Why I almost STOPPED watching AEW FOREVER! 

I remember when Bret “The Hitman” Hart was introducing the AEW Championship belt and that was pretty cool.

I respect AEW, but it’s not the same like it was when it first began, I’m not a WWE mark or anything of that nature, but I can’t keep a strong interest in AEW like I used to, and this is coming from someone who attended their live pay-per-view back in November 2023

I loved AEW. Started watching from the very beginning, bought every PPV, went to every show that's come to Boston, and defended them when they deserved to be defended. Those days are over. Somehow, Tony Khan has made himself the face of the company, and it's as if he's so wrapped up in whatever is going on in his head that he's totally forgotten about what matters, creating stars, telling stories, etc. Hell, they're about to lose Ricky Starks, and it doesn't even feel like they care. Idk. I'm gonna end the rant before it turns into a book, I'm just sad, man.

I genuinely hope AEW does get their shit together. I miss the days when you can enjoy being a fan of the product. Nowadays, it’s almost embarrassing. Everyone wishing for their downfall but I do hope they improve.

I still like to watch AEW but the thing that bothers me most is it feels like the wrestlers you get invested in just like vanish. Keith Lee I understand has health problems so that's understandable dispite me missing seeing him on TV but like Miro; I didn't like him as Rusev at all in WWE but he showed me in AEW that he could be really entertaining and good (in my opinion); he had that legendary TNT title run and basically nothing since... then there is Britt Baker to me easily hands down my favorite female wrestler in AEW and she's just been gone for months when she was the face of the women's division for so long. I remember being so excited for Andrade when he came to AEW too; I loved the work he did in WWE and I thought they'd use him as a main eventer and they did nothing. This happens with too many wrestlers in AEW; it makes me hesitant to invest in some of them because I begin to wonder if they'll just vanish too for months or whatever. I also agree with the show aspect of their being too many shows; I don't even watch Rampage anymore in my opinion the quality of matches on Rampage are not exciting; I normally watch Collision every week but sometimes I just pull up the match card and gauge if I actually want to watch it or not and I just skip it. Collision to me isn't so much the problem as it is Rampage; Rampage just feels like a filler show that doesn't really matter to anything happening in AEW overall.

One of the main problems with AEW's storytelling is character purpose. WWE Cody's stated goal from day one was to beat Roman, win the title and finish the story. Simple, easy to process, lot of different stuff you could do with that premise. What's Okada's goal in AEW? I dunno, does anyone know? Does he know? This is Storytelling 101 stuff, if a character doesn't have a goal people can understand/relate to it's hard for the fans to truly connect to that character.

Biggest issue AEW has is Story Telling reason why I honestly dont watch it all time anymore as each Dynamite just feels like a thrown together match cards and Most of matches just feel the same with most of guys just doing same flippy moves over and over it does get boring be honest

When AEW first came out in 2019 it felt like a breath of fresh air because for YEARS people have been fed up with WWE and Vince’s booking and wanting something new an alternative. They had a great roster with Moxley, Jericho, Kenny, Young Bucks, Cody etc, the first 3 years were AMAZING with great matches, storylines and wrestlers with CM Punk, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson joining but around 2023 it felt like the honeymoon was over. I still like some of the stuff right now with Swerve and Edge but it feels alot of stuff hasn’t had me glued with the product like it was before

It's not the same because most of their major draws are injured Hayter, Miro, MJF, Kenny, Hobbs, Cole.. just to name a few

I don't watch AEW as much as I used too now because most of my favorite wrestlers are still injured like MJF, Dr. Britt Baker

Assemble, incredible video. Do another part on this topic! I feel that there is more to be said about AEW's ongoing problem. Everything you've said so far, hits it on the nail.

I was watching active in 2022. It’s after All In 2023 I kinda fell off. The “devil storyline” was horrible and really I didn’t see much else happening in between that kept my interest. Adam debuting was cool, and seeing Swerve win the world title is cool but it’s missing the big feuds it used to have. MJF vs Punk Kenny vs Hangman MJF vs Wardlow. I could go on but it’s definitely not the same product it once was

I hope MJF,Baker,Hayter, Hangman, Sammy,Miro, come back soon to Aew I love watching Aew and different wrestling company to see different wrestler wrestle it makes it so you don't have watch the same wrestle over and over again

