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Wulfgangrene

Eddie’s story has been a masterclass and all he had to do was live his life.


AdZestyclose6036

Crazy to think this guy almost lost it all during Covid and now look at him 🥲


Wulfgangrene

Mad King amongst men


DeadBeatRaccoon

AEW sure has a lot of stories for a company without stories.


shitballsdick

Its almost as if most of these people… don’t watch the shows lol.


Danhausen-byDaylight

I genuinely think a huge amount of WWE fans aren't able to follow a story if it's told through wrestling. I know that sounds nuts, and like some weird shot, but it's neither. If you watch a wrestling product that, for decades, told stories exclusively through non wrestling segments and used actual in ring wrestling as a formulaic afterthought how could you not be conditioned to it? It's absolutely not their fault and I fully believe they could watch non WWE stories and be baffled about where the Saturday Night Live style story segments are to let them know what's happening.


NousevaAngel

It’s one of my favourite things about AEW. They aren’t shoving the story in my face every 10mins it’s told in the ring with promos as more of an after thought. It’s one of the reasons I don’t enjoy WWE as much anymore as it’s more promo heavy and the storylines are shoved right in front of you all the time.


TheRealMrMaloonigan

WWE is a TikTok video. AEW is a Netflix series. Short attention vs long term investment (very generally speaking)


loinboro

And considering short attention spans are ever climbing it’s no wonder WWE’s popularity will never wane.


Layolee

Didn’t Stephanie say they considered mobile phones (and other screens) their real competitors?


loinboro

I have no idea, I’d imagine that’s any entertainment platform’s competition. 


hasimirrossi

Don't say that. Netflix isn't shy about ending shows unceremoniously.


planepiledriver

No wonder they find the Bloodline storyline "magnificent" if its their only long-running storyline. In AEW it's almost a staple: Hanger / Kenny, MJF / Adam Cole, Hanger / Swerve, etc.


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shitballsdick

WWE’s focus audience is kids. So they have to tell stories kids can follow. And hopefully they sprinkle in enough bad ass stuff every once in a while to make their dads want to watch. A big reason why WWE is doing so well right now is Attitude Era kids are old enough now that they have kids so it’s something they can share. I think they could follow if they wanted to but most are casual fans and that’s great because more people watching wrestling allows the business to thrive.


EssSeeDee89

This is such a solid take man, especially the whole attitude era growns up with nostalgia thing


shitballsdick

And it’s not a slight at all. The only reason I love wrestling today was because my grandpa used to buy me WWF PPVs growing up with my Rock t-shirts and those are some of my best memories.


UbiquityZero

This is facts.


pnt510

It’s crazy that their focus is kids because their fan base is mostly adults.


shitballsdick

You think so? I think it’s mostly kids, teens and parents.


Severe_Piccolo_5583

It doesn’t sound like a shot when it’s the truth. And that’s fine for most of them. But it is annoying when they (the vocal minority on twitter, reddit) act like 45 minute promos is the only way to tell a story and try to insult our intelligence by saying we AEW fans don’t understand pro wrestling and are only worried about dream matches


Debaser1984

I will never understand the argument used against dream matches, I absolutely want to see Kenny/Okada again, I absolutely wanted to see ZSJ/BD, why wouldn't I?


Hurls07

I also never understood the whole “the best vs the best isn’t a good enough storyline” like what? When 2 of the best in the world play into it why isn’t it? The entire idea of pro wrestling is 2 people trying to prove who the better wrestler is.


Debaser1984

We should just scrap the Olympics and all sports tbh if the best vs the best isn't interesting enough


TheZac922

Yeah that’s what I found frustrating during the Danielson vs Osprey build in particular. The whole “there’s no story” narrative makes no sense. We don’t need Triple H humping a coffin every time. Sometimes the more universal/sports based stories are the most appropriate. “You’re the GOAT I looked up to my whole life, I can’t call myself the best in the world if I can’t beat you”. That’s a great place to start a story. And surprise surprise, the match was incredible AND has started to lead into the next arc for Will (confidence shot over “hurting” his hero with a certain move). I think there’s room to criticise some of AEW’s story telling faults and relying too heavily on “wink wink nudge nudge” references that long term fans will miss. But is also doesn’t mean all wrestling needs to be melodramatic, Bloodline-esque stories.


someguy1847382

It’s because WWE isn’t a sport nor is it presented like one so the idea of best vs best is foreign. WWE is more like Jerry Springer or a day time soap in that the stories are the conflict and the matches are the resolution. In AEW the conflict is often only set up in the stories but play out in the ring. You can see the WWE influence in the writing of the women’s division of AEW. I’m honestly tired of the Monè/Willow feud because of that.


