I feel the big issue with AEW is the mid-card and lower rate wrestlers (or whatever you wanna call them) as they just aren’t convincing (It may be the same in WWE but I don’t watch enough).
The Butcher is a good example right now. He’s got a good look and was in a good tag team until his partner got injured. This year he’s lost every match he’s been in so how am I meant to get invested.
I feel WWE use to be good at booking this level of wrestler but maybe thats my childs memory?? I use to be able to get invested in a Koko B.Ware match, I could believe the Model Ric Martell could win the IC belt and I thought the Bushwackers could beat anyone on their day.
I think this is because they wrestled others on their level and worked their way up. I don’t mind seeing Butcher vs Dustin but why is he fighting Swerve the week before. I just assume he’s going to lose.
This is maybe one issue with AEW having too many “top stars”. If you’re not in the main event scene everyone else is just serving as a jobber or in pointless matches.
I just wondered what others thought and who people think is a believable mid carder thats booked well (singles or tag)
To answer my own question… Best Friends and Dark Order are a well used tag teams but maybe it’s easier to book a tag team I don’t know…it shouldn’t be.
I think WWE is good at booking mid carders on the rise (ie. the Gunther’s of the world) but more often than not mid carders in WWE seemingly get lost in the shuffle (ie. DIY, Grayson Waller etc.).
Back in the 80’s it was different IMO because of jobber matches. Everyone won 95% of their matches, and as kids we didn’t know any better and everyone came off like a star.
There’s too much TV time to fill in both WWE and AEW. If there’s not an immediate plan for a guy, he has already done too many jobs or has otherwise been made to look like a goof too many times for him to be taken seriously. So he needs a character refresh before he’s even really done anything.
And that’s not even counting the fact that a percentage of the audience (and a large percentage in AEW’s case) has likely already seen the guy in other promotions. So some of those fans are already “penalizing” a guy for being a midcarder or underneath guy before he’s even made his debut for that promotion.
Definitely agree with this. Squashes died when doing well in tonight’s quarter hour ratings became more important than being ready for next year’s Wrestlemania.
Not to mention the decline in house shows and the lack of “anonymity” at house shows. It’s hard to believe that guys – including main eventers – were essentially practicing their televised and PPV matches pretty much spot for spot (save for the finish) a couple dozen times for a live crowd before doing it on TV.
You’re not supposed to be “invested” in Butcher after the match. That’s not his purpose or the purpose of most lower mid carders. They are “enhancement talent”. You are supposed to come away after the match more invested in Swerve.
The purpose of lower-mid card acts is to lose to the higher card to show to the audience who the best wrestlers are. The best midcarders do this consistently in an entertaining way so that even if they lose over and over again they can still get a reaction from the crowd.
