Good Bye AEW....for now

 

I need to get away from this awful show before I lose my mind. 

I was a big fan when AEW started. I waved the banner and sang its praises. Underused talents from major wrestling promotions along with some big name independent wrestling stars. What more can you want. Something people have been craving. 

People loved it. It was off to a great start. Gaining respect from others in the sport as well has fan support. Then COVID hit and shut a lot of things down. Hurt all of pro wrestling, including AEW. AEW had a place to use to record shows and at no cost. Daily's Place. A small venue attached to the TIAA Bank Field, home of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. The same family owns the team and AEW. 

This was where AEW was able to film the TV shows. They followed all the COVID guidelines and had daily testing. The product was one of the best at the time and helped them gain notoriety. 

Then, in this reporters opinion, when COVID was over they got greedy. Signing released talent from WWE and making them the headliners or main eventers over the many who stuck around and helped the brand grow. These wrestlers were pushed aside to the YouTube shows where the viewership was a lot lower and so was the story telling. 

With things back to normal in the world. Being able to travel and country and go to different arenas for shows, the storytelling became week. It lost what it had during the lock down. No originality. No fresh ideas. Just old, recycled ideas we've seen in other promotions over the years. 

This is not the part that made me want to leave. I did find some good in the shows and enjoyed watching the talent grow. It was the talent they were pushing that got to me. It started when they signed CM Punk. That wasn't the problem. It was the fact they made him a Champion and main eventer right away. Him, Danielson, Ruby Soho, Toni Storm all pushed to the front of the line when they got there. Then people like Miro is left sitting without anything. All while they push the comedy acts like Orange Cassidy and Danhausen. Having them win clean over better talent. A lot of them who have been there since the early days. Yes Orange Cassidy has been there, but always as a comedy act. Sting comes in and is treated as indestructible. 

Bring in some good names, put ROH titles on them and have the AEW talent beat them in non title matches. I am ok with a little color in matches when needed. (Getting color means bleeding) But Moxley does not need to bleed in every match. It losses it charm. 

These are the things that have pushed me away. Cannot stand watching 2 hours on a Wednesday night for about 15 of good TV. I will still follow it on the dirt sheets just to keep up and see if it improves. But as for setting aside time to watch, no. Those days are gone...for now

-Andy