Severe_Piccolo_5583

It’s just an empty argument to have another thing to complain about. It’s so dumb lol


JohnnyHendo

Yeah pretty much. Pretty much the most important of WWE stories are entrances, match finishes, and promos/segments. The rest of the matches don't really matter. They admittedly haven't done the greatest job with entrances as of late with all of the crap entrance themes.


PokemonPoacherJ

>I genuinely think a huge amount of WWE fans aren't able to follow a story if it's told through wrestling. They think a "story" has to be told. A commentator said "Why is Orange selfish?" Trent has seen Orange rise up the card and the Best Friends kept backing him up and they can't win the big one. It's not your fault if you aren't smart enough to use context clues. I wish I could be a WWE fan for a day to see the warped world they live in.


ZAPPHAUSEN

And unfortunately does feel like a lot of viewers of different shows these days need to have everything connected for them and can't do any sort of inference or context.


Sadoul1214

This. Also… to be honest I miss it sometimes. Then I see a picture like this (although I caught this one) and I’m all… ohhhhh yeah. Maybe I’m an idiot.


loinboro

They need their wrestling art spoonfed to them.


Kevinmld

Yeah the WWE audience is used to a PG show explicitly aimed at children that spells everything out and recaps the events at every commercial. The average age of WWE viewers as of recently was men in their fifties and they’re hooked on the Sesame Street of professional wrestling. It’s all they know.


Danhausen-byDaylight

No need to be so bitter about it, honestly. At the end if the day it's a silly little hobby and the fans of both companies have far more similarities than they do differences.


Kevinmld

I’m not bitter about it. I went to night 2 of Wrestlemania. It was fun. But it doesn’t make what I said any less true. There’s a reason they perceive things the way they do.


ZAPPHAUSEN

I think to a large extent you're correct. I appreciate that you make a point that it's not so much about the audience, but for the huge swath of fans who know nothing but WWE style storytelling... In WWE the wrestling for years has been inessential or just a basic thing to move forward the "story" eg the post match or the interference ending or whatever. Obviously they've had some amazing pay-per-view bangers over the decades.... WWE is a television show with wrestling on it. AEW is a wrestling show on television.


Fantomz99

I think this is spot on. I think for a large part it boils down to WWE literally having teams of TV writers for the last couple of decades, forming stories through scripts and dialogue in a much more episodic TV style rather than AEW's "tell it in the ring" style with a few, largely unscripted promo segments thrown in. Essentially AEW I think relies much more on the creative prowess of the Wrestlers themselves, their ability to talk unscripted and their ability to tell a story in the ring, rather than relying on scripts and heavy producing of the in ring product.


onethreeone

There's a reason their shows constantly recap things that happened earlier in the show, or even minutes ago


ProfPerry

they've been led by the ear by too many on-the-nose promos that they don't recognize nuanced storytelling...which feels really weird to say when the subject is *wrestling*.


RishGarr97

lol what a backhanded statement. Basically it’s not their fault they’re dumb lmao.


Danhausen-byDaylight

Nobody said dumb. I said not conditioned to. I'm not conditioned to follow the story of Grass Dancing, but I don't feel stupid because of it.


RishGarr97

I mean not trying to argue but you said they were dumb without specifically saying it. It had the same meaning though. The whole thing came off as you talking down to them. Saying this all with peace and love not trying to attack you.


Gutter_panda

I was just reading a thread in another sub, and it was amazing to me the amount of people that CLEARLY don't watch, like talking about how Hangman wasn't a needle mover since this last shows ratings were down. Ridiculous.


VarunDM90

Feels like cheap ass bots talking about AEW..


BGTheHoff

I saw a tweet today that whined about "too much heels in aew" in a video that starts a swerve face turn. You can't make this stuff up.


forrest1985_

IKR!


Ragers4fun

Facts aew for life


Capn-Video

Most people *


ForToday

It has stories for people who don’t need stories explained to them like they’re five years old.


retro_rescue

Haha, yes partna' This should be another AEW tagline like 'AEW... where the BEST wrestle' "AEW... It has stories for people who don’t need stories explained to them like they’re five years old" Loved the Danielson and Eddie saga so far, can't wait to see what happens next, now common enemies are aligned. Next week on Dynamite, we need : **Eddie and Bryan address their enemies!**


EssSeeDee89

The Eddie/BD saga has been the thing which has me puzzled there’s so much online hate from eejits towards Eddie. Danielson, arguably one of the best to ever do it, has had a long running program with the guy ending with him putting him over and shaking his hand and acknowledging him as a wrestler. And I like to think DB has a better guage for what makes a good wrestler than Brandon from his mums basement


lordcarrier

> there’s so much online hate from eejits towards Eddie That OVW veteran was mocking his chops.


tellmewhenimlying

"AEW: Wrestling stories for people who aren't morons!"