Best way I can equate AEW to my life is like this, I worked at a fast food spot for 8 years. Saw people come and go the store develop and go through phases. What I noticed is how when everyone that started brought a new feeling to the environmen but over time it went away and the place became a very toxic spot when the vibe started to shift. I was able to open a new store with a whole new cast of characters and the energy was amazing with new characters that didn’t know one another. I talked to a buddy and told him to enjoy it because will fade as everyone gets stir crazy. Sure enough a year down the road the place was the opposite of how it started. With AEW I’m afraid the workers have gotten to this level. The new feeling has faded and people just don’t know what to do and have a bunch of personal issues causing a big ball of negativity that’s bringing down the product. Tony khan is the only one with the power to mend this.

i love aew since day 1 but, you are so right on everything. aew is basically the best of compliation on vhs lol

I dipped watching AEW after 4 years. My biggest problem is basic psychology (The Moves. The constant No DQ matches. The Commentary team. Refs etc) and continuity. I absolutely agree that AEW brought a lot of people back watching wrestling again, including me. BUT overall...I think they're damaging the perception of wrestling as a whole with the lack of basic in ring psychology on their shows.

As a somewhat big AEW fan, I don’t watch every week but I really don’t watch weekly wrestling anymore I stay up to date with certain places on Reddit and RU-vid. I’ve gone to multiple shows, bought DVDs, shirts, flags, stickers. I do love AEW. With that said there is quite a few problems. I love pro wrestling and I think we’re in a good place I think weekly there is at least 5-10 good-MOTY contenders. I think most are on the good side but every few weeks there’s definitely a MOTY contender from both WWE and AEW. AEW is kinda a hard to love company from the actual company stand point. TK really needs to either step down as head booker or have someone with him to help get things straight. He needs to get off Twitter and please stop trying to best WWE, so many companies have tried to be number 1, but I don’t see anyone topping WWE. I do wish AEW did more stories and they didn’t take so many high risks that don’t pay off, but I don’t AEW is dying as people online will say, I don’t think AEW will die for a very long time. The wrestling is still too good, there are still some good stories but not everything is great. I don’t get the AEW is dying narrative, if you don’t like it that’s fine but it’s not dying, I do get how the diehards can get annoying but so is the other side, I used to love talking about wrestling but now it’s too toxic and it’s too negative and too mentally draining so I tend to stay to places like this and WrestleTalk which as much as I love them, they aren’t perfect. While I’m not an AEW fanboy as I like just about every company I’ve seen but some matches and moments I don’t rank highly, I think pro wrestling is great and I’ve been on a WCW and ECW kick recently, I don’t get the “AEW=WCW 2000” narrative, like if you think this have you watched WCW 2000? Let me know what their Bash at the Beach 2000 moment is or let me know how many world champions there’s been over the last 5 years.

These two things are AEW's biggest problem. 1) Tony Kahn thinks that he's Paul Heyman, when he's really Dixie Carter. 2) AEW should've been ROH or New Japan 2.0, a true sports based alternative to sports entertainment. But instead they want to be CHIKARA or DDT 2.0, a true comedy based, tongue in cheek alternative to pro wrestling that no one can take seriously.

Most people didn't want an alternative to wwe they just wanted wwe to be better

I've had a very similar issue with AEW, been a fan from the start and this last year fell off and was only watching PPVs. I will say, after Dynasty I've started keeping up again, because that show was so good. I think you're right about a lack of stories, but what I really think the current issue is, is that we're really seeing how important MJF, Omega, Hangman and Britt Baker are to the show. Especially with MJF, it feels like anytime he's gone for a period of time there's a real dip, I think he is often the one with the most compelling storylines and no one picks up that slack when he's gone.

I get it. You were in love with the *idea* of AEW. So were a lot of people. Then reality hit. I hope they can continue in a meaningful way, but it would require at least one person to learn important lessons in life by being able to deal with consequences, and that person seems very ill equipped to do so.

In 2019 aew had a massive advantage because it was the shiny new toy but Michael nakazawa with the oil sunny kiss aew was a circus since day1. It was just a matter of time that fans would have to look beyond the blind praise

I agree about the lack of storytelling. I get invested in the WWE stories. I watch AEW for the wrestling, but the lack of story line makes it easy to miss episodes. I also tire of the blood - the wrestlers in AEW bleed so much it gets old. It should be something rare. Jon Moxley bleeds just when other wrestlers look at him.

I was hyped to see AEW in the beginning because it was a company that was very different from what I was accustomed to watching. With all of the talented people who spent time in that promotion I was very eager on seeing my favorites like Santana and Ortiz, The Lucha bros, Bryan Danielson etc and for the year maybe 2 I was heavily invested. But what got me watching less of the company was when they started adding more people while the ones who were there weren't given any time at all .. Like when was the last time you have seen Lance Archer hold a title or see an up and coming female wrestler at that time have a good title run ... The storylines were great for those two years and then that's when I stopped watching full time. I do watch from time to time but it's rare that I would watch any AEW content from start to finish... AEW is an awesome company and I wish them all the luck in the world but as for right now it's not like how it was in the beginning...

