Does AEW finally seem hotter than WWE?

General
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Ever since the wrestlemania were Cody debuted, it seemed that the momentum his shift at strongly to WWE.

However, in the last couple of months, I feel like for the first time in almost 2 years it’s swinging back.

If you look at WWE right now, is sort of stuck in a rut. You have an upcoming pay-per-view with the ridiculous war games match with no stakes that can ended up in a pinfall. You don’t have Roman reigns on the show yet you have the Miz in a title shot in 2023 which is inexcusable.

You have other talent that are over simply based on catchphrases and dancing and singing, and you have a women’s division that’s kind of a mess, because nothing makes sense.

Oh, and you also have their big signing Jade Cargill, just pointing at her watch bc she sucks in ring.

You’re leading to wrestlemania, where if it’s Cody versus Roman, everybody knows the outcome, even the guy who thinks wrestling is still real. But there’s nothing interesting now we’re on the horizon for this company. It’s just the same old stuff.

Now look at AEW

You have legitimate talent that have been signed in edge in Will. You likely have Rhonda and Mercedes as potential signess to boost the women’s division. You have a hot world champion in Toni storm, and incredibly layered comedic and serious blend with MJF and Cole. That’s probably the feud of the year.

On top of that, you have a great Tag Team division, with lots of potential challenges, and legit boosting of swerve into main event, status, and an upcoming G1 tournament.

On top of that, you’re building two Sting retirement show, a massive wembley show, and really so many possibilities for what the matches could be at these shows.

Like it seems we pressure, more unpredictable, and better booked right now then just seen the judgement day battle Sammy, Kevin and Seth until the end of time.

2

I understand how this topic is wrestling forum fodder because everybody has a different definition of a “hot” product.

But No. AEW is not suddenly “seem hotter” after one good night when the “narrative” about AEW since All In has been about declining ratings. Which Osprey isn’t going to change. Where in contrast the story of WWE has been about the resurrection of NXT and the big money increase its third brand got.

Unfortunately this kind of amateur business analysis seems to be the most prominent form of discussion among fans instead of focusing on the quality of the show.

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I don’t mean hotter in terms of who is making more money, I mean, which product has your interest and seems more appealing

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From a numbers perspective no. I was just listening to John and wai yesterday and John was talking about how hot WWE is at the moment numbers wise.

From a fan perspective, I haven’t been that into AEW since all the Punk drama. Not because of Punk, but I’ve definitely fallen off since then just watching occasionally.

WWE……Smackdown definitely doesn’t feel “hot” right now with Roman being off tv and Cena being done his run, but the Drew storyline on Raw is probably the hottest thing in wrestling right now. Though outside of Drew the show does feel a little stale.

Edge in AEW seems to have really cooled down. Osprey being there is cool, but considering he just had a match against Jericho and he isn’t going to start right away, it doesn’t (for me) make me think of the product as hot right now. I can’t compare That at all to Cody coming to WWE or punk/cole/BD going to AEW.

For me, AEW feels cold, WWE feels like it’s in a holding pattern with Rumble season around the corner.

5

Yeah, I’m not arguing about WWE businesswise. I’m just arguing I think the interest level seems to be switching a little bit.

Just look at Full gear – red, hot crowd, surprise, announcing, great matches. Lots of interest in the show. Lots of people really wanted to tune in and watch and see what happened.

Meanwhile, you have survivor series where nobody really cares. It’s a throwaway pay-per-view without even the world champion on the show.

Ultimately will WWE recover around rumble time in building to mania? Probably. Although if they’re just gonna do Cody and Roman again, almost everybody knows what the outcome will be and I’m not sure it’ll be interesting the second time around. Also, what’s the second main event? Seth versus Drew being dragged out, or LA knight versus Seth? I don’t know. I just don’t since the same billed as last year into wrestlemania.

6

In fairness, everyone thought they knew the outcome of Cody vs Roman last year and they were all wrong lol. I dont think the re-match (if it happens as Rock/Roman is still on the table) will be cold, fans are going nuts for Cody right now, and keep in mind that a year ago Cody was cold up until the weeks before Mania as fans were pushing for Sami. This year he is much hotter going into Mania season then last year.

I assumed the second main event was going to be Drew vs Sami. I see Drew beating Seth for the title and Sami winning the Rumble as I don’t see them telling the exact same story with Cody again.

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If they run it back and Cody loses again he’s done as a top level talent

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That wasnt the point I was trying to make, I accidently posted just the first line of my response lol.

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I disagree. WWE fans are disengaged from RAW/SD matches because half of them end in a DQ or distraction finish. WWE fans are conditioned to feel that mid-card TV matches don’t matter. When WWE makes a point of telling you a match matters (ie. Gable vs Guther), WWE fans care. This just feels like an AEW fan telling people they are better then WWE fans.

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Jim Valley is an incredibly respected and informed journalist and has definitely is more than just a fan giving his opinion.

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12

Lol. People care about Miz vs Gunther ?

WWE fans like to sing songs and chant Yeah.

They pop for enterances and spots basically. Not engaged I. The matches themselves

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Yeah because no fans in aew sing or react to entrances. It never happens. 🫨🙄

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No, they do but they care more about the matches too. They get into not just the spots, but the psychology of the match, and they are invested in what is going on.

They’re not just randomly chanting yeah and waiting to sing with Seth and then going back to their phones

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The point of my post was that this is very subjective to what you’re looking for.

That said, you can objectively watch a show and say if it feels like there is momentum in the product. I think Full Gear definitely gave a sense of that sort of momentum.

But everyone here watches for different things, and that’s okay too.

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16

That’s a perfect way to describe it.

It seems like a momentum shift, because there is way better in ring action and better paper views lately, rich and deep layered storylines with multiple different characters, and big name free agent signings. It feels like it did when Cole Danielson and punk all came in.

WWE has just hit a stagnant point. It’s the same judgement day matches every week. Roman reigns won’t even show up to survivor series so you have another useless judgement day match. I don’t even know what’s going on with the women’s titles anymore. The one champion you do have who is credible, is now wrestling the Miz. Because that’s the best they could do the Miz.

Any time you have the Miz in a big title match momentum is going to be with the other company.

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I said Gable vs Gunther, to my knowledge Miz and Gunther have never had a match.

Wrestling fans have fun at shows, why are we at a place now where we’re judging which fans are “better”……just enjoy wrestling as a whole.

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18

Sorry never heard of him, his comments sound like something a tribal fan would say. If you want to push aew fans are better, go for it. It’s a silly thing to debate.

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Jim Valley is a respected wrestling analyst.

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All he was doing was pointing out some differences in audiences. It’s not that deep, nor that controversial of a take.

By and large, WWE fans are far more responsive to spectacle and larger than life characters. AEW had built a much bigger foundation based on appreciation of bell to bell action. Which to me is the reason that so many AEW fans have complained as of that that they’re “becoming too WWE-like” due to embracing having more characters, etc. I don’t necessarily agree, but I understand some of the complaints.

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