La Zona Muerta

I don’t really have a ton to say about last night’s Dynamite. I thought the first hour was pretty bad (Will Ospreay and Lance Archer was fine; it was the MJF scaffolding around it that I didn’t care for) and I think they’ve dropped the ball pretty demonstrably on the Toni Storm and Mariah May business from just two weeks ago (just two weeks? Seems like a goddamn lifetime). The Bryan Danielson retirement stip for Wembley would have had a tiny bit more impact… HAD HE NOT TOLD US HIS CONTRACT WAS EXPIRING TODAY. Like, what are they thinking? Why would I cheer him over Swerve, a guy who is expressly there to elevate both himself AND AEW? I love Danielson, but his promise to win the title leads to what? Him leaving? I don’t understand any of it.

I can’t be too mad about a show that had that GREAT eight man tag (and giving my man MORTOS the win) and a really solid main event with Darby Allin just squeaking by an enraged Hangman Adam Page, but before I get into my my point here…

LOVE this guy

There, I guess the pleasantries are out of the way.

This is my wrestling
My devotion is not laughable
My fandom needs a home
You don’t care ’cause I’m not a casual

You want to run all the sickos out
This what you’re all about
Treating day one fans just like trash
Turn around and make big cash

(apologies to Tracie Morris and Vernon Reid)

It often surprises me when someone tells me they read this… whatever it is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the greatest compliment you can give me, and obviously I wouldn’t write things in a public space if I didn’t want someone to see them… It’s just funny how things get around to people, even something that a couple dozen people read with any regularity. Honestly, I’m stunned anyone gives a shit what I say anywhere. I said something recently in a forum, for instance, that ended up offending a friend (I made a throwaway comment about a question at an AEW presser and it turned out said friend was connected to the person who asked it and I felt bad), and it was yet another reminder about how the stuff we say online gets around and even sometimes gets back to the people you’re talking about. You’d be surprised at some of the feedback I’ve received over the years (or maybe you wouldn’t, maybe I’M the bumpkin) over random crap I’ve said online or when I used to labor over writing Observer Live recaps or even here at your favorite lukewarm takes blog.

This is a time where I wouldn’t mind my comments getting to the person they are intended for.

I am flummoxed, flabbergasted and stunned that Tony Khan is misreading his audience so badly.

I’m the kind of person who defends AEW regularly, not necessarily because I’m an AEW homer, defending them against all comers, but more because I’m a fan of logic and fair play. AEW gets dog piled and broken down and examined at a ridiculous, microscopic level more so than any wrestling promotion I can remember. That is of course, partially due to the fact that we’re all terminally online, we’re all armchair experts about every conceivable subject and none of us are shy about saying so… but AEW gets WAY more than it’s fair share of criticism.

That is not to say that they don’t deserve to be criticized. Far from it. it’s just that there is so much noise about AEW online that I fear Khan has stopped listening to constructive criticism, as well. I get it, to a degree; it’s probably exhausting to have to hear every day how you are a cocaine addled, racist nepo baby who is ruining the chances of WWE getting that Emmy they’re really thirsting for. If it were me, I’d crumble under the weight of that dumb super scrutiny… but there was a time where someone could “at” Khan on (the artist formerly known as) Twitter and say “hey, bring back the motion graphics” or “You should light the crowds better” and amazingly, he would RESPOND.

Fast forward five years, and he’s having clandestine meetings with Shane McMahon.

Somewhere, we’ve completely lost the plot. AEW used to feature intricate, drawn out booking (perhaps even TOO intricate, TOO drawn out) and now, with the exception of a couple of programs, it feels like it’s booked on the fly and by the seat of Khan’s pants. If accounts are to be believed, there’s truth to that. Adding Collison, while obviously necessary for both monetary reasons as well as keeping the primary television partner happy, clearly placed too much of a strain on the fledgling company, and now we’re where we are, with a television and touring product that’s still successful, but is no longer hot, no longer must see. Too often motivations are forgotten or backburnered. After endless complaining about “video packages,” AEW gives you PLENTY of them now, but often times they are reinforcing stuff that isn’t important or actively punishing people who do watch the product with their repetition. The commentary gets more inside and jokey and comfortable every week, to the product’s detriment. The shows in general continue their metamorphosis into something much more akin to WWE programming with their emphasis on sponsorships and moving LED board screens and backstage interviews of zero substance and less on in ring storytelling and logic. Someone had a funny backstage interview? Have him do it EVERY WEEK, to diminishing returns.

Khan booked, personally booked a hard hitting tournament with no nonsense and plenty of intrigue at the end of last year, and it performed well in the ratings, giving a through line to watch all three TV shows… but appears to have abandoned the lessons that more wrestling focussed product taught. MJF is back, doing repetitive, cheap heat promos that are just tired and played out. The Elite are wacky authority figures who have complete control over the show one week and then are completely impotent the next. A guaranteed title shot at a big show one week becomes a nebulous, somewhere in the future concern down the road. Programs are built around people who may not be staying with the company.

It’s all so frustrating. AEW has, without a doubt, the single greatest roster of wrestlers ever assembled… and most of them go underutilized. They’ll do an effective angle or match and then flub the followup. You can never trust AEW to capitalize when something feels hot and often, you have to worry about if they will eventually deliver the thing you’re hoping for at all. The neverending quest for causal fans leads to Billy Gunn beating Jay White or Chris Jericho stinking it up on screen or the flavor of the month being put over the tried and true workers who have been there since the beginning. Are YOU going to be surprised with the Lucha Bros. leave? It’s going to suck, but they beat those dudes on the regular. I’m not certain why they should stay besides the fact that AEW will let them work NJPW and CMLL.

AEW used to be a joy to watch and now, it’s an exercise in frustration. They have all the tools, all of the pieces in place but they’re used in a confusing, perplexing way. Look at Blood and Guts last week. As a standalone piece of entertainment, it was pretty good, right? Imagine if it had been built properly with actual stakes on the line!

Khan has really misread the existing fanbase while chasing the wider audience. AEW is no longer the ground level, accessible company where you can meet and CARE about the wrestlers; now it’s the oppressive company where wrestlers who succeed do so despite the company’s efforts. If you’re not one of the chosen few on top, you disappear, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Everyone wanted a league with seasons off for the workers? Now you got it, haphazardly applied up and down the card under circumstances where you have no idea if the people are hurt or on vacation. AEW, these days, is sloppy and underbaked where it used to be well laid out and rewarded people who paid attention.

I don’t know if too many people have Khan’s ear or just one malcontent does or what the deal is. There has definitely been a philosophy change at some point and it’s taken AEW, for me, from must see TV to me half joking about hoping Shane McMahon shuffles out so I can turn off the show without guilt.

The course could be corrected. It’s not impossible to put AEW back on track. In fact, I reckon that it would be easy, despite injuries and egos and agendas. Consistency and continuity and hot in ring action, coupled with sacrificing the correct players at the correct time and striking when the iron is hot to elevate others shouldn’t be an imagined goal; it should be the order of the day.

Tony, I hope against hope that somehow you see this. I’m just an average fan who wants a true alternative to WWE. The death of WCW rattled my fandom, hard, and it took me years to recover. You partnered with a powerful groundswell movement in 2018 and that combination provided the last real chance any of us will ever have to see a true alternative for pro wrestling in North America. Now is not the time to try to emulate what they do, now is the time to accentuate what only YOU can do. You tell us every week that “this is where the best wrestle,” so get out of the way and let that be more than a motto or a marketing slogan. Let it be an undeniable fact.