WWE was unwatchable because Vinny Mac only booked for a universe of one, and that was himself. The one thing about AEW right now that Bubba Ray commented on is that it feels like ECW if they had a multi-million dollar budget to work with. I feel that AEW lost momentum when they couldn't find a way to do business between The Elite (Omega/Bucks) & CM Punk.

Couldn’t of put it any better

This is a very real and cool dissection of what happened to aew. I've always been a huge fan of aew mainly from in ring work but i agree fully with the very telling lack of stories. This is one of the main reasons why i loved MJFs title run with all of his stories and making the aew atmosphere feel so connected. I hope they add more stories so people can get behind the wrestlers.

I live right outside of Chicago so I've been to a handful of AEW shows over the years, including some big ones, and I've always enjoyed myself. But the TV shows have never really been able to keep me tuned on a week to week basis. For me, I already watch WWE week to week and all of their PLEs and documentaries and it can be difficult to even fit all of that in. So I really don't have the time or desire to spend any more of my week watching wrestling, especially when it's not directly related to what I already watch. I follow it loosely tho

the few months of AEW leading up to ALL IN 2023 was probably better than RAW 2023 imo

Good video :) I stopped watching AEW regularly for many reasons. 1. Like you said, the roster is huge. TK hires new wrestlers for the surprise pop and then after a month forgets about them. 2. There are too many titles. Take Double or nothing 24 for example, it had 12 matches 7 of them were title matches. That takes away the importance and prestige of being a champion. 3. Most AEW matches feel the same. 80% of the matches in every show are spot fests. While fun at first it gets tiring. 4. It's stale. I don't watch every PPV so i could be unlucky, but every time i watch one, Jericho, Moxley and the Bucks have been in title fights or main events. With a roster that huge how are the storylines always revolving around the same people? 5. It feels "indie-rific" with a big budget. WWE has many flaws but knows how to present a wrestler portraying them as larger than life, AEW doesn't have this ability yet.

I was super into AEW when they first were announced because I was a fan of NJPW and was really looking forward to something that didn’t insult my intelligence. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were the biggest reasons I stuck around. I became a fan of wrestlers like Eddie Kingston, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, HOOK, and tag teams like The Acclaimed, Private Party, even Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus. I was behind Wardlow at one time when he was having his run with MJF. I used to steadily watch the RU-vid streams as well! It was an awesome time! The crowd really made a big impact too, like you said. Just wished their storytelling was as valued as their focus on “quality matches.” What I see now is desperation and a company that’s run by someone that takes money for granted and has no direction or clue as how to keep people watching week to week.

I like wrestling, and I like this channel. I’m new here, and excited for your content. I appreciate your dedication.

TK is booking like VKM. He turned into what he was against

The Elites ruined Cm Punk's carrier in AEW, since then i stopped watching AEW

You 100% hit the nail on the head and I’ve felt EXACTLY the same way. It lacks good storytelling, has a bloated roster AND has WAY too many shows. Bischoff talks A LOT about how adding Thunder was pretty much the beginning of the end for WCW because it was just too much content and spread thin. So adding Rampage and then Collision, it’s 3 extra hours and 2 extra nights people have to block out to watch. Even with recording them to watch later you still need to have the time. Even if you do ALL that, the stories aren’t good enough to make it feel like you didn’t waste your time. Besides competition, the MAIN reason it was SO popular during the Monday night wars, was because it was only Nitro and Raw. It was can’t miss TV. You had to put your best foot/stories/etc on display at ALL times and it felt like if you missed 1 show, you missed A LOT. If you miss a show meow, there’s another one in a couple days.

I actually loved the feel of AEW but unfortunately it feels like it’s a wwe light as soon as tk took over all creative and is the reason why Cody Rhodes left when he did

AEW suffers a vicious cycle. They have bare bone stories to setup big matches. The matches always deliver, but often they go full throttle every time and someone ends up injured. This derails the already weak story leading to pivots or just dropping stories completely. After this happens a couple times your biggest stars and most reliable names are all on the shelf and your product suffers as you import talent from Mexico and Japan for random "dream matches" while your developing talent sit in catering like Ricky Starks, because the Bucks and Chris Jericho need their equal TV time each Wednesday. Swerve is champion but is about as central to the show as when Kofi was WWE champ in 2019.