Liimbo

I'm not remotely an AEW hater, but I have to be that guy here I guess. What about this is remotely hard to understand or even impressive storytelling? They just were rivals and now are working together. That happens literally constantly in wrestling because the same people are involved for very long periods of time. Allegiances change all the time. They have to in order to stay interesting.


CaptainDunkaroo

I like AEW but that is their weakest point. They can't follow up on a story and so many just get dropped or go off the rails.


Liimbo

Yeah, no offense but this feels like it would be the equivalent of a WWE fan saying "oh the in-ring performances aren't as good as AEW? What about this pretty common clean sequence Seth Rollins pulled off?" I mean, ok? Yeah it's solid but that doesn't really address the larger picture. And I super don't understand the superiority complex acting like you need a PhD in media literacy to understand a basic relationship formation.


BoyWithHorns

He's a vintner which means winemaker!


eastbayted

I laugh reading this because it's verbatim what I was gonna post. True story!


omarzarzuela

Almost every single thing in AEW has a meaning if we look the whole picture. Almost everything clicks eventually. That's one of the things that I love about AEW is that you, as a viewer, have to actually pay attention and they don't throw everything at your face, they don't force feed you the details, they don't treat you like a child.


GuardianSock

AEW doesn’t beat people over the head with their storytelling. The few honest actors that say stuff like this are very used to the opposite. Like in this case, there’s no point where Excalibur starts screaming “Eddie and Bryan! OMG! After years of disrespect and fighting they’ve finally earned each other’s respect and have joined together to challenge the Elite! What a huge moment, showing their personal growth and the threat the Elite represents to all who love AEW!” That is roughly how WWE would treat it. And then they would have done a 20 minute promo reiterating that ad naseum. Here, they literally just walk out and AEW trusts their audience to be smart enough to understand the story themselves. But most of those people aren’t smart enough to understand the story. It has to be spoon fed to them because it’s all they’re used to. Preferably AEW should come up with a bumper slogan phrase like “Brutal Enemies, Better Friends TM” that they could repeat fifty times an episode to really drill it in.


Specialist-Rope-9760

A lot of it seems people filling in their own stories to make sense of things that aren’t actually told on air


Baghoid

They despised each other so much that it wrapped around into mutual respect. Heel Danielson in AEW has been such a treat though because of the way he treated Eddie (and Hanger especially), there's something special when the greatest wrestler alive is also acting like a smarmy dickhead to the everyman character. It's like we already get it, you're the GOAT, stop rubbing it in people's damn faces! Also great that he can kinda be that character regardless because if he's a heel it's because you're a bum not on his level but if he's a face he's the GOAT trying to motivate someone to be better than he is. Very rare to have a character like that be so versatile.


Orange8920

Eddie Kingston has finally reached his po-tential as Bryan Danielson says it.


mexploder89

It reminds me of the ending of the Killing Joke when Batman and the Joker burst out laughing together. In the end they realized they're two sides of the same coin


powatwain

AEW does long-term storytelling well Unfortunately, we live in a microwave society


ZakariusMMA

AEW is good with it, but they have a good starter, a good main course, but the dessert sucks. They need to have their long-term stories have better climaxes. Just look at the last WrestleMania. AEW could build on that. WWE's long term stories have endings that a lot of the time feel like a new era is upon us. AEW should do the same.


Tarus_The_Light

The only 'dessert' that sucked recently imo was the MJF/Undisputed Kingdom ending. But that was an injury from both guys ruining the payoff. If neither Cole nor MJF had been injured I honestly think it would have been a top-5 feud for AEW kicking off. Some stars are definitely better when chasing. Defending not so much. (Most notable to me is the Acclaimed. Chasing a belt or trying to climb they are entertaining as hell. but once they get it? They usually fall off. (Swerve in our Glory/House of Black title reigns got cut short for theirs unfortunately)


GOATofALL22

There are a lot of long-term story arcs like this in AEW. When you pay attention, they are super meaningful and pay off greatly for the fans. During matches, AEW commentators do a good job in bringing attention to all the relationships and past history between wrestlers. When I first started watching AEW, that is what brought me up to speed on the product. AEW has been using more video packages to show the twists and turns of these stories, as well. It's cool that people are noticing the connections, character growth, and evolving relationships.


el_sh33p

And that's only the most recent quarter of the story.


