starks went from punk, and then Segwayed right into Danielson, while punk went into an already teased feud with Joe, but punk is gone now so idk how the booking will be… it’s all because dynamite has too many people, collodion has a perfect roster
Aew should be happy vince is messing stuff up to an extent
With Collision things are looking a lot better. Just look how many good matches we have had in the last 2 months
Great video! I have always told my friends that AEW is too conservative and some of my boys just didn’t understand. Just cuz we see blood and violence doesn’t mean they’re putting their best foot forwards man. Cody and Punk are gone and there are plenty of good matches left for both of them in AEW. Problem is we have seen so many punk and Cody matches with low level people. Sad that we got Punk Vs Bobby Fish, but not Malakai. Cody Vs agogo, but not Kenny Omega
A lot of dream matches were lost…
I never knew how bad the booking was until I watched this video, multiple stars put into trios, tag teams. What made AEW unique was the stables but they have overused them. WWE has learned to use a few EX. Bloodline, Judgement day, Bobby Lashleys new crew, LWO
There have been quite a lot of misses in aew because of this.
We still haven't got Adam Cole vs Kenny Omega or Elite vs Undisputed Era. That has been mishandled badly.
I seriously hope we get a Bullet Club Gold Vs Blackpool Combat club program which features matches like White vs Danielson, White vs Claudio and ends with Jay White pinning Jon Moxley to become AEW international champion .
We still haven't got swerve vs Keith Lee. That feud was fumbled bad.
Look at MJF man, he takes Losses when it makes sense and wins where it makes sense. That's how everyone should follow.
With Cody Rhodes And CM PUNK gone , Tony Khan has to shake up some things and take some risk to learn and grow as a promoter.
Departure of these 2 has already caused AEW quite a hit and although they are 2 billion in valuation, they would've made Hell lot of money with CM Punk and Cody Rhodes in the centre.
Time to build Hook. Have him retire ftw title and go for other championships as well.
AEW can do a lot of stuff but we all know the culture of that place. And if you shills wanna defend without logic instead of constructive criticism, feel free to shit in replies so that i can laugh on your low IQs😂
They were riding Tony Kahn for awhile even booker of the year singing his praises blah blah blah then Cody leaves now he can't book a match to save his life. Weird how that happened
Really hope TK sees this (Not impossible, your vids are great and he keeps an eye on social media), because the tournaments are SO PREDICTABLE.
Tranq I’m with you 💯 Aew Is my favorite wrestling promotion currently but we need more stories. This is why I loved punks run so much because he was able to tell good stories re ignite feuds and brought back some life (not that there wasn’t any)
This is fair, and I agree. This past Dynamite and Collision felt like they had some kind of direction, which is nice to see after months of seemingly random thrown together booking, and of course CM Punk being fired. But there's still so much that hasn't happened that should have happened. I don't know what happened to Action Andretti, but he got that shock win over Jericho, he was an overnight success, he was doing big run-in saves, and then... nothing. He was back to doing nothing, all momentum gone. Swerve and Keith Lee have their falling out, Swerve breaks the cinderblock on Keith Lee's chest, and then nothing. They even got paired together in that wildcard tag team tournament and STILL haven't had a match. As TBS champion, Jade Cargill never faced Britt Baker, Ruby Soho, Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Thunder Rosa, literally none of the main women on the roster. Jon Moxley has like an 83% career win rate in AEW, and I'm sure a lot of his losses were from tag matches with the BCC so he himself was never really the one losing. That's absolutely insane. In singles matches, you could count how many guys he lost to on one hand (probably, I think it's only like 5 or 6 people in 4 years). But yeah, there are still so many dream matches to be had and stories that never had a proper end sooooo let's see 'em, Tony.
As well as AEW weathered the pandemic, I do think that era harmed them in the sense that it lead to a lot of AEW programming becoming clogged with jobber squashes. Words we don't need to see advertised for TV are "[Big Name] is in action!"; i.e., they're going to squash a local enhancement talent in a minute and then probably get beat down after the match/during their interview to set up a bigger feud. I also think Tony has had a lot of old-school heads in his ear telling him to never give anything away for free (despite them not having house shows or monthly PPVs), so it's lead to a lot of this overprotective booking.
Ayy congrats on your first sponsor deal, Tranq. All love
This is what happens when wrestlers get creative control. Nobody wants to lose
I really don’t think there’s a problem with overprotective booking at all. Nearly all of the main stars lose matches, both in singles and in tag matches. I think it’s fair to say there’s too many tag matches though, which was particularly apparent at All In. Tony definitely does fixate on fitting too much in at once, to a fault.
A lot of your criticisms here feel like impatience though. AEW is great at long-term booking and we might have to wait a long time for a tasty feud to happen, but that makes the payoff all the better. If we were just getting top guy vs top guy feuds in a constant cycle they’d lose what makes them special imo. I prefer them to build over time, like Eddie vs Claudio.
I think some of it’s out of Tony’s hands too. Both Malakai and Andrade have had limited singles bookings and main events for various reasons other than what Tony seems to have any control over. As for Wardlow, he’s just not that engaging. He’s fun in the ring but there’s a limit to what you can do with him. The only time he felt important was when he was feuding with MJF and that’s because he elevates everyone. He could probably even make Jay Lethal seem engaging.
I'm getting sick of open challenges against undercarders who already had 2 title matches in the last few weeks
Right now aew needs to go all in man this is the time they need all the big matchs and feud
This is literally the only reason (and the bloodline story) why I like wwe more… malaki is too good for trios, jay white is too good for tag team, andrade is too good to not even be on tv, so many other names that’s should be in singles feuds with omega, hangman, hell even Cassidy or Jericho
Holy shit you’re still here! Great job dude and congrats on the sponsor
Great job as always! 👏
Agreed with you on every point, especially about Malakai and Andrade. I wanna see them fighting in singles matches every week
And Kenny Omega the egoless saint still taking Ls on the biggest stages to help put over other talent. It legit pisses me off but i understand.
I'm excited for you to unfold a new layer in your writing and opinion sharing.
I feel like Tony tends to listen too much to fans online, which can be deterimental when a bunch of those are honestly kids whining that wrestler X was "buried" because he or she lost one match or feud.
If the fued is engaging and the match(es) competitive, it doesn't really matter too much if a wrestler lost. MJF didn't lose steam after losing to Punk, Cole doesn't feel less important after losing to MJF, or Starks to Danielson, or Hobbs to Miro to look at the most recent events.
What indeed can kill the momentum of a wrestler is to get stuck into random matches against midcarder or jobbers for weeks until something worth any attention happens again. A main eventer going through the various Trent, Martin, Kommander can give some nice in-ring performance, about which most people will not care (which has been one of the main issues plaguing Rampage).