I'm personally done with AEW for now. I watched from the beginning and REALLY enjoyed it for a long time. It felt fresh and had a lot of heart. You could tell the performers were given a lot of creative freedom, and it showed. It felt like a roster full of motivated young people having a ton of fun together. Now, I feel like a lot of annoying tendencies and booking problems have caught up to them: - There is an irritating amount of titles. We don't need three secondary belts that nearly all have the same status. We don't need trios titles that never get defended. - ROH dilutes the product even more. We see that many more belts on TV. We get great performers like Athena wasted on a show no one cares about. It's just awful. - There are too many shows that essentially feel the same but just have less importance. Collision started as a traditional wrestling alternative to Dynamite's more sports entertainment-oriented product. Now, Collision is just a more skippable Dynamite. Rampage is a big nothing that could disappear, and almost no one would notice. - There are fewer long-term story arcs now than there used to be. The booking was never and could never be perfect, but at least we got some interesting simmering stories like the dominance of Jericho's heel faction and initial dissent between Hangman and The Elite. We now more often just get matches for the sake of matches where the only hook is that we'll see good workrate. It won't have a story, but it'll be a banger. That's the only hook a lot of the time now. - Related to the last point, AEW often wants to focus more on wrestling as a work rather than wrestling as a drama. Instead of Will Ospreay challenging someone on a dominant winning streak to prove he's the best, we get Will Ospreay challenging the best *worker* to prove he's the best. What AEW considers a dream match is a random Omega vs. Vikingo match because the *work* will be great versus back in the day where a match like Stone Cold vs. Goldberg was considered a dream match because the *story* behind it happening would be great. - Wrestlers often don't advance in meaningful ways. Malakai Black is doing the same old thing with the House of Black that he always has. He's neither higher nor lower on the card. Hobbes beat Jericho, and it didn't matter. He was the same middling character doing nothing of note. Takeshita beat Omega TWICE, and he's more or less in the same spot now months later.

I stopped watching. Their booking changed and it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of going back to how it was

I too was excited at launch. WWE wasn't in a good place and it was refreshing to have something different. I bought the PPVs they did before Dynamite even launched....then I watched the first 6 episodes of Dynamite and it didn't make me buy Full Gear. I stopped watching for years even when Punk returned. But I decided around Christmas 2021 to give it another try. I saw the very end of Cody's run and the great Punk vs MJF stuff but I started to get frustrated around All Out and Brawl Out. I kept on persevering and Collision was excellent early on but I wasn't enjoying the rest. Once Punk was fired I decided to stop and when Tony Khan said Wrestledream was "the end of an era and the start of a new one" I picked that as my final show. The last thing I saw was Adam Copeland's debut....I don't regret stopping at all. I still read the results and it all seems dreadful. It will never be as good or as popular as it was. CM Punk was their biggest draw and they blew it.

I used to love AEW until it became garbage..Tony needs to get real writers and stop booking matches

The funny thing is I'm thinking about watching AEW Dynamite, Rampage & Collision. Rampage the day after it airs. Because it airs too late at night. 😀

I dont really watch much AEW anymore after Punk left. Collision has not felt the same after that and i LOVED Collision. It felt way different compared to Dynamite in the sense that is a slower paced show compared to Dynamite's fast paced show. The exclusive stars on the show made it more special. At the time you would only see Punk, HOB, Ricky Starks, Andrande. Dynamite was not doing it for me and Collision made me stay, but as soon as Punk left it seemed like Collision was just like Dynamite all over again.

The issue is a lot of people were just upset with WWE, they don't really want an alternative. They just want WWE to be better, so when WWE started getting better they went back. I watched NJPW, because I love wrestling, not 40 minute promos. I get that from AEW, and WWE is still holding people's hand through each story. Way more talking than action.

I was there each week fom Dynamite, never missing an episode and loved the matches I didn't know I needed in my life. Still to this day, one of my favorite ladder matches of all time, was Cody v Sammy Guevara, in what turned out to be Cody's last match . I look forward to a streaming service so I can relive that match someday. I didn't miss a single PPV up until after all in last year. The excitement of CM Punk and his storyline made it the perfect show for me. I had missed his WWE run due to not watching for about 8 years, but always heard the crowd chant CM Punk for years, and seeing him hit his stride in AEW , I understood why. My enjoyment dipped around the Brawl out incident . I didn't realize Punk was what everyone was saying he was, I thought it was storyline. So him being suspended for the time he recovered, I still watched, but a weird feeling was hovering over the company. Still had the great matches at least. I officially stopped watching after All In and Punk was fired. It bummed me out that differences couldn't be worked out. Ever since I've not really watched any wrestling. It put a damper on my enjoyment of everything, and hope it'll be back someday soon

One thing that AEW reminded me of WCW... the constant disconnect between the wrestlers and the fans.