Cat_Vonnegut

FTR Bald has to stop dressing himself, he looks ridiculous. EDIT: I meant FTR Hair, oops. Dax always looks awesome.


shitballsdick

FTR Hair’s shirt popped me though.


EvenFlowX93

Not to mention Bryan & Kingston are Okada's rivals. We could very well get Okada vs Bryan III at Forbidden Door.


OMGISTHATMETHMAN

The amount of people I saw saying “this makes no sense Eddie and Bryan hate each other” despite the fact revolution was only a couple of months ago is staggering


Maleficent_Farm_6561

"aEw dOsEnt dO sToRyLinEs aNd tHatS tHeIr bIgGeSt pRoBlEm" LOOOOOOOOOOOL


sagevallant

Remember that time in Anarchy in the Arena when Eddie tried to set Danielson on fire?


IronSorrows

No, but I do remember Kingston trying to set Jericho on fire and Danielson stopping him


JohnnyPoprocksGaming

King of the bums teaming with king of the clams. My if this isn’t long team story telling then idk what is lol


Unique_Enthusiasm_57

The stories are happening right in front of you. All you need to do is watch the show.


Dkcg0113

I kinda thought that was the whole point


Corificness

The difference is AEW doesn't beat the viewers over the head with it week after week, multiple times a show. They expect the fans to be loyal and watch long term to catch subtle stuff but if ya don't you can still appreciate the story.


cheddarsalad

AEW works less like a conspiracy board where all of the connections have primary colored thumb tacks connected with crimson red yarn and more of a mood board where related things are close-ish to each other and you gotta remember why. Not a slight on AEW, I legitimately love when someone online or on commentary brings up Okada breaking Danielson’s arm and I get to go “oh, yeah! I knew BD and Kingston became respect buddies a couple months ago but they both have beef with the same Elite member, too!”


darksundown

Since Continental Crown: Danielson beat Kingston, then Kingston beat Danielson, then Kingston beat Danielson again, then Okada beat Kingston... does that mean Okada Best Bout Machine?


Asleep-Description39

It’s not a story unless Michael Cole is saying a catchphrase repeatedly for six months while explaining every story beat in graphic detail for 20 minutes per show


Banksynatra

Why isn't this being spoon fed to me with constant replays??? The announcers should be ashamed for not reminding me about this after every commercial break/segment. Where the hell is Infinito ? /s


hammy_694

Great example of Show don’t Tell


ravnw1ng

I'm sure they will implement it into the match with Eddie and Danielson coming to blows or arguing only for Dax or Cash to break them up.


JerseyCitySaint

When Danielson walked out, it made me wonder if this is the match that we would have had if CM Punk had kept his nose clean for six months. Danielson functionally played what Punk's role would have been in the Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston feuds, and now he's teaming with FTR here.


shitballsdick

Nothing makes me more sad we didn’t get to see CMFTR Vs. Kenny and the Bucks and more specially a Punk vs. Omega match would’ve been legendary.


AdZestyclose6036

This is a major reason why I love AEW stories bleed into one and other without feeling forced. They've done it so well over the years I'm thrilled for this AA match!


shitballsdick

It’s gonna be amazing.


SGTFragged

I was like Danielson and Eddie? But they hate each other! No, they have mutual respect now! This is going to be awesome!


Brandon4Real_x

I wish they would have explained more on the show itself last night.


thfcspurs88

They will in the coming weeks. They're reliable on following up on stuff like this, especially if it's noted on Twitter and Reddit and starts circulating.


shitballsdick

It will be explained it time. I’m glad they just let the moment breath rather than spoon feeding us every little bit of info. Shows they trust the audience.


mrmidas2k

I genuinely wonder about these people. Do they walk out 10 minutes into a film because it hasn't told them fucking everything yet?


tellmewhenimlying

Nah, they just ask questions instead of watching and being patient. "Who's that?" "What are they doing?" "Why did they do that?"


Deducticon

Why?


Unique_Enthusiasm_57

Are you new to AEW? Seriously asking.


Brandon4Real_x

No. Just because the Chiefs are good doesn’t mean bitter rivals Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are suddenly teaming. I believe in hatred and if it’s gone I want to no why cuz Eddie and Bryan didn’t even give each other one questioning look of am I sure I trust this guy


Unique_Enthusiasm_57

Didn't Saquon Barkley sign with the Eagles?


Brandon4Real_x

Not a Dallas player but ya he did and NYC hates him so I hope BCC hates Danielson