Yesss! I love your video game channel but this right here! Just talking wrestling. I’m here for it, Matt.

My opinion on aew is they had so much good will at the start and have proceeded to piss it away but refuse to admit they have. 3 TV shows shouldn't be an issue. Have 1 live, 2 taped. Either have a taped showcase a weekly highlight show for Sunday afternoons. Wwf ran RAW, Smackdown and heat really well, I watched all 3.

I bought tickets to a show last year and sold them because I just couldn't get into it anymore. After Sting's last match I decided to only watch the PPVs. Even before that I would only watch a few peoples segments.

It needs a booker, Tony Khan is propping up his own failed experiment when he literally has so many legends with experience.

I still hope for AEW to be a success but I haven't watched it in a year. It was too many dream matches and no stories of any interest.

I still haven't watched a full AEW Dynamite episode since MJF's last appearance.

Well spoken unbiased opinion. Much appreciated.

I stopped giving A-EWWW a chance as soon as I saw Brandon Degroat.

Hey Matt. Fellow Canadian (Newfie) here. Your videos are great. I've been watching since WWE 2k22 coverage. This really illustrates what I have been thinking too. I find I've been gradually skipping more and more segments of AEW shows (I usually skip squash matches and segments from a few wrestlers I don't like). Now it seems like I sometimes forget about entire episodes. I think Fight Forever might also be a factor. I got into WWE again because of the 2k games, and UFC because of the Undisputed games, so I think if FF was a hit, it would have brought many more people in. But I think 2K being so much better it really kept more engagement with that company and people feeling kind of meh with AEW.

All the people i like and invest in- Dr.Britt, Ricky Starks, Red Velvet and Keira Hogan, L.A.X., Darby, Sammy and Tai, PENTA~ Some weeks they are there and many many MANY other weeks they are not. So why should I care about anyone? Why should i bother investing in these people, when the show doesn't? I just watch AEW RU-vid clips once a week if anything from TV seems interesting. Usually it's one or two tops.

I like dynamite, rampage doesn't really keep me interested. For me first thing to improve it is combine some of the championships. My gosh, TNT, ftw, tbs, aew women's, see tag, something else tag, intercontinental title etc. etc. there are so many champions it really dilutes the brand.

AEW has become the same thing. Match. Post match beatdown. Person being beaten gets saved. Trios match on Rampage/Collision. It books itself in a circle

It’s gotten stale. There’s no storylines. I don’t hate AEW but the HHH era has just made raw and Smackdown so hot

AEW had all the flaws you mentioned since its launching! But people wanted so much competition for WWE that you chosed to overlook those flaws. Minimal to non existant storylines, random matches, over-relying on debuts to generate some buzz, not being able to maintain audience interest through week to week coherent booking, same indy style wrestling througout the whole show!!! All those things were there since the first year of AEW but it was honeymoon period so people turned blind eye to it!! It just took WWE to turn around the corner from bad to descent to expose AEW flaws!!!!

Started watching AEW late 2021, haven't missed any content they've produced since mid-2022. I find myself doing other things now with the show on in the background. I still watch, just not as intently. I'd need a scroll to list the amount of problems.

The classic "misses the subtle story progression in matches so there's no story" Like how Mariah/Toni have one of the best stories in AEW history which hasn't climaxed yet but mainly-WWE viewers have probably never noticed it Also wait, who told this man about how AEW is dying-type clickbait is meta for wrestling channel views 😂 he knows the clickbait tricks

For me as a day 1 watcher who watches every episode bar rampage. The reason for the drop off is they just took in too many ex WWE guys. The product now feels like WWE lite. It's lost it's direction. I loved seeing new names come through and do well like lance archer. But like Lance a bunch of future title winners have been simply pushed to the side to push all the WWE wrestlers who didn't even get off nxt. I mean I love Adam cole but did we really need Roderick strong and Kyle o Reilly who are mid at best so AEW can remake the undisputed era??? I'm sick of back tracking and them trying to push what fizzled out in WWE for a reason. This is the problem with a fan running the company though. Saying all that the women's division has been doing great lately, but sadly at the cost of the tag division being so stale and we went from 1 or 2 tag matches a show to none for most episodes lately. Or random wrestlers tagging instead of actual teams.

I was like you, finding myself losing interest in admittedly, amazing matches, but ultimately meaningless due to no story behind them. And I wasn’t bothering to watch every episode of dynamite(stopped watching rampage pretty quickly as well as collision after Punk left) and I only kept up with it by RU-vid clips. Then when Punk returned at Survivor Series, that was the nail in the coffin for my viewing of AEW. I’ll likely tune back in just to watch MJF whenever he comes back, but that’s all I’m interested in.

I really like AEW, every problem is solved over time, you can see how this spring is in many ways successful for the company. There are not enough ratings and audience in the arena. But I hope it will be solved as successfully as the past problems.

The entire top of the roster decimated by injuries. No MJF, no Adam Cole, Jamie, Brit, on and on and on. Most of the shows are just matches. I can miss the show for weeks and still not feel lost.

Im still an AEW die hard but man if you take a look back, the product started degrading once Cody left. That was the beginning of it slipping

I 100% agree. I’ve been saying the same thing about AEW for about two years now and Ive completely stopped watching all their shows. No Character Development and Mediocre Storylines mixed with horrible acting skills.

Have a brand split, have the EVPs bring in Scott D’Amore and draft for dynamite, and Kenny omega & Tony Khan to draft for Collision

Matches for matches sake and the refusal to take anything seriously kills any chance for adding viewers. Why would I pay to see a match on PPV when TK is gonna show it at least three times for free on tv? Why should I watch a match where guys are clearly helping each other do moves? Why am I watching closeups of guys blading themselves, no sell strikes and kick out previously devastating moves on tv every week? The refusal to treat a respectable business with respect or as a business killed AEW.

I haven’t watched AEW in along time probably two years now. Now here’s why. I don’t have access to watch it anymore and I fell off From AEW probably a little after year 3. I continued watching the side shows on RU-vid for awhile until I stopped at about 100 something shows. I haven’t watched AEW content in years now. I prefer WWE over AEW and I was a fan of Both but WWE just kept getting better and keeps getting better.

Cody leaving did it for me. then the Punk, hangman bucks stuff.

Yeah man, the booking is just not good. Feels directionless

The main issue with AEW's focus on long matches is that almost all of their matches are extremely predictable. I know the outcome for 99% of the matches in advance. Compare that to WWE, where theres usually a seed of doubt regarding the outcome of the match. Being upset about outcomes here and there is something im willing to accept if it means Im actually fully engaged in more matches, because I dont know how they will end.

Like you, I haven't missed a single Dynamite from night one. I'm really close to removing it from my DVR line up though, its become nearly unwatchable.

What pisses me off so much is that AEW has every single tool you could want to succeed. I know they aren't everyone cup of tea, but I like Kenny Omega. Will Osperay is amazing. I think Eddie Kingston is still underrated and can talk with the best of them. And so many more. Bryan Danielson, Mercedes Mone, Malakai Black, Swerve, Samoa Joe, FTR, The Acclaimed, Julia Hart, fucking EDGE. And that's just to name a few. How do you blunder this bad when you the number of ridiculously talented people they have on the roster, not to mention the insane amount of wrestling knowledge in guys behind the scenes.

Bottom line is they kneecapped their own company out of spite for CM Punk. The EVPs wanted him gone, but the Boss wouldn't let him go, nor would he act like a boss and force everyone to do business. So once they realized Punk was, for the time, staying, they just had every single "media" outlet that would jump for their atrention burying the guy. I 100% believe they intentionally pushed him to get himself fired/quit, thinking WWE would never take him back. Instead, we could have had an Elite vs CMFTR feud, culminating in a huge Kenny vs Punk match for Punks title. But it wouldn't have mattered if CMFTR lost every prior match in the feud, they weren't gonna let Punk beat Kenny even IF they "did business". But he HAS TO beat Kenny if you want to do your NEXT huge box office match, Punk vs MJF: One Last Time, to unify the world titles. Punk puts Max over clean with the most eyes on him that they will have ever had, and Max becomes their first breakout mainstream star. Instead, they turn him face, let the master of wit look like a goof with Adam Cole, then a bigger goof when Cole turned on him. And I do believe this was their best chance to really have an "nWo" moment, which they needed, bc fans knew it was real. Instead, their linear, unbeaten champion left the company after retaining in front of 50-70k fans, turned MJF face (huge mistake for an even worse payoff), and when Kenny got hurt, the Bucks were left with nothing, bc they never book stories, only matches. And I think they've doubled down on that philosophy, literally out of pettiness. Bc that's what Punk was doing on Collision, and even tho the show was DOA bc of the timeslot, the fans who DID watch were saying "Dynamite should have more stuff like this". Now they've lost the plot so hard that they're doing the Elite vs CMFTR anyway, with no CM, and they have Kenny pretending he hates Meltzer and likes Punk on Twitch, which Dave admits is a work on Twitter, and they're gonna use that as the TV angle. You literally couldnt cater to your personal fanbase any harder. The problem is that's gonna drive a lot of ppl away, esp when there's 11+hrs of wrestling on TV a week. And you will NEVER bring in new fans that way. How many ppl follow Kenny on Twitch, or Dave on Twitter, and dont already watch every AEW show? ZERO. So they are actively choosing not to grow their audience bc, now that there's egg on their face, they HAVE TO prove that straight up PWG-style indie wrestling can be as successful as the WWE style. But it can't. And thats why they have 4000 ppl in attendance at big events. And they don't care if it fails in the end, bc at the end of the day, its Tony's money, and he never worked for it anyway, his father did, so NO ONE with power there actually appreciates what they have there enough to humble themselves and do whats best for THE COMPANY. Now you have Jericho reduced to a lazy "groomsman", Moxley gigging himself every week, everyone doing what they want, and no one going "yeah but what fans will this bring in". Literally the ONLY way they know how to draw new fans is to just buy new stars. But as Mone and Copeland have proven, just like Angle and Hogan did in TNA, that buzz doesn't last unless you GIVE THOSE PPL A REASON TO KEEP WATCHING. When I was around 10, during the Attitude Era, I always heard wrestling called "a soap opera for men". The business NEVER got hot by putting on 20 min matches back to back every week. It got hot when stars had stories ppl cared about. And I think its too late. They could've saved it after Brawl Out and turned that negative into the biggest positive. But after Brawl In, and everything they've done after it, they have cooled off WAY too much to ever pull back in casual fans. I won't say its impossible, but they're gonna have to survive this for years like WWE did in the early-mid 90s. But there wasn't Netflix, Max, etc, in the early 90s. Remember, BRET HART AND SHAWN MICHAELS wrestled for an hour at WM, and fans LEFT during the match. Bc they bought a ticket to see the boyhood dream come true, not to see an hour of grappling and zero falls. And with all due respect, Ospreay and Danielson are not Bret and Shawn. So if they work really hard, hire a booker, choose a new direction and build on it, maybe in 5 years they can have a resurgence. But it looks more like they're just the next TNA, and will be in the WWE tape library in 10 years. And that's really sad. I want them to succeed despite how much they've disappointed and irritated me. They kinda HAVE TO succeed, for the sake of the business. But they need to start thinking like 97 WCW not 93 or 2000 WCW.

Can't say I ever really felt my interest wane but that's just me. Hope you find your spark for the promotion again!

I fell off the AEW train after Revolution. I only hung on to watch Sting finish his career and I only tuned in once since then to watch them prove Punk was right.

despite AEW having a very bad 2022/2023 , it is fortunately starting to feel like they are getting back to their roots with 2024. like i can legit feel the excitement is returning. and them trying out new ideas for stories. Heel ELITE right now is MUCH better than Heel ELITE we got back then with Don Callis. overall , still excited for the future (and all the future dramas , coz they WILL be there) of AEW.

I live in Vancouver I flew to the first 3 PPvs of AEW Last week I dint even get on a train for 3 stops to go see them I want to enjoy it, but it's brutal I'm completely out now it's a mess there's no stakes and not 1 wrestler is more interesting than before they've debut

My biggest issue with AEW aside from all of the ones people bring up: its just too damn corny. I watched for the first few years, but at this point, if someone walked in while i was watching it, i would feel embarrassed. It's so fake looking, cheesy, and goofy. And not in a good way, so stfu if you're gonna go there. I want to watch wrestling that I can be immersed in. Get INVESTED in. If it doesn't take itself seriously, then why should I? That goes across the board for every aspect of AEW.

AEW has become great background noise for scrolling on your phone. Except for when Excalibur is talking..

“Sitting north of 800-thousand…” They would be thrilled with that kind of rating now.”

A lot of people in the comment are just parroting podcasters. There are stories, just not long Shakespearean monologues. Many storylines cross over each other. We've gotten to the point where people complain about wrestling on a wrestling show.

Once MJF left so did I, at that point it was just not the same. AEW needs to create more stars.

Can you do a video on the AEW fanbase? I'm sorry, but I'm sick and tired of unbiased creators having to baby them putting out disclaimers so they don't bomb the creators social media space! This needs to be addressed Assemble

For me it happened after All In and specially after the friendship angle between MJF/Adam Cole ended. It was one of the best storyline in all wrestling

I far prefer AEW, but here are several of my big gripes: Overly predictable matches up and down basically every show, that then still need to go 15-30 minutes. Additional squash matches against local talent further add to the predictability. Nerfed big names who mostly are not All Elite. If they work primarily for another promotion, it's 99% likely they will lose their matches. Minoru Suzuki and Jun Akiyama are two prime examples. Lack of exclusivity for the wrestlers who almost all also wrestle any other indie promotion they can get a match, making AEW feel like just another indie, but with a TV deal. It's not like WWE, where as long as someone is under contact, they won't show up anywhere else. A huge roster that's largely unused, with major stars going missing for months or longer. A few are only used if someone gets injured. Former champions tend to just disappear when they lose, occasionally showing up for ROH instead of back on Dynamite with new or continuing storylines. Storylines that just drop randomly or take forever to get going. Refs a little too consistently being blind to heel behavior. The expectation that the audience watches every other promotion and knows who every one-off wrestler is. It's like comic book presentation that forces you to check out all the referenced books to know what's going on instead of putting together a simple video package summary. This is the exact opposite of a problem I have with WWE overdoing the recaps and video packages on well-established stars and their storylines. Needing to keep up with every wrestler's social media for random promos that should have been on TV.

Collision was the A-show for those first couple of months. Then post-Wembley it’s turned into Rampage 2.

Personally I’ve stopped watching, I stopped in 2022. I’ve seen little clips here and there since but there is nothing that’s brought me back weekly. One of the biggest reasons is Tony Khan and the way he handles himself. The matches are good but I can watch good wrestling anywhere.

Started from the beginning, but I really started to fall off around All In 2023, then around the time Edge came in (not blaming him at all) then Ric Flair, I just started to lose interest, then I've just given up on it honestly. The Devil stuff, signing Flair, the Bucks' shit and the dramas just made me lose a lot of interest. It's a shame, I loved it to death for the first few years and now, it's just sad. Reminds me of WCW in it's dying days.

I remember when Punk Debuted, then Danielson and Cole at All Out 2021. Seemed like the sky was the limit at the time…sigh I hope they pick back up

I stopped watching about late 2021 as I lived through the WCW high points and low points. I feel active wrestlers should not be EVP’s or booking of any kind and the fact they promise things and then go against it. TK in 2019 “we aren’t gonna sign everyone who gets released from WWE” he signed a good chunk of them.

Dude, exact same AEW experience. I followed Bullet Club, I loved Kenny in NJPW, I was loving Cody doing his thing on the Indies, the Jericho/Omega spot in NJPW -- I was down for a lot of it. WWE was just so formulaic and rigid and memorized - that I could only watch PLE's all the way through. I'm down to maybe 2 RU-vid clips a week with AEW, quite a switch for me from a couple of years ago. But WWE was basically a sleeping giant that got slapped awake. Now it's really awake. I hope AEW can find a way to recover and get away from the "buy-a-pop" business philosophy.

AEW does lack storytelling, but the in ring action is just unreal

I watch out of habit, but I don't mind missing the odd Dynamite and I never watch Collision and Rampage. The storytelling is unfocused and the company doesn't utilize its best talents on a consistent basis. It feels so scattershot, and TK is just as stubborn as Vince in regard to not giving up the jobs he isn't qualified for (ie creative and booking). The shows and production have also gotten sterile.

@assemblewrestling Aew doesnt care about casual fans. Aew fans seem to hate casuals that if you dont know every wrestler of every promotion then you're seen as lesser. Asking questions? Out of the question. Aew fans have admitted they don't care for ticket sales or ratings cause they think khan will keep it going until he's broke. They have mo concept if business. Aew fans are some of the least welcoming of casuals or criticism which is a tall ask

Pretty exact on everything you are saying. I was watching all the shows until it became pointless to do so. I’m currently only watching dynamite and ordering a ppv if it really has a match I’d like to see. In my opinion, I think it should be dynamite only and cut the roster down. Too much going on. Not enough story telling. The matches can be great but if there isn’t anything behind the match, it’s kinda boring.

I haven't sworn off AEW for good, but I've stepped back. The last time I tuned in regularly was over a year ago, and their tendency to take sides during backstage incidents was off-putting. My breaking point came when they maligned Thunder Rosa and no one defended her, despite the known issues with Britt Baker's group. Moreover, while comedy has its place in wrestling, AEW overindulges. My interest waned further when Shibata was brought in only to be defeated by Orange Cassidy. I fail to grasp their fixation with Cassidy, who I view merely as the mascot of AEW. When the Bucks and Hangman declined to meet with Punk, I lost hope. Despite their mutual disdain, Bret and Shawn didn't allow it to hinder the company's financial success. Punk was behind AEW's largest gate, yet the Elite seemed uninterested in mending fences. Their decision cost the promotion financially, but their own secure finances appeared to overshadow the collective good. For me, that was the tipping point-their self-prioritization over the business's best interest. It became clear they lacked seriousness in their ambition to be the second-leading company or a true alternative. I've told myself I'd resume watching if it improved, but after nearly two years, that hasn